For the past several years I have not seen much activity in the second home market, but that has changed. I have been getting lots of calls from people looking for a vacation or weekend home and the Central Virginia area is the perfect destination.
For many people a must have for a vacation home is water. Lake Monticello and Lake Anna both provide venus for boating and swimming. Kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts enjoy riverfront homes. And if fishing is your thing, we can offer trout fishing on a mountain stream, private stocked ponds or an afternoon spent fishing on a lazy river.
Many country properties offer the opportunity to hike into the mountains or across rolling fields. Some even back up to national forest land.
Some second home buyers dream is a small farm where they can have horses or various farm animals and grow garden crops. Others wish for a private retreat where they can relax surrounded by nature and woods.
And if a country lifestyle isn’t for you, a home in one of our lovely golf communities may provide hours of relaxation playing golf or tennis.
Whatever you enjoy, there is a Virginia vacation home for you.
Copyright by Pam Dent, all rights reserved, “Virginia Vacation Homes – We’ve Got Them“.
Instead of buying an existing Albemarle County country home or Central Virginia farm you may want to find a parcel of land and start from scratch building things exactly to your taste. You may think that all yyou need to do is to find a pretty property and put it under contract…Not so fast, you may want to do your due diligence before closing.
When writing the contract, you should ask for a study period. Think of it as a home innspection for the land. This will give you time to make sure that the property will be suitable for your intended use.
The first thing that you may want to have is an environmental study. In this study the environmental expert will look at old aerials and satelite pictures of the parcel as well as property records. They may see an old hole on the property, that they will want to examine to make sure that nothing toxic was buried there. Or they may see an old dwelling on the property and will want to look for the existence of buried fuel tanks. Or they could find an old apple orchard and would want to test the soil for chemicals.
Next you will want to do a soil and perk test, just like you would need if you were buying a building lot. It is important to know that the land around your prospective house site will support a septic field.
Finally you might want to actually drill a well before you purchase the property. That way you make sure that you are satisfied with the water availability. You might spend $10,000 drilling a well, but this is a lot less than the thousands of dollars you will spend to purchase your future farm.
When you are investing in a future Virginia farm it pays to have a study period.
If you are looking for land to turn into a Central Virginia farm, Charlottesville horse farm, or a private country home there are some lovely large parcels of land offered for sale in our Central Virginia counties.
Copyright 2013 by Pam Dent all rights reserved “What Inspections do I need during a land purchase?“
As soon as someone knows that I am in real estate, they always ask me what is happening in the local real estate market.
Traditionally we think of the real estate market being dead during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. However that is definately not what I am seeing so far this year. I have lots of people looking at property right now and have gotten several new clients this week who are ready to start their home search. Actually last year, I got really busy two weeks before Christmas and that kept on through January and February. Is this the new normal? If we have a bad winter with a lot of snow we may see a halt to the activity.
If you are planning on listing your home to sell, you may think that its a good idea to wait until spring when there are more buyers. While the spring is normally when we see the largest amount of sales, there will also be the most competition from additional homes, since other sellers may be waiting to pur their homes on the market. In addition, the people who are looking at homes during the holidays are usually serious, or they would be Christmas shopping instead of shopping for a house.
Here is an illustration of what has been going on in the Albemarle County real estate market. The rise in the new pendings during October shows the increase in sales activity that we have been seeing this fall.
5 Questions To Ask Before You List Your Home For Sale
The first step in placing your Charlottesville home on the market for sale will be deciding on a listing agent. You will probably interview several real estate agents before you make your decision, but do you know what questions to ask?
Here are 5 questions to ask aan agent before you hire them to list your Charlottesville home for sale.
Are you a full time real estate agent? It goes without saying that someone who is juggling two jobs won’t have the time necessary to succeed in today’s competitive market.
How many photographs will you take of my home and what kind of photographic equipment do you use? The internet is the new open house and today’s buyer spends a lot of time looking at properties on line. They want to see pictures of all of the rooms. Also the pictures of your home will determine whether they want to actually visit the home in person. It is crucial that the pictures are of excellent quality, taken with a wide angle lens so that the rooms appear as large as possible.
Do you use video or visual tours? Statistically listings with visual tours get more views than listings that don’t have them.
What internet sites will my home be listed on? The majority of home buyers begin their search for a home on line. It is crucial that your home be there.
How can I communicate with you? Your real estate agent should be easy for you to get in touch with. He should return your calls and emails promptly and should communnicate with you via whichever method you prefer. You should have an agent who has a smart phone and tablet so that he can do business wherever he is.
In addition to being tech savvy, you will want an agent who has lived in the area for a long time. If you choose a full time, tech savvy agent with local market knowledge you will have made a good first step toward getting your Charlottesville home sold.
Copyright 2012 by Pam Dent all rights reserved “5 Questions To Ask Before You List Your Home For Sale“.
Open houses have been one of the staples for maketing in home for sale. On Sundays we still see many open houses advertised in the local paper. However how effective are open houses in today’s real estate market? If you have a Charlottesville home for sale, is it necessary for your real estate agent to hold an open house? Well the answer is yes…and no.
With the avalibility of all of the homes that are for sale on line, the internet has become the new open house. If the home is properly market, consumers will be able to go on line and see pictures of every room in the home. In addition there may be a visual tour or video tour. House hunters can view all of the homes for sale from the commfort of their living room. Then they can ask their agents to take them through their favorites.
If your home for sale is in a Charlottesville neighborhood that gets a lot of driveby or walking traffic, an open house may still get a lot of visitors. However if your home is in a more out of the way, or even rural location, an open house may not be effective.
You will want to be sure to hire an agent who is an internet marketing specialist. And remember that lots of excellent pictures are crucial! With that recipe your online Charlottesville open house will be a winner.
Copyright by Pam Dent, all rights reserved “Selling A Charlottesville Home – Open Houses“.
