Friday, October 24, 2008

Have 36 hours to kill?

The New York Times Travel section, which does a "36 Hours in..." series for cities, usually like Paris and London, have added Charlottesville to their list.

It's certainly a fine way to spend a weekend, but my husband wanted me to point out that while the Bluegrass Grill is nice, the best grits in Charlottesville are at the Horse and Hound.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I have some data for you!

For all those interested, here is a link to the CAAR 3rd Quarter Report.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

See no evil, hear no evil.

I try to be positive, yet talking to people who barely make it through the month (never mind gas prices and the threat of losing their jobs) and see the value of their homes drop from when they purchased it two years ago makes it hard for me to say things are "fine". Maybe when you hear about figures like "$700 billion" in the news every day, numbers like 10,000 or 20,000 may not seem like much, but those are the numbers I deal with every day. A $10,000 loss on a sale of a house was unthinkable just a year ago, now it is reality for some sellers. So what solutions can I offer?

1) while selling don't compare this year with last or two years ago (it hurts too much)
2) if you don't have to sell, don't (I have told several clients to wait)
3) if you have to sell, keep your options open (be flexible when it comes time to negotiate)

The other day I turned off the radio so I wouldn't have to listen to any more Wall Street news. Unfortunately, we can't turn off the bad news of the economy right now. But even in this economy my job is the same. I am trying hard to get the best deal for my clients, whether buying or selling.