The Guardian article about Happiness called Charlottesville
"....For years, Charlottesville has been picking up the prizes. It's been named best town for food lovers by
Wine Magazine; best college town in the country by
Traveler's Today; the country's favourite mountain town by
Travel & Leisure; and one of the happiest and healthiest places in the US by
Business Insider.
"It's a bastion of liberalism in the south," says building contractor
Jim Raymond, who arrived as a student in the late 60s and built a life
here.
Just
two hours from Washington DC, C-ville (as the locals call it) offers
quiet country retreats and horseback rides in nearby Shenandoah National
Park, the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge mountains, as well as a
wealth of history that includes the homes of Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison. Its array of restaurants offer exceptional gastronomic variety...."
Charlottesville is the happiest place to call home! Labels: albemarle, albemarle county real estate, best place to raise family, Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville, happiest place to call home
UVA Lawn is one of the most beautiful and Iconic......
UVA Lawn is named one of 14 the most beautiful and iconic American College quads. Come visit and stay! That's what happened to me and my husband.
Labels: Best college, best small town, Charlottesviile real estate, UVA
End of the Year Market Report is coming out today!
Here is what's inside: Greater Charlottesville
yearly home sales up 10 percent over 2012; and median sales price in
2013 was the highest level since 2008, with the quarterly sales price
up 4.6 percent over Q4-2012.
Labels: 2013 end of the year market report, albemarle, Charlottesviile real estate, Inessa Telefus, open house
When Is a Good Time?
How to Know When to Sell Your Home
Is there a right time to sell your home?
By Herbert J. Cohen
You like your home but you
just received a raise and your income will go up substantially. You
begin thinking of moving into a larger home in a nicer neighborhood. You
know you are living in precarious and unpredictable economic times and
you wonder if this is the right time to sell your home. Will you be
making a financial mistake if you sell in this unpredictable economic
environment? No one has a crystal ball, but there are several factors
you should consider before making a decision to sell your home. A
mistake could cause you lots of money and worry.
Why do you want to sell?
The big question you need to
answer for yourself is why you want to sell. It is a lifestyle question
and does not depend upon the time of the year. If you find yourself in a
buyer's market, the seller is at a disadvantage. You want to be
absolutely sure in your own mind that the move makes sense. If you
decide that you really want to sell your home, then here are some things
to keep in mind.
Is there a best time to sell?
Conventional wisdom says the
right time to sell your home is in the spring since that is the time
when there are largest number of buyers. But that is also the time of
the largest home inventory. So what about the winter? Good idea,
perhaps, since it is a time of less competition with fewer houses on the
market. But can you be sure? In the summer buyers may feel a sense of
urgency, with school approaching, and in the fall empty nesters, not
concerned about school opening dates, may be more motivated to buy. The
bottom line: Sell your home when you truly want to move and don't tie
your moving decision to any season of the year.
Before selling, do your homework to get the best price for your home
Once you decide to sell your
home, do your homework. Find out what comparable houses in your
neighborhood are selling for. Calculate what they are selling for per
square foot. That is a useful number to know as you evaluate the current
market value of your home and other homes you are considering buying.
Stage your home. You don't need a professional to do this. You can do it
yourself. Here's the basic idea:
-
Make sure your home is spotlessly clean, especially your kitchen and bathrooms.
-
Clean the carpets professionally. Paint the main areas of your home with a neutral color.
-
Get rid of the clutter.
-
Pack away personal stuff like photos of family and personal knick-knacks.
-
Put away small appliances like toasters to make more clear counter space.
-
You want a clean, spacious look. Consider taking one piece of furniture out of each room so your home looks uncluttered.
Price your home to sell
The most important thing in
today's economy is price. Forget about what you paid for the house. The
price of a home is determined by today's market conditions, so don't get
stuck playing an old memory tape about how great the house is and how
much it was worth when you bought it years ago. That is irrelevant.
Price your home under market value to get the most buyer traffic and
interest.
First impressions of your home
Now step outside and look at
your house. Does your house have "curb appeal?" Is the lawn trimmed? Is
the front door painted? Is there a plant near the main entrance? You
don't have a second chance to make a first impression, so make sure that
the first impression is a great one. Good luck on selling your home
when you want to sell it.
Labels: 2013 real estate trends, albemarle county real estate, buyer agent, c'ville, Charlottesviile real estate, real estate agent
Albemarle Housing Improvement Program » House Party
AHIP’s
mission—To ensure safe, affordable homes for our neighbors in need.
Everyone should be safe at home. This is why, year-round, AHIP helps
families in need make critical home repairs. Together with our
supporters, volunteers and partners, AHIP changes lives, saves
livelihoods, and makes neighborhoods and our community a better place
for everyone.
RSVP deadline is today!
Albemarle Housing Improvement Program » House PartyLabels: AHIP, Charlottesviile real estate, loring woodriff real estate associates, Morven Farm
2nd Annual Bike Walk Play JPA event - just perfect!
Here is how our
Bike Walk Play JPA event was covered by local media:
NBC 29 story
"Even though a lot of people may drive up and down this street, actually
walking it, running into their neighbors, being able to say hi and just
take their time was a completely different experience for them, that
was really unique and also special," said co-organizer Susan Elliott.
Newsplex
"Summer means water and we could play the
game
in our own driveway and yard any other day but today is about being in
the street with your neighbors," Inessa Telefus, who lives in JPA.
The Daily Progress
"It makes the neighborhood feel like a place I want to be, not just where my house happens to be," Elliott said.
Labels: Bike Walk Play JPA, Bike Walk Play JPA - 2013, Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville city schools, Charlottesville fire department, City of Charlottesville, fry's spring neighborhood, Inessa Telefus
Fantastic Offering - close to UVA and Downtown - $314,900
1180 Cottage Green Way - the current owners have not had this quality home for more than 2 years but new buyers will benefit from their exceptional taste in decorating and finishing choices. Close Downtown and UVA, county taxes. Parking is in the alley behind the house. Nothing could be built in front of the house!
Labels: 1180 Cottage Green Way, albemarle county real estate, Charlottesviile real estate, great buy, Inessa Telefus, Redfields, Southern Development
Not too high and not to low! Price it right and it will go!
Determining a price for your home is both an art and a science and I
have been perfecting it year after year.
Here are a few things I
have learned over the years:
Factors that do affect a property value:
- style
- location
- time of the year
- property and neighborhood
- how quickly seller needs to sell
Factors that do not affect a property value:
- what the owners paid when they bought the property
- some of the improvements or upgrades the owners made to the property
- the cash proceeds the owners need or want from the transaction
- what friends, neighbors or relatives say the property is worth
Labels: Charlottesviile real estate, cville, Inessa Telefus, local real estate, pricing, real estate market, selling real estate
Great real estate news nationwide
Heard on the radio yesterday, while driving around from one appointment to the next "sales of existing homes went up 12% nationwide, largest increase in the last 7 years". Indeed!
Labels: albemarle county real estate, Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville, Inessa Telefus
Walk to Downtown Mall!
Several new listings in the Downtown area in various price points!
1104 St Charles Ct
Better than new condition!
Labels: Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville city schools, Downtown Charlottesville, homes for sale, St. Charles Place
CAAR 4th Qtr Market Report is out - ready for spring market!
Charlottesville Area Year-End 2012 Highlights:
- Overall sales in Greater Charlottesville were up 15% over 2011, resulting in largest year-over-year increase in seven years.
- Active inventory to close 2012 was at the lowest level since year-end 2005 and down 13% from year-end 2011.
- Median sales price for the region in Q4-2012 was up 8% over last quarter and Q4-2011 to $260,000.
- New listings were up 9% from the same quarter last year—the largest increase since Q4-2006.
Labels: albemarle county real estate, buyer agent, Charlottesviile real estate, listing, market report, real estate investment
7 Reasons to Visit Monticello | Travel News from Fodor's Travel Guides
7 Reasons to Visit Monticello
By Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson
In Italian, the word means "little mountain," but for Thomas Jefferson no mountain ever mattered more. As a boy growing up in its shadow at his family's Shadwell plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia, Jefferson wandered the site of his future home, dreaming of what he might one day build here. And build he did, creating one of the great American houses and sites.
1. It's as close as you can get to a conversation with Thomas Jefferson. To walk these rooms and gardens is to walk through the mind of the man who created it. The light symbolizes his devotion to reason; the underground pavilions his dependence on slavery. It's all here—complex, detailed, and real.
2. The decorations. The portraits and statues embody a noble ethos. Here you will see a bust of John Adams, Jefferson's "frenemy," and a bust of Alexander Hamilton, who was pretty much just an enemy. Jefferson wanted his house to offer visitors a view of the great players in American history whether he was allied with those players or not.
3. The views. Jefferson placed his house facing west, where he could seemingly see forever. We still can.
4. The gardens. Jefferson loved to grow things and found joy in the creation and maintenance of beauty. The grounds are still wonderfully maintained by a terrific staff.
5. The dining room. Recently restored to its brilliant Jeffersonian yellow, the room is breathtaking—a center of civilized discourse.
6. Mulberry Row. Monticello is open and honest about the central role slavery played in making Jefferson's life possible, and there are an abundance of resources about life on the plantation both on-site and online.
7. Did I mention that going to Monticello is as close as you'll ever get to sitting down to talk to Thomas Jefferson?
Jon Meacham, executive editor at Random House, is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House and the New York Times bestsellers Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship and American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. His latest work, Thomas Jefferson goes on sale November 13. He lives in New York City with his wife and children.
Photo credits: Aerial view of Monticello courtesy of Leonard Phillips; Decorative arts courtesy of Robert C. Lautman; Gardens courtesy of Robert Llewellyn; Mulberry Row courtesy of Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello. All images copyright by Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.
Labels: albemarle, Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville, monticello, Thomas Jefferson
CAAR 2012 Q3 Report
Here are the highlights (very much optimistic), please call or e-mail if you wanted to chat more about the report.
Labels: 2012 3rd quarter report, albemarle county real estate, Charlottesviile real estate, market trends, real estate statistics
UVA's Darden School is ranked number 2 in the world
The University of Virginia’s
Darden School of Business is the No. 2 business school in the world, according to The Economist, which on Thursday released its
10th annual ranking of the Top 100 international MBA programs.
Here is a
full article Labels: business, Charlottesviile real estate, charlottesville, darden school, UVA
from a happy Belmont resident
"I had a very favorable experience using Ms. Inessa Telefus as my realtor
only two months ago now. From start to finish, I was impressed with her
professionalism, loyalty and sound judgment. When the seas got rough,
she knew how to steady the course to get the job done. Ms. Telefus uses
her superior interpersonal skills to quickly gain a sense of trust and
to establish rapport with her clients-This is ultimately what makes her
unique. I would recommend Ms. Telefus wholeheartedly." - M.A.Labels: Belmont, buyer agent, Charlottesviile real estate, Inessa Telefus
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