NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

3 Things You Did Not Know About Stuart Mease

If you've lived in the New River Valley for any period of time, it's quite possible you've heard of Stuart Mease.  He knows everyone, it seems - I saw him at a basketball game the other night, working the crowd, shaking hands, talking to folks of all ages.  He even ran for Mayor of Blacksburg a few years ago. 

Did you also know he eats two sugar-free Popsicles every night before bed?  That's probably how he keeps so slim and trim.  I tagged him the other day to find out a few random things about this politician-in-the-making.  Check out his response at his blog, StuartMease.com.

First & Main A "Sales Pitch"? Or A Real Possibility?

A real possibility, it looks like, particularly after another hearing swings in Fairmount Properties' favor.

From Tonia Moxley and The Roanoke Times:

After more than four hours of legal wrangling and passionate testimony, on a 4-0 vote the Blacksburg Board of Zoning Appeals upheld the town's approval of site plans for a large chunk of the 40-acre First & Main retail project. Building permits for parts of the project have also been approved, and construction has begun on the site. Some stores could open by the fall, Fairmount Properties attorney Jim Cowan has said.

I still contend that the Town and Developer would be better-served to actually sit down together and work things out, instead of costing the TAXPAYERS more money by fighting this out in court.  It doesn't look like all this legal wrangling is doing any good - Fairmount Properties keeps winning every one.  What are we proving by losing every battle?  Buildings are starting to come out of the ground, let's get going (this picture taking on Monday, already much more progress has been done since then.  And my apologies to the red Ford Explorer that had to change lanes as I stopped in the middle of Main Street to get this shot).   Sit down with Fairmount, work out the differences, come to a compromise and move forward.  Because of the tenant mix and notoriety, this affects not only the citizens of Blacksburg but of all of the New River Valley, so do what's right for your community.

Can someone tell me why we should be doing otherwise?  Click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post and tell us your thoughts.

5 Things You Might Not Know ...

... about me.

A fun post highlighting five things I've never talked about on the blog, and that you probably didn't care to know.  Then I think I'll pass it along to someone else in the blogosphere, so that we can learn completely useless and trivial knowledge about them, as well.  Here goes:

5 Things You Might Not Know About Me

1.  As a kid at summer camp, I was voted Dirtiest Camper.  I used to go to a camp called The Triple R Ranch every summer, and one year they created a deal where they pitted all the cabins against each other, and each cabin participated in various week-long contests.  One of the competitions was to have the dirtiest camper - I'm a team player, I hated showers (at the time, I promise that's changed - my wife made sure of it), so I figured it was for me.  I mucked horse stalls, jumped in mud puddles, rolled around in the dirt - at the end of the week, it was Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.  But my folks made me ride home in the back of the truck.  Sorry, mom and dad.

2.  I played the piano for years as a kid - hated it.  The Mother seemed to think it was a good idea, which only made it WORSE of an idea in my mind.  We fought about it for years, until one day she figured out I was watching "SportsCenter" after she left for work and not practicing.  Geez ... was it really that tough to figure out?  The lessons ended soon thereafter.  You know what?  Wish I had kept it up.  Don't tell The Mother.

3.  In high school and college, I worked for a BBQ-joint in Virginia Beach called "The Beach Bully".   Honestly, some of the best BBQ you could ever ask for outside of North Carolina, and it rivals even that.  We catered a lot of private events, and worked a lot of festivals - including an Elvis festival one summer.  Guess who got to don the one-piece, polyester suit, complete  with fake rhinestones?  Yours truly.  Best damn Elvis Virginia Beach ever saw, I was.  There's photographic evidence, somewhere, I guarantee never to be found.

4.  My wife and I have a cat.  Her name is Cho Cho.  Interesting story how she got her name ... my wife, Natalie, lived in Korea for a few years as a child, and learned some of the language.  "Booger" (as in, you've got a booger hanging from your nose) in Korean is translated as "Cho Cho".  Or so we thought.  My very Korean boss at the time almost snorted the first time I told her how we came up with that name.  So now, my wife and I have a cat with a made-up Korean name.  Fantastic.

5.  Like many teenagers, I looked forward to getting my drivers license.  My first car was a 1989 Hyundai Excel hatchback, 0 to 60 in 24 seconds.  A speed demon.  Three months into my driving "career", I pulled a 58 in a 25 reckless driving charge, which meant that in the first six months I had my license, I was only able to drive for three of them.  It really sucked, having to be dropped off at school by your mother while all your friends drove in.  And it really put a crimp on my first job, driving an ice cream truck.  Maybe that's a lead in to another "Things You Didn't Know" post for some other time.

So there you have it.  5 Things You Might Not Know About Me.  Since this is a meme, I've got to pass it along, so I think I'll tag Stuart Mease and Alison Whittaker.  A brief note - Alison is just starting her blog and this will be her VERY FIRST POST, so make sure to check her out, subscribe to her blog, and help her get started.  There you go, 5 Things You Might Not Know about Stuart Mease & Alison Whitaker, be looking for their post.  Have at it guys!

Photo credit to:  Slavie Studio

Will NRVLiving Make The Tournament?

Not without your help. 

What tournament am I talking about?

How about the first annual Real Estate Blog Brawl, sponsored by - officially?  unofficially? - the Virginia Association of Realtors. 

Here's how it works.  It's a single-elimination, winner-take-all competition to establish whose blog ... well, there's really no reason for it.  It's bragging rights, pure and simple.  And I'm fairly certain I'm the first VA blogger to mention it other than the official announcement, so that's got to mean I'm at the top of the heap - for now.

I can't win without you.   And you want me to win, don't you?

By clicking here, you'll be directed to a single-field entry form.  Enter "http://NRVLiving.Typepad.com" into the field, and click "Submit".  It's that easy.  The top 64 blogs will move on in the tournament, with one blog eventually standing - after six rounds of exhausting voting - on the top of a very high and successful pile of Virginia real estate bloggers.  There are no rules, which means you can vote as many times as you want for the NRVLiving Blog.  If you're a programmer out there and can write a script that'll keep nominating me, feel free to contact me at jeremy (at) nrvliving (dot) com.  I'm not above that ... Again, all you have to do is CLICK THIS LINK and enter "http://NRVLiving.Typepad.com" into the text field.

Deadline to be nominated for the tournament is this Friday, February 29th at 11:59pm EST.  Don't think I want to win this thing?  It's 1:35am and I'm writing about this tournament, so I've got to imagine - at least for the time being - I'm the leader in the clubhouse.  Winners never sleep, and I don't plan on sleeping until I win.  So start clicking, NRVLiving Readers, and tell your friends about this contest!  There are absolutely no prizes available for helping, other than the good feeling you'll get once your mouse-clicking fingers regain sensation. :)

There's Blood In The Streets - What Are You Going To Do?

From Time.com comes this report ...

As John D. Rockefeller famously said, "The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets." And the streets are stained crimson.

Start with stocks. They have been pummeled this year. GDP braked sharply last quarter, and there has been plenty of panic about a recession. The Federal Reserve is slashing short-term interest rates at the fastest clip in decades. But if you stick to your steady, diversified plan while everyone else is retreating, you will be happy years from now. For one thing, Fed rate cuts always lift the economy eventually, and the stock market typically starts responding just as headlines get gloomiest. Sure, the market could fall again before recovering. But the recession may be half over already--or we may avoid one altogether. You just never know.

As for housing, certainly some skepticism is in order. Formerly sizzling markets in Florida, Nevada, Arizona and California probably haven't seen the worst headlines just yet, though they may well be close. And "jumbo" mortgages, those more than $417,000, are likely to remain artificially high for a few more months while banks work through their credit issues.

But let's say you are emotionally ready to be a homeowner. You have good credit, plan to stay put for five years and have been waiting for the perfect entry point. It's time to get serious--before an inevitable rise in interest rates wipes out your advantage. "The thing that will make home prices stop falling is the very same thing that will push mortgage rates higher," says Jim Svinth, chief economist at mortgage firm Lending Tree. So anything you gain by a further drop in prices might be offset by rising financing costs.

Consider a typical home that sells for $218,900. You put down 20% and get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at today's rate of 5.5%. Monthly principal and interest come to $994.31. Let's say that 12 months from now the same house goes for 10% less, or $197,010. But by then the recession is history and the Fed is jacking up rates to stem inflation. If mortgage costs rise a point, to 6.5%, your monthly payment would be $994.94 and you'd have saved nothing. Meanwhile, home prices might steady and sellers might become less willing to negotiate. And you have spent a year living someplace you'd rather not be.

It's more complicated if you must sell before you can buy. But that logjam won't persist forever--and if it appears you'll be trapped for a few years, try to refinance at today's lower rates. Risks always seem most acute when the headlines give you ulcers. But that's exactly when you should think long term--and get off your thumbs.

Buying a home might not be for everyone right now.  Just as some can't tolerate the ups and downs of the stock market, there are others that can't stomach the volatility of certain housing markets.  Thanks to VAR President Pat Jensen for the article.

Updated:  NAR President Dick Gaylord gets into the mix.

See? Affordable Housing IS Cool!

Blacksburg's Lee-Roanoke Street development has one it's THIRD national award, it was just announced.  The project provided 14 homes to individuals and families living within Town limits.

Very COOL ...

And Speaking Of Being Green ...

Here's a reprint of a post from Nick Bostic at AgentGenius.com on how to save a little green.

There are a few things you can do that will help to make a big step in the right direction.

1. Use ALL of your paper. Since so much of your business has moved online, you are probably still using paper to write notes on. As techie as I am and as much as I love email, I still write notes on actual paper. Use the back, use the margins, write in between notes you’ve previously written. Working for a title company, I see how much waste is created in this industry (we still don’t print double sided). According to RISMedia, “It is estimated you can save 20% on paper by everyone following these simple rules. This can save $70 per employee, per year or $7000 in just a 100 employee office! An employee in a typical business generates 1.5 pounds of waste paper per day, most of which is NOT recycled.”
2. Turn off lights.  Depending on the type of bulb determines when you should turn it off. My office faces west, but I honestly get enough light through the windows that I don’t need to even turn on my lights. My coworkers think I either forgot to turn them on or I’m simply not there, but when I tell them I’m saving power, they at least think about it.
3. Work from home. I know many of you pay desk fees so you want to get your money’s worth, but working from home saves significantly on mileage which in turn impacts emissions.
4. Change some bulbs.  I still talk to people who think the compact fluorescent lights (CFL) provide an inferior light. My parents used to joke that I wanted to house to look like an operating room, so I love lots of great light. I have changed all of my bulbs (I’ll admit, except for the dimmable ones) with CFL’s. They’re cheap now. Costco has them for great prices. They don’t go out nearly as often as incandescents. Dimmable ones are now available, I just can’t find them anywhere on me. When I’m done here, I’m going to order some online. According to Energy Star, “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.”
5. Turn off your computer and accessories.  If you leave everything on 24/7, you are spending an average of $138 per year per computer.  Your peripherals are still drawing power even though they are in standby.  Consider the Smart Strip (Oprah even recommends them), which uses your computer as the “command appliance” and when it turns off, it completely shuts down power to your peripherals as well. They pay for themselves within about 4-6 months in most cases. Check Amazon, since they are frequently out of stock from the manufacturer after the Oprah endorsement.
6. Buy Energy Star. The next office mini-fridge, printer or computer should be Energy Star. I’m not saying you should replace every single product you have, but when it’s time, spend the time to look up which products are best since they will pay for themselves in the long run. The Energy Star site will even tell you how much more efficient one product is compared to the next.

Little steps. None of these are expensive or difficult or dramatically life changing, but they all help. For those of you who are doing it, thank you. If you have more ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments.

It's really not that hard to make a significant difference.  Make sure to read the comments section, as well as this post by Seth Godin.  Now ... how can YOU make a difference?

Want Luxury? Buyers Just Want Green.

According to the WSJ article ...

Here's Your Huckleberry

In June, it was announced that the Huckleberry Trail would be extended from the Blacksburg Library all the way out to the Christiansburg Rec Center, making the trail a total of ... well, I can't find the exact distance, but it's probably in the neighborhood of 8 miles. 

The biggest hurdle was the Peppers Ferry Road crossover, specifically how to get Trail users over - or under - the road safely.  Well, they've figured it out.  Prefab, baby! 

Privacy, Members Only Jackets & Craigslist

I originally wrote this post for a real-estate industry blog I post to occasionally, but thought it might be appropriate here, as well. 

In all likelihood, most of us have used sites like Craigslist before, whether we were looking for a place for a customer or a sweet Members Only jacket - wait, is it just me that wants a Members Only jacket? My bad. The one in this picture sure looks nice, especially with the blue hoodie underneath.

A staff member in my office this morning sent out an email warning of a housing scam she had uncovered while searching for a place for her and her family to rent. She had uncovered a single-family house for rent here in Blacksburg, at a great monthly rate, but she also knew the house was for sale in our local MLS for $300,000+. When she contacted the email address listed on the posting, the person responded by asking questions that violated all sorts of Fair Housing rules, including asking her age and her religion, among others. The emailer claimed to be the owner of the house, and that they would be requiring two months rent with the application.

So what, right? Just a scam? Sure, just a scam, but the reason I bring it up here is because the posting had MLS pictures of the house right there in the ad - both interior and exterior photos were used. The exact street address was used. And it’s likely that this staff member wasn’t the first person to contact about such a low rent for such a great house.

The point - be careful. The TRUE owners of this home were not aware their home was getting unwanted attention based on this scam ad. They had no idea someone was advertising their home and location for sale, or who might have been driving by. It’s no indictment against their listing agent, who immediately notified them so that they could have the ad removed from Craigslist. Instead, it’s a reminder to constantly be aware that the distribution of information is a benefit to all of us, but we also need to monitor what's being put online as well.  You never know who’s watching.

Photo credit: Bradley J

Blacksburg Names A New Planning Director (updated 2/21/08)

Yesterday I shared that Blacksburg had named a new Planning Director.  One of the comments I received on the post was so good that I wanted to share it in its entirety, in a new post.

Bill wrote:

I was thinking about this very topic the other day and realized that I wish the town council really had taken another approach to this whole thing. One is acknowledged their mistake when approving the changes to the master plan which allowed the Wal-Mart in the first place (btw I am in support of the Wal-mart). Now instead of passing a new Ordinance which even by their own admission is flawed, and then suing the development company and then in essence themselves, why didn't they sit down with the development company spend the 100k they've spent in lawyer fees to come up with a solution that will work for the town and the development company. Find ways to shelter the surrounding community and the nearby school. Look at changing the roads to effect traffic patterns to minimize traffic in the neighborhoods, or even changing the master plan again to put the Wal-Mart on the opposite side of the development. Or even better work with the development company to bring in another store like Ukrops or something that wouldn't have such a negative feeling towards it...You can't tell me Blacksburg wouldn't go just as nuts as Roanoke did over a Ukrops. I just think the town council needs new thinking in it to bring smart growth to town by working with developers instead of NO-growth or after how I have seen the town act what I like to call dumb growth. Like you mentioned all this does is scare developers away that have good ideas, and can keep the small town feeling that the b'burg citizens want to keep.

I think he's right.  Why didn't they just spend the money working WITH Fairmount Properties rather than AGAINST?  This all doesn't rest solely on the shoulders of Blacksburg, of course - the same could be said of Fairmount Properties, as well.  Nevertheless, here we are, and I could argue that Blacksburg's citizens are no better off for it, at least at this point. 

Is Bil right?  Would his suggestion have been a better alternative to the lawsuit Blacksburg is currently embroiled in?  Or was the Town Council correct in attempting to enforce retroactively an Ordinance passed because of First & Main?

Buy What You Want NOW, Not Later?

Jim Duncan just sent this out and it makes a lot of sense. His point?  Buy a better house now, get the things you want now so that when you need to sell, you'll either be selling a comparable house to those that are being built at the time, or one that's just comfortable and fits YOU. 

How Will You Adapt?

I know some folks are interested in the differences between Gen X to Gen Y to Millennials and how they all view things differently.  This is an interesting video that I came across on Matt Rathbun's website, but I thought it an interesting depiction of what our college communities are facing  with today's students. What are our students thinking?  What are they saying?  This class at Kansas State University is trying to tell us.

The video was sent to me because it asked the question "What will the future real estate client look like?".  But the same could be said for YOUR industry - for any industry. 

• What will future TEACHERS look like?
• What will future BANKERS look like?
• What will future FILL IN THE BLANK look like?

It's an interesting question, to look at your specific industry and ask "what will the future look like?"  And how will you adapt?  I chatted with Matt a little online this morning and he mentioned that when he first showed the video in one of his classes, some of the agents felt the video was "ageist".  They reasoned he was trying to say that if they didn't keep up with technology, they'd soon be out of a job.  But that's not the point.  The point is, we can't do things the same way forever because the world around us changes - if we don't change with it, we're taking a very narrow-focused approach and not imagining the possibilities.

What's your industry telling you?  And how will you respond?

Tip of the cap to Matt Rathbun (who has more acronyms behind his name than I think I've ever seen) for the videos and conversation.

Blacksburg Names A New Planning Director

I hope she knows what she's in for.

That's a cynical thing to write, I know.  It was also the first thing I thought when I read the article.  Why do we make things so difficult when it comes to planning and development within Blacksburg town limits?   Seriously, I've had several builder/developers - some with national reputations for their creative planning when it comes to density and use - say they'll never build in Blacksburg again because the Town makes it so difficult.  First & Main is a perfect example of a Town and developer not having open and honest communication back and forth ... and now look, they're embroiled in a lawsuit.  All the while, the Town's citizens are hamstrung by the lack of progress, and confused on what to expect from their leadership.

All the best Anne, I truly wish you all the best.  Maybe fresh leadership in this area is what we need?

Austin Powers says $1 Billion Baby, YEA!

Austin says it's $1 Billion baby, YEA!

It was funny when Austin Powers said it, but not as funny now that Virginia lawmakers have to debate exactly HOW to make up the anticipated $1 billion budget shortfall Virginia will be seeing this year.   The Governor had suggested a withdrawal of nearly $425 million from the rainy day fund, while the Republican-controlled House suggested $225 million be withdrawn.  As with everything politics, I'm sure there's a lot of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" going on, but it'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.  In all likelihood, the Session will run longer than normal until they get it worked out - you can follow it all and more on Richmond Sunlight.

What's it mean for the New River Valley, and specifically how do communities like Blacksburg and Radford that rely heavily on the universities that lie within their boundaries?  Really, the entire New River Valley relies on Virginia Tech and Radford University in a lot of ways, but how does talk of a budget shortfall affect us here?  I've been critical of The Roanoke Times in the past, but I have to give them credit for writing a very timely article on the subject, by one of my favorite reporters there, Tonia Moxley. 

The gist of the article is that towns like Blacksburg and Radford are not immune to a recession, but the universities they support help to soften the blow.  When we were on Capital Hill last week, that was one of the comments our delegation made to Dave Nutter - our university communities seem to be doing quite well, at least when it comes to real estate, because of the periphery of businesses that surround the universities, as well as the schools themselves.  Just like you would diversify your financial portfolio, the diversification of the economic portfolio (wow, I sound smart) helps keeps things on a fairly even keel.  According to Ernest Wade, an economics instructor at Radford University quoted in Tonia Moxley's article, the universities provide high-quality jobs (although not always high-paying) that don't rely on what he calls "smoke stack industries".  I can imagine that one example of an area here that does rely on such an industry would be Pulaski and its loss of the Pulaski Furniture Company.   

It takes careful planning, though - we're not likely to see major changes here in the Valley, but there's a good chance we'll see small ones, and that, according to Blacksburg Town Manager Marc Verniel, requires careful planning and supplementation of alternative revenue streams.  Something we ought to be doing anyhow. 

What's to come?  I certainly don't know.  I feel confident, however, that the Valley will continue to grow and thrive despite what the short-term holds.  What do you expect to see? 

It's Not Easy Being Green

But it's getting easier.  From the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M comes this news ... The Scoring Tool is a neat idea, it gives builders the visual of what they can do to increase their ranking. 

Locally, builders are getting into the act as well - most notably at Mount Tabor Meadows, which we'll be highlighting on the radio show in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned for that!

Thanks to Lani at RERevealed for the heads up!

"This Week, On NRVLivingBlog.com"

Sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? 

Posting has been light this past week as I've been attending VAR's Legislative & Education Conference in Richmond.  I didn't get as much posting to the blog as I had hoped for, but did bring back some topics I hope to cover this week - including a discussion of SB768 and how it can affect us here in the Valley.  We'll also get into - I hope - the Governor's announced budget shortfall, expected to be in the tidy sum of ~ $1.4 billion. 

Also upcoming, how do university towns handle recessions and budget shortfalls?  And don't forget, Suggest A Post is always open and somewhere, somehow, I'll fit that in as well!

Finally, A Gorgeous Day In Richmond

I Don't Like the National Association of REALTORS(R) (NAR) New Ad Campaign

I was watching television with my wife the other night, when one of the National Association of REALTORS(R) new public awareness commercials came on.  You've probably seen them as well - the actress says that home values double every 10 years, and have increased by 6% EVERY YEAR over the last 30 years.  What an investment!

But it's not true.  I wish they'd stop playing them.  It's true that real estate is a good investment, but how can you tell a home seller in Detroit that they're home is going to double every 10 years, when they led the nation in foreclosures in 2007?  A seller has to see that commercial and just steam ... I'm sure I would. 

NAR needs to focus on the fact that each market is local.  Apparently, TheBrickRanch.com and the Ohio Association of REALTORS(R) agrees, and they've asked NAR to modify their message.  Hopefully, someone is listening.

(Update 2/16/08: NAR has responded to our calls - we'll see what comes out of it)

Upcoming Suggest A Post Ideas

A couple of days ago I wrote that I wanted to know what readers were looking for in this little corner of the real estate web.  It was spurred in part by Ryan, a reader from Ohio, who wrote in suggesting a discussion about how to consider what remodeling projects to undertake in a home.  Good topic, and particularly important in a down market like Ohio is experiencing right now.  But he wasn't the only one!

So, upcoming topics I'll be working on include:

• Who's blogging about the NRV
• Why do agents create a niche
• How to consider what remodels
• Things to know about VA's real estate market

I'm looking forward to working on these over the next couple of weeks, but PLEASE!  Don't stop there - if there's something you'd like to discuss, email me and let me know!  And don't forget to use the Comments section on any post you'd like to discuss in more detail.