This situation happens more often than anyone realizes – and, especially, if you are selling a house in one city and buying in another, it can get even trickier trying to make sure everyone who needs the proper paperwork and funds does, in fact, receive everything in a timely fashion. Although lenders are hard at […]
Things to Avoid Before You Close on Your New Home
Now that the contract has been ratified, the home inspection period has passed and everything agreed to, buyers may think that everything is smooth sailing until they close on their new home. Right? Not quite. There are a number of other things buyers must NOT do before the final settlement date. If they’ve been approved […]
20 Tips On How to Have a Successful Yard Sale
With the start of spring comes the onset of the Yard Sale. A few days before any given weekend you will start to see the familiar neon colored signs posted on street signs and stuck into the ground with directions to a nearby yard or garage sale. A yard sale, for those who are moving, […]
Minimize the stress of moving – 20 tips
Minimize the stress of moving day with these plan-ahead ideas. You’ve decided on a house and everything is moving smoothly towards settlement, so the next logical step is to break all of the moving parts into easy to follow steps to make it a success. Here are some tips to help you avoid, or […]
Charlottesville Home Appraisal
Understanding Why the Appraisal Process is So Important When you’ve found your dream home in the Charlottesville area, you and your Solutions agent will start to work on the purchase offer and discuss several items, including the home inspection, loan commit date and whether or not to add language that states the house must appraise for the […]
What is an “Escalation Clause” and when would a Buyer want to use it?
Here at Solutions, we recommend that our Buyers get pre-qualified with a local Charlottesville lender so they can be ready to move quickly as soon as that “just right” house hits the market. What is an Escalation Clause? This leads us to the question of the escalation clause, which is defined as “a real estate contract, […]
Five Signs Your House May Be Overpriced
As we head into the Charlottesville area 2014 Spring Market, buyers are paying attention to what inventory is available and which listings are truly making an effort vs. the ones that have been languishing for some time. Most sellers are anxious to make a good first impression and get their house sold quickly, but a […]
Types of Taxes in Virginia
It’s tax season again. Many Virginians may have some questions about the different categories of taxes they must pay. With some help from the Virginia Department of Taxation website, below are some helpful facts about state taxes. As an FYI, you must also pay federal taxes to the IRS in addition to the state taxes. […]
When to list your Charlottesville Home
This is a question that a client recently asked me. The answer is, well, it depends. It depends quite often on what your circumstance are. If you are relocating, then your timing will certainly be different than if you are just looking to downsize. So let us put the reason aside and ask, when is […]
Looking for a Charlottesville Home during Christmas
Most agents and people will report that the real estate market is slow during the holidays. This is generally true, but what I do find is that people who are looking are serious. This is because people spending their limited time, during Christmas, to shop for homes are typically not just browsing. So what is […]
Crozet Graffiti or Art?
For many people, the town of Crozet is really not very big. I often hear from people who are visiting that say “we are driving out to Crozet”. I have mixed thoughts when I hear that. First, I love Crozet but to me it is more of a feeling that a place. Second, I think […]
UVA at a glance
The University of Virginia (often abbreviated as UVA, UVa, or Virginia) was conceived and designed by President Thomas Jefferson and established on Jan. 25, 1819. The first classes met in March 1825. UVA’s first Board of Visitors included former Presidents of the United States Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, who owned the initial site […]
James Friend Dickerson joins Charlottesville Solutions
Good news travels fast and having James Friend Dickerson join us at Charlottesville Solutions is certainly good news! Jim is a wonderful addition to Solutions as he brings years of experience and exceptional customer service. A native of Central Virginia, James lived in Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Louisa Counties before heading to Virginia Tech to study Forestry […]
Historic Charlottesville Walkways
There is a lot of history around Charlottesville and sometimes, when I am walking down a sidewalk I wonder why else has walked there. Below is a photo of a sidewalk I took at the University of Virginia. These walkways were designed by Thomas Jefferson and built by his architects. There have been literally millions of feet on these […]
Charlottesville Cicadas are here
What’s worse than stink bugs and lady bugs put together? You guessed it, the 17 year Cicada, and they are beginning to arrive in Charlottesville right now. Your pets may snack on them and your ear drums may suffer but long term there shouldn’t be lasting effects. I photographed this fine specimen this morning while […]
Resale Home Prices will Rise
Maybe sooner than expected. It is all about the numbers, let me expand on this statement. With the slowdown in the economy, what we have been seeing locally in Charlottesville, and on a national level, is New Construction has been out pacing Resales for the last couple of years. Buyers have been drawn to new, […]
Charlottesville City Schools
Schools are an essential part of learning about any area and Charlottesville City Schools are no exception. Tour homes – Tour schools When looking at real estate, touring homes is important, but it is also extremely important to learn about and tour the schools in that area. This is true in any area you are considering. […]
Charlottesville Solutions is a Green Business
What do I mean by this? When we opened the doors at Solutions, two years ago, I had a few simple rules for myself and our agents. One of the most important rules was “never hand me a piece of paper“. The story actually started several years ago. I wrote a blog post in […]
Let’s Celebrate Charlottesville’s 250th Birthday!
For those who know and love Charlottesville, or even those who are just starting to call our beautiful city home, we’re about to celebrate Charlottesville’s 250th Birthday! For more details on how the city is celebrating – from exhibits and concert events to a civic ceremony on the actual date, Nov. 12, 2012 – please visit: Celebrate […]
Fall Party with Charlottesville Solutions
Our Autumn party was one of the best yet. The weather was perfect and mother nature had outdone herself decorating with all the rich colors of autumn, creating a perfect backdrop. Add to that good food, great company and you have that just right combination for a good time. So often we just don’t take […]
Indian Springs in Charlottesville Virginia
Rarely does a property with such majestic views as 11 Indian Ridge Road come on the market in central Virginia. This seven acre estate parcel located in Indian Springs, about 12 mins North-West of Charlottesville in Albemarle County, offers panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The home site offers views from every window of your […]
Haden Place Crozet Virginia
We are pleased to annonce that a new neighborhood is just breaking ground in Crozet. Haden Place is located on Haden lane, between Old Trail and Jarman’s Gap. Details of Haden Place This 34 home subdivision has been planned for years and is being brought to you be Gibson homes . The 14 single family homes […]
Becky Crowe and Gibson Homes join Solutions
I promised you a surprise from Solutions and we are very excited to announce that Becky Crowe has joined Charlottesville Real Estate Solutions. Many people know Becky as not only an exceptional agent and advocate for her clients, but also as the representative for Gibson Homes in Charlottesville. Having a background in new construction gives […]
Retire to Charlottesville
When we first moved to Charlottesville, it was because we were looking for a better quality of life. We wanted four seasons, low crime, smaller town feel, excellent schools, exceptional health care and fine dining. We also wanted a healthy place to raise our children and certainly found this in Charlottesville. What is interesting is […]
Charlottesville Solutions welcomes Sybil Mahanes
Well the word is out and we are very excited to announce that Sybil Mahanes has joined Charlottesville Real Estate Solutions. Sybil was born and raised in Charlottesville Virginia. Her love of the area and its people is infectious. Prior to real estate, Sybil was the owner of the Ivy Store, a landmark in Western […]
Finding a Charlottesville Home or Finding a Charlottesville School?
Great question! As a father who relocated his family to the Charlottesville area over 12 years ago, I can tell you that I started by looking at schools first. The neighborhood and homes were second and third on my priority list. Many agents will give you the mantra, Location, Location, Location. This is certainly important, […]
First meeting with Charles in Charlottesville
As my clients know I love the Charlottesville area and I love showing Charlottesville Real Estate and Homes to my clients. A lot of factors go into the decision to relocate to a new area and one thing I have learned is that no two clients are alike in this regard. If time permits, we will […]
Local Tax Rates
Our City and local Counties set their own tax rates. Home Owner Taxes are based on the assessed value. Below are the 2023 rates: (This information should be verified by contacting the county office directly) 0.96 – Charlottesville City 0.854 – Albemarle County 0.844 – Fluvanna County 0.57 – Greene County 0.58 – Louisa County […]
New Construction in Charlottesville
Many of my clients build with me, and, in fact, it’s a large part of my business. Since my background is in engineering, I feel right at home in the design phase and the selection of a proper home site, not to mention planning out all of the details. My Background I can remember a […]
Zillow or Realtor which is best?
For Charlottesville Real Estate the answer is Neither – read on… Using the Web to Search I have clients who use a computer to do everything from ordering pizza to trading stocks. When people become so accustomed to using the web to find everything, they can sometimes over think things, and real estate is one […]
