Mood of the market

I have been in the middle of negotiations on two tracts of land for the past couple of days and still have not come to a final agreement on either tract. It seems that it has been a little more difficult to bring a buyer and seller to agreement in a real estate transaction lately.
The seller wants the '05 price when the market was at the peak and the buyer wants the deep discount deal.( I suppose that is understandable considering how the media has a story every day about how bad off the real estate market is. So that is what the public expects.)However, it is a different real estate market in land sales than it is residential sales. Usually, in a down market land values remain flat because there are fewer parcels of land available at any one time than there are residential properties for sale. Most landowners have owned the land for several years and have no debt. So in many instances, if the owner cannot obtain the price that he wants then he waits until market conditions are better.If the owner has to sell in a buyers' market,then negotiations are much more difficult.

Assessed Values for Land In Goochland County

While researching sales of vacant land of parcels in the 30-75 acre range in Goochland County recently, I noticed that there have been several sales in recent months that have sold for less than the county's assessed value. All parcels of land are unique and different in some way and there is no locality that I am aware of that inspects every parcel of land in the county. Usually the county hires a firm that does "blanket" appraisals.( a generalization of value for land parcels usually of similar size within the county )Sometimes it seems a value is derived from one sale. Although I understand why it is not practical time -wise for these firms to do an in depth appraisal,it seems that they should at least recognize a trend that sale prices have leveled off or may have declined slightly from a couple of years ago. Oh well, maybe that will be reflected in next year's assessment

Goochland County

What a beautiful time of the year! Particularly if you are driving through Goochland County, Virginia. The topography is rolling and very similar looking to other areas that are in the foothills of Virginia. Yet close to Richmond. I recently was walking a tract on the James River that has prominent bluff views of the river below. The views are second to none.

Water in Waverly (Sussex County, Virginia)

Waverly,Virginia is a small southside town along the Norfolk and Western line. It is an incorporated town within Sussex County and lies to the southeast of Richmond about 45 miles. If you are driving through you will notice a water tower(typical look for a small town).Water supply for the residents and industry is lifeblood for a town's survival.

Up until now,little consideration has been given to water resources.But with the world population growing,water is becoming more precious.The Wall Street Journal in the March 11th edition,had an article about how Australia has improved the efficiency and affordability of the desaleanation process and is using it on a wide scale.The article goes on to say how this process has become an important part of Australia's water supply since typical sources of water such as lakes have been low due to low rainfall in recent years.

As for Waverly, it is currently seeking approval from the DEQ(Department of Environmental Quality of Virginia) to expand their current water supply by increasing the quantity of water drawn out of the acquifier. (Of course there are other localities that are on the same acquifier and are probably making the same request.)This request has been in the process for more than a year with a possibility of an expansion of capacity within another 30 days. ( This may not be correct now since I was told this by the mayor in the beginning of the year.) When I learn of the latest news on that I will let everyone know.

With this expansion, the town can attract more industry and commercial businesses to serve the local population and economy, which is important for a town's survival. It also affects potential of land values and how the land can be used.

Water is a resource that has pretty much been taken for granted in the past but it appears that is changing rapidly.

"Paying for Public Infrastructure"

This is the title of the op/ed page in The Times Dispatch on Saturday February 23, 2008. The page had a view from Virginia Sen. John Watkins and a contrasting view from Chesterfield County supervisors Art Warren and Dan Gecker. And what a contrast.
Sen. Watkins is introducing a bill that would eliminate the cash proffer system, a system where the locality attaches a cash amount to lots on land that has been rezoned to residential since about 1989 in Chesterfield. The cash has to be paid to the county before a building permit is issued. This cost ,of course is passed on to the homeowner, which increases the cost of their new home.Sen. Watkins is proposing an impact fee that would replace the cash proffer. This fee would be lower than the proffer but would apply to all new homes regardless of whether or not the subdivision had a cash proffer imposed on the land when it was rezoned. Sen. Watkins does a good job of illustrating how the impact fee if it had been in effect would have brought in more money to the county and been a more fair tax rather than taxing people in select areas of the county.
I did not think Mr. Gecker and Mr. Warren's argument for the cash proffer was as compelling.They basically said that the current system is fine because each case is different. I would agree that each case is different so why are they using a one size fits all system such as the cash proffer system and targeting homeowners who at some point in the future will move to specific subdivisions in the county?
The way I see it is that it is easier to tax future homeowners in the name of slowing growth rather than face the current constituents and raise taxes when and where needed and to cut spending . It is kind of like the progressive income tax scale where a few are taxed the most to benefit a larger number of citizens who pay less.The politician gets more people on his side that way.
What Sen. Watkins is proposing is a more fair and equitable tax and benefits the county more than the cash proffer system. It still is a tax on the new homeowner but it is more fair in that it is not specific to any location, is much less burdensome, inflates the values of properties less,and makes housing more affordable.
What it doesn't do is give the politicians as much power as they have over land owners and developers and forces them to be more accountable and responsible to every citizen.

King and Queen County Sales

I spent a little time in the clerk's office yesterday and picked up a few recent land sales.One thing about King and Queen is that it is so quiet,even at the courthouse. I came out of the administration building and you could have heard a pin drop. Not too many places in Central Virginia outside of the government centers where the silence is very obvious. One of my favorite places to go. Anyhow,back to what I was going to say. Here are a few land sales:

Lynchburg Land Investors Llc from Forestree GM LLC ; 263 Acres ; $785,000 ; Deed dated 6/28/07 ; near Shacklefords ; fronts the York River

Nature Conservancy from Church View LLC ; 2 parcels ; 209 and 22.94 Acres ; $540,500 ; Deed dated 9/20/07 ; Dragon Run

Mapledale LLC from James R. Owens and others ; approximately 206 acres ; $550,000 ; Deed dated 9/17/07 ; long road frontage on Route 619 ; Newtown district

New Kent Real Estate Sales- Large Tracts

I have been working in New Kent County recently. Since I am in the business of listing and selling large tracts of land in the Richmond Area, I noticed that there were no tracts that are greater than 100 acres that transferred in New Kent County in 2007. There were 2 sales close in size to a 100 acres, a 90.1 acre tract that transferred 4/27/07 in Deed Book 500 on Page 168 for $350,000.00 with no improvements and located off of Rt.606 near the Hanover line.The other was a 96.5 acre in the East Slaterville Development with no improvements and a 50 foot deeded right of way. The development is located on New Kent Hwy east of the courthouse. The property transferred for $347,882.50 on 9/11/07 and is recorded in Deed Book 510 on Page 695.
Indicative of the real estate slowdown? - I guess. I thought that was interesting.