Katie, I am new to Trulia Voices, but not new to real estate in the Ruckersville area. Prudential Charlotte Ramsey has office in both Charlottesville and in Ruckersville. I have lived in Greene County for nearly twenty years and work out of our Ruckersville office.

What Deb and John wrote about real estate being local and having many variables is very evident in our market at the moment. Statistics from our local real estate board show that while sales in the City of Charlottesville have remained fairly steady, in Greene our number of sales are down significantly and the average price of a home is down by 13% since this time last year. We have lots of inventory available, which means that buyers have lots from which to choose. We have started to see some people remove their homes from the market, but in many cases it is known that they still want to sell. Some sellers have lowered their prices to meet market demand, but others are afraid to lower their prices because they feel that buyers will "smell blood" and ask them to lower them even more. There really is no set or average amount that sellers would come down off their price, but I know this market well and would be glad provide you with pricing information on the homes that interest you.

Wed Jul 16 2008, 17:44

Katie, there are so many variables when it comes to what a buyer should offer and what a seller will accept in today's market. What a seller in Ruckersville would consider can be vastly different than what might be acceptred in Richmond or Roanoke, or Virginia Beach.

The same can said of individual sellers in Ruckersville. The motivations of any number of sellers can be vastly different. So buyers need to start with what they can afford and then, with research or with the help of a realtor, zero in on homes they like or neightborhoods where they want to live, and make aggressive offers.

As John Youcker pointed out, all real estate is local.


Best of luck to you!


Deb Orth

Wed Jul 9 2008, 01:01

Katie, it is totally up to you what to offer on a home, but a good agent will coach you through the process by performing a market analysis of a home prior to writing an offer on the property. Most times, sellers will negotiate price, it just depends on how the home is priced to begin with, what kind of market they are in, and if there are any other offers on the table. Think of things here in Monroe - a bit slow and you might jump on an offer, however, if it had two offers coming in, you could negotiate a higher price. Remember to ask the agent you are working with to help you with these things as ALL real estate is local.

good luck!!

Tue Jul 8 2008, 19:45