Tag: Crozet

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Brief Crozet Real Estate Market Update + February Note

Reposting my monthly note here, with a Crozet-specific real estate market update.

I really thought we would see more inventory coming to market this year. Not so much (yet). Maybe all of the snow is slowing things down. I’ve said for many years that I’ll tell you in 18 months what’s happening in the market right now; it’s impossible to determine what’s happening right now while still in midst of the market.

In Brownsville + Crozet Elementary districts:

2024 – In the first 47 days of 2024, 62 homes were listed. 33 of those were new construction; 23 of the 33 were attached homes.

29 of the 62 were resale homes – median sold price: $526,900

37 homes went under contract in the first 47 days. 18 were resales. Median days on market: 5.

2025 –

In the first 47 days of 2025, 36 homes were listed. 21 of those were new construction; 16 of the 36 were attached homes.

15 of the 36 were resale homes – median asking price: $530,000

27 homes went under contract in the first 47 days. 11 were resales. Median days on market: 49.

If you’re interested in the Note, please subscribe here.

Jim’s Note – February 2025

This month: clarity, using maps, insurance, downsizing, sucking, and evolving concessions.

Quick Market Thought

Resale inventory remains low, prices are stable to up a bit, days on market are trending upwards, and my first weekend theory holds — good properties well priced, well presented, are moving quickly, often with multiple offers.

In Charlottesville + Albemarle:

2024 – In the first 46 days, 197 resale homes were listed and 152 resale homes went under contract. Median Days on Market was 5. 87 (57%) of those that went under contract went under contract in 7 days or less.

2025 – In the first 46 days, 184 resale homes were listed and 122 resale homes went under contract. Median Days on Market was 7. 65 (53%) of those that went under contract went under contract in 7 days or less.

Clarity

The real estate process is opaque to so many, in part because most people buy or sell homes only a few times in their lifetimes. My role is to provide and show the path to clarity. I tell all of my clients, “I want you to ask me your questions. I know you’re going to ask your parents, peers, search engine, and maybe ChatGPT, but please ask me so I can give you the best answer relevant to you and our market.

I find it moderately amusing that my opening is about clarity and my second segment is about chaos.

Something about the things we can control, and the wisdom to know the difference…

The market — any market — dislikes uncertainty, and right now, we have an awful lot of uncertainty. One of my roles is to help distill the meaningful from the superfluous, and the data can help. Feelings absolutely matter, and they must, and the data analysis is what can drive what my work with my clients.

Continue reading “Brief Crozet Real Estate Market Update + February Note”
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Looking Towards Crozet’s 2023 Real Estate Market

There is a lot to consider when looking at Crozet’s real estate market. I’ve never hidden that I’m a Realtor who represents sellers and buyers in Crozet, and I’m writing this post as much for me as for you.

One important note: when looking back at past years, I’ve typically broken down Crozet and Brownsville Elementary school districts. (see the bottom of this post) Those school districts were shaken up in 2022, so for this post I’m looking at Crozet + Brownsville.

The average sales prices for homes in Crozet is eye-popping. Average sales price for a single family home in Crozet in 2022 was $739,053.

Click to embiggen

Some additional notes on the Crozet Market

  • This redistricting will necessarily change how I analyze properties for clients.
  • Buyers should ensure that they know which district the house they are considering is in; often, Realtors will copy the previous listing without double checking. (we’re all human)
  • I think the 2023 Crozet real estate market will be fine; likely not mid-2020 to mid 2022 busy, but a good market for sellers. And a hard one for buyers.
  • For those who advocate for fewer homes in Crozet, please think about our kids who want to move back to be close to (grand)parents, and grandparents who want to move to Crozet to be closer to the (grand)kids. And consider the people who we ostensibly want to live and work in Crozet …
  • From a volume perspective, I think we’re going to be closer to 2019 numbers than 2020-2022. We’ll see.

As we start to close out the end of January, a few quick numbers

  • 303 homes – attached + single family – sold last year via the Charlottesville MLS
    • 81 attached; average price was $474,190. 40 of the 81 were new construction; average price was $554,891.
    • 222 single family homes; average price was $739,053. 88 of the 222 were new construction; average price of these homes was $846,320.
    • Of the 303 homes that sold in Crozet last year, 29 were under $400K.
      • 24 of the 29 had at least 3 bedrooms.

Inventory remains a challenge for buyers; and keeps a strong market for sellers.

  • Last January, 19 non-new construction homes were listed in Crozet.
  • It’s 27 January 2023, and so far, 5 non-new construction homes have been listed in Crozet. 2 of the 5 are under contract (one of those two is my listing)
  • There is not much land left in Crozet to develop for new residential construction.

If you’re thinking about selling your home in Crozet, now is still a good time to do so, and still requires proper preparation, pricing, and representation.

If you’re thinking about buying a home in Crozet, please reach out if you are looking for buyer representation; it’s going to remain a challenging market in which to buy, but it’s doable.

If you have questions about the market, or are curious about a development you saw that might be coming, please call or email me anytime.

Read more: Looking Towards Crozet’s 2023 Real Estate Market

I’m going to be writing in my February monthly note about Albemarle County assessments; if you’re interested, you can subscribe here.

Have a Question or email comment?

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Crozet Trails Crew – Party at Mint Springs 7-18-2021

via email. This will be a lot of fun, with one of the best things about Crozet.

The Crozet Trails Crew invites the community to Mint Springs Park on Sunday at 4:00 to celebrate and dedicate the new amphitheater, built by the crew and paid for by Paul McCartney!


We’ll have an interesting story about the stage, pizza and lemonade, trail maps and advice, and music by the Crozet Jam Band led by Jim Pyles. Plus it’s your chance to find out more about the Crozet Greenway system, what we’re planning, and how you can help. 

And meet Bigfoot! 


All the details on their web site at CrozetTrailsCrew.org

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Crozet’s Transportation Future – 2021 Edition

And the planning continues.

Lots of comments at the public info site.

All I’ll say is this:

Via email

Review Crozet Master Plan 

Draft Transportation Recommendations

Since September 2019, Albemarle County has been exploring alongside the Crozet community how to best reflect the community’s vision for future development in the latest update to the Crozet Master Plan. This month, we’ve focused on sharing the draft transportation recommendations that have been developed based on feedback gathered over the past 15 months.

The draft guiding principle for the Transportation chapter is to “create a multimodal transportation network that is safe and accessible for all community members, regardless of age, race, income and ability.” 

We invite you to share your feedback with our project team. Community feedback will be shared with the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors as part of the review process. The Board of Supervisors will provide final direction and approval on the Crozet Master Plan.

Click the buttons below to read the draft or share feedback. 

The questionnaire will be open from February 2nd – February 19th, 2021.

You may also submit your comments directly to Rachel Falkenstein, Planning Manager [email protected]. 
View a Presentation on the RecommendationsShare Your Feedback
Join Us For Our Next Topic: Parks & Trails

Crozet Community Advisory Committee Virtual Meeting – Wednesday, February 10th
Continue reading “Crozet’s Transportation Future – 2021 Edition”
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More on the Gone Trees

You may remember this story from a few weeks ago about the tree clearing for another new development near Crozet Park.

I thought about titling this story, “Trees Gone, Why Were We Surprised?” But that felt click-baity.

From a neighbor and guest author*:

When the clearing for Foothill Crossing began along Parkside Village and Crozet Park a few weeks ago, we watched close-up as the woods began to disappear in such a grinding, brutal fashion. But the fact was we knew that it was going to happen one day as progress and development continues in Crozet and Albemarle.

We were, however, surprised by the number of trees that were cleared right down to the Stream. We had always understood that a 100 ft buffer was to be maintained on both sides of this Creek.

We contacted Frank Pohl with the county engineer’s office about the clearing and he responded quickly and directly, sending an inspector out to the site. He confirmed that too many trees had in fact been cut down and that Erosion and Tree protection had not been installed. The contractor was notified of the violations and the required remediation.

This brought our attention to the plans/drawings that the County makes available on their website. After spending more time reviewing those plans supplemented with the approved Erosion and Sediment Control drawings, we realized that a 20 FT. wide, 82,000 lb. rated Access Road over a simple 36’ concrete pipe culvert is planned to cross the Creek.

According to the plans, this same Road is alternately labeled and identified in a number of ways:

1. Paved Emergency Access . . .,

2. Access Road to be extended to Park Ridge drive until roadway infrastructure for Foothills Phase II is complete,

3. Proposed 20’ Asphalt Emergency Access and Bicycle /Pedestrian Access. , and 4. Detailed in an equally broad “Asphalt Paving – Emergency Access Road & Pedestrian/Bicycle Pathway & TOT Lot/SWM Access Pathway. Mr. Pohl also clarified that while the road was not currently approved as a Construction Access road for Foothill Phase II, he did not see why that could change in the future.

We have expressed our disappointment with the fact that the Stream Buffer had been compromised so easily for such an unclear purpose. The drawings also appear to go out of their way to downplay the Installation of this Road.

Certainly there is an emotional reaction when development occurs “nextdoor” – just like it did for local residents with the development and construction of our house.

It has raised these questions for us –

  • Did we pay enough attention when the plans were first proposed?
  • Is the County and Planning commission in tune with the impacts of these aggressive Developments on its neighbors?
  • Does the contractor/developer think about people when they stage/setup the most disruptive of their work alongside our neighbors when they have acres of options?
  • “This might give a better view of the cutting up to stream”
  • “This might give a better view of the cutting up to the stream”
The The clearing beyond the white ribbon was not suppose to happen.

I’ve said it before, that being a citizen is hard. Knowing what is happening next door to you is important. Knowing what is happening in your community is important too. You may live near Chiles Orchard or Old Trail, or down Miller School Road, but these trees and developments affect you, too.

A few tools to research growth and development

Update: here are some ideas!

You could try talking to your neighbors.

  • Maybe identify one per month to watch the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, CCAC meetings, and any other relevant ones, and then write something on a blog somewhere.
    • My opinion: Nextdoor & Facebook are not great for sharing information because those are walled gardens, closed sites, and are not searchable by search engines.
    • Heck, I’ll create a page or a section here on RealCrozetVA if anyone wants to take up this idea for your neighborhood. Then you can send the link to your neighborhood and it can be shared and searched for posterity. Let me know if you’re interested.

That should not have been a surprise to anyone who knows a) Crozet is a growth area and b) knows to look at the Crozet Master Plan. If you’re curious if those trees are going to stay, the answer is probably “no.” But get curious; investigate for yourself. And then talk to your neighbors.

*re: the “guest author”: I know them, they’re neighbors.

Continue reading “More on the Gone Trees”
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August Crozet Gazette is Chock Full

This month’s Gazette has a slew of great and relevant stories. (they all do, but this month felt particularly meaty). Pick up a copy and read the whole thing.

The Master Plan contains a future land use map and a table describing the various land use categories. The idea is that these documents provide a legal basis for the county to evaluate landowner requests for zoning changes and to make changes to zoning regulations. During the presentation, Knuppel highlighted a specific property—White Gate Farm—for which county staff recommended an increase in housing density.

White Gate Farm is a 12-acre parcel on Rt. 240 between Wickham Pond and Western Ridge which is currently classified as rural green space in the 2010 Master Plan. The property owners have requested that its designation be re-evaluated for the 2020 Master Plan, as they are unable to build on the land in any way under current zoning. (See nearby map.)

The proposed project will be called Old Dominion Village and lays out plans for 101 townhouses and 14 single-family detached homes on the combined 24-acre expanse. The current Crozet Master Plan designates Dr. Schulman’s property as 4.5 acres Urban Density Residential, 10 acres Neighborhood Density Residential, 5.5 acres Greenspace, and 4 acres Rural Agricultural. The Urban and Neighborhood classifications allow 12 and 6 units per acre, respectively. Old Dominion Village is requesting a zoning change to “Neighborhood Model” for all 24 acres.

Neither parcel is included in the Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) jurisdictional area for water service (though the Vet Center itself is currently connected to county water). Thus, an application to add the parcels to the ACSA service area will also be submitted for county approval along with the zoning request. Since a majority of the land in question is below the elevation of Rt. 240, a private gravity sewer system and pump station will have to be designed and installed to serve the development. 

The Western Albemarle Rescue Squad plans to build a new station on two lots in downtown Crozet that it has purchased from lifelong Crozetian Sandy Wilcox. Though only a quarter-mile south of its current location on Crozet Avenue across from Green House Coffee, the squad’s new spot behind the Blue Goose Building will give it room to expand and better access to area residents who need their help.

Crozet resident Hanna Clark has launched an online petition aimed at stopping the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) from constructing a raw water pipeline along the boundaries of her family’s property. A recent WAHS graduate, Clark has lived on land bordering Beaver Creek Reservoir for 17 years and was shocked when her parents received notice from the RWSA that crews would be surveying the property this summer to determine a potential path to connect the pipeline between a pump station in the reservoir and the Crozet Water Treatment Plant. 

The Albemarle County School Board voted 4-3 to offer solely online learning for the vast majority of public school students for the first nine weeks of school beginning September 8. In-person instruction inside school buildings will be limited to students who are English language learners (in grades 4-12), those with special education needs, and those who lack adequate internet access at home. All other students will receive virtual instruction in various forms both synchronously (“live” with an online teacher) and asynchronously (via recorded videos and online assignments).

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100+ Townhomes Coming near Green Olive Tree

I put Green Olive Tree in the title, as that’s an area that most people can reference. It’s close, though. I could have said, “near the new car wash,” or “the veterinarian” but there are two veterinarians on 240, with those being different parts of 240.

And I can’t find anything in the news or on the County’s site about the results of the meeting. * Update below

Also, submit comments at this link until I think 17 August (watch the video to confirm).

That said, from the public notice of last week’s meeting (bolding mine)

Dear Neighbor,

We, Meridian Planning Group,invite you to share comments and ask questions regarding our request to rezone the parcels described below from Rural Area (RA) to Neighborhood Model (NMD). The project incudes (sic) 101 townhomes, 14 single family detached homes and will (sic) the Crozet Veterinary Clinic will remain as a commercial use. This proposed project is located at 5258 Three Notch’d Road (TMP 0560-00-00-74A0) and 1263 Parkview Drive (TMP 056-00-00-067B0).

PDF of the letter is here.

Here too, if an when the County breaks links on their siteDownload
Continue reading “100+ Townhomes Coming near Green Olive Tree”
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Crozet’s Derecho – 8 Years Ago

Crozet Fireworks were canceled. Trains were quiet. Power was out. Very few had generators, so Crozet was quiet.

The Derecho was 8 years ago. A storm came, ripped off shingles, knocked out power for a week, it was freaking hot, trees were down everywhere. Crozet Fire Department was distributing water. It was so hot.

The people at Mudhouse were manually grinding coffee, music was playing on a radio, and they were boiling water on their gas stove to make the community coffee.

Facebook was already awful, and Twitter was already better for rapid information dissemination.

A few photos I dug up from my old photos

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Angel Tree 2019

via email

The Angels are registered, and we are ready to go! 

We are once again coordinating Angel Tree with the four public schools here in Western Albemarle. …

Total Angels on List: 235

Last Year:                   228

Angel information sheets are now available.  Our focus is on needed items such as clothing, coats, shoes, winter accessories, etc. Please consider partnering with us and sponsoring an angel, or a family of angels. This is a great project to do with your children or at your place of employment. UNWrapped gifts are due to Crozet Baptist Church on Wednesday, December 4th by 5 pm. 

Please contact Tracey Pugh at [email protected] to find out more about this wonderful program, or to request an angel.

Believing the Best,

Tracey

Historical Context