Last night, I was sitting around drinking a pinot grigio that tasted like a chardonnay (does that sound obnoxious?) with a few of my favorite people, when our idle chitchat turned to one of my favorite topics of conversation: real estate. This discussion, however, differed from previous conversations about real estate in that this conversation was no longer about the eventuality of buying a place sometime in the distant and nebulous future. This time, one of my companions had already bought a house and the other was talking about a specific house in which she is interested. “God,” I thought. “Two years ago I didn’t think that I would ever be old enough to have a conversation about home ownership.” But no sooner had I thought this thought than I had to admit that I am old and that I, too, am interested in buying—sooner rather than later—should the perfect piece of Belmont brickitecture present itself. I want a place of my own: a piece of real estate to make of it what I will.
So when I got home, slightly buzzed and having set new goals of financial responsibility for myself, I started investigating local real estate blogs because, given that I am old and anxious to call myself a homeowner, I should approach the market as an old, yet informed, future Donald Trump, should I not? This is how I arrived at Real Central Virginia, a real estate blog by local Realtor Jim Duncan who, not coincidentally, is quoted to distraction in all manner of local media. It should be no surprise that the vast majority of local Charlottesville blogs are insanely boring or stupid or both. Ditto local real estate blogs (or all real estate blogs for that matter). Which is why this one stands out as being none of the above: It’s both good looking and good reading. It makes good use of TV clips from YouTube, links to articles on the topic (“The Upside of a Down Market” on RealBlogging.com), and personal observations.
It’s also refreshing that Duncan doesn’t take the typical Realtor’s approach of basically shilling the properties that he lists. The way Duncan writes about real estate and the articles he links to make it clear that he is not just in the business to make a living; the man seems genuinely interested in real estate as a topic of intelligent discussion, in sharing what he knows and in learning more. It’s a bit premature yet, but Duncan’s name is getting stored away in my little brain and I’m going to look him up when a “For Sale” sign pops up that has my name on it.