Charlottesville Country Living is authored by John Ince, President of Charlottesville Country Properties Ltd., a small, boutique real estate firm in Charlottesville, Virginia specializing in the sale and marketing of farms, estates and country residences within 50 miles of Charlottesville, Virginia. Apart from his 25 year career in Charlottesville real estate, John enjoys being an ambassador for one of the best places to live in America. For anyone who places a priority on “quality of life”, Charlottesville and its surrounds must be on your short list of where to spend the rest of your life. The town of Charlottesville is remarkable, a true melting pot with cultural venues not found in cities ten times the size. The countryside is breathtaking and just scant minutes from downtown with lush farmland and historic estates many tracing back to original land grants. The Blue Ridge Mountains rise to the west moderating our weather and providing endless recreational activities with hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and fly fishing for native trout all within 20 minutes of downtown. We hope you’ll enjoy some personal insights into the lifestyle one can enjoy here from these posts and that you will refer to Charlottesvillecountry.com for more information on real estate in this wonderful area.
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by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD. Greek Revival, red brick in Flemish bond, slate roof, columned portico, a confident setting on the best street in town, English Boxwood and flower beds…a banker’s house, built thirty years before the Civil War. Old Hall stands today just as it was built with nearly two centuries of fascinating history within its walls. In 1830, Scottsville, Virginia on a broad horseshoe bend in the James River, was coming into its own. It was the busiest river port west of Richmond with freight and passengers coming down the river and the Kanawha canal. This burst of activity made Scottsville the County seat of Albemarle, and several prominent homes were built in and around town as fortunes were made. Old Hall was built for the president of the Bank of Scottsville, James Mason who owned it until 1850 when it was sold to the Beal family who owned until 1952. In 1865, Union General Phillip Sheridan entered Scottsville with his 10,000 troops to cross the James River. High water kept them stranded in Scottsville for two weeks during which time Old Hall served as headquarters for General Wesley Merrit, Chief of Cavalry. Artifacts from this hectic visit are still found from time to time. In 1879 the Beals rented Old Hall to Dr. John S. Andrews and his wife, Dr. Oriana Moon Andrews, who against all odds attended medical school and was the first female doctor in the Confederate Army. Dr. Andrews bore six children and died in the east bedroom of Old Hall in 1883 at the age of 48. Old Hall has had just four owners since it was built. Old Hall is now offered for sale. It is in excellent condition with gas heat, three bedrooms, one and a half baths and a modern kitchen. Old Hall is currently listed on the National and Virginia Historic Registers as part of historic Scottsville and is eligible to be registered in its own right. Here is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire an important home in one of the most charming small towns in Virginia located just 30 minutes south of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. Charlottesville/Albemarle MLS#477172. $595,000
by John Ince, President of Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD. You and I own a lot of real estate that we need to sell. The US government is making it very difficult. When a government insured mortgage is foreclosed on, HUD, (Housing and Urban Development) rides in on a white horse and pays off the lender. These VA and FHA homes now belong to you and me and are managed by a huge government agency that evaluates the properties without appraisals. They list the properties with agents that have never set foot on the property and who make it cumbersome at best for local Realtors to show the property or get paid a commission if they bring a buyer. These HUD owned properties are winterized, have the power shut off, are locked with a coded lock accessible only to HUD Realtors, (one broker for the entire state of Virginia) and are inspected by employees that sign in once a month to say all’s well. The only way to submit an offer is on-line, through a satellite HUD office often hours away from the subject property, with no opportunity to discuss the offer with a human being. Commissions are only paid to HUD registered Realtors and the most a buyer’s agent can hope for is a referral fee. It sounds like a government program doesn’t it? It sounds like a plan drawn up by a desk jockey who had no previous experience with real estate. It sounds like a way to make the simple process, (simple to Realtors who understand the business) complicated, impenetrable and entirely inefficient. Real estate is local. It’s different from state to state, county to county and even neighborhood to neighborhood. Experienced Realtors know their market, know values within their areas of expertise and know how to bring buyers and sellers together. These local, experienced Realtors are not having anything to do with these HUD homes that you and I own and cannot even gain access to the properties if they did want to show them. It’s time for HUD to wise up, time to take this huge inventory of undervalued properties and use them to invigorate the market by encouraging first time home buyers, investors and Realtors with a business model crafted to the working mechanics of a well oiled machine. Local Realtors listing local homes will move these properties quickly and efficiently. They know how to price them to sell and their expertise is well worth the commission they earn, especially compared to the inevitable deterioration of vacant homes managed by a distant corporate office. Here is a perfect example of government bureaucracy making a mess out of something Americans are really good at. It has a simple solution; just localize the HUD property sale process by putting decision makers in each locality. It’s cost-free since they are paid by the same commission schedule already offered to the one, state wide mega-broker currently in place. These properties need to be listed in the local Multiple listing Service with cooperative brokerage agreements so the entire Realtor network can be motivated and inspired to sell these distressed listings that are souring a real estate market on the verge of recovery. Please pass this information on along with your comments and suggestions so we can all get back to work!
 Lake Anna by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD Charlottesville, Virginia is best known for its dynamic setting at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. People are drawn to the dramatic vistas, the rich, gently rolling pastures and great hardwood forests. This well watered countryside also offers the opportunity for waterfront living in several different modes. Virginia Beach is about two hours away making it an easy day trip from Charlottesville but not a commutable distance by most standards. Waterfront living around Charlottesville is typically around one of our reservoirs or one of the many private lakes in the area. Lake Monticello and Lake Anna are both large man-made lakes with waterfront homes and lots for sale. Lake Monticello is a large private lake in Fluvanna County and is well developed with lake- front and interior lots. Lake Monticello is a private, gated community with an 18 hole golf course and swim and tennis facilities. It has a good marina and is the closest lake to Charlottesville, large enough for power boats and water skiing. Lake Monticello is quite affordable considering all its amenities with single family homes beginning in the 200’s and lake- front homes from around $400,000. Lake Monticello is only thirty minutes from Charlottesville and is a popular location for retirees and families working in Charlottesville. Lake Anna is the second largest lake in Virginia with over two hundred miles of shoreline. It is in Louisa and Spotsylvania County and is one of the most popular recreational lakes in the mid Atlantic known for exceptional boating and fishing. Much of the lakefront is private with some truly spectacular homes which usually include boat houses and docks. There is also public access at several marinas, and a very nice state park with camping and boat launching. Larger properties, land, farms and estates often have water features including farm ponds or lakes or frontage on one of the many rivers that flow through the Piedmont on their way to the Chesapeake Bay. Rivers and streams with their moving water add an interesting dynamic to a property with their ever-changing moods and act as a magnet to wildlife in the area. With the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic ocean just two hours away, our abundant lakes, reservoirs rivers and streams, Virginia offers endless opportunities for waterfront living and recreation. Take a look at our search results below to see all the waterfront opportunities that await you in the Charlottesville area. by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD I remember a few years ago when m The horses had been around since before she was born. She took no more notice of them than I would the big oak that stands just off our house. An everyday occurrence to her… If she only knew, knew about kids that don’t ever see grass, don’t have a dad who cares or just don’t have a place like Charlottesville, Virginia to grow up. I was born in San Diego but left as an infant, moving every 18 months as we followed my naval officer father from station to station. I went to 13 different schools before I graduated high school and never had a life-long friend. Today I’ll drive by Martha Jefferson Hospital where both my children were born and can look up at the window that I looked out of as their mom delivered them into their lot in life, a life as an American, in Virginia into a warm, loving family, comfortable and well fed. My son has a college roommate he’s known since kindergarten. I suppose youth is for idealism rather than perspective, but at least I know that they have grown up in a nearly trouble free environment in the midst of a remarkably happy population. They pass through some of the prettiest countryside in the world each day of the week though they hardly glance out the window. They have attended exceptional public schools that paved the way for my son to enter Virginia Tech and my 10th grade daughter to imagine her possibilities endless. They have a high standard for comfort and a remarkable tendency towards boredom. I remember a few years ago when I took my kids to Times Square. They were 14 and 11. Nothing could have prepared them for the glitz and glamour, the hustle, the noise, the Broadway shows. They, like their dad were supercharged with metro energy after three days and two nights of experiencing the “real world”. My son made it clear he was destined for the city, New York City. As I look forward five years or so, I see my son or my daughter walking through the cold, windy streets of Manhattan, Boston or Chicago. No longer are their necks craned to see the tops of the skyscrapers and what they thought was a huge salary is only allowing them the most meager apartment on top of noisy traffic and dangerous streets. Will they think about the horses then? Will they think about their life-long friends, their hometown? I hope so. I think so. As a Realtor specializing in country property around Charlottesville my typical client is a UVA alumni who fell in love with Charlottesville while in school then went off to have a career with dreams of returning to Virginia’s Piedmont someday. Such is the draw of this beautiful place, loved all the more by being away. It’s a place that can fit like a glove, smell like home cooking and look like paradise… if you’re lucky enough to call it home.
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD Foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties are making up a larger percentage of the inventory of available properties these days. We felt immune for a while, but this deep seated correction has had its effect here in the Charlottesville area as well. We are fortunate to have the University of Virginia as a solid employer for the area and a hub for keeping our high tech sector viable. Nonetheless, foreclosure notices in the paper have been increasing in number and some remarkable deals have been made by astute investors willing to take a chance on distressed properties. If it’s a deal you are looking for, risk is part of the formula. When you buy a foreclosure on the court house steps you are buying it “as is” which could include unfiled mechanics liens or other clouds on the title. Vigorous research including property inspections and title work will give you some idea of the deficiencies, but there are no guarantees and no recourse if you are surprised. Still, picking up property for well under market value and turning them into rentals can be an excellent investment for those with the resources to rehabilitate these properties and hang on for the market to rebound. REOs or bank owned properties are those properties that have gone through the foreclosure process and have been bought back by the bank. These properties are typically in better condition than foreclosures since the banks are willing to protect their assets to some extent and are usually listed with Realtors so they are easily accessible for inspections. These “bank assets” are anything but and are typically priced below market value to move fast. REOs often have multiple offers as soon as they come on the market. Astute buyers are aware that they cannot expect any concessions either in price or repairs, and if they need financing they need to present a full loan application with the bank that owns the property with their original contract. A pre-qualification letter will hold no clout to these banks who know how non-committal such letters are. Do your home inspection before you offer and make your offer as clean as possible-Cash is king. Short sales are the most frustrating side of this distressed property market. A short sale is when a seller will not gain enough from the sale to pay off the existing debt. When the seller has no other assets to go after, the bank may agree to let the property go for a price that is less than what is owed. Short sales require third party, (bank) approval and the process can be excruciatingly slow, think six to nine months. It may appear that you are negotiating with the owner of the house, and you might have a ratified contract with the owner, but you don’t have a deal until the bank has signed off on the short sale. Short sales are clearly more appealing to banks than foreclosures which cost banks $50,000 on average and should become less cumbersome in the future as banks recognize the need to move inventory. Never has there been a better time to get a great deal on real estate. Be it multi-family or single family rental property, raw land, a personal residence or a farm, these are historic times and hopefully will never be repeated again. Real estate will always hold its value for it is our place in the world. It’s where we live, work, vacation. It is where we grow our food and build our cities and raise our families. There is nothing theoretical about it. www.charlottesvillecountry.com
I love the ring of it. The aughts were awkward, hard to pronounce, no rhythm. It makes sense. We were just getting our legs under us in the new millennium and now we’re up and running. This whole decade will sound good and move fast. There were a few good things that happened in ’09 like Sully’s heroic landing on the Hudson, and no one could say that Taylor Swift didn’t have a great year. Mostly though, we were licking our wounds, looking up to see if the sky was falling, and in my case waiting for that ball to fall in Times Square way before New Year’s Eve. I’ve learned my lesson about over-anticipation, but this time I think I’m right on. Phones are ringing, contracts are being written. I had a client miss out on a property because multiple contracts came in on the first day. Speculators are fighting each other for Mediterranean and Baltic, I saw some new construction on Tennessee Avenue, and even Boardwalk is getting a facelift. And it’s not Monopoly money this time. Tighter lending requirements are a pain in the rear, but they are making sure new buyers are solid. The new homes going up are custom homes, not specs and the first time home buyers are taking advantage of incentive programs solidifying the critical base of the housing pyramid. I used to train and sell Egyptian Arabian horses back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. There was a time when a really good mare would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I watched an Arabian mare sell at auction at the Kentucky Horse Park for a world record 2.2 million. She was a nice mare but it made no sense. Today, you could buy a really nice Arabian mare for $20,000. That’s a lot of money, but she’ll take your breath away, and you’ll love her for two or three decades. I just sold a really nice home to some good friends for $430,000. That’s a lot of money, but it’s a great buy, and a great house that they’ll love for two or three decades. It all makes sense again. Twentyten It sounds good. It feels good. It is good.
Winter is a big surprise to most people and the perfect time to look at country property in Virginia. In the winter in Virginia the hardwood forest lets you walk through unencumbered without the blackberry canes and poison ivy snatching at your pant leg. If you wondered what the view might be like with a little clearing, now you can see through the trees and imagine a home site with dramatic mountain vistas. If you insist on privacy from your neighbor, winter is the time to see how it feels with the leaves gone or how effective those evergreens might be
One hundred acres. It sounds wonderful. Plenty of room to play. You could stand right in the middle of it and scream your head off and no one would hear. All you see from your front porch are rolling hills dotted with fat black cows or perhaps well mannered rows of corn or soybeans. It’s a pretty picture in your mind’s eye as you contemplate life in the country from your living room in suburbia. You’re ready to hang up your coat and tie and order those coveralls from the Duluth catalogue. You’ll also enjoy the John Deere site on-line and can picture yourself on that big green tractor chugging along, straw hat on your head chewing on a piece of hay. Don’t forget the combine and the round baler, the silos and the hay barn, the fertilizer and lime, the high tensile fencing, the immunizations, the worming, the calving, bawling cows, lost sheep, dogs in the chickens… not to mention drought and flood, hired help running off and that dawn to dusk thing. Still interested? A thousand acres and still not enough. Two hundred in corn, two hundred in soybeans, two hundred in hay and the rest in pasture and timber. They have been farming it all their lives and know every hill and dale, every spring head, every tree. They’ve had good years and bad years. Their equipment barn has a big old Allis Chalmers for the combine, a couple of older John Deeres and Fords for bush-hogging, spreading, driving posts, moving gravel and pulling the fertilizer spreader. There are implements that make you wonder. The F-350 has a ball in the bed and not a single quarter panel without a dent. Two tenant houses have families in them. The husbands help work the farm, the wives work n town. The old homeplace needs paint. It ain’t pristine. These two scenarios can come together as one of the purest win-win situations imaginable. You have land that requires a great deal of effort to maintain properly and he needs more land to squeeze just a little more profit from squeaky tight margins. Leasing your farmland to a local farmer is an ideal solution for property owners who enjoy living a rural life but are past the point of taking on a new, full time occupation and aren’t inclined to spend another $100,000+ on farm equipment. Ten acres are plenty to keep you busy with board fencing and a barn for a couple of horses and manageable grounds around your home. If you happen to have more, and it’s good productive ground you’ll have no trouble finding a farmer who will be happy to work it for you. In return you can expect the farmer to lime and fertilize on schedule, bush-hog (mow) the pastures, share in fencing cost and maintenance and perhaps even pay a small amount per acre though this should not be the determining factor. Finding a farmer with whom you can have a comfortable, symbiotic relationship will be the most beneficial situation for you. You can enjoy looking over the rolling hills dotted with fat black cows without a care and live vicariously through your neighbor with the combine as he harvests the corn, chops the silage or makes the hay that comes off your land. You’ll gain a great respect for these farmers and learn more each season about your land while helping to maintain the lifestyle and land use that made this area so attractive to you in the first place. Don’t shy away from property because it’s daunting in size. Owning a farm in Virginia’ Piedmont can be vastly rewarding and conservation programs including Open Space Easements, Watershed Protection and low impact farming are more apt to be put in place by well informed buyers like you. Leasing land to local farmers can help them survive in a world where land prices have no relationship with farm value and allow the property owner to enjoy land use tax benefits which dramatically decrease property taxes. There are many winners when the right match is made.
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD A property comes up that rises to the top. Perhaps it’s unmatched grandeur and luxury, perhaps it’s a view that makes you catch your breath or perhaps it’s that rare property that embraces all your senses and answers all your questions like a long lost friend. Naturally, it depends upon your questions, but if you’re asking for an exceedingly, private setting in the country with wonderful views, a home with character and charm, enough land for a horse or perhaps a vineyard and some nice water features, perhaps your quest will be answered when you see Froggy Bottom Farm. Surrounded by 35 acres of forest and fields, the c.1870 clapboard sided home flanked by stone chimneys is a remarkable remnant of our historic beginnings, and were it not for the modern kitchen, bath and central heat, it would exist just as built nearly 150 years ago. The home with two bedrooms and a delightful full bath has been beautifully renovated and has served as a weekend getaway for Washingtonians for the last ten years. A wide screened porch and wrap-around front porch are the perfect place to enjoy the elevated setting overlooking a stocked pond frequented by wild mallards. There is also frontage on the South River, a stocked trout stream just through the woods which you can hear on a quiet evening. Froggy Bottom Farm is located in Greene County about ten minutes from historic Stanardsville and less than two hours from Washington DC. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are just thirty minutes south. The property will soon be listed for $545,000.
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD It’s time. Your career has run its course, your children have flown the nest and for the past few years you’ve been thinking about what is to come. Perhaps it’s Florida for you with easy winters, boats and shuffleboard. Perhaps it’s a townhouse in the city with coffee shops around the corner, theater and opera on a whim. Perhaps you’ll settle as close as you can to the grand kids. In the late 1970’s, contemplating retirement after 30 years in the navy, my mom and dad, stationed at the Washington Navy Yard began taking long weekends, investigating those parts of the country that looked promising. My mom had been a navy wife following my dad from port to port, moving thirteen times with five children. It had been a hectic life, glamorous at times, certainly full of adventure but never had there been a home. She had never seen a tree grow. Her dream was a place in the country where she could have a horse. My dad wanted nothing more than to help make her dream come true. They looked in New England and felt the winters might be too cold. They looked in South Carolina and felt a bit too northern for the south. They looked here and there, taking long weekend trips till they planned a short two hour drive towards the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and discovered Madison County. I was in my 20’s in California and my mom started sending me photos of beautiful farms which had old farm houses in need of renovation. Most were completely out of reach financially, (over $150,000) but I could tell the excitement was building. One day I got a call telling me that they had purchased the old Graves home place in near Rochelle. It had an old brick farm house on 22 acres with a big red barn and a pond full of bass and bluegill. They would call it St. Clair, a family name. Last week I was visiting my Dad. Two of my sisters were there. As we sat in the living room of this elegant home that has been in our family for more than 30 years now, we started going through the scrap books. There are my mom and dad, wonderfully fit with barely a hint of gray, posing with a pitchfork, beaming. The before and after pictures are striking as they turned “this old house” into their beautiful home. There is my sister’s wedding album, and mine with the big white tent set up next to the house. There are the grandkids floating on noodles in the pool, now in their 20’s and 30’s with kids of their own. There is my mom on Henry, her wonderful Morgan horse that she loved for 20 years and rode all over the hills and mountains of Madison County. There are Gus, Muppet, Tess, Joe and Meg, all the lucky dogs that lived happy, full lives at St. Clair. My mom passed away from a sudden stroke this past January. She and my dad had been married 60 years, 30 in the Navy and 30 on the farm where they spent the rest of their lives. St. Clair was a magnet that brought my four sisters and me to Virginia every summer for our reunions and eventually to live close enough for an easy visit, fifteen minutes for me. Thirteen grandchildren will have life time memories of summers at St. Clair and each of us knows that this charming little place in the country answered perfectly for a happily ever after for Mom and Dad. You may be planning for the rest of your lives now. My plans are shaped by my parent’s example and the knowledge that this chapter can be the main course, especially if it contains the elements of challenge, growth and romance. For me it will be a place in country, near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia |
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Old Hall c.1830-Scottsville, Virginia 
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD
y daughter was about ten, something spooked the horses, and they started galloping, snorting, tails flagged, prancing as Arabs do. I stopped in my tracks and said, “Man, that’s something, isn’t it?” “What?” my daughter asked.
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD
by John Ince, President Charlottesville Country Properties, LTD
