University of Virginia: The Lawn
Photographer: Douglas A. MelchiorWelcome to the College Real Estate Page for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Many parents ponder whether they should buy or rent while their students attend college. For some the answer is to buy and for others the answer is to rent. College Real Estate hopes to help you find which is the right answer for you. Another great tool in helping you decide is our College Real Estate guide book that walks you through the entire process of buying student property. We hope you find this site useful and welcome any and all feed back. If you would like to be connected with a College Real Estate's exclusive Realtor in Charlottesville, Virginia please visit our buying page. If you have decided that buying student housing is not the right answer for you and would like to be connected with a leasing specialist please visit our leasing page.
Conceived in 1800 by the legendary Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia opened its doors in 1825, hoping to be “a plan so broad and liberal and modern” in the words of Mr. Jefferson himself, that it would be distinguished and recognized beyond any other school in the nation. Very close to his desires, the 2007 edition of popular U.S. News and World Report college rankings put the undergraduate program at U.Va. as #2 out of roughly 200 public universities in the United States and #22 overall for public and private institutions.
“The University” is home to 13,353 undergraduate students and 5,600 graduate students. Over the years UVA has accrued a distinguished list of alumnae, including Edgar Allan Poe, President Woodroe Wilson, Georgia O’Keefe, Robert F. Kennedy, and Katie Couric. This notable sampling is a testament to U.Va.’s strength across many academic and professional fields.
While U.Va. excels academically, it doesn’t come with an outrageous price tag. Tuition is lower for both in-state and out-of-state students than at most other top universities, with in-state students paying $8,035 annually and out-of-state students paying $26,135 per year. The student composition of the University is such that it was described in the 2006 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report as being "chock full of academic stars who turn down private schools like Duke, Princeton, and Cornell for, they say, a better value." Room and board is generally around $6,900 per year.
On campus housing is extremely limited at U.Va., so most students live on “the-Grounds” as first year students, and then start exploring other options for the remainder of their time in Charlottesville. Approximately 65% of the Cavalier student body finds off campus housing to be the right choice. If you are interested in leasing off campus property, you can find available houses, apartments, duplexes and even single rooms. An average one bedroom apartment will run $450-$500 per month, though you can find anything from $100 to $1,000 per month. Rental house prices tend to vary depending on the number of tenants and location.
Purchasing investment property is a great idea right now in Charlottesville, so if you have ever considered investing in real estate as an off campus housing option, definitely give it some time and thought during your tenure at U.Va. The 2008 housing market is ripe for buyers due to the low interest rates, good prices, and stable local economy. There are over 3,000 homes on the market and prices are slowing down as inventory continues to increase. The average home price dropped by $12,000 in 2007 in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas and the median home price was just around $324K. Don’t let that figure scare you away, especially if you are a first time buyer, because there are currently over 550 homes on the market that are going for $200K and less; a figure almost unheard of before in the Charlottesville market. If you want a brand new home, you can expect to pay $300K to $500K, while condos go for $265K on average.
College Real Estate’s goal is to make the moving transition as worry and stress free as possible so we have created a moving center which provides you with helpful information from your utility providers to local grocery centers, restaurants, churches and much more.
College Real Estate also offers a How To database that will keep a new homeowner or those of you renting a house or an apartment from paying an arm and a leg for a service that can easily be done yourself. You can learn how to fix the garbage disposal, light the pilot light, the best way to get rid of rodents, and many other useful lessons. We invite you to take advantage of this knowledge or even post your own helpful article.