I am a serial house hunter. Though I’ve lived in the same home for more than 13 years, I’ve spent the past decade obsessively scouring real estate websites in search of my dream home — here in Richmond, and also shopping for a fictional vacation home.
In the past week I’ve looked online at houses in the Fan; Museum District; Church Hill; Wintergreen; Irvington; Santa Fe, New Mexico (where I just found an amazing modern house); and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
I find it relaxing to scroll through house listings, to mentally renovate and redecorate, and to imagine what life might be like in a different setting.
I know there’s nothing relaxing about actually moving, though, having done so five times in four years — with two small children — before landing in my current house. It’s no wonder I’ve stayed put for so long.
Each June we publish a real estate guide and like everything in the age of COVID-19, this year’s edition came with a lot of uncertainty as we wondered if people were still buying and selling homes while they were being encouraged to stay at home.
What we found is that yes, people are still making moves, just not as many since the coronavirus reared its ugly head.
In addition to exploring the overall state of the market, we look at how the home-buying process has changed in the era of social distancing. Technology — videos, virtual tours and FaceTime visits — is more important than ever, though in-person showings are still happening, just not as many. We also present our first Referred Realtor list, a collection of 52 agents who were recommended by their peers and magazine subscribers in an email survey we distributed earlier this year.
This issue also looks at the impact the pandemic may have on domestic violence. At a time when gun and alcohol sales are also spiking and unemployment is at a record high, advocates are concerned that people who are stuck at home may not be able to get the help they need if their partners become violent.
Writer Don Harrison began working on his piece on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art, in the “before,” while the museum was still open to the public. It had just been named one of the “10 Best New Museums” by USA Today and was about to celebrate its second birthday. Instead of a celebration, however, the ICA was forced to close its doors temporarily. Harrison looks at its exhibitions to date and takes the pulse on how the contemporary art museum has been received by Richmonders.
The ICA will open its doors, again, possibly soon, and Executive Director Dominic Willsdon is already wondering, “What kind of programming do we present at the ICA that will be most pertinent to the world we’re going to come back into?