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Virginia Beach, VA Real Estate News

Hello Everyone! I am honored and pleased to announce that I will be speaking at Social Media @ The Beach event in Virginia Beach on January 23rd 2010. I will be in the presence of some really great people like Tina Merritt (NAR Technology Winner), Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows) and Dakno Marketing. I hope I can see everyone there! :) RSVP:  http://www.socialmediabeach.com/ Target:Anyone looking to learn about Social Media. Whether you are completely new to Social Media or you have advanced experience, you'll find value in the large variety of topics to be discussed. Event Date:Saturday, January 23, 2010 Event Location:Peabody's211 21st StVirginia Beach, Virginia 23451 Time:10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a break for catered lunch 
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
How do you share a chair in Virginia Beach?  How about by donating your used chair to the Salvation Army or Goodwill? or if you are up by Richmond the Furniture Bank.  Take that old one that is just hanging around now that you have a new one and donate it to a good charity.  If you don't think you have one close by go to www.nationalfurniturebank.org and check it out. http://www.hamptonroadsrealestate.ws Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search
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By Joe Colón, Jr.
(Jenny L Colón, PC)
Too Funny!:    I was walking past this car and loe and behold I began to laugh almost uncontrollably. This is what I saw...    I HAD to get a picture of this as it was the funniest thing I've seen in quite a while.  It was rather timely as I was having a bum day and this really did the trick to bring up my spirits.  I'm sure the owner was watching me from the inside of the restaurant as I was struggling to take proper pictures of the car...or toy car.  LOL  Here's a closer look... Gotta love those Smart Toy Cars!  Enjoy and Happy New Year!    
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By Joe Colón, Jr.
(Jenny L Colón, PC)
  HELP!:      Active Rain has consistently been the best resource for advice regarding social networking and general RE industry knowledge.  This is why I am yet again seeking your help.  In trying to maintain a top spot on Google, how much time should I dedicate of my day, week, and month on Social Media? Balance:    I ask this simply because I find as I become more and more involved with blogging and on-line networking that some folks spend their entire working day plugged in.  Others I've spoken to tell me that they only dedicate their Saturday mornings to blogging and hang out on twitter and facebook throughout the week.  When I try to see how they do it, I find that their entire life is well documented on both web-sites.  This makes me wonder, how much business is realistically ge...
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Re-Cap:    Some time ago while on a sales call, I came across a situation that consisted of one gentleman who was holding hostage his toddler.  The police ordered all the neighboring buildings to stay indoors and to not let anyone in or out.  Not knowing this, I knocked on the door of the RE office that stands one building over from where all the commotion was occurring.  I was surprised to see my good friend, Jeremy whip the door open and say, "hurry in, the police said not to leave the office!"  Disclaimer:    I don't know how this will go over with the moderators, but I hope it will be allowed as it's important. Please consider RE-Blogging this as it is something we should ALL know. Outcome:    I originally wrote a post that highlighted the scene outside with pictures and snide comme...
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By Tina Merritt, Virginia Real Estate
(Nest Realty)
The Art Institute recently opened a campus in Virginia Beach and will officially hold it's first day of classes there on January 11, 2010. Located at 2 Columbus Center, the campus is conveniently located in the Virginia Beach Town Center. "The Art Institutes schools have earned a strong, national reputation for excellence in creative arts education, and we look forward to bringing our signature culinary, fashion, design, and media arts programs to Virginia Beach," says John Mazzoni, president of The Art Institutes.  “We see our expansion in the Virginia Beach community as a great opportunity to provide an inspiring environment to a new, creative class of students, while preparing them well to enter the workforce.” The Art Institute of Virginia Beach will offer the following programs: Ad...
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By Tina Merritt, Virginia Real Estate
(Nest Realty)
The little country high school that could..... Once remotely removed from the hustle and bustle of Virginia Beach development, Kellam High School stood solid as the "Green Line" approached and neighborhoods sprouted all around it in the past 25 years.  Built in 1962, Kellam High School, one of the City's most popular schools, became overcrowded and outdated. In the beginning of this month, a new, 108 acre site was chosen for the new Kellam High School.  Located at the corner of West Neck Rd. and North Landing Rd., the new site will allow for a larger school, more parking and spacious athletic fields.  This new location is more than three times the size of the current site. The land already has utilities present so development should move forward once the sale is closed and the design is...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
I was out walking again by my favorite canal in Glenwood when I took this picture of some birds in a tree.  Just a few steps later I took this picture of a dew drop on a limb.  All without changing a lens or a setting.  As I was looking at the dew drop at home for this post I said to myself that there is something inside and there was.  I put the picture in Adobe Photo Shop Elements and blew it up and turned it over.  Inside the dew drop was the sign to my neighborhood, Glenwood.  I wondered where it had disappeared to.  Some people say you can't blow up pictures from cameras with small sensors but what do I know.  I just love my Panasonic DMC FZ 18 camera.   http://activerain.com/blo://activerain.com/blo://activerain.com/blogsview/1271026/why-i-like-a-small-sensor-camera-part-v http://...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
On a little corner of the Great Neck Creek, one of the headwaters of the great Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach, lies a kayak launching pad.  This is the fourth public kayak pad on the Lynnhaven River watershed.  This one is at the end of old Virginia Beach Rd and is just a gravel ramp into the water.  The site was handpicked by the Lynnhaven River Now's Stewardship and Access Committee with the help of the Dept of Parks and Recreation.  Now lets not everyone go running out there are at once or you might scare an egret or three.   http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
It is that time of year Virginia Beach.  Lights, decorations, presents and the bell ringers from the Salvation Army.  If you are like me you never carry pocket change or anything less than a $100 bill in your pocket.  So what do you give to the bell ringers?  Here is a thought, text the kettle.  Thats right, text the kettle.  Just text "sal" to 50555 and instantly $5 goes to them.  See how fast your 15 year can text that and empty out your account.  Seriously though, this is a great time of year to remember the bell ringers and if you can't put something in the pot, don't smoke it, text it.  http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, p...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
Vacancy rates are lower in Virginia Beach this year.  If you are a landlord in Virginia Beach you should be a bit happier then last year as rents rose a bit and vacancy rates have dropped.  If you you are renter you have just the opposite problem.  Higher rent prices and less places to look.  Looks like the foreclosure market has been good for landlords.  This will probably be a temporary blip as there are 1,700 more apartments scheduled to come online in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads in the next year or so.  http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
I was out walking in Glenwood with my camera the other day and saw this orange tree.  Didn't know you could grow them here.  I go by this tree everyday and never noticed it until then.  It must have had oranges on it for a while and in past years.  How funny that you can miss something like that. http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.  
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By Sean Schroeder, Century 21 top producers
(Century 21)
Virginia Beach real estate market. The Virginia beach and surrounding Hampton Roads real estate market has shown significant signs of improvement since the beginning of the year when our monthly supply of inventory was in the double digits.  Today, the local real estate market is in the single digits with home values leveling out, and in some areas, home values have even begun to rise.  Due to the drop in real estate values, federal tax credit, and low interest rates home buyers have found themselves to be in the midst of the best real estate that we have seen in almost three decades. As with any economic trend, and real estate is no exception, we have market indicators similar to the DOW and NASDAQ.  One of our key indicators is the Months Supply of Inventory ( MSI ) which tells us how...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
Reflections in Glenwood.  Sometimes I wonder what is real and what is just a reflection of what I think is real.  Does it matter if it is real or just a reflection if the beauty is the same?  The first picture is a reflection of the early morning sun in Virginia Beach.  The reflection was from a pool of water on the parking lot of a defunct drug store.  The second picture of couse is the pool of water.   http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
I took this handheld panarama near Glenwood while I was walking on Thanksgiving mornint.  This is in reality a field soon to be filled with condos and business's in Virginia Beach.  If you look at the corner of Independence and Princess Anne towards the Home Depot you will recognize it.  It looks so serene from here.  The reason I put it here was to show you that a handheld panarama is possible.   I did the actual work in a software called ARC.  What I had to do in photoshop was fill in the bottom left part of the picture.  It was mostly mission so I used the clone tool.  If you do handheld panaramas, look for the feature in your menu, some have it and use grids to help you keep your verticals which is what happened to me.  The camera also plays with your exposure and several other feat...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
The Honey Bee Golf course in Glenwood on Thanksgiving morning was simply beautiful no matter if you looked east or west.  http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.
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By Chris Faircloth
(Realty Executives)
In sales, we sometimes have to step out of the box and get creative in our packaging of a property. For instance, my seller's home has been on the market for some time and based on the sales data is priced aggressively. During phone calls with the buyer's agents to obtain feedback, they state "it's at the top of their list" or "they're crunching numbers". Naturally, I ask them if they are considering another property. They say "yes, it's between you and another unit around the corner". This is the perfect opportunity to renew buyer interest. I advise my seller client to consider writing an offer to the buyer. This offer must be realistic, and one the seller would expect to receive, including closing cost assistance to the buyer. It's interesting how affective this strategy actually is. ...
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By Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland
(Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate)
ABOUT VIRGINIA BEACH - VIRGINIA FACTS AND POINTS OF INTEREST - Part 1. Virginia Beach Facts            Virginia Beach                      Virginia             Population  434,000 7,700,000       Housing Market Units 180,000 3,350,000       Av. House Value $180,000 $170,000       Av. Household Income $70,000 $63,000       Est. Building Permits 2009 750 17,000       Land Area             248 Sq. Miles         38,594 Sq. Miles       Persons Per Sq. Mile            1,800 (urban)                 180 (rural)       EXAMPLE of homes in the $500,000 TO $750,000 price range in for real estate in Virginia Beach EXAMPLE of homes in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range in for real estate in Virginia Beach   The Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers ($8,000) and Repeat Home Buyers ($6,500) has gener...
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By Gene Allen, Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate
(Fathom Realty)
The Mayflower Marathon food drive continues today and tomorrow all day at the Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach and the Sams Club in Newport News.  The drive is sponsored by FM-99 and FM-106.9 The Fox is the biggest food drive on the east coast thanks to people like you.  The Volunteers will be collecting canned and frozen food for Thanksgiving meals to benefit two regional food banks, the Food bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Food bank of the Virginia Peninsula.  So head on out and make a contribution of food and of course money is always welcome.    http://www.geneallen.com Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads. This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to...
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Open House at 605 Pinewood Dr, Virginia Beach VA- Saturday Nov-19th  1-4 PM Open House at 605 Pinewood Dr, Virginia Beach VA   Listing 6896829 Open and Airy; Very close to the beach   • 2,027 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm 3 story - MLS® $340,000 Lakewood, Virginia Beach  -  Beautiful twin home just blocks from the beach. You will have a top notch school system in a charming neighborhood. You will love this 3 bedroom and 2.5 baths where you can enjoy barbecues in the back yard or sit on the porch and watch the sun set. Hardwood floors, granite counter tops, upgraded wood cabinets, open and airy feel, crown molding, surround sound in the living room, 2 Zone A/C, 9ft ceiling are some of the many amenities that you will enjoy in your new home. Great 5 minute scenic walk to the beach! So close to ...
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