Bethany Phillips, MBA, ABR, EcoBroker

I have a listing that is currently vacant (the owners are military and transferred to California - leaving only a few weeks ago). I met a vendor of mine at the home today to do the mowing (Larry Shaw, WaterWorks... he does auto detailing, power washing, lawn care and is really good and attentive, and shows up when he says he will!). Anyway, when I left my house to meet him there, it was a sunny, typical June day in Hampton Roads. 10 minutes later I was on the way home. The wind had shifted and our entire area (Norfolk) was blanketed with smoke from the forest fires in the Great Dismal Swamp and south of the border in North Carolina.

This is a serious event - more than 30,000 acres have burned at my last reading and if the wind is blowing in the right (or in this case, wrong!) direction then we get a blast of smoke that is thick and smelly and unpleasant.

In contrast it was a gorgeous evening on the Ocean View Fishing Pier last night -- the drinks cold, the sunset beautiful, the people-watching fun. If you haven't experienced Willoughby and Ocean View, check it out. I previewed a super cute cottage not far from the pier. This is typical of the neighborhood - we pull in the driveway, check out the yard, go inside, open the detached garage's door, and then the next door neighbor leans over the fence to say ‘howdy'. She just wanted to see if we had any questions about the area or house, or maybe she was just being nosy to see what kind of neighbors she might be getting. Anyway, I really like Willoughby and Ocean View. If you are looking for a beach home - give me a call.

For my numbers people out there... there are almost 400 homes (single family and townhouse/condos) for sale in that general area. Your prices range from $98,500 to $2,700,000. For size you can choose 460 square feet to more than 6,000 square feet! You can choose sandy beach front or marina/pier/boat lifts or no water front. One of the best deals might be the 1100 square feet beach access townhouse with a 2 car garage and hot tub. It is listed for just $215,900 and the seller is offering $10,000 in closing cost assistance, interest rate buy-down, or other financial incentives! If you want to live near the water, now is a great time to look at Norfolk VA waterfront property!

Here is my not very good photo of the Ocean View Pier and the photo from my home office window - both are blurry, one because of the smoke (window) the other because of my cell phone camera is bad (Pier)!

PS if you are self-employed, don't forget to pay estimated taxes! Due today!

I had a call last night from a great friend of mine. She is the kind of person who will do anything for you - one of those people who I think is regularly under-appreciated but should be over-valued!

Anyway we were talking about short sales. Her friend in Florida is facing a bankruptcy and is trying to figure out whether it is better to do the short sale or have the property foreclosed. What I realize is just how much I have learned in this market.

I have helped sellers with a VA compromise sale, buyers with a VA-owned foreclosure, buyers with conventional short sales, etc. My advice for any buyer or seller considering this route is PATIENCE! The bank will often take 2 weeks or more just to assign an internal processor to work with the listing agent - and that only starts AFTER a purchase offer is made on the property. Then it can easily be 30 or 60 days for a response from the bank. I don't think this will be particularly reassuring for the sellers who are reading this, knowing they need OUT now! But I think it is better to let you know what to expect before you head down that road.

In the case of the VA compromise sale, if you have a case agent at the VA assigned, they can be a strong advocate for you, the seller. Good communication with both your real estate agent and the VA is essential for the process to go smoothly. The best part about the compromise sale is you CAN earn back your VA benefit!

For information (and for those who like numbers)... There are currently 443 properties listed as Third Party, Bank, or Government owned (in REIN, the local MLS). This generally signifies properties that have already gone through foreclosure. There are an additional 121 residential properties listed as Short Sales... To put this in perspective, there are more than 15,000 residential homes for sale in REIN as of June 4, 2008 (that is... less than 4% of all properties are short sale or foreclosures, according to REIN.)