Localism: Virginia Beach, VA

Market Report for Highgate Greens, Virginia Beach, VA

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:32:59 -0600

Highgate Greens is located off Princess Anne Road near Three Oaks and Southgate neighborhoods. Nearby is shopping at Red Mill Commons, Sandbridge Beach and the Oceanfront about 15 minutes away, and Oceana and Dam Neck Naval installations 10 minutes away. Highgate Greens schools include Three Oaks Elementary (walk to school), Princess Anne Middle, and Kellam High School. Below real estate statistics are from Jan 1 through Nov 30 2008.

Status	Address		List Price	Entered	BR	FB	HB	SqFt	Year	PriceS	Off Market	MT
ACTV	2309 LANGHORNE CT	Virginia Beach	439,000	8/6/2008	4	2	0	2726	1997
ACTV	2600 LOWER GREENS PL	Virginia Beach	475,000	6/11/2008	5	3	1	3400	1997
ACTV	2360 UPPER GREENS PL	Virginia Beach	500,000	10/30/2008	5	3	0	3200	1996
SOLD	2624 LOWER GREENS PL	Virginia Beach	498,000	2/15/2008	4	3	0	3333	1996	475,000	5/13/2008	88
SOLD	2565 LOWER GREENS PL	Virginia Beach	569,500	4/17/2008	5	3	1	3444	1997	550,000	5/12/2008	25
EXPD	2344 UPPER GREENS PL	Virginia Beach	575,000	5/30/2008	5	2	1	3000	1996		8/30/2008	92

Welcome to the New Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Hampton Roads, Real Estate Blog Heritage Park Virginia Beach Real Estate Home For Sale Virtual Tour Real Estate Statistics for Virginia Beach, VA August 2008 - Understanding The Puzzle

Begging and borrowing- reflections of a trip through ITALY

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:02:53 -0600

An article by the Virginian Pilot's Kerry Dougherty reminded me of a trip through Italy with my college friend Nicole.

While in college at Radford University in late 80's early 90's- I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to study abroad. One semester was spent in England at Middlesex Polytechnic. Usually every weekend a group of students would head to different locations - Amsterdam- if memory serves me- was probably our first weekend trip. We also visited Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

After the December semester was over and exams were finished three of us decided to go to Italy for a few days. Danielle, Nicole and I were very excited. Danielle was interested to learn more about fashion, Nicole (the spitting image of a young Liza Minelli) wanted to discover her Italian roots and I was just going along for the ride cultural educational experience... We left London and we headed to Rome, Florence and Venice.

Nicole, for some reason, had run out of money and I was basically bankrolling both of us. At each location Nicole would have to find a phone booth to call her dad to have money wired to Italy- that in and of itself was a nightmare because we didn't really have a day to day plan on where we would be. Lo and behold, the money never materialized. Frustrating for me- but I am a nice friend, and she did pay me back, so no one suffered any broken kneecaps.

At the phone station in Venice, Danielle and I patiently waited while Nicole, once again, had to phone home. I remember that this was a different phone station than the others we had visited- I remember that Nicole had paid before she made the call. This was way before the Euro, so she used my Lire.

Nicole finishes her call and we attempt to leave the phone station. Not so fast... the lovely Italians behind the counter started yelling at us. I think what they were trying to convey is that Nicole... owed more money- Capisce? Well for some reason none of us could understand- probably because we were being yelled at in Italian, and we thought she had paid. I tried to ask what was going on- but the donna simpatico told me in English to SHUT MY MOUTH... so I did. They couldn't believe that Nicole didn't have any money- as she was dripping in gold, Gucciand a funded by Michelle, new Italian leather jacket- but she really didn't - I had the money- Mama Mia-how to explain that? The carabinieri were called and Nicole didn't have her passport on her- so Danielle and I were told to go get her passport while she was taken to the police station by the hunky cops. Fantastico- Danielle and I were not happy campers- it was freezing cold and we wanted a hot beverage and we had to traipse all the way back to the pensione to get Nicole's passport. When we arrive at the police station we find bella Nicole is chummy with the handsome cops and drinking warm beverages... Danielle and I debated on leaving her- we were so mad!

At any rate, there is a moral to this story- when you are traveling and have to use a phone to beg for money, leave the Gucci and the gold and the leather at home!

LA VITA e BELLA in Italia and here in Hampton Roads! If you want to know more about the Hampton Roads market CALL ME, you don't have to use a pay phone!

Rates are Dropping!!

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:41:43 -0600

Have you heard? I have verified with 2 different loan officers that I work with that rates went as low as 5.375 two days ago and are expecting to hold steady in the mid 5's. The recovery of the housing market is the key to economic growth and it appears that the Feds are making the move. Check out the article below from NAR's Chief Economist.

Jeff Nelson
Homes and Food, Inc.
Tons of information about where we live and what we eat in Hampton Roads, Va.
Also, find out real estate information for Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News.

NAR Says Fed's Buying of Fannie, Freddie Debt Will Drive Down Interest Rates and Help to Stabilize Housing

WASHINGTON, November 25, 2008

Great news for home buyers, home sellers and the U.S. economy is how the National Association of Realtors^® greeted this morning's announcement by the Federal Reserve that it will purchase housing-related debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, thus freeing up mortgage money on Main Street.

"This is one of the key actions we've been advocating ever since the Treasury altered its course on how it would use the $700 billion recovery package passed in September. This is great news for home buyers and sellers and we applaud the Fed for taking this historic step," said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. "Housing recovery is the key to economic recovery in this country and it always has been."

In a four-point plan submitted to Congress last month, NAR called for the Treasury Department to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from banks to provide price stabilization for housing. Today the Fed said it would purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae for up to $500 billion. "This will be critical to a housing recovery," McMillan said.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said purchasing debt obligations of Fannie and Freddie is an important move. "We commend the Fed decision because it will directly bring down long-term interest rates," he said. "The level of investment should be aggressive enough to bring interest rates down in a meaningful manner. As we've seen in past recessions, home sales rise when mortgage interest rates fall."

Yun said that given the present state of the mortgage market, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are too high. "If Fed action brings down mortgage interest rates by even 1 percentage point, it would increase homes sales by 500,000 units. That should help to draw inventory down and stabilize prices."

Yun said higher home sales are critical now to absorb inventory and stabilize prices. "Only with stabilization in home prices can we have a healthy housing and economic recovery," he said.

In its announcement, the Fed said it will purchase up to $100 billion of GSE debt from primary dealers through a series of competitive auctions to begin next week. Purchases of up to $500 billion in MBS will be conducted by selected asset managers before year-end. Both the direct obligations and MBS purchases are expected to take place over several quarters.

Most Efficient Charities

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:54:40 -0600

Guess where one of the most efficient charities as well as one the largest charities in America is located? If you guessed Virginia Beach and Operation Blessing then you would be correct. The charity received a 100% "fund raising efficiency" rating from Forbes magazine recently. Operation Blessing also received a 99% efficiency in charitable commitment which calculates how much of total expense went directly to the charitable purpose. The charity spent $285 million on charitable services and just $2 million on services such as fundraising and admistration. So remember Operation Blessing if you want something to put your money into and be assured that it will be well spent.

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Another Casuality Of Short Sale/Foreclosures

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:39:45 -0600

I was reading in our local paper, the Virginian Pilot, that the utility companies are having an unexpected drop in electricity consumption. Utilities like Dominion Power are forecasting a 1 to 2 percent increase in power consumption and are setting up to meet that demand. Remember, the infrastructure can take years to put into place and it has to be forecast ahead of time. If they are wrong then the companies and ultimately the consumer pays dearly.

For the first time, power companies are seeing up to a 3 percent drop in consumption to homes. The analysts are at a loss to explain the drop but seem to dismiss the foreclosure market. Looking at the number of foreclosed homes in our area of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk, I think they should take another look. If you look at Las Vegas and Florida, you will see the same type of numbers.

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