Denise's Blog

This Could Have Been Smelly

2008-07-24T19:52:02Z

"Follow That Trash", a new Indie film was released recently. No it didn't get to the film festival in Cannes but it is here. The film was put out by the people at Keep Norfolk Beautiful and should be a keeper for civic groups and science classes. The writers Holly Carson and Nicole Dutil wrote a pure chronologcal narrative in this 8-minute DVD starting with a a woman wheeling a green garbage bin to the curb. It ends at the regional landfill in Suffolk complete with thousands of seagulls. It is a very straight forward but interesting film. For your viewing pleasure contact Keep Norfolk Beautiful at 757-441-1347.

http://www.deniseallen.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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Bond Rating Improves

2008-07-24T19:39:57Z

The taxpayers of Chesapeake got a break the other day when the city's general obligation bond rating went from a AA to AA+. This could save the residents millions in tax dollars becasuse the city will get a better interest rate on money it borrows. The city manager, William Harrell and a team visited Standard & Poor Rating Service in New Your recently and made a presentation. Apparently they made the city's case because the bond rating was improved.

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Eww That Smell

2008-07-23T19:51:39Z

I was at the Kempsville library in Virginia Beach the other day and the smell is still there. Don't know what is or why it is there but it is. Back in 2006 the building was evacuated as people were having itchy eyes and sore throats. No one knows exactly what it is but it has been blamed on higher than normal concentrations of Stoddard solvent. The library is scheduled for renovations in Dec, lets hope the smell goes away then.

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Older Residents Needing Heat Relief

2008-07-23T19:40:58Z

Calling citizens of Chesapeake and South Hampton Roads. If you are 60 years old or older and meet certain income limits, you can apply for a free fan to help beat the heat. Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia realizes that not everyone has air conditioning and not every one can afford it. They have started thier Fan Care program so older people can get a fan. The phone number is 757-461-9481 and ask to talk to an intake specialist.

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Toyota Camry Hybrid Is Green

2008-07-18T21:20:10Z

I recently bought a Toyota Camry Hybrid. It averages about 35 mpg around town. This picture was taken after a highway trip of 100 miles on the freeway to Newport News and back to Virginia Beach at the speed limit. Not too shabby. If someone would have told me a car this big got that good of milage I would have said they were crazy.

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One In Ten

2008-07-12T20:04:39Z

According to the demographers at the University of Virginia, one in ten Virginian's is foreign-born. That seems amazing to me as most of my buyers have been born here or so I thought. I went back and did some research and found some of my buyers that weren't. Certainly not as many as what the demographers say but more then what I thought.

That would seem to put a different light on my prospecting for buyers and probably for sellers as well. How do I prospect for the big chunk of people and where do they come from? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Obici Land Bought Back

2008-07-12T19:58:46Z

Obici Place is stalled and the city of Suffolk is buying back the land. The land was going to be used for a movie theatre but that fell through and the developer, Robinson Development Group, asked the city to exercise its option to repurchase the land. Hopefully something good will be built where the old hospital stood.

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Recyling At The Beach

2008-07-12T19:52:44Z

When you see the big blue cans at the beach, recycle. Not the used sand but just about everything else can go in the cans. Virginia Beach is trying its first full season of recycling. This is just a trial period and isn't costing the city anything yet. Lets hope that our visiters from out of town will jump on the bandwagon and do some recyling.

Here A Puff, There A Puff

2008-07-12T19:42:21Z

Will smokers still buy cigarettes in Virginia Beach with a 22 percent tax increase? Six months I would have said no but now that gas is $4 bucks a gallon I don't see many people going out of the way to say some pennies on smokes. Some fear that smokers will go elsewhere to buy and put the budget out of whack.

Virginia Beach charges 61 cents a pack, Norfolk 65 cents and Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk are at 50 cents a pack. The cities will probably tax themselves out of business one of these days but for now I think smokers won't be to bothered by the increase.

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Brokers Luncheons Hurt

2008-06-23T21:04:32Z

I was setting up for a Brokers luncheon last week at West Chester Estates in Chesapeake when it happened. I tripped over the threshold and broke my left ankle. That hurt really bad and put me out of work for a while. My builder and broker are great. They are making due til I get back. So if you ask me if Brokers Luncheons work for business I would say no.

Oh No I Hear A Lion

2008-06-13T19:22:06Z

Imagine if you just sold a house and get a call from your buyer who says that he went to bed with the window open and woke to the roar of a lion outside his window or the noise of an elephant that can't sleep. That is exactly what happens to residents in the Riverview section of Norfolk. You see they live right outside the zoo. I don't know if you have ever heard three elephants yelling at the same time but it can cause quite a racket. We have disclosures for everything but not for zoos. Do we need one? What about the occasional animal that gets out and prowls the area? It could be dangerous. This didn't happen to me but I was out in the area and was thinking about just such a case. Anybody have any experience?

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More Smoke In The Air

2008-06-12T19:02:32Z

I wrote a blog the other day http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/544915/Smoke-In-The-Air about the fire in NC. It has grown quite large. Now there is a new fire in the Dismal Swamp area of Chesapeake. It looks like they are trying to burn down my new home site at Westchester Estates. I don't have any pictures of it as of yet. The wind is pushing it southwest at the moment which is good for me. Hopefully the rain makers will come along shortly and help the fire fighters out there.

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More Cost Cutting

2008-06-10T16:57:18Z

Public schools in Portsmouth have a feeding problem. Actually a paying problem for a feeding problem. It seems students in elemetary and preschool can charge lunch without limit. The School Board is trying to limit that to just one lunch. At .85 a meal you wouldn't think that would amount to much but as of right now it is at $260,000. That is a lot of free lunches. I will try and keep track of this and let you know what happens.

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Smoke In The Air

2008-06-10T16:51:17Z

Oh my goodness. First I broke my ankle at my site at Westchester Estates in Chesapeake and now smoke is chasing me into Virginia Beach. It is affecting my lungs. Where is the smoke coming from? Apparently from North Carolina. They now have the privilege of having the largest wildfire in the country. It is in Hyde County and two others. The hot dry weather does nothing to help stop the fire from spreading. This is a view from the air.

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Broke My Ankle

2008-06-08T17:25:47Z

I was preparing for a Brokers Luncheon at my new home site in Chesapeake at Westchester Estates when I tripped over the threshold going outside. I heard something pop but didn't know what it was. I fell very hard and it seemed quite fast. None of that slow motion stuff. The next thing I knew I was trying to pick myself up off the ground. The only thing I could think of was to finish getting ready for the luncheon. Thinking I only twisted the ankle I went back to preparing. Five minutes later I realized I couldn't go on and off to the Dr. I went. I can't work for next two weeks and will be in cast most of the summer. I broke the small bone in my ankle. We talked about putting a pin in it but with my medical conditions I opted out of a surgery. Hopefully it will be the right decision.

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Tankless Water Heaters

2008-05-26T13:17:39Z

I saw a blog the other day on tankless water heaters and found some information I thought I would share as I do sale new homes in Chesapeake, VA. I am going to have my builder look at them and see what he thinks. We could promote them as "green houses" with a few more tweaks.

Here is some info on tankless water heaters.

They cost two to four times more than conventional heaters. So if you are looking at $500 for a conventional system you may be looking at $1000 to $2000 for a tankless system.

Who's ever heard of them and how do you explain it to a buyer?

They may be 8-14% more efficient then a coventional system.

You may save $50 to $100 a year on your energy bill.

The faucets furthest away from the system may have lower than normal temperatures unless you have a thermostatically controlled system.

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Martin Luthor King Freeway To Be Extended

2008-05-26T13:05:35Z

Portsmouth officials are talking about extending the MLK freeway all the way to I264. This would give motorists anouther north-south option through Portsmouth, always a good thing. Of course this will only happen if the new Midtown Tunnel is built and we all know where the money for that is.

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WA WA Is Now A Drive In

2008-05-26T12:57:59Z

Did you know real soon that one of the WA WA's in Virginia Beach will be a drive in? You order food and drink and out it will come. How easy can it be. I don't which one for sure but I am guessing it is the one off of Northhampton Blvd.

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What's For Sale In Norfolk?

2008-05-26T12:52:18Z

Do you know what is for sale in the city of Norfolk besides residential real estate? How about the World Trade Center. The assessed value is $37.5 million and its biggest tenant is gone in 2010. No wonder they want to sell it. How about Town Point Center which has a $9.76 million assessment. It is over 97% leased. These buildings are both rated class A or top of the line for office space. So if you have any buyers in your back pocket, now is the time to bring them out. Do you know what big buildings are for sale in your town?

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Suffolk Top Spokesman To Retire

2008-05-24T19:32:45Z

The city's top spokesman for more than four years, Dennis Craff, is retiring. He wants to spend more time with his granddaughter and home school her. He will certainly be missed and this only adds to the string of departures by top administrators in Suffolk the last two years including the city assessor last week. She upset a lot of the wrong people by raising real estate assessments. I am not sure the council realizes how important it is to have a steady stream of good professional people at the top who want to stay and are allowed to do the jobs they were hired to do.

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Virginia Beach Gets New Tunnel

2008-05-24T19:26:04Z

No not a traffic tunnel but a tunnel for us to see fish at the Virginia Aquarium. This tunnel is made of 6 inch thick acrylic polymer and will allow us to be almost part of the environment. It should be quite interesting to see the spotted eagle rays with a 6-foot wing span fly around you. The upgrades which costs upwards of $25 million will be completed by 2009 and include several other new exhibits. Now I know what to do when I am not out selling real estate.

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Golf Course Or Ecological Disaster Part II

2008-05-20T19:45:49Z

The Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville in Chesapeake may once again be open to the public. This is the course that is built on 1.5 million tons of fly ash. The course wasn't closed because of the fly ash but because of not having proper permits. A deal has been worked out to open the course back up but the remove the time frame for homeowners with well problems to sue the course. Without the course open to the public it would be bankrupt. Bankrupt would mean the homeowners wouldn't have anyone to sue. I guess it is a win win deal.

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Portsmouth Police To Aid Mentally Ill

2008-05-20T19:38:36Z

Finally the Portsmouth Police Department is getting some training on handling the mentally ill. The idea is for the officers to have training to deal with people that have mental problems. The police can maybe identify someone who is mentally ill and deal with that person rather then putting them in jail where they may not belong. There is also a Safe Haven program that is staffed by mental health officials where police can drop off non violent offenders. Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are also looking into the same type of program.

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Assessor Fired For Doing Job

2008-05-15T17:05:23Z

Maria Kattmann has been the assessor Suffolk since 1995. She recently made a change to the way the city assessed waterfront real estate. The people with waterfront real estate started paying for waterfront real estate and the people who had a mud hole paid for a mud hole. Maybe she could eased into it I don't know but for sure she has been fired.

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Waterfront Comes To Grandy Village

2008-05-14T19:45:47Z

The residents of Grandy Village in Norfolk had a view of the Elizabeth River NOT!!. The usually prime real estate was hidden from view by tall reeds and weeds. Now the city is bulldozing and weed eating the debris away along with the usual rats and snakes that hide in that of habitat. I will post some pictures when they are done.

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