Gene Allen Sells Hampton Roads Real Estate

How Lucrative Are Foreclosures?

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:44:25 -0600

We all know that there is money to be made off foreclosures. Commissions, title insurer's, closing agents, people that tend the properties and so on. What I didn't know is that there is a battle being waged for for the right to do the legal advertising for them. A typical foreclosure is worth about $700 net to a newspaper. Do the math on how many are in the paper at a given time.

Our local paper, The Virginian-Pilot, is in a battle with the Wall Street Journal for the right to advertise the foreclosures. The foreclosures are part of what are called legal ads. In order for a paper to advertise them they must:

Have a general circulation in the area

Be printed in English

Published at least once a week

Have a bona-fide list of paying subscribers

Have a second class mailing permit

A local court official (normally the commissioner of accounts) decides which papers can publish legal ads. Right now the Wall Street Journal is not on the list but wants in on the action. You would think that the Virginian-Pilot has a bigger circulation then the Wall Street Journal and you would be right so there shouldn't be a problem for excluding the Wall Street Journal. But there is another paper in the area, Inside Business, which prints legal ads in Norfolk. The Wall Street Journal is on par with them for circulation and therefore thinks it should be on the list. Out of that there is a court battle brewing. So far a Norfolk Circuit Judge has said that he does not have jurisdiction but a Virginia Beach Circuit Judge says she does. More court appearances to come I am sure.

Maybe it is about time the legislatures revisits the law about "notice by publication" in light of the variety of mass communication available.

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.

1/3 Of New Laptops Fail In Three Years

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:32:58 -0600

1/3 of new laptops fail within the first three years. There are several reasons why and planning ahead as well as making good choices along the way can swing the odds in your favor.

There is a company called SquareTrade and they provide aftermarket warranty coverage for laptops. They analized over 30,000 laptops and fully a third will fail in the first three years. Yeah, maybe you got a lemon, but no matter which brand you bought, you truly are not alone in this situation. That's actually better than I would have expected based on the comments I see on the internet in the various groups I belong to.

SquareTrade has more detailed information (the full PDF of the company's study is available here) on the research on its website. But here are some highlights about how, why, and which laptops fail:

> 20.4 percent of failures are due to hardware malfunctions. 10.6 percent are due to drops, spills, or other accidental damage.

> Netbooks have a roughly 20 percent higher failure rate due to hardware malfunctions than standard laptops. The more you pay for your laptop, the less likely it is to fail in general (maybe because you're more careful with it?).

> The most reliable companies? A shocker: Toshiba and Asus, both with below a 16 percent failure rate due to hardware malfunction.

> The least reliable brands? Acer, Gateway, and HP. HP's hardware malfunction rate, the worst in SquareTrade's analysis, is a whopping 25.6 percent.

The best advice, don't drop you new computer, keep it dry, by a Toshiba or Asus and pay a bit more for it. Don't go cheap.

MACRO VIDEO WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:13:02 -0600

Macro Video, why didn't I think of that. The following link is to a video made on a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ 38 CAMERA. This is an upgrade to the camera that I have. With video being added to cameras you can utilize almost all the features available to the camera to the video. In this case it is to the Macro capability of the camera. This one has also a close up filter attached to it. Now the video is not all that impressive on the small screen but imagine watching it with your five year son on a 50 inch plasma tv. That would be awesome. It is also something they could participate in making.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCoJH0PU03U&feature=related

Mayflower Marathon Food Drive in Newport News and Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:44:56 -0600

Mayflower Marathon Food Drive in Virginia Beach & Newport News (edit/delete)

The Mayflower Marathon food drive continues today and tomorrow all day at the Sams Club in Newport News and the Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach. 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.

Mayflower Marathon Food Drive in Virginia Beach & Newport News

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:42:44 -0600

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.

Farmers in Hampton Roads Take A Big Hit From Nor'easter

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:29:49 -0600

Farmers in Hampton Roads have taken a big hit from the latest Nor'easter. It came much too soon for them. Not only did the rain flood the fields keeping the farmers from finishing the harvest but it also washed away the winter wheat crop for the area. About the only plant that was done harvesting was the peanut. Cotton and soybeans took a big hit. The cotton falls out of the balls making the color decline and the wind beats the soy beans into the ground so they just rot. The farmers are praying for a lot of sunshine in the next few weeks to help them out.

Tidewater Community College in Suffolk

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:07:33 -0600

Tidewater Community College in Suffolk is sitting on some primo land. It seems they own that big open area of land you see when you first come out of the Moniter Merrimac tunnel from Hampton. I am talking not only to the right of the bridge but to the left as well. There is about 389 acres. When this is sold to developers it will be a huge financial boon to the college. Interstate access and waterfront property. Where else in the area is there anything like this left? There is a small superfund cleanup site on the land but that will all be done by 2014.

Flash Diffuser for Point and Shoot Cameras

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:06:28 -0600

I ran across this the other day and thought I would share it with you. It is a flash diffuser (it is about 3/4 of the page down) for a point and shoot camera. I don't own a point and shoot camera but when I need to use a flash I use a flash diffuser because I think they tone the harsh flash down. Wonder when the camera makers will have an AH HA moment and fix the harsh flash to begin with.

Great Ranch Home Close to NAS Oceana and Dam Neck

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:48:00 -0600

Here is a great ranch style home just minutes from both NAS Oceana and the Dam Neck Naval Base. The house is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with a large great room, eat-in-kitchen, wood floors, smooth top range and much more. The home is in an association with pools, tennis courts, canals and clubhouse. For an affordable price of just $224,900 this is a great deal.

TourNarrator for Apple iPhone

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:18:23 -0600

The TourNarrator applicaction for real estate agents is now available for the Apple iPhone. What is it you ask. Go to the alamode page for a full explantion of the TourNarrator but here is a small explanation.

Capture buyer feedback on key properties as you get it, using photos, notes, and audio

Tour comments and photos are published to a PDF and can be used on any website

Clients can then browse through properties toured and remember what they liked or didn't about each

High tech, impressive service that reduces questions, boosts confidence

Just another of the thousands of apps available for you iPhone guys. Enjoy.

Not Much Damage In Glenwood After Nor"easter

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:02:31 -0600

Not much damage in the Glenwood area of Virginia Beach after the Nor'easter. There were some fences down, Independence Blvd had a high water area but nothing like happened in the last tropical storm we had. Most of the damage was due to the 75 mph wind that blew for a while. Luckily we don't live in one of the areas affected by the tides.

Robins Still Have to Eat In The Noreaster in Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:49:55 -0600

Robins still have to eat during the Noreaster in Virginia Beach. I was getting ready to take out a big plant with berries tha the birds love because it had fallen over due to the cold weather. The storm came so the plant stayed. Lucky for this little fellow because he came and gorged himself on berries. The picture was hard to take because he kept moving. This was taken between two raindrops on the window which caused the blurring on both sides. I think I might have been moving a bit also.

Robins Still Have to Eat In The Noreaster in Glenwood

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:44:57 -0600

Robings still have to eat in the Noreaster in the Glenwood area. I was getting ready to take out a big weed in my yard that supplies berries for the birds because it had fallen over due to the cold weather. The storm came so the plant stayed. Lucky for this little fellow because he came and gorged himself on berries.

Night Time MLS Picture In Norfolk

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:19:28 -0600

This is a night time MLS picture I ran into in Norfolk today. I was scanning for listings for my buyer when I spotted this one. At least the agent exposed for the window. The picture could be photo shopped to expose the rest of the house but it would still be a bad picture from the way it was framed to spot the picture was taken from. The bad thing is he probably makes more money then I do.

1112 Confederate Cres, Virginia Beach, VA

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:53:19 -0600

I Said Bird "Feeder" Not "Bird" Feeder

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:13:47 -0600

I said bird "feeder" not "bird" feeder. I need to be careful in how Iemphasize My words. When I put out my bird feeder in the back yard the idea was to feed the birds bird seed. Apparently this young Osprey (I think) has decided that I meant "bird" feeder and the bird feeder was meant to feed him. He has taken several small birds from my backyard. This is the first time I have seen one up close and personal. He is maybe 15 feet from my window. He lives high atop a power pole about 1.2 mile from my house in Glenwood on the Honeybee Golf Course. He seriously needs to join his buddies in going south for the winter (see the last picture).

I gotz Boekeh I think

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:58:55 -0600

I was reading a Debi Boucher blog on boekeh and wanted to see if I gotz boekeh. I have a bridge camera, the Panasonic DMC FZ 18 which gives me a lot of manual control but I usually go auto. I took my camera on my walk with me this morning and went to my favorite canal in Glenwood. It just happened to have the only blooming flower I had seen in days. The first picture is at f8 and you can see the flower is in focus and the background is at a soft focus.

I took the second picture at f 3.6 and the flower is in focus but you can't see anything of the background. I think the first picture has the boekeh if I have the definition correct.

Emergency Flash Diffuser

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:26:45 -0600

I usually don't do protraits and hardly ever inside however my wife said her dad was coming down and we needed a portrait of our granddaughter for him. The granddaughter was here so I said ok. It was raining and not much good light inside so I brought out the onboad flash, to flat and to much shadow. So I took out a slave flash and put it on the floor. Same thing. My wife was sitting next to me and so was the halloween candy dish. I told her to empty it out and put it over the slave flash. I put an old clear film canister over the onboard flash and hoped for the best. The picture was perfect. The camera compensated for all the different light sources to make quite a nice portrait. I will show you later the final product.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Has Been Extended and Expanded for Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:09:42 -0600

The Homebuyer Tax Credit has extended and expanded for Virginia Beach residents. It has been extended to include current homeowners. The following are features of the new bill:

•·Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.

•·Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.

•·Eligibility and amount of new credit:

•-$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).

•-Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a

principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.

•·Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.

•·Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.

The pool of eligible buyers will increase and the program will be in place through the first half of 2010.

IF YOU THOUGHT THAT WINTER TIME WAS A SLOW TIME OF YEAR TO LIST YOUR HOME YOU MAY BE IN THE WRONG BALLPARK THIS YEAR. IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE ABOUT LISTING YOUR HOME AND HAVING IT SOLD, NOW IS THE TIME TO GET OFF THE FENCE AND GIVE ME A CALL!!! DON'T LET THE BUYERS BUY YOUR NEIGHBORS HOUSE.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Has Been Extended and Expanded for Suffolk

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:04:36 -0600

The Homebuyer Tax Credit has extended and expanded for Suffolk residents. It has been extended to include current homeowners. The following are features of the new bill:

•·Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.

•·Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.

•·Eligibility and amount of new credit:

•-$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).

•-Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a

principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.

•·Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.

•·Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.

The pool of eligible buyers will increase and the program will be in place through the first half of 2010. This is a very positive event for home buying and the Real Estate industry!

Homebuyer Tax Credit Has Been Extended and Expanded for Chesapeake

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:01:34 -0600

The Homebuyer Tax Credit has extended and expanded for Chesapeake residents. It has been extended to include current homeowners. The following are features of the new bill:

•·Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.

•·Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.

•·Eligibility and amount of new credit:

•-$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).

•-Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a

principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.

•·Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.

•·Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.

The pool of eligible buyers will increase and the program will be in place through the first half of 2010. This is a very positive event for home buying and the Real Estate industry!

Homebuyer Tax Credit Has Been Extended and Expanded for Portsmouth

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:59:44 -0600

The Homebuyer Tax Credit has extended and expanded for Portsmouth residents. It has been extended to include current homeowners. The following are features of the new bill:

•·Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.

•·Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.

•·Eligibility and amount of new credit:

•-$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).

•-Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a

principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.

•·Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.

•·Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.

The pool of eligible buyers will increase and the program will be in place through the first half of 2010. This is a very positive event for home buying and the Real Estate industry!

Its' A Camera, No Its' A Projector, No Its' Both

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:44:01 -0600

Its' a camera and a projector in one. Billed to be the first camera with a built in projector, the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj is a technical wonder. Its' a 12 MB with an ISO rating of 80-6400 and a lens that goes from 28mm to 140mm. The technology comes from the projector. Put the camera on a stand, aim it at a white surface no more then two feet away and there you go. Sharing your pictures or VIDEO with your clients. When you are done, put it in your pocket and away you go.

Think of the possibilties. You could put your presentation on there and play it or pictures of homes you have listed, there are unlimited uses for this camera in real estate.

Its' A Camera, No Its' A Projector, No Its' Both

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:42:12 -0600

Think of the possibilties. You could put your presentation on there and play it or pictures of homes you have listed, there are unlimited uses for this camera in real estate.

Virgina Beach School Maintenance Division Breaks Wind

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:22:11 -0600

The Virginia Beach School districts maintenance division will soon break wind. They are building a new facility on Harper's Road that will feature four wind turbines. This will be a $20 million dollar 84,000 sq ft facility that will house the offices of the transportation personnel and buses. The facility will be called the Pupil Transportation Facility.

In addition to the wind turbines, the building will be naturally lighted and cooled, have a geotherma/solar heating and a grass covered roof. In addition to all the new green stuff, there will be updated and modern equipment for the maintenance personal.