Gene's Blog

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).

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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.

Park Place in Norfolk Opens New Condominiums

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

Park Place in Norfolk opens new condominiums at 200 W 31st St. Metro Housing Group has partnered with Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to take the once abandoned building and renovate it. The apartment building is now a condo building and you can purchase one these starting at just $149,900. There are two and three bedroom units with 10 foot high ceilings, state of the art security entry system, oak floors and new appliances. Call me if you want to check them out.

Shotgun Training for Suffolk Citizens

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:52:51 -0600

There is a new shotgun training center for Suffolk citizens. Where can you go to learn how to use your new shotgun and make sure it is working great? You can carry yourself on down to Moyock to the U.S. Training Center. They teach handgun, shotgun and carbine. This used to be the Blackwater center but a new name change for Blackwater (Xe) has resulted in a new name and mission for the training center. They now are training civilians.

How To Fix That UGLY MLS Bathroom Picture

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:40:43 -0600

Here is an easy way to fix that ugly MLS bathroom picture you were going to take. STOP and don't do it. Take a picture of the park instead or the gateway coming into the neighborhood or just a nice picture of an apple pie or something but please not the ugly bathroom picture. The bottom picture is of a retention pond at Grayson Pond in Virginia Beach taken around sunset or so.

Ready for Halloween in Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:38:34 -0500

I came home this afternoon to get ready for Halloween in Virginia Beach but it seems the spiders had beat me to the punch. I have a big crepe myrtle in front of my house and I think it draws them in. I have a bunch of different ones.

Sunset in Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:28:23 -0500

I took this photo a while back thought I would share it as I don't if we will get any good sunsets in Virginia Beach over the Oak Springs subdivision for a while.

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Sunset in Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:24:55 -0500

I was impressed by Gary and Debbies' paintings in the sky I wanted to share one of a sunset in Virginia Beach. It is just the sun setting over a subdivison with some trees in the foreground.

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Run, The Droid Is Here from Verizon

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:51:15 -0500

Run, the Droid is here. Verizon has finally announced a new phone based on the Google operating system called Android. This is the 2.0 version. I did a small blog here on it a few days ago.

There will be a lot of phones based on the Android operating system but I am focused on the Verizon phone as that is the carrier I have. I don't know if AT&T will sell one as it is direct competion to the iPhone. Does it best the iPhone? I don't know but to sell more of them it really doesn't have to be. It is available world wide and other networks besides Verizon.

Aside from all the other neat things it does such as touch screen, real multitasking, large touch screen, voice GPS, VOICE ACTIVATED SEARCH, micro SD card, 5 MEG camera with DVD quality video, Slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a host of other tricks. it has a GPS app from Google you don't have to pay for.

Did I mention it has a GPS that you can use. Verizon has always disabled the GPS in its phones so you had to purchase the service from them at $10 a month. That alone is worth the price of admission for this phone. I guess Google has "Juice" I didn't even know about.

You can read about the Droid here.

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Onerous Task For Canadian Real Estate Agents

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:52:50 -0500

Candian real estate agents have an onerous task they must comply with. It seems they have a law, The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, that is designed to assist authorities in tracking down terrorist organizations, as well as criminals who buy real estate to launder money obtained from illegal activities.

Real estate agents are required to request and make copies of identification from all people buying real estate, to keep those copies on file for five years and to provide the information to the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada agency if requested. . Several types of identification are acceptable, such as a driver's license, a birth certificate, a passport or a provincial health card.

Realtors are also required to report any suspicious activity to authorities.

Those who don't comply could be subject to fines of up to $2 million and prison terms of up to five years.

Can you imagine would happen in case of a break in at a real estate office and the information fell into the wrong hands. Keep in mind that Canada has provincial health cards and those potentially could be worth a lot of money not to mention those interested in committing identify-theft crimes.

Real estate agents are worried about the expense and time associated with complying with the law, which could be particularly onerous when dealing with out-of-province purchasers. The brokers will be blamed if a privacy breach occurs and the information falls into the hands of unauthorized parties. Thanks but no thanks, hope it doesn't happen here.

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Two More Fixes for MLS Pictures

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:24:00 -0500

Here are two more fixes for MLS pictures. This first picture is the original (not mine). The second is what I could do with it in Elements which was basically to put in the blue sky and take out the time stamp. The third picture is more of what should have been done in the first place. Take the picture correctly. I did have to add the blue sky and should have moved a bit to the left to get the front door but didn't think of that at the moment. The third picture is from about 10 feet in the air. I like those pictures. It gives the picture a different look and maybe stand a out a bit more from the crowd.

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Homes With Chinese Drywall Get Tax Relief in Virginia Beach

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:21:36 -0500

City Council today voted to give homes with Chinese drywall tax relief in Virginia Beach. The homes will basically be valued at $100 and the homeowner will pay taxes on the land. So far just 15 homes in Highland Parrish are affected.

Chinese drywall has been associated with multiple problems including deteriating wiring, airconditioning coils and affecting the health of the occupants. Not much is being done to help the homeowners so I think every little bit helps. Insurance companies are not taking on homes with the problem or canceling the policies outright. Builders are long gone, warranties are no good because it is a pre-existing condition and it is difficult to identify the product once it is installed.

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Norfolk's Waterside a Farmers Market?

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:48:30 -0500

Norfolk's Waterside could become a Farmers Market in the not to distant future. A local developer ,Divaris Real Estate, pitched such a deal to the city the other day. They would transform Waterside into a farmers market to include arts and crafts dealers along with a high end seafood restaurant. The city is taking its time and asking for proposals from citizens also. Look for answers in maybe six months.

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Get Square Virginia

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:24:40 -0500

Get Square Virginia (edit/delete)

Get Square Virginia. What a title. I was just reading about about a program that may help some of the residents of Virginia Beach. It a new tax amnesty program that runs during Fiscal Year 2010. It is called "Get Square VA" and establishes a 60-day period during which, with certain exceptions, taxpayers who have an outstanding bill or delinquent return for any tax administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation ("TAX") may receive amnesty. Get Square VA allows the taxpayer to pay only the tax due and half the interest on eligible outstanding bills and delinquent returns; the remaining interest and penalties will be waived. Go here Get Square VA for more details.

If you want to see how facebook can be used take a gander at the Face Book Page for the State Department of Taxation.

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Get Square Virginia

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:22:28 -0500

Get Square Virginia. What a title. I was just reading about about a program that may help some of our real estate clients in Virginia. It a new tax amnesty program that runs during Fiscal Year 2010. It is called "Get Square VA" and establishes a 60-day period during which, with certain exceptions, taxpayers who have an outstanding bill or delinquent return for any tax administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation ("TAX") may receive amnesty. Get Square VA allows the taxpayer to pay only the tax due and half the interest on eligible outstanding bills and delinquent returns; the remaining interest and penalties will be waived. Go here Get Square VA for more details.

If you want to see how facebook can be used take a gander at the Face Book Page for the State Department of Taxation.

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Help with Magnetic Lasso in Phont Shop Elements 7

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:13:03 -0500

I am having probems with the magnetic lasso in Photo Shop Elements 7. I know how to set up it up and use it except for one small problem. When I get close to the top or the bottom of the screen my curser goes crazy and runs all over the place. If I zoom out I can make it work but then I can't see the picture. I have tried zooming in and out while using the magnetic lasso but it makes the curser go wild also. Any help would be appreciated.

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Last Flowers of Summer?

Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:16:43 -0500

I was in my yard in Glenwood the other day taking in the sights and thought I would share some of the last flowers of summer even though it is the middle of Oct. Virginia Beach is a wonderful place to live, especially for the weather.

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