spiker3

Mets make AAA New Orleans their affliate Read that article and look at the bias that the Mets organization tried swinging our way. I've been a Tides fan since i moved to the area, i remember having season tickets on the first base dugout at Met Park and getting autographs and baseballs from Vince Coleman, Dave Magidan, Darryl Strawberry, in the old days when the actual Mets would play the Tides. I've been a Mets fan specifically because of the Tides. I don't think my allegiance will change because of this, and i'll still support the Tides. But if i owned an organization that received virtually no help or assistance the entire year from my major league affiliate, i'd be pissed too. The GM and AGM not one time visiting the area? The Pilot's not trying to make it look like our fault, it's clearly putting the blame on them, where it should go. They had the chance to re-up their contract, they did some piss-poor negotiations and lost their contract. New Orleans was the place that not one East Coast major league team wanted to be, and the Mets got stuck with them as a result. Serves them right. I'll still be a Mets fan after all this, but the Mets got what they deserved, and now their logistics has been screwed as a result. Imagine what will happen if Pedro tweaks a hamstring, and they have to fly in their hot shot rookie from Phoenix where NO is playing. Jet lag and etc makes it much more difficult. The entire tone of the article above just ticks me off, like we're all small market hicks and they got out for the better. The opposite it surely true, and the Mets will rue the day they let us slip away. In two years, they'll be crawling back asking us to come back. (most of the teams only signed two year contracts this year, including the Mets and O's)

Has nothing to do with international flights but... venting, my girlfriend works for Airport Express, you guys i'm sure have seen the news articles, good news is they lost their contract, bad news is nothing's gotten better. She's got $1200 in paychecks waiting to cash with another one coming soon; the owner's bank has closed his account due to frequent deliquency and this is the sixth or seventh bank to do so to him. I'm so excited for AE to lose their contract. This s*** sucks

here's an example of Tel's handiwork...freshly posted:

H&M opened at MacArthur Center yesterday afternoon, it is HUGE. Looks to be doing brisk business as well. EQ3 opens the middle of next month i believe. As far as a third anchor goes, there have been no talks, not even preliminary in the last year.

Yessir

'Bubble Boy' on craigslist would repost ads for homes that were for sale for radically high prices, and shred them with his comments, for example: 2 BR 1 BA house on the outskirts of downtown, completely repainted and recarpeted. Quiet street, easy parking, $245,999. This won't last long! becomes 2 BR 1 BA house on the outskirts of downtown (which means 28th St and Layfette), completely repainted and recarpeted . Quiet street (so it's easy to hear the drive-bys), easy parking, (since your car will be stolen if it's on the street for an hour) $245,999. This won't last long! Something along those lines, it was priceless. Also put a blog up at hrhousingbust.blogspot.com

Disagree erdog, i am looking for an ARM for my first home, regardless of the market. It'll be my first house, and i'm looking at a 5/1 or 7/1 ARM, not for more house, but for the slightly lower payments. My first home will not be my last one, it'll be more than likely short term. My plan is to get sell the house four years into the 5/1 or 7/1, but at least have made equity on the house (assuming the market doesn't just implode). Taking out interest only loans, or 40-50 year fixed rate mortgages are where people get into trouble, or the uneducated who don't research. I'm confident that an ARM is what's going to work best for me. Tel, are you Bubble Boy on norfolk craigslist?

LINKAGE Housing market cools....taxes still potentialy to rise...

FYI, the building is still unoccupied, the parking garage is open but i don't believe tenants are in yet.

Something along the lines of Havana's or Hell's Kitchen was the impression i got. He owns a couple Johnny Boys (kiosks in front of Home Depot) and he's selling them and investing in a new bar, stepping up the later. I'm thinking it's either Station 2 or Jack Quinn's, but more than likely it'd be Station 2.

Finally went by the apple store yesterday (been on vacation all week so havent been to the mall) very impressive, lots of interaction, ipods especially. H&M has clothes in the store, they really busted their tails to open on Thursday, last projection i heard was early October. And a buddy of mine is looking at retail space on Granby St through a broker, looking for a place to open a restaurant and bar. Found a place that's 6K square feet for $5K a month? Anyone familiar with the leasing prices in downtown? Only substantial place i could think of was the old Station 2, or else something north of Brambelton.

I wish, but one of the requisites for an advisor was that they weren't interested in coaching the team, only helping to build it. ODU is looking to hire a coach next year; doubt it would be Welsh, but wishful thinking.

Mark the day n time, because it's going to happen. Either immediately before or after Norfolk opens their light rail, or even just gets construction going, Virginia Beach is going to announce their addition of a corridor to the ocean front. Three or four years ago it was presented as a group package, the voters smashed it. Norfolk says, we'll front the cost, since the perception used to be Norfolk ideas with Va Beach's money. There is too much potential for Va Beach to lose money at Town Center and the Oceanfront unless they latch onto this. They already bought the corridor from Norfolk Southern (i heard) it's only a matter of time. This phase has to be looked on as an introductory phase, Norfolk puts it out there, development continues around the stations, and Virginia Beach comes on board immediately. It's a lock!

im curious why there's no real post on the progress of Greenbrier Towne Center (TC with an E!) There's a huge development off Eden Way, i know it's not condos, mostly retail but anyone know anything about it? Besides it's behind Bed Bath and Beyond, lol.

This about the old Social Services building, on Brambleton and Duke *Franklin Condos*, they've put a link to their website for the project. Last i checked it was under construction. I'm curious how this building is going to turn out, they're stripping it down, using the steel frames and puttin up wooden framing inside the steel, but dont seem to plan on adding anything to the current building. Unique to say the least. SITE HERE Page is still under construction.

Just to confirm what vtfan fan said, for the most part people are moving in the end of september/early october. The ads for rent on craigslist have varied from available immediately to september 1st, 15th, and october 1st. the first rent i saw was 1600 for 800 sq feet, without parking, almost spit out my drink. lately they've all been 1200 for 1BR, and the 1600 post was taken down almost immediately. I drove by last night at 2 in the morning, there were three or four lights on in the building on the lower floors towards Bute St, not towards Freemason. There's still landscaping and sidewalk work that needs done, and the bottom floor facing Boush nearest Freemason still has plastic inside covering the windows. Pictures would help too

Rus, i agree with living within your means, but in this market your means does not carry you to where it used to. I make 46K a year, more than enough to purchase a home in most markets...except Hampton Roads does not qualify under most markets. The only homes currently priced in my range are garbage cape cod homes in rundown parts of Norfolk, 'renovated' condos that renovations simply involved painting and new carpet, or shoddy new construction work in South Norfolk. Currently i'm only paying $690/month in rent for a 3BR in West Ghent on Hampton Blvd, a pretty sweel deal. I don't have the pressure to get into a home that i don't want to get into because my housing costs are so low. I'll gladly pay less than 700 a month in rent rather than pay a $1300 mortgage for a home that isn't worth more than $800 a month. The market is finally balancing out; established condos are coming down below $200K, SFH are on the market longer, prices are slowly being adjusted. But too many agents and new sellers have their heads in the sand in regards to the market. Since their neighbor sold his place last year for 100K over assesment, they can easily get $125K now, right? Telmnstr mentioned craigslist, look at the inventory on there. Homes that post pictures look awful, rundown roofs, landscaping, presentation wise are a mess, and they're asking 265K, 285K, 315K. I'd love to live in my dream home, but i'm also a realist. I know my first house is not going to be my last, and more than likely not a long term residence. I look forward to living in downtown, that's my goal, but the market's heading downward, slowly, yet new construction prices are going to opposite way. Sooner or later they're going to price themselves out of their market, compounded with the market's further deterioration and excess supply. That's when i'll get the condo that i'm looking for. It's just frustrating because the writing is virtually on the wall, yet agents and buyers don't see it and don't realize it. It takes their house to be on the market for 4 or 5 months before they realize....wow, i've got to cut the price, i need to give concessions, i need to offer closing assistance. I'm not saying the sky is falling, i don't think HR is in for a hard hard crash, but i do believe there will be a continual decline. The median salary in HR is in the 29-32K range, yet the median home price is 225K. That math does not add up. And sooner or later the math is going to burn alot people. Thankfully i won't be one of them.

I posted before i introduced myself, apologies. My name's D.J., i'm a 23 y/o professional workin at MacArthur Center in downtown Norfolk. I live currently in West Ghent, love the area. I've been in the area since i was 6, lived in College Park, graduated from Tallwood in 2000. My father is a structural engineer working in downtown Norfolk as well; he designed Tallwood, Ocean Lakes and Taono (sp?) High Schools, as well as Norfolk Southern Tower (one of my first memories of downtown was watching the demolition of the old 1st Virginia Bank building from the NS tower while it was under construction) I'm encouraged by the development in the Hampton Roads area, long for a major league sports team and look forward osome lively discussions. Thanks

Except that in Hampton Roads, many agents, and as a result sellers convince themselves that selling below assessed prices make them 'gems' that are going to be scooped off the market. In HR i'd approximate that 2/3s the houses on the market now have concessions of some kind coming from sellers/builders, between closing cost assistance, appliances or electronics convey with the property. It's balanced between sellers and buyers for now, but looking around at real estate websites, like realestatejournal and yahoo real estate, etc, the 'experts' are gearing up for a foreclosure blowout. I saw one statistic with the ARMs adjustment that over $1.5 TRILLION worth of ARMs will adjust at the end of this year to early next year, pricing the mortgages out of reason.