Lake Drummond in Suffolk is open to the public for the first time in a while.  It had been closed because it was being used as a water source for the fire that started June 9, 2008.  At the height of the fire in the Great Dismal Swamp there were oaver 400 firefighters fighting the fire.  For a short time, the fire was the largest wild fire in the US.  Today there are less then 50 firefighters.  The fire will smolder until there is a big soaking rainfall.   Hopefully that will be soon. 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. Google geneeallen   09/08/2008

The Harbour Side Marina and Restaurant in Suffolk, Va is in the news and not for its casual dining experience.  It seems the new owners may have expanded the restaurant without proper environmental permits.  The owner says he was acting within his rights under an exemption granted after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.  That basically said you could rebuild within the same footprint.  The owner has added floating piers and an outdoor deck made for parties.  The deck probably got him in trouble as much as anything because of the noise.  We will see how all this plays out after the court battles. 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, pi... 08/09/2008

A blog called Inside Suffolk Virginia asked the city of Suffolk to put them on the distribution list for news releases.  They were denied.  Granted, the group does critiques City Hall but come on.  How much effort is it to add an email address to the list.  Other cities have not been approached by blogging groups but said they would not have a problem adding any that ask.  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. Google denise allen 07/25/2008

Many people in Suffolk are feeling like they lost something.  They did.  The catalytic converters have been stolen from their cars by thieves in the night.  Apparently they can get up to $100 per converter for the precious metal inside.  Three people were recently arrested and had over 150 charges between Suffolk and Chesapeake.   07/12/2008

The city of Suffolk was hit by a tornado on April 28, 2008.  Many residents are facing big bills from deductibles and other charges.  A little bit of good news came thier recently as the United Way of South Hampton Roads mailed $500 checks to 288 people in Suffolk who applied for assistance.   There were pledges of $600k but so far only $175k has actually come in. The area did not qualify for federal assistance because to many people had insurance.  Go figure.  The price of real estate hasn't suffered so if residents want to sell the homes there the opportunity exists.  Here is link to the original blog  http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/507472/Something-Is-Missing http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the res... 06/07/2008

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. 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 o... 05/24/2008

What does a man who imported fouty settlers to Suffolk 400 years ago have to do with this rd?  Well if is name is Richard Bennett it has everything to do with it.  He was the first father of Nansemond County and was Virginia's first governer under the Puritan Commonwealth.  Now we know where the Bennett came from but what about the pasture? 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. Google gene allen   05/24/2008

After showing some homes in rural Suffolk and trying to sell some real estate, my tank was empty and I was out in the country.  I stopped to get some gas and thought I had gone back in time.  Gas was $1.80 a gallon.  I thought I was on to something and was looking for milk jugs to fill up with.  Imagine my surprise when I went in to pay.  The guy took out a calculator and multiplied times two.  What was going on I asked.  He smiled and said that the old fashioned gas pumps with the mechanical insides can't go over $3.99 a gallon and don't show more than a $99.00 sale and so they are allowed to do half pricing.  Can you believe that.  It works like this: $10,000 for a new pump $650 for a kit Half pricing $00 There are only about 8,500 of the old pumps around so you may never run into one... 05/14/2008

Regional lawmakers backed expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel but have no plan to pay for it.  Teh commitment to enlarge the tunnel is at least a step in the right direction.  A bigger step would be for the legislature to man up and find a way to pay for the billions of dollars of need road infrastructor needed in our area.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.Google deniseallen 05/03/2008

Here is a real life question that the appraiser who appraised my listing didn't know at the moment but had to find out.  When a tornado tears up your community is that a bad thing for value?  If your comps are no longer comps does that affect value?  If there aren't as many homes in the area does that raise value? (supply and demand).  We had a F3 tornado go through Suffolk, VA a few days ago and some communities are more than half gone (no one was killed or severly injured).   These are your typical subdivison built in the last ten years or so.  Luckily the listing is not closing for a while but it could have been bad.  The appraiser has to go back out and make sure the house is still there and not damaged.  The tornado went by a half block away.  Oh my. http://www.geneallen.com/  Come... 04/30/2008

What do you do when you are watching tv and the weatherman breaks in with a developing story about a tornado.  I moan and groan and wait for him to go away.  He talks about a funnel cloud in Norfolk by the Naval Station.  He shows a video of a funnel cloud in Portsmouth and then he mentions the Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk.  I thought he was going to mention that they were bring casualties there but he said they were spared the brunt of the tornado.  Oh no I thought out loud.  I have a listing right behind the hospital.   As the devastation appeared on the tv I could only hope that the sellers were safe and sound.  Hill Point Farms and Lakes Edge looked more like a war zone then a peaceful subdivision.  The tornado skipped and jumped and missed my listing but not the street my sell... 04/28/2008

The newest addition to Suffolk is now open.  The Suffolk City Market and Country Store is open for business at th corner of 162 S Main St.  The Market will feature home grown spring produce and home-cooked breads and crafts.  You can go from 8 a.m to 5 p. m. Tuesday through Saturday.  Sunday and Monday are rest days.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.Google gene allen 04/26/2008

Some people are upset with the City Assessor Maria Kattmann.  She has a new approach for assessing waterfront properties this year.  Some of the assessments went up 200 percent.  I bet the phone was ringing off the hook at her office.   The approach seems to make sense but you would think maybe a gradual increase would have been better received.  She values the properties depending on the type of water.  Of course big river views get bigger assessments then small tidal creek views do.  So far so good.  She may have some more explaining to do but the approach from here looks solid.http://www.denisesellschesapeake.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... 04/26/2008

Suffolk has a pretty good financial health for the moment according to a consultant for the city.  That could change if the city does not raise property taxes in the future.  If the current level of services is kept the city could be looking at a 10 to 11 cent incres by 2013.  That is assuming that property prices don't increase over the next few years.  I am an optimist and expect them to increase so the property tax doesn't have to.http://www.genesellsvirginiabeach.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.Google gene allen 04/26/2008

At least 102 dogs, cats and assorted livestock were recently saved from an illegal kennel.  The owners say they have the proper licenses but the ploice siezed the animals until it can all be sorted out.  The animals lacked a license or vaccinations and were in poor condition.  The kennels were in poor condition also.  Animal control has been to the house before with no problems but apparently things are different now.   We will see how this plays out.  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.Google gene allen 04/19/2008

Suffolk residents do have a problem with utility billing even though they weren't supposed to.  HRSD says if there are problems then there are very few but if there is even one that is too much.  The big problem is that HRSD switched billing and over 5,200 accounts were not billed.  Ouch.  The money still has to be paid but now you are four months behind.  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.Google gene allen 04/07/2008

It looks like Suffolk will have a higher tax assessment this year as will all the cities in the surrounding area.  Suffolk overall tax increase will be 4.4%.  This is the smallest increase in years and the city is scrambling to deal with the fallout from a smaller tax increase.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.Google denise allen 04/04/2008

You know you are a growing city when the new hospital gets permission to add 20 more beds.  That is the situation that Sentara Obici hospital is in Suffolk is in.   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.Google gene allen 03/23/2008

Suffolk is planning Millions in fire and rescue stations over the next 10 years.  The first of seven new or expanded stations is the Kings Fork Public Safety Center.  It is due in 2009.  Of course, the plan must still be funded and that could be a problem as revenue is down across the board.  The city has grown from 64,000 in 2000 people to over  81,000 today.  The total build out for buildings and equipment would be around $45 million.  A small price to pay for safety.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.Google deniseallen  03/20/2008

The Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts was burning for days before it was noticed.  Finally an alarm went on and a sprinkler went off probably saving the building.  Thankfully the fire did not reach the main performance area and all of the artworks survived.  The fire was in a thick wooden beam between the second and third floors.  This happened in February but I only learned about it.  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.Google deniseallen 03/16/2008