Are you starting a family and trying to decide where the best place is to raise a family? Or considering a move from a crowded city and looking for a family friendly place to relocate? Look no further! You have found THE place, right here in Virginia Beach VA! Locals have known it for a long time, but now it is official! USNew And World Report has named Virginia Beach VA as one of America’s top 10 Best Places To Grow Up. Here’s what they have to say:

“Virginia Beach, Va.: Junior adventurers will love Virginia Beach, Va. This community of 434,000 residents in the southeastern part of the state has a low crime rate, a solid school system, and 35 miles of majestic beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. “It’s kind of neat to be able to come home from work, make a call to my wife or son, grab a bucket of chicken or some sandwiches, and then go out on the bay and have dinner,” says Greg Ward, who works for a marketing firm that represents the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Children can explore an impressive ecosystem of threatened and endangered species—including bald eagles and loggerhead sea turtles—in the 9,000-acre Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The warm summers and mild winters provide plenty of opportunities to hike, bike, and picnic your way through the 19 miles of scenic trails over at First Landing State Park. And after checking out the sand tiger sharks and the cow-nose rays at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, children can catch an educational picture in its 3-D IMAX theater.”

Learn more about living in Virginia Beach VA and how you can own a home here.

Search all Virginia Beach homes for sale.

Virginia Beach VA mortgage interest rates declined this week according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®. This week’s survey shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.03, down from last week when it averaged 6.24 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.14 percent.  

Declines in the job market, slowing in manufacturing and low consumer confidence drove bond yields lower this week and mortgage rates followed.

Wondering how this drop in interest rates affects your buying power? Visit our website, ButlerTeamHomes.com or give us a call at 866-222-0158 #550. Start your Virginia Beach VA homes search here.

10 Things You Need To Know About Today’s Virginia Beach Va Real Estate Market

If you read the newspapers, watch TV, listen to the radio or surf the Internet, you might get the idea that real estate markets are the same everywhere. If conditions are bad in San Diego or Detroit or Miami, they must be bad everywhere, right? Wrong! Here are 10 Things You Need To Know About Today’s Virginia Beach Va Real Estate Market:

1. Real estate markets are local.
When you are looking to buy or sell, pay attention first to sales price trends, volume and inventory in Virginia Beach, rather than to misleading headlines about national sales trends.

2. Virginia Beach home values are stable.
From January 2006 through January 2008, the average price of a Virginia Beach home grew $28,382 (Jan 2006 average sales price = $276,966 and Jan 2008 average sales price = $305,348. Yes, there are pockets where home prices have declined - largely due to unsustainable price growth in the past two years. But, generally speaking, homes in those areas are worth more than they were 3 years ago. Overall, the average price of Virginia Beach homes has appreciated 9 percent.

3. A house is a place to make a home, not just a buck.
Most home buyers don’t buy a home to flip it. They buy it to live in it. the value of strong communities, rooted families, civic pride, comfortable retirement and a higher quality of life cannot be expressed on a balance sheet.

4. Housing demand in Virgina Beach is set to grow.
Estimates show that Virginia population will grow by almost 500,000 by 2010. These new Virginians will need a place to live. (for details: CooperCenter.org/demographics)

5. There are hundreds of reputable mortgage companies ready to lend.
Buyers with good credit and a realistic view of what they can afford should have an easier time obtaining mortgage approval. Help is also available through the Virginia Housing Development Authority and other organizations.

6. The market favors Virginia Beach first-time home buyers.
First-time buyers in Virginia are younger and have higher incomes – they’re typically 25-34 years old and earn a median income of $71,300 annually (22 percent higher than the national average of $58,300). They made up 29 percent of all Virginia home sales in 2006. And there’s currently plenty of inventory for first-time buyers to choose from.

7. Owning a home builds wealth in a way that renting can’t.
According to the Federal Reserve Board, the average renter’s net worth is $4,800, while the average homeowner’s net worth is $171,000. Clearly, it pays to own a home.

8. It’s prime time for second homes.
Savvy investors and prospective retirees know real estate is important to their portfolios. About one third of all home sales are second homes or vacation homes. Virginia Beach has plenty of inventory and desirable locations for those seeking them.

9. Use a Virginia Beach Realtor and get up to 26 percent more when you sell your home.
The median selling price of single-family FSBO homes in Virginia was $249,500 compared with $313,400 for Realtor assisted home sales at the end of 2006, a difference of $63,900.

10. Now REALLY is the time to buy.
Housing inventories are the highest in years and interest rates are low. If you are a buyer, the market is right for you. butif you need to sell first, be patient and price your house correctly. Right now, Virginia homes sell after an average 127 days on the market – only 5 days more than the 10-year average of 122 days. Competitive pricing is important. Experts agree well-priced homes sell faster.

Interested in talking to a Virginia Beach Realtor who can get you 26 percent more for your home than if you sell it yourself? Call Dave Macklin at 866-222-0158 #302. You’ll be glad you did! Or visit or website for more Virginia Beach Va real estate.

Virginia Beach VA: Transportation Authority Unconstitutional

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority today when it ruled that the taxes and fees it was authorized to collect by the General Assembly are unconstitutional.

Read the details.

This is good news for Virginia Beach VA home buyers. Part of the proposed taxes would increase the grantors tax on property sales rom 10 cents per $100 of the sale price to 50 cents per $100. The tax on a house sold for $250,000 would $1,250, a $1,000 increase. 

 For more Virginia Beach VA real estate news, visit ButlerTeamHomes.com. Search Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads homes for sale.

Virginia Beach fun Friday.

No wonder it’s so hard to learn the English language!

 Can you read this right the first time?  

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish  furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this.  There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is ‘UP.’

It’s easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?  At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?  Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends.  And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.  We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car .   At other times the little word has real special meaning.  People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special .

And this UP is confusing:  A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.  

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.  In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes U
P almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.  It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.  When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP .  When it doesn’t rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP , for now my time is  UP, so. . . it is time for me to shut UP …!

Have a fabulous weekend! And remember when interested in buying or selling Virginia Beach Va real estate, visit our website, ButlerTeamHomes.com or give us a call at 866-222-0158 #550.

Virginia Beach VA: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Being the large metropolitan area that we are, Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads seem to be on everyone’s comparison list. Some see us as the best and some see us as the worst, but if you are like us, you think this a a pretty neat place to live. Here’s how others rank us:

     1. Coalition for Excess Weight Risk Education named Norfolk the second-fattest area in the  country in 1997.

     2. Old Dominion University was on Men’s Fitness 2005 list of ‘fat’ universities.

     3. Men’s Fitness currently ranks Virginia Beach as the #6 most-fit city.

     4. Field & Stream, in 2005, ranked Virginia Beach the 20th best place to go fishing.

     5. Virginia Beach is #6 for the top 100 cities for walking in 2006, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association and Prevention magazine.

     6. Sperling’s Best Places ranks Norfolk #7 in the top 10 places for dating.

     7. Virginia Beach was the best place for women and families in the Ladies’ Home Jounral 2002 survey.

     8. Virginia Beach is currently Fit Pregnancy magazine’s #8 pick for having a baby.

     9. We are currently named the least-stressed metro area by BizJournals.com and the 8th least-stressed in 2004 by Sterlings Best Places.

     10. In 2001, Norfolk won honors for the ‘best breathing place’ for animals by Purina’s Healthy Pets 21 Consortium.

     11. Men’s Health put Hampton Roads in the top third of 100 for most work related stress.

     12. Beer Advocate named the Bier Garden in Portsmouth as one of the top 50 places to have beer in America (2005).

There you have it, some say we’re fit, some say we’re fat…we know we’re GREAT!!

You can visit ButlerTeamHomes.com for all your Virginia Beach VA real estate needs or start your complimentary MLS Search.