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Watch your mailbox this week for the latest issue of Commonwealth Magazine.  Here's what to expect:

The managing editor of HousingWire (Richard Bitner), NAR's Chief Economist (Lawrence Yun), Virginia's preeminent real estate lawyer (Lem Marshall), the industry's social media guru (Jeff Turner), a Super Bowl winning quarterback (Joe Theismann), a dozen other experts to help you earn (and keep) more money, and 1,000 of Virginia's top-performing Realtors. They'll all be at the REal Show. Will you?

Prince William County supervisors have voted to compel an 83-year-old woman and her sons, Parker Family LLC, to turn over their $100,000 parcel of land -- without compensation.

“They basically just get the property,” said Sally Hankins, attorney for Parker Family LLC. “The county is going to file a document … saying they’re initiating a quick-take on the property.” The filing will claim the property's value as zero, allowing the the county to take it without payment.

Wetlands may be hard to spot -- and disturbing them without obtaining the required permits can be very expensive.

Kurt Lorenz found that out the hard way after he bought 22 acres of vacant land in southern Chesapeake. He didn't know that the property contained wetlands, and started work on a horse barn. Today, he faces a $22,750 fine from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, plus a $50,000 expense to restore the disturbed wetlands.

Read more in The Virginian-Pilot....

The Richmond Association of Realtors and VAR are teaming up to bring you RE BarCamp RVA. "RE BarCamp RVA? What the heck is that?" you say?

A BarCamp is a FREE unconference, meaning there is no set agenda of topics before everyone arrives at the site.  At the beginning of the event anyone in attendance can “pitch” an idea such as leading a discussion on the use of Twitter for real estate, a discussion on best practices in dealing with a Short Sales, hot mobile applications or using Facebook for real estate.  Each idea is written on a post-it note and posted on the wall at the front of the room.

The legal battle over a three-acre plot of land on Reserve Avenue has ended, with B&B Holdings accepting its condemnation. The City of Roanoke had exerted eminent domain to take the land for a Carrilion Clinic biomedical park, but has since dropped those plans.

The case has been closely watched by advocates of property-owners' rights, who are pushing for stricter limits on the use of eminent domain to seize land. Ultimately, the owners in this case, Jay and Stephanie Burkholder, gave up the fight because it made good financial sense to do so. The legal battle cost them about $600,000.

The annual convention for Virginia Realtors, The REal Show will be held October 1-3 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Featured speakers will include legendary Washington Redskins quarterback JoeTheismann and Richard Bitner, managing editor of Housing Wire.        

The 90th annual convention of the Virginia Association of REALTORS (VAR), offered in cooperation with the Hampton Roads REALTORS Association (HRRA), is expected to draw several hundred attendees from around the state, with Realtors, brokers and specialists coming for education sessions and a large real estate trade expo.

Signs pointing to economic improvement in Danville include an uptick in building permits and retail sales tracking slightly higher than average for Virginia. That's good news for a city burdened by high unemployment -- 14.6% in March.

As the overall economy improves, homeowners can expect house prices to stabilize as more people look to buy homes.

Read more in the Danville News....