re: how is the economy in your area?

FMV in central VA, it just depends on which sector you're talking about:

- my buddy sells industrial automation, most customers are small manufacturers in 200 mile radius, they had their best year last year and are on track to beat it this year.

- another buddy owns a timber/clearing company, family biz for 50 yrs, saw everything dry up in the past 12 months as far as clearing, market for timber is shite, had multiple crews, now down to one who are reduced to cutting on his own land to pay bills...says all his timber biz friends are in the same boat, if they are even still in biz, he plans on shutting down the last crew by the first of the year. he doesn't really need to work but will do something.

- a lady i know manages the technology dept for the largest commercial RE company in town, said that the first part of the year they were the slowest they'd ever been, vacancies are still rather high, but leases have picked up some since the summer. on the other hand, she says that many owners are bending over backwards to work with tenants who appear to be struggling.

- a number of large corps went belly up in the last 12 months here (Circuit City, White Oak Semiconductor, LandAmerica, S&K) putting I'm sure 10,000 people out of work. however, all of the folks i know who were impacted (including my wife) quickly found other jobs. there's still a large corp presence here looking for white collar workers. I talk to IT recruiters on a daily basis who are looking for folks with the right technical skills and who can communicate well.

- I know a number of folks involved with the building trade (from PM's to carpenters) that have all seen their work fall off. they are doing side jobs or are underemployed, but I don't know any drawing unemployment. Maybe it will pick up next spring.

I'm gonna expand my garage...I've had subs falling over themselves to get the work.