Newlyweds Jennifer and Thomas Karnes tried to sweeten every deal to make themselves stand out in Hampton Roadsâ tight real estate market. The couple waived home inspections, made full-price offers without contingencies, offered escalation clauses thousands of dollars over asking price and 100% of closing costs, wrote âloveâ letters, sent preapproval letters in lieu of pre-qualification letters and even offered one seller $100 worth of bitcoin. Instead, they were outbid countless times, told by a real estate agent that âVA loans are trash,â and were met with repeated frustration and disappointment until finally successfully closing a deal. âMultiple bids on each houseâ Liz Moore, board president of the regional Real Estate Information Network, said itâs no secret that residential home inventory has been and remains low from Williamsburg to the North Carolina line â and across the entire country. The number of homes for sale in Hampton Roads has been dropping year over year. Buyers had roughly 2.5 times more options on the market in February 2020 than this past February, or 6,596 active listings compared with 2,501 listings, according to REIN data. The number of homes for sale dropped by 25% from 3,350 in February last year. Read more in the Sunday Main News section 
Mia Reid woke up at 7 on a January morning with an idea that just couldnât wait. âI wanna do a fashion show back home,â the Virginia Beach native messaged her friend. And, she reported later, âInstead of telling me to roll back over and go to sleep, she said, âLetâs do it,â and we have been moving ever since.â Her âBack to the Beachâ show will be April 9 at the Virginia Beach Wedding Company. It has already sold out. In 2017, Reid was one of five winners in Belkâs annual Southern Designer Showcase, and her collection was sold in stores and online. Reid has lived in Atlanta for 15 years, but the 757 has always been part of her brand. Her pieces are named after streets in Virginia Beach. Read more in the Sunday Break section The portrayal of Indigenous people in America has existed as a paradox for too long, says Kody Grant. Native Americans are described as Thomas Jefferson did in the Declaration of Independence as âmerciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.â Or, they are cast as wholly loving, eco-activists. Grant, lead interpreter in Colonial Williamsburgâs American Indian Initiative, soon will take on a more significant role to tell a more complete story of Native American life in the 18th-century living museum. He was recently named the first American Indian historical figure in CWâs popular Nation Builder program. He will portray Chota Oconostota, a prominent member of the Cherokee Nation and a part of a delegation that came to Williamsburg in 1777. Read more in the Sunday Break section
Several Hampton Roads businesses, nonprofit organizations and health care facilities have stepped up to help with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Here are what some of them have been doing. Smithfield Foods donates $2 million Mercy Chefs delivers 1 million pounds of food Sentara Healthcare contributes 100 pallets of supplies Newport News effort collects and donates medical supplies Read more in the Sunday Work & Money section 
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