The first couple of weeks of April have brought us pollen, cold weather, and a University of North Carolina loss in the NCAA tournament (no one picked Villanova in our Facebook contest).  The good news is that statistics show buyers have been out looking for homes, the weather is warming up, and with the tax filing deadline on Monday, everyone should have a reason to smile this week.

According to the Real Estate Information Network (Hampton Road’s multiple listing service), the number of homes under contract continues to show strong year over year gains.  Homes under contract throughout Hampton Roads are up over 20% when you compare year over year numbers (March 2015 to March 2016).  Some other good news is that the percentage of distressed properties (bank foreclosures or short sales) is down to under 14% of the total active listings. This is the lowest percent of active listings since September 2009.

If you were unhappy with the amount of taxes you are paying, you may want to consider investing in real estate.  Real estate investing has a lot of tax advantages.  If you would like to talk through some of them, please give us a call (of course we can’t give individual tax advice, so you will also need to consult your CPA).

Don’t forget, studies show that lots of sellers make the mistake of waiting until July to list their home.  Please don’t do that, as you will miss out on the three best months to sell your home.

If you are thinking of selling this year, give us a call/email/text for a free, no obligation consultation to find out what your house is worth