April in Southwest Florida

April Update

If you haven't bought a home within the last 3 years please view the video on our home page at http://wesellswfla.com. It talks about the up to $8000 tax credit from uncle sam that does not have to be repaid. There is an expiration on this so give us a call and don't wait.

The news recently has been mixed. Home sales in our area are up a whopping 97% from this time last year. Great news and that reflects all of those low priced foreclosure homes hitting our market. It's amazing but some are just spending days on the market as investors have found a safe place for there dollars.

The other side of the coin is home prices have dropped 50% from this time last year. So sales are way up and prices are down .

The other news this month involves the Chinese drywall issue.

If your not familiar, during the building boom and after the hurricanes American drywall became hard to come by. Builder had to look elsewhere for drywall and China had product at affordable prices.

Recently problems have arisen regarding Chinese drywall in home built between 2004 thru 2006. Health issues include frequent bloddy noses, breathing problems and some home are too toxic to live in.

What are the signs to look for? Remove a few face plates from some electrical switches. The wiring should look brand new. Do you see and black soot or any discoloring? That could be a sign. Another check is more involved and requires removing the cover to you're A/C. Again if you see black soot or discoloring on the coils it's probably time to call a professional home inspector to confirm. The other way to check is to get online and copy the numbers and letters written on the back of Chinese Drywall and climb up to the attic and see if you find these numbers.

If you confirm you have it call your insurance agency ASAP.