DeAndrea "Dee Dee" Jones The Hampton Roads Real Estate Lady!

If you have never gone to the Hampton Jazz Festival, this year the line up is one of the best. Hampton, VA is home to the Hampton Colisuem. Every year many people travel to visit the Colisuem to check out great music for all ages. Do not miss this event.

Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm
Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds
George Benson
Ledisi
Jazz Attack featuring
Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler
and Richard Elliot.
Saturday, June 27 at 7:00 pm
The O'Jays
Michael McDonald
Fantasia
The Forte Jazz Band
featuring Brian Pinner
Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 pm
Patti Labelle
Robin Thicke
Chuck Brown
Keiko Matsui

Tickets to the 42nd Annual Hampton Jazz Festival are priced at $52.50 per seat, per performance, plus service charge and handling fee where applicable. Tickets will go on sale this Saturday, March 28 at 10 am online at http://www.ticketmaster.com, at all VA, MD, and DC Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at the Hampton Coliseum Box Office. Group rates are available for groups of 45 or more. Additional Festival information is available online at http://www.hamptonjazzfestival.com/

 Did you know you can challenge your tax bill?

In Hampton Roads cities many homes are being appraised for less than there tax value for the first time in years.  If you are in an area of declining value and you have proof or believe your tax assessment is to high you can call your city real estate assessor's office to point out the discrepancy and challenge the assessment.

We all know lower taxes and lower interest rates can give us the lowest possible payment and many are taking advantage of refinancing their homes.  In the past year, the median price for homes in South Hampton Roads has dropped 7.4 percent, according to our mls, Real Estate Information Network REIN, the Virginia Beach-based multiple listing service.  Sales of existing homes also have fallen to unusually low levels.

For those of you looking to save money, after finding a qualified loan officer to assess whether you can or should refinance your home, do not forget to consider reviewing your tax bill and home owners insurance policy. Reducing these costs can save you hundreds more dollars a month. Or often times error such as wrong room sizes, square footage adjustments, and additions can be updated to make the bill more accurate.

To contact your local assessor in the seven cities click your city link;

CHESAPEAKE

NORFOLK

HAMPTON

PORTSMOUTH

NEWPORT NEWS

SUFFOLK

This info brought to you by

The Hampton Roads Real Estate Lady!

Dee Dee Jones

Wainwright Real Estate

http://DJonesSellsHomes.com

Looking for Spring and Summer Activities for your kids and family to do!

Chesapeake Park District put out the Spring Summer 09 Leisure Guide today. You can pick one up at any Chesapeake Recreation City or go to http://www.chesapeake.va.us/services/depart/park-rec/leisureguide/Spring_Summer2009.pdfto view or print the pdf. You will find activities for toddlers thru senior ages and for boys and girls. Dance, Gymnastic football and use of the gym are my families favorite activities.

For those of you new to the area Chesapeake and Virginia Beach have two of the areas best park and recreation programs. Check out the link and register early because classes do fill up. You can go to the main website http://www.chesapeake.va.us/and view the pdf or there is also instructions on how to receive a guide by mail.

This information brought to you by

The Hampton Roads Real Estate Lady

Dee Dee Jones

Wainwright Real Estate

Buyers stop standing on the side lines playing double dutch. If you do not know when to jump in, The Time to buy a home is now. You keep thinking next month, next week, or next year you can get the best home or best rate, and best deal. You don't realize the best time is now before you throw away more money renting.

Reasons to Jump in the market now:

1. Rates are great. I know every year you see ads that say rates are the lowest they have been in years. Well it is true. Rates are the lowest they have been in years.

2. Great deals are out there. There are many owners that will pay your closing cost, pay discount points, or even give you furniture. The deals are out there and you need a good agent to help you find them.

3. Loans, even with all the problems banks, brokers, and mortgage companies have had many are putting together great loan packages for buyers. But you have to jump in by calling a loan officer to get preapproved not just prequalified. Which will give you even greater purchasing power. And remember they are also competing for business so you may be able to negotiate fees and rates depending on the company you choose.

4. Inventory, You have choices in this market. You do not have to settle for anything. Resale homes by desperate sellers, relocating sellers are the best deals. Foreclosures, REO properties, and repos are out there but may take special financing. Short Sales can be great deals if you have the time to wait out the process. A good agent can show you your choices and help you make a good decision. Your loan type may dictate what properties you can view.

For information on Buying a home in Hampton Roads 7 cities call me The Hampton Roads Real Estate Lady! or if you need help finding a great competent agent in another city or state contact me.

Dee Dee Jones

Wainwright Real Estate

http://DJonesSellsHomes.com

Ok, I was working and watching ELLEN this am and, P Diddy is explaining to her what Twitter is and how he now has 100,000's of followers. He tweets that he is sitting with her to show her an example on how to do it. So then she plays a game with some viewers and mentions that Vizio the tv company is giving away a million dollars worth of Flat screen 55 inch tvs, go to http://vizio.com. They have a link to share the sweepstakes with your myspace, twitter, and facebook audience. When I log on to Twitter, it says temporarily over capacity. I think is this directly related to Ellen's show. The power of TV is awesome.

It is amazing that with Twitter you can reach out to all your followers in seconds.

The power of new social media is exploding and for those of you who fought against Internet advertising you will be left behind if your not on Twitter, linked in,Myspace, Facebook, create your profile and get cracking. A good agent in 2009, will be using these tools to market homes, you can share videos and pictures, and contact your sphere of influence with no pressure. Do not let this FREE technology pass you by.

Dee Dee Jones

The Hampton Roads Real Estate Lady

http://DJonesSellsHomes.com