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New Orleans, LA Real Estate News

By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
  One of the most common questions we get from people relocating to New Orleans is about property taxes. Often, they are moving from communities that levy some pretty steep taxes on property owners. In addition to our reasonable real estate prices on the West Bank of New Orleans, we have low property tax rates as well. Our friends at True Title were kind enough to provide this table of millage rates for the 2010-2011 tax years in the metro area to help you in estimating your potential property taxes no matter which West Bank community you settle in. Remember, in Orleans Parish, property taxes are paid in advance. In all other surrounding parishes, they are paid in arrears. If you have questions about calculating your potential property taxes, the assessor’s office is your best source of...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
When you are ready to sell your home, there is a lot of preparation that goes on beforehand. Cleaning, decluttering, choosing a fantastic REALTOR and making the house picture perfect for those oh-so-important marketing photos. This is when you are most excited about the process, the most hopeful that it will sell quickly and for the best price. When your agent calls to set that first showing appointment, it’s an adrenaline rush. Is everything tidy? Beds made? Kitchen clean? Bathrooms sparkling? Check, check, check and check. You happily go for a walk or a drive or out to eat while your home is being shown and dream of the possibility of getting an offer from the first person who views it. Your head is filled with hope…hope that they like the house, hope that they will make a reasonable ...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
What impact are foreclosures having on real estate on the West Bank of New Orleans? Traditionally, Louisiana has been one of the states with the lowest foreclosures rates. While the rest of the country has been battling wave after wave of short sales and bank owned properties, we’ve managed to hold our own. After Hurricane Katrina, most mortgage holders allowed an extended grace period to home owners who were in a bind financially and faced with repairs to their homes. Payments were deferred, collection efforts were put off and foreclosures were put on the back burner. As time has passed and foreclosures have resumed, we are beginning to see the impact of bank owned properties on the West Bank. How Many Foreclosures are Being Sold on the West Bank? Foreclosures have been making up an in...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
As of midnight last night, the National Flood Insurance Program expired and I'm mad as hell. From InsuranceNetworking.com: The National Flood Insurance Program expired on Sunday after the Senate failed to pass the latest temporary extension to the cash-strapped program prior to the Easter recess. Senators are expected to take action on H.R. 4851, the Continuing Extension Act, when they return on April 12th. For the past few years, the NFIP has survived on a series of temporary extensions as legislators have been unable to forge a consensus on the program. The primary point of contention is whether to include coverage for wind damage in the program. “It’s unfortunate that the NFIP has fallen victim to the political process,” says Blain Rethmeier, spokesman for the American Insurance Asso...
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By Eric Bouler, Listening to your Needs
( Gardner Realtors, Licensed in La.)
New Orleans Warehouse District ! Old Buildings converted to other uses! March 16, 2010Eric       The New Orleans Warehouse District is always changing.  The old buildings are constantly being converted to real estate of better use.  This one looks like its getting ready for a new life as something else.  Besides condos it could easily be commercial space for offices, retail, and whatever!  I wonder what this building will become!!
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Current real estate activity in Algiers Point: 25 single family homes are currently for sale High list price $389,000 Low list price $113,400 Average list price $261,336 Median list price $259,900 3 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $123,500 to $239,900 Based on the number of homes sold in February (2), there is a 12.5 month supply of homes for sale in the Point Algiers Point | Number of Single Family Home Sales | February 2010 As of February 2010, there have been 5 single family homes sold in Algiers Point, compared to 2 at the same time last year.  While it’s still a fairly low number, it does represent an over 100% increase in sales for this time frame. Days on market for sold homes in 2010 has moved up to 105. Since the average active listing has already been on ...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Current real estate activity in Algiers LA 70114: 105 single family homes are currently for sale High list price $389,000 Low list price $16,900 Average list price $140,214 Median list price $113,400 15 homes are pending sale or under contract, priced from $10,000 to $239,900 Based on the number of homes sold in February (6), there is a 17.5 month supply of homes for sale in Algiers Algiers LA 70114 | Number of Single Family Homes Sold | February 2010 As of February 2010, there have been a total of 13 single family homes sold in the 70114 zip code of Algiers.  While 13 may not seem like a lot, the number of sales is up from 7 at the same time in 2009 – a 86% increase in the number of sales year over year. Most of this increase can be attributed to investors purchasing property in the ar...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Sellers Divorcing! Must sell!! That was what I read recently in an agent’s remarks in our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Now, I’m all for agents communicating with each other that a seller is motivated (although you would think that the mere act of putting their home on the market would mean they want to sell), but this one made me scratch my head and say “really?” When an agent lists a home they (should) have a few goals in mind: Net the best price for the sellers Sell it in the shortest amount of time Make the process easy for the seller How does informing every agent in the market that there is a pending divorce accomplish any of this? It doesn’t. In my opinion, it serves as a big, blinking, neon sign that buyer’s agents should come in with low offers because the sellers are d...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
I know, it’s kind of lame that I would get excited that the tree man showed up at my house today. But he’s my favorite guy at this time of year, because he keeps us from being inundated with Buck Moth caterpillars every spring. See this mean looking little guy? That’s a Buck Moth caterpillar. Not only will he munch on the leaves of your oak trees, he packs a punch in those little spines. Touch one and you’ll quickly find yourself in pain and probably with a whelp to show for it too. If they stayed in the trees it might not be so bad (for me anyway – the tree might disagree), but they have a tendency to drop right out…into the yard and onto unsuspecting people. flickr photo credit: mullica If you’ve been stung before, you’ll understand why I was happy when the guys from Tree Man Inc show...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
While our Northern friends are still dealing with cold weather, today was one of those gorgeous spring days in New Orleans that make you forget that before long we will be living with the heat of the summer.   It was entirely too pretty to stay inside, so we hopped over the river and spent the morning walking through the French Market and Jackson Square.  Soaking up the sights and the sounds of the city on a Sunday is a wonderful, inexpensive (FREE) way to spend a morning or afternoon and I was reminded how much I love this city that I was born and raised in.     We wandered through the French Market, ate alligator sausage on a stick and checked out the wares of the local vendors.  The mouth watering aroma of roasted corn and sweet potatoes was drifting through the market...     On our ...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
You don't have to look far to find opposing views on whether or not this is the "best" time to buy a house. Some folks say that with rates as low as they are and inventory high, it's a great time to buy. Others say that even if rates rise, prices will drop to offset them so that will have little impact. Still others say that we haven't seen the bottom of the market yet and that a large number of foreclosures are still to come, which could have the effect of depressing prices even further if they hit the market en masse.     Here's the thing...are you looking for a house or a home? If all you need is a roof over your head, there are plenty (and I mean plenty) of rental options out there. Lots of home sellers that grew frustrated with the slow market have decided to rent their homes inste...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
I love spring. It's my favorite season of all, even if it doesn't last very long in New Orleans. The long term forecast says that we are expected to have a cooler, wetter than normal spring in 2010. I could do without the wet, but the idea of it not being sweltering hot anytime soon is wonderful.   One of my favorite signs of spring is the blooms on the Japanese Magnolia trees. They don't last very long, so I had to grab the camera when I saw this one in Algiers this past weekend. My elderly neighbor tells me that the most sure sign that winter has passed is when the pecan trees begin to leaf, but that hasn't happened yet, so I'll just be content with gorgeous pink blossoms. This weekend, we'll spring forward into daylight savings time. I'm really looking forward to that extra hour of s...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
The speed with which consumers have embraced online shopping amazes me. In just a few short years, the buying habits of most people have changed from window shopping at the mall to browsing across the internet, comparing quality and prices from the comfort of home. This same change applies to the real estate industry as well.   With almost any information about homes for sale available online, buyers are able to narrow down their list of most interesting homes without spending an entire day driving from house to house...and most of them are doing this based on the photos of those properties. The New Orleans MLS (Multiple Listing Service) allows an agent to upload up to 12 photos of each listing. Is every home a candidate for 12 photos? Probably not. Tenant occupied properties are notori...
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By Frank Rubi, FrankRubiRealEstate.com
(Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC)
Lakeview Homes for SaleNew Orleans LA. Lakeview is a neighborhood community near Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Lakeview homes for the most part are in a quite and safe area. Property values have always been strong. Lakeview location in the City of New Orleans makes for a easy commute to downtown, shopping, schools and golf. Lakeview neighborhood boundaries are define as: Robert E. Lee Boulevard, Orleans Ave, Florida Boulevard, Canal Boulevard and I-610 and Pontchartrain Boulevard. Most homes in Lakeview that are currently activate for sale are 3 bedroom and 2 bath. Total of 47 in this range. The square footage is appx. 2000. New construction and rebirth properties are abundant in Lakeview.Home are selling for between $ 200k - $ 399K. Lakeview has a strong Home Owner Association: La...
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By Eric Bouler, Listening to your Needs
( Gardner Realtors, Licensed in La.)
Warehouse District in New Orleans, Center of Activity! One Quiet Night !!      The New Orleans Warehouse District is often a center of activity.  This night it was very quiet.  It was either late or everyone was at home.  The Warehouse District is full of hotels, restaurants, bars, condos, apartments, museums, conventions, a casino, art galleries, offices, Super Dome, New Orleans Arena and various entertainment venues.  There are a lot of things to do.  It is a vibrant and growing neighborhood in the center of New Orleans. 
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
There is so much happening on the West Bank this weekend that my calendar is overflowing. I don't know how all of these great events ended up on the same days, but if you can't have fun this Saturday and Sunday, well....there's not much we can do to help you. Rest up on Friday night, because the rest of the weekend is jam packed with West Bank Living! 1st Annual Terrytown Spring Festival Celebrating the 50 year history of Terrytown, the Spring festival is Saturday from 11am - 11pm at 641 Heritage Avenue. A 9:30 am parade through Terrytown will kick off the event, which is filled with food, fun and live music, a kids area, car show and more. The music schedule is: 12-3pm Amanda Shaw 4-7pm the TopCats 7:30-10:30pm Rockin Dopsie, Jr Bring your lawn chairs to spend the day, but no outside f...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Current real estate activity in English Turn (New Orleans, LA): 30 single family homes for sale High list price $1,799,000 Low list price $399,000 Average list price $704,067 Median list price $549,000 2 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $469,000 to $499,000 Based on January sales (2), there is a 15 month supply of homes for sale in Belle Chasse English Turn | Number of Home Sales | January 2010 English Turn started the year with 2 homes sold in January, surpassing January sales in both 2009 and 2008. The few bank owned properties in English Turn have sold, so now the rest of the inventory is starting to be cleared. As a result, I anticipate days on market will rise (see the sharp uptick in January) as homes that have been on the market for an extended period of time...
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Current real estate activity in Algiers Point: 26 single family homes are for sale High list price $390,000 Low list price $126,000 Average list price $268,231 Median list price $277,000 7 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $123,500 to $425,000 Based on the number of homes sold in January (3), there is a 8.7 month supply of homes for sale in Algiers Point Algiers Point | Number of Single Family Home Sales | January 2010 The Point started out the year with 3 successful single family homes sales – a vast improvement over last January when there were no sales at all and the most January sales we’ve seen in the neighborhood since 2007. Days on market took a jump to an average of 136, but since it is just for one month, we’ll have to track it over time to get a true pictur...
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By KARIN SMITH, BROKER/REALTOR
(SMITH REALTY GROUP)
Description and Features ABEK Real Estate Agents, David Stewart & Karin Smith of Stewart & Smith, "Your Home Team" would like to thank the men and women of our military for your services. Thank you, for all that you do! We Appreciate Your Courage, Commitment and Sacrifice! Links www.propertypromenade.comListing Website
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By Lisa Heindel, New Orleans Real Estate Broker
(Crescent City Living LLC)
Current real estate activity in Algiers LA 70131 (excluding English Turn): 182 single family homes are for sale High list price $895,000 Low list price $29,900 Average list price $181,517 Median list price $155,000 29 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $50,000 to $325,000 Based on the number of January sales (9), there is a 20 month supply of homes for sale in Algiers Algiers LA 70131 | Number of Single Family Home Sales | January 2010 The 70131 zip code of Algiers started off the year with 9 homes sold, up from 7 in January 2009. The days on market dropped substantially, but that is mostly due to the sale of several bank owned homes that were aggressively priced and moved very quickly. Competition from foreclosures should be a factor when pricing your West Bank home ...
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