Real Estate Information Archive

Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Market Coming to Life!!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

by Pat Wattam

The Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Market, which includes East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, Iberville, the Felicians, and West Baton Rouge, has shown a steady increase in sales over the same period last year for the past couple of months. This year alone, through February, our real estate market has 100 more homes closed than this same period last year. This may not seem like a big increase, but if you look at the past couple of winters, each year was a little worse than the year before. Does this mean that our market has turned around? I think we won't know that until it has happened. I strongly suspect we will have a very strong spring and summer, but going into the election things may get sluggish as everyone gets involved with the presidential election.

These low interest rates are not expected to hold indefinitely. Typically, rates will remain low the year of a presidential election then they tend to trend upward after that - depending on which party wins.

My team noticed the sales trend the last quarter of 2011 and thought it would hold through the winter, and so far, that's what our real estate market has done. Don't play the waiting game. Give us a call and start shopping for home or investment now!!

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Get More Potential Buyers To Your Home!

Saturday, May 02, 2009

by The Pat Wattam Team

The biggest issues most sellers have is how to get more buyers in to see their homes. They know the more people who see it, the better chance they have to sell. Then we have the other group, who have all the showings and no contracts, and they too, want more buyers in to see their house, because they know if they have even more showings, they will find the right buyer and have the home sold!

Both sellers have the exact same issue. It's sort of like fishing. If you know where the fish are biting, and put your line in the water, you might get a nibble or two. If you could put your bait where you KNOW a big school of fish are, you would surely get a bite. But what if the fish don't like your bait, then you are waiting for the right kind of fish to come along. Or, you can change your bait to match what all those fish want and have a nice fish dinner that evening!! O.K., I'm not a fisherman, but my dad and sister loved to fish and knew where to go!

I just had a seller call to let me know that they had not been really serious about selling before, but their circumstances had changed and now they really needed to sell their house. They had had few showings over the past couple of months but were resistant to changing their price. With this new information, we made a price correction that I thought would attract buyers, and low and behold, within days we have had more showings than they have in all the months they have been on the market.

When your house is PRICED RIGHT, you will have all the showings you can handle. You HAVE to find that price that attracts the buyers.

One of my other sellers has the opposite problem. They have had 36 showings on their property, which means, we have the right price to attract the buyers. However, they don't have their home in the right CONDITION, so the buyers come and the buyers leave. The seller says "I can't put any more money in the house, I can't reduce the price because of what I owe, we just need the right buyer!" My response to that is, If you had done the repairs, the house would have sold and you sould not have paid the house notes all these months. If they don't do anything differently, then, the house will still be for sale 6 months from now, with all that wasted money on payments (and not much goes to principle so it really is wasted money!).

Pricing the home right will bring in the buyers. By preparing home for sale to get it in the right condition, then you get the sale!!

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Home Sales Baton Rouge Real Estate

South Baton Rouge home sales expected to increase with location of leading video game company

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

The announcement of the location of Entertainment Arts, Inc new sports video game global testing facility to the LSU South Campus on GSRI Road is expected to give a boost to south Baton Rouge home sales. The leading video game company will employ 220 permanent and part-time workers in its quality assurance center. State officials describe this move as a big moment in the state’s effort to establish the digital media industry in Louisiana. The success of this venture could lead to establishing an entire research park of digital media companies in the LSU and south Baton Rouge area.

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New Bond Money Available for First Time Homebuyers in the Greater Baton Rouge Area!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

New bond money with 4% assistance for first time homebuyers is available now. If you have been looking for a home in Baton Rouge, Ascension or Livingston parishes, call the Pat Wattam Team for information on the 4% assistance program.

Debbie Hanna

Buyer Specialist

(225) 298-6899

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Baton Rouge Market Statistics

Sunday, January 07, 2007

by The Pat Wattam Team

It has been very interesting to watch the Greater Baton Rouge Market since hurricane Katrina. If we look back to 2004 here is what the market looked like:

2004 Ave Sales Price $147,251 #Homes closed 8278 Days on Market 81

2005 $168,605 9935 76

2006 $190,198 9531 62

As most of the country experiences a slow down in the real estate market, our economy continues to thrive. The higest increase is still in homes under $200,000. The higher the price, the slower the market. New construction continues to strongly affect our market. With interest rates low, bond money available, our market should continue on this course for some time. It is definitely a great time to buy or sell!

That said, the houses that are not selling are the ones that are over priced or not in top condition. A lot of the buyers are using 100% financing, even in the higher priced homes, and don't have any money to update or do repairs to homes. So, just like before hurricane Katrina, the homes that are in the best condition and priced well will sell.

For a Computerized Market Analysis of your home, go to www.HomeValuesBatonRouge.com.

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