Real Estate Information

Baton Rouge Named as a Top City to Reside Out Recession!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

Baton Rouge made the list in BusinessWeek for a city best situated to ride out a recession!! According to the article, the fact that we are NOT dependent upon the 'durable goods' market plus the benefits of GO ZONE financing in commercial and industrial sectors, gives us a 'cushion' of a sort to weather the current financial situation.

This is the second article about Baton Rouge in the national media touting our healthy economy. Even though we are all still feeling the effects of hurricane Gustav, the city feels like it is getting back to normal! Most of the debris from the storm has been removed and though there are still many 'blue tarps' over the city, most people are going about their daily business!

It will be interesting to see how our retail sector does during the holiday season and if we can stand out from what is expected to be one of the worst retail holiday seasons in a long while.

In our Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate market we do see a downturn for the month of October, but that is understandable since we lost almost a month due to the effect of the hurricanes. We hope that as soon as the presidential election is over our market will start to move again. The uncertainty in wall street as well as the constant negative press about the housing market continues to make people here feel a bit hesitant. it's hard to believe that your area is healthy when all you hear about is the horrible situation facing Florida, Phoenix, and Las Vegas!

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Time to Grab your Retirment Home!!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

Richard Allen, from Standard Mortgage, recently sent me a newsletter all about why now is THE time to buy your retirment home - which is what I have been saying for the past two years! (Nice to be validated!!). Anyway, the FIVE reasons he noted are below:

1. Owning real estate is Long-Term Wealth Building. Home prices are almost certainly going to increase over the next 10 years so scooping up a second home at today's prices is a bargain, particularly if you are buying on the where prices are very depressed right now!! (Call me for a referral to a top agent anywhere!).

2. Affordability....for Now! As above, the vacation home markets are bottoming out in many instances so take advantage today of the low prices because you might just be priced out of the market tomorrow!!

3. Timing is Everything! Again, in many of these vacation home markets it is a 'buyer's market' so you get the vest value. Also, when you buy well before you retire, you can spend time at your new location on vacation to see if you really like it, and rent it out to help defray the costs.

4. Peace of mind....Your Retirement home in the mountains, on a lake, or on the can give you peace of mind as you get older. also, since you are buying a lifestyle, not a 'stock, your projected rate of return shouldn't be the deciding factor!

5. Opportunities Galore! As your friends and family move away due to obligations, having a retirement home or a vacation home as a gathering place for everyone to get together is a way to create memories to last a life time!

Of course, we always say "it's a great time to buy" - and it is, but the REAL question is, is it the right time for YOU to buy. It all depends. Call anytime to discuss your situation and let's see what is in your best financial interest!

Thanks for the tips, Richard!

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100% Financing is Back!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

Well, it's official! I saw advertisements in today's Sunday newspaper. 100% financing is back!!! Everybody has been waiting for this. Of course, we still have the rural development loans, but those are for specific areas. This new program is not confined to any particular area, and doesn't have limits on income, and allows the borrow to finance up to 103% so they can pay their PMI up front. This is going to open up the housing market once more to people who have good credit scores, just no savings.

I was talking to some people the other day and they thought this was horrible news. They remember when everyone had to put down 20% to buy a house and think we need to go back to those days. That would be nice, but it just isn't realistic. A lot of people have good jobs, but with the cost of cars, gas, student loans, it is hard for young people to get together that down payment. With homeownership, that same person can build equity in a house for themselves, not for their landlord, so we should have money available to help them get started.

On the other hand, I think it makes sense to go back to qualifying as we did when I first got in the business...25-28% of your gross monthly income for housing and 36-40% for housing plus recurring debt! It just makes sense. That prevents people from getting the kinds of loans that are causing a lot of the housing problems we are seeing today.

If you want to know more about these programs, just give me a call at 225-298-6900!!

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Ever Wonder What It's Like to be Handicaped?

Sunday, September 14, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

Many of you have heard about the fall I took on the tennis court this summer where I broke my right elbow. I now have a plate and 4 screws in that elbow and am in the painful part of the deal - you know, therapy!!! I call it pain and torture sessions, trying to make this elbow bend and straighten! Do you know how hard it is to do my hair with just my left hand? And let's not even begin talking about putting on liquid eye liner with my left hand! It's amazing how good I have gotten doing things one handed...but now I am starting to get better and can use my right hand to do some things. I can ALMOST eat with my right hand but I still can't cup my hands together to put water on my face, can't put my hands together to do a yoga pose (can't really do any yoga anyway since my balance is off!), can't put any weight on that hand to get up off the floor (so I don't get on the floor), can't take a bath because I can't use that arm to get out of the bath by myself.....all kinds of things we take for granted. But you know, I will get better....maybe even 100%! That makes me stop and think about all the people out there who will live with these problems the rest of their lives. Maybe they had a stroke, or an accident, or went to war and they no longer have the use of a limb - if they even have the limb. These people are considered handicapped and they deal with all this stuff everyday.

Reminds me of a hike Roger and I went on when we were in Kauai - actually, we tried 3 times - once each visit - and each time we got a little father down the trail. It's a pretty scary trail and we have met people who fell down the side of the mountain - you can get pretty beat up and seriously hurt - but the views....the VIEWS!!! The best photo I have ever taken was on this hike. Anyway, this time we made if over the mountain to the . It takes me about 2.5 hours to make the trek - the locals do it in about 45 minutes. So, try to picture this, I am in my hiking boots with my hiking poles, carefully deciding where to put my foot, when I have to step aside to let these 4 teenage girls (about 13 years old) in their bikinis and FLIP FLOPS skip ahead of us. Imagine my surprise when one of them turns out to be that one armed surfer girl from Kauai - the one who had a shark bite off her arm while surfing one day. There she is, practically running down the trail and there I am, slowly inching my way down the trail!!! Most people would consider her handicapped, but I'll bet she thought I was pretty handicapped with all my gear!!!

So the next time you see someone who is 'handicapped', think of all the things they have learned to do that we just take for granted, and think of the limitations you put on yourself...and then think who really had the handicap!

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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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Are Home Owner Associations an Important Criteria in Home Buying

Thursday, August 21, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

Last night at the HOA meeting for Ascot Subdivision in Baton Rouge, I was asked if having a strong Home Owners Association was a good thing or just one MORE thing to have to deal with. The answer is definitely YES!!! A strong home owners association will help to retain home values because a standard of maintenance is required. Yards can't become junked up, and in some cases, the kind of landscaping you put in has specific requirements that will make the neighborhood have a certain quality, which again, helps home values!! One of the problems for most home owners is that they really don't see the value of paying the monthly fees required to have a strong HOA. You can't appreciate it until your subdivision has to hire an attorney to make a home owner take care of the property or prevent them from building an 'eye sore' in the back yard, which again, would affect the home values down the road!!!

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Baton Rouge Market Increases In Value

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

The local Baton Rouge newspaper reported that the National Association of Realtors said that our Median price range had dropped to $164000 this year. However, according to the statistics presented by the Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors, this was inaccurate. Our market had indeed rises to $176000. Today's Baton Rouge paper, the Advocate, printed the correction from NAR stating that our market has indeed increased in value this year!!! So, now is definitely the time to buy and enjoy home ownership in the Baton Rouge area!!

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Bearded Collies Compete

Friday, August 01, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

My college friend, David Bruce Williamson, brought his three bearded collies to Baton Rouge to compete in agility trials. Enjoy the show!

http://www.youtube.com/v/U6dS8EAJtgw

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Bearded collies

Real Estate Update Across the United States

Sunday, July 27, 2008

by The Pat Wattam Team

I just returned from two back to back real estate conferences held in Orlando, Florida. The first was my CyberStars group and the next was the Star Power Conference (for heavy hitters!). Since the conference was held in Florida we got to hear first hand on what is really happening in Florida. Some agents are just trying to cover their bills, others have cut way back on their teams and marketing, others told stories about top Realtors losing their homes, and then, you have a group that is actually thriving in the market. This was not unique to Florida. I also, surprisingly, heard it from Realtors in North and South Carolina, as well as New Jersey. The general consensus from both groups was that they have another year to weather this downturn, then they will expect a slow rise over the next couple of years to get them back to where their markets were in 2003/2004.

I find this interesting because here in the Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Market, we have been defining the health of our real estate market based on a comparison of today's sales to sales of 2004 - to make sure we are not facing what a large part of this country is facing. Even though our average sales price is certainly higher than it was in 2004, the rest of our stats, days on market and list to sales price ratio, are pretty much the same as in 2004 (end of the year stats).

Some lessons learned at the conference were that we should all, not just Realtors, become savers!! When times are uncertain, cash is king! Secondly, even in those depressed markets it is a great time to buy! Why, you might wonder? Well, you may take a loss on the home you are selling, but you will be able to make that move up to your dream home, which will now be at a price that makes it greatly affordable - the one that you could never have afforded just 2 years ago!!! And, when the market makes the upturn, your new home will appreciate even more!!

The second important item is that we all expect interest rates to rise after the presidential election, no matter who wins. How much, who knows? But with rates in the 6-7% range, this is truly still an exceptional time to enjoy buying and selling homes.

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