New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

Just tried the new Photo Upload to the Localism for New Orleans Photos. it was the first time that I tried it and was impressed. Saw that another agent has several already up on the site and did not want to be left out. It was easy to upload so I did several photos I took this past weekend. You can click to enlarge and the quality was very good. You can write a nice little story about the photo which can enhance your image in more than one way. Really a nice tool and page for a guy who takes a lot of photos. People like to see things and get a ffeel for the area. I would make sure you put your own photos only and ones you plan to not use elsewhere. Google collects all the images on all sites if you did not know. Its amazing to visit google images which is another topic. Go use this new feature. Lets keep the photos interesting and we will eventually have a contest for some of the best ones for each area or whatever. A contest always speeds up the process of seeing how the photpos in Localism works. See you there? New Orleans Photos 

 What makes your neighborhood a little different than most. The town of Harahan, La where I live is unique in that we Have the Mississippi River Levee and batture as an area of recreation as well as a flood control project. These were taken today and the water is low as it generally is this tiime of year. When the river is really high it is up to the bottom of the trees on the right. Its a grat place to roller blade, ride bikes, walk or jog. The path extends about 25 miles from Audubon Park in New Orleans to St. Charles Parish upriver. Got a nice photo of a runner about sunset from river road which runs along the Mississippi River off and on to Baton Rouge. Also got a photo of the local elementry school which is also unique. I have no idea who decided to plant the palm trees.Of course these are things you will see no where else but I will make them part of my Harahan Neighborhood Page on my New Orleans website. Another angle of a small town in South Louisiana.    

Put a page of each one of your listings on your website. You can say what you want about the listings. Have many more photos of each making it much more personnel than the MLS. This will help you save money on adversting as this is actually more effective. The sellers always like the extra exposure. Your site can give the best presentation. You can listings on Active Rain changing it around with more emphasis on the neighborhood. You can put it on Craigs list playing up the price or quality of the property. The internet will give you several different angles and many more eyeballs than the newspaper ad which is going the way of the Dino. I am sure many of you have additional ideas for innovative ads. Your ideas on internts advertising? 

Featured Listing 2005, See interiors and much more !

2337 Magazine St. Condos  Click for more Photos 6145 Argonne Blvd, Lakeview Lakeview Renovation , Click for Photos 4304 State Street Dr. Click for more photos  Audubon French Quarter Luxury Condominiums 931 Canal  3915 St Charles Ave #212 Uptown New Olreans Condos  5418 York Street New Orleans-Broadmoor

     Either everyone was getting ready for the Saints big game against the Bears or the steady rain kept people off the streets today. Showings were easy even in the rain. Had two showing downtown and made it easily in 15 minutes.We are use to the rain as we get about 70 inches per year. Our winters are mild as you could see by the foliage. I took this shot today. My client cannot decide to get a turn key condo like this or a nice townhous style that is a real good deal. He wants me to almost make the decision for him. I tell him both units have some great features and its which style he wants. He is concerned about his dogs and getting them exercise. We met a Vet client of mine while showing who live there and gave him a glowing review of the Condos.I never push for a decison and then the clients will ask me. Lets see what happens tommorow. This blog can be about easy New Orleans commutes, downtown is a great place for dogs, Which one does he choose? Rainy day showings. Your choice or just a part of my day.             

                         Saints Fans Getting ready for the Bears in Chicago, Who That Nation is ready!!! 

Its a big game for me. I was 18 when the Saints were awarded its NFL franchise. The city was hyped today. Got to wear my Saints Jersey today while showing downtown condos. man, To come back from 8 points down in the second half. Long plays, goal line stands, noise, Duece running over people. Thats 40 years for a chance to win one. Lets pull for Seattle so we can play another one in New Orleans. Just Unblieveable! People are shooting off their left over fireworksfrom New Years, too tired for Bourbon Street.                                

                                  Saints Day Friday at the Prudential Office in Metairie, La

· Insurance, The largest charge for your condo fee is going to be causality and property insurance. This will be covered in all true condo associations. The flood insurance will also be covered. This will not include your contents, you need to get a condo contents policy which is about $400-$600 per year on your own. Many get this and many don't.

· Common Area upkeep which includes repairs and cleaning areas that everyone owns

· Water and Sewerage Bills, Are generally included along with trash pickup.

· Common Area Utilities such as lights and a/c-heat of common areas

· Security, It could be on site security personnel, cameras, and gates.

· Pool Upkeep, costs of water and upkeep of exercise areas and equipment.

· Elevator Contracts, Contracts to maintain the elevators

· Landscaping, upkeep and watering of plants.

· Exterior upkeep, generally includes windows.

· Parking lot upkeep

· Gardening, Plants and flowers

· Management Fees, professional fees to keep the condos running smoothly.

· Pest Control, many condos have termite contracts and pest control

· Sprinkler System Contracts

· Supplies and waste removal

· Sometimes Cable and Wireless

· Reserves for future expenses to avoid assessments

I am making some handout on condo fees and wanted to get some comments on things that I may have missed. People are always so I am doing a hand out that I can add to a condo packet that I can give to new clients. This is just one of 6-7 pages I put in a packet. People ask and I have a packet ready. Its a nice tool. Did I miss anything Important?

                           Sun Ray Grill in the Cotton Mill Condos in the New Orleans Warehouse District

Real Estate has picked up and just do not have the time to blog like I did the last couple of months. It was a good way to get away from the Katrina fatigue that set in on me. I have goals I set out to develope more neighborhood pages for my two websites.I wanted to get a new neighborhood per week complete with photos, links, text, and updates on the area. I do a little research to see if I have missed any lifestyle items. The sites make me money so dont want to lose the edge. The leads are coming in with the new year so that has kept me busy. I think I can close 10-15% of the leads that I get that have an idea of what they want. Blogging is habit forming when you have the time. I guess we all go through these phases of business. Anyone finding time to blog getting harder to come by. Eric                      

                                Church on Barone Street in New Orleans, Free attraction well worth a visit  

     I am a big college basketball fan. Take time off to go to the LSU games in Baton Rouge which is about 70 minutes from the house. One thing about basketball you are close to the action. The players from both teams hustle the entire game. The game was closer than the score. LSU trailed the entire first half before Tac Monor hit a 3 from 30 feet as the buzzer sounded for half. Uconn has some very athletic players who could jump. LSU never does shoot well but palys defence and hustles on every shot. Bodies really fly in these big games. This is Big Baby Glen Davis, he used to weigh about 330 but went on a diet this year to get to the 280s. He plays hard every game. Just wanted to pass it a long. know we must have some UCONN fans here. Last year we lost by one point at their place.  

My son arranged a family vacation in Tennessee after Christmas. He has twin sons. My daughter has a two year old. He invited his inlaws and sister-in-law and one of her friends. He rented a 4 bedroom home. This was all good. The first day we woke up and left at 4am so we could get there early. The traffic was horrible after driving 10 hours we got to Knoxville. It took several hours to go 20-30 miles. My grandson was getting sick,an ear infection. We skipped dinner and spent several hours in the emergency room waiting. We were out by mid-nite and could not find a drug store open so went home. The next day was recovery day. We did almost nothing. Ethan got his medicine and responded. The amount of people in Gatlinburg was amazing. Tooo many people for me. We enjoyed our stay after the first day or two. I took my new laptop with verizon card so I caould read e-mails. Got 7-8 leads via the website. let me partner handle the immediate ones. All went well but it was nice to get home. Learning how to vacation is something I need to practice? How about you?