New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

I Just listed this home in my hometown of Harahan, La. It is basically a bedroom community where dairy farms used to serve New Orleans. Harahan is 8 miles upriver from the city. People that live here stay for a while. The new Listing that I just got only had one owner. It was a new home in 1970. My brother-in-law lives two locks away and he built the home about 30 years ago. I ive about 8 blocks away and moved in in 1975 and more than half my neighbors are the same. all the kids have come and gone. How many places in the United States can say this. Harahan has several good schools, St. Rita School, Faith Luthern School, and Harahan Elementry. The services are great, the crime is almost zero, the playground has always been a great beacon for the kids. Is still ar area with all kinds of birds from egrets, hawks, doves ect that fly along the Mississippi flyway. You can see rabbits, racoons, squirels, armadillos, and Posseums still enjoying the area. I have been in the same house for 30 plus years and its great not to have a house note these days. The taxes are low for the long term residents like 300 hundred dollars per year. The majority of the residents are Republicans and Democarts rarely get elected. Democrats are still welcome and treated with respect. Most people still attend Church and 50% send their kids to Catholic or other Church schools. It seems like a quiet area which it is. Nothing much happens.My neighbors across the street did have 18 kids with one set of twins which is something happening. It is in the water which comes from the Mississippi River. The water bill is about $20 per month.

66 Sedgefield Harahan, La 70123 $295,000

Imperial Woods Corner Lot , Harahan

This Imperial Woods home located at 66 Sedgefield in Harahanis a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, double car garage with year yard access. This is an estate sale where the home has been well maintained but needs come cosmetic updating. The rooms are large with plenty of storage thru out the home. There have been some updates in the kitchen with new cabinets and some appliances. All the rooms are large. The garage is very large. There is also a nice brick office or workshop in the rear yard. The glassed in patio was origional to the house. This is a one owner home. if this house were all updated then it would be worth $350k. The family is currently cleaning up the house for sale.

Jerry Lee Lewis and Rebirth are set to perform separately the first weekend of the festival, which is April 27-29. Dr. John, Van Morrison, Lucinda Williams and Percy Sledge are among the big names performing on April 27. Rebirth, Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and Ludacris perform on April 28, and Lewis, Irma Thomas, Brad Paisley, Bonnie Rait and Jill Scott are among those performing on April 29.

Opening the second weekend on May 4 are Better Than Ezra, ZZ Top, George Benson and Counting Crows. Cowboy Mouth, John Mayer, John Legend and the Allman Brothers Band perform on May 5. Harry Connick, Jr., Steely Dan, New Edition and Allen Toussaint will close the festival on May 6.

The blues tent is making its first post-Katrina comeback, along with the kids' tent and a number of vendors, said festival producer Quint Davis. Almost all the pre-Katrina food vendors, who serve such items as crawfish bread, catfish and gumbo.

This is our next big thing in the Big Easy. New Orleans is not a rich town but the music and food are our culture. Its a mixture of races, colors, with music being something that puts a smile on you face. The weather is great this time of year so come on down.

  There are no high building in the New Orleans French Quarter so you would not think there would be anything to see. I sold a condo on Toulouse Street ansd went on the roof with the inspector to check the a/c and to see what I could see from a three story building. All the roofs are slate or slate look a likes. Most of the buildings are brick or masonery. Many have balconies with plenty of windows. The windows are to keep the units cool. Even though Al Gore says we are warming it was still hot in the early 1700's to the early 1800s when this area was the center of town. The chimneys are for the heating when we do get into the 30s in winter. New Orleans has great clouds with plenty of moisture. You find some neat stuff while doing inspections so it always wise to take your camera. You can always talk on your cell phone! I also included a photo of a neat courtyard. The unit I sold has a entrance to the courtyard from both floors. It is like another world. You walk everywhere while Al Gores flys in the private jets getting us all warmed up.

    One of the nice things about South Lousiaina is the great weather we have this time of year. It stays green from now until November. My ficus to the left made it though another winter and has grown thru the pot. The Azelias are in full blood. The Barlett pear in my neighbors yard is full of blooms. The japanese magnolias have finsihed blooming but the leaves are very pretty light green and enjoy being in the shade of the live oak in the corner of the yard. The soil here is great being about a mile from the Mississippi River which has depositied rich soil in my yard for thousands of years. Our water bills are very reasonable here costing about 40-50 dollars every other month whic is great if you water and have a gold fish pond. Just a taste of Louisiana in March of 2007. Harahan is several mile upriver from Uptown New Orleans. Our block is having a community crawfish boil in a couple of weeks as the prices of the mud-bugs should begin to drop.

New Orleans is getting a long awaited clean image in one of our best and busiest tourist spots. It now cleaner that it has been in years. A new contract fo clean up and trash has the new man doing a great job. This sohould have been done years ago. After Katrina someone woke up and thought about the idea after a couple of Hurricanes at Pat O'Briens. Now we need to get visitors to treat our historic area like they would their own town. The locals are really talking about this. This may be Mayor Nagins crowning moment. Change is a great thing and an overdue change is even better. This may seem like small news but its a great sign that we are no longer under water as many still seem to believe. So come down and spend a few bucks. The French Quarter Festival and the New Orleans Jazz Fest are cooming up. Realtors and Associates welcome.

There are many reasons in the New Orleans Market to think about buying a condo in 2007. One of the big reasons is the cost of residential homeowners insurance that has gone through the roof or is just unavailiable for certain homes. Adding $300-$400 per month for a moderately priced home of 250k is a killer of many deals. This is because insurance companies who had record profits have red-linedthe New Orleans market. Even if your area had little damage, they pulled out of the market. Mrs. Blanco our Govenor is worried about the merits of cock fighting and getting re-elected rather than the problem of housing that plagues our market. Getting off on a tangent. Back to Condos, Your condo fees cover insurance, mintaince, upkeep of common areas, spaa, pools, excerise rooms, security, and much more for less than the cost of insurance of homeowners insurance. Why is this so? Insurers of condos actually look at the complex and give it a price to insure based on its merits. The rates have gone up but nothing like the residential market since Katrina. This fact has made people look at condos as an alternative to housing. Very fwe of the condos I sell had major damage or flooding. Its worth taking a look at New Orleans Condos for the insurance reason alone.

I continue to add local photos into to the areas I work and try to get a brief description of the photo and area. Localism is in the Beta stage which means testing I guess. Is there any other news about changes and the future of localism. I think local blogging is a great feature with an easy to use platform. Should we have separate pages for about us or is it always going to connect to the active rain site. I am sure it can stand on its own. Courtyards in New Orleans are a fixture in the various urban condo market. Our climate and rich soil with the afternoon rains make this an ideal area to grow things. 

Many residents of Tulane, Oschner and LSU Med schools have bought a condo or home from me in the past. This is the time everyone finds out where they are moving to do their residency. Katrina still looms in our background but our city welcomes you on your new adventure. You will have a variety of housing to chose from in and near the City of New Orleans. The commute times here are easy. You can easily get a condo with 15 minutes of your work. The Warehouse District is the closest area with Uptown New Orleans being another alternative. If you want a home then Jefferson Parish, may be one of your better choices due to low taxes and much cheaper prices, better schools and very little crime. Its an easy commute. The areas of Harahan, River Ridge, Old Metairie, Metairie, and Old Jefferrson are some of your better picks. One of the reasons to choose carefully as you are only going to be here 4-5 years and you want to get something with resale value. This is an area where I excel. Appreciation is a gift as much as the tax deductions you get by owning. If you pay $1000 per month over 5 years tha adds up to $60,000 you have given to soneone else. This has never been a bubble market because people value real estate. There are no corporate layoffs since we have none. Most peope that buy will walk away with some equity when they sell or keep your condo as a second home as many do. Once in New Orleans you will never forget the culture and the himidity in the summer. These are just some thoughts on buying real estate in the metro area. Check out the finances on Purchasing. There are a number of ways with which to finance a home orr condo that can save you some money so do not hesitate to ask.  

                                   Medical students , University students, residents, and those on a fellowship forTulane Med School, LSU Med School,  Charity, and Ochsner considering buying a condo or home for your stay. Several things to consider to avoiding 4-5 years of rent !!  Fifty times $800 is 40k.  Click here to find out more!!!

   Jamarcus Russell the LSU quarterback will most likely be the top quarter back taken in the upcoming NFL draft next month. he was an exception college quarterback. He was not mentioned as Heisman canidate. He was not named to an All American team. His team lost like 4 games in 20 plus games finishing in the top five teams the last two years. Is there are regional bias? Do small market states really count or is this just a media popularity contest. Peyton Manning was great, but no trophy. LSU should have 4 players drafted in the top 45 that few have heard of except from professionals who judge talent.     

AP: Wade Payne

Russell impressed head coach Lane Kiffin of the Oakland Raiders at Wednesday's LSU pro day

You never know how things turn out in your real estate searches. Svereral weeks ago I had a new client , Stephanie who wanted a condo in uptown New Orleans. In her price range many of the condos are not in the greatest and safest areas. We saw a nice one on Magazine that met her needs, but there was another one that looked nice on the MLS but I knew the area wasn't the greatest. I proceeded to show her the neighborhood when I had a blow out after hitting one of our famous potholes. My car came to a stop. This was our first time out so I could tell Stephanie was nervous. I have AAA which saves me every 6 months or so. I called them and said it would be more than an hour till the repair team arrived, it was completely dark and the area empty . I told her if there was someone who could pick her up that I could wait for the tow truck. She called her friend Joe to pick her up. Joe arrived and we talked talked a few minutes before he gave Stephanie a ride back to her car. The tow truck came and took care of me in about 30 minutes. New Orleans leads the nations in flat tires according to AAA man on the phone. Joe ended up buying a condo from me tow weeks ago and Stephanie bought one from me last week. The new tire cost $212, expensive! I was glad to pick up Joe as a new client as a result of a mishap. You never know how real estate works or am I just lucky in New Orleans.