New Orleans Named 2nd Best Place to Retire

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Using the following criteria to rank 75 different cities in the United States – presence of fellow retirees, affordability, weather, and walkability, a company called NerdWallet ranked New Orleans as the 2nd best urban place to retire in the U.S.  NerdWallet is a blog that covers topics like mortgages, insurance, investing, banking, and small business advice.  Their blog articles are “by the numbers,” when it comes to statistical walking-in-nolaanalysis, so they also have a cost of living calculator that aided in their decision making process.  New Orleans actually has a lower cost of living compared to larger metro areas such as New York City.  The city was only 2nd place behind Miami because Miami already such a high population of retirees.  Top five cities also included 2 cities in Texas – El Paso and Corpus Christi as well as Mesa, AZ.

One of the biggest draws for the Greater New Orleans area was weather.  Located so far deep in the South, New Orleans mild climate boasts temperate temperatures 7 months out of the year with intense heat during the summer months.  Colder temperatures tend to linger midway through December into the middle of February, but they are no match for their northern counterparts.  Other factors that helped with New Orleans score of being a great place to retire was the rich culture, excellent cuisine, events and services provided by the New Orleans Council on Aging, and the walkability and access to local sights and venues.

192-st-calais-exteriorOne of the factors that was not mentioned by NerdWallet was that the Greater New Orleans area, at present, is experiencing a huge real estate boom.  Both on the Southshore and the Northshore, there are homes for sale with stabilized home pricing and lots of options from which to choose.  New homes especially are very popular with solid numbers of new home starts and new home sales.  On the Northshore, there are several new neighborhoods with homes for sale, and in Madisonville, Louisiana, Bedico Creek Preserve offers a master planned conservation community with 3 new neighborhoods with lots for sale in St. Tammany Parish.

This is good news for retirees because Bedico Creek offers low-maintenance garden homes that have open, amazing floorplans with just enough square footage for comfortable living space and smaller lots with less yard work.  Private courtyards are popular on these garden homes for sale because they offer plenty of room for landscaping creativity as well as decorative, relaxing fountains.  So, if you are considering the Greater New Orleans area as your place to retire, and you are an active nature lover who plays and walks in the great outdoors, consider Bedico Creek Preserve on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish.  For More Information about our Lots for Sale and Garden Homes for sale, Contact Us at 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected].

 

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

INDepth with David L. Waltemath

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Inside Northside July / August, 2014
INDepth with David L. Waltemath, Developer, Bedico Creek Preserve

Inside Northside, July, 2014

  Click To View the .PDF of the Newspaper Article

1. Bedico Creek Preserve is a conservation community. What does that mean?

A conservation community is when residential land planning focuses on maintaining the ecological beauty and integrity of the conservation land within or adjacent to it. Of Bedico Creek’s 600 acres of open space, 180 acres are active parks and lakes, and 400 plus acres are dedicated conservation servitude to be enjoyed through activities such as walking, bird watching and camping.

ID-David2. Why did you want to create a conservation community?

Think of the reasons people initially moved here—they were looking for a healthy, less complicated lifestyle surrounded by the trees and open spaces they couldn’t find in the city. Much of that landscape has been lost forever to development. I wanted to preserve that environment for future generations of northshore residents.

3. How does your community living differ from that of “traditional” neighborhoods?

Bedico Creek living is different because of its location, acres of parks, lakes, conservation areas and other amenities. We have miles of paved cart paths, a community swimming pool, an old-fashioned fishing pier and an outdoor party pavilion, to name a few.

4. How important is a community like this to the parish?

When complete, Bedico Creek will represent a taxable value of more than $300 million. That’s a lot of tax revenue for the parish.

5. What do you hope the lasting effects of the community will be?

Bedico Creek will perpetually offer its residents a wholesome environment, an active lifestyle and a meaningful place for social activities. It’s a neighborhood the parish can point to as one that truly defines the St. Tammany sense of community of yesteryear and preserves it for tomorrow.

Real estate developer David L. Waltemath has more than 30 years of experience in residential and commercial development, construction and project management. Bedico Creek Preserve is the newest in his series of successful neighborhoods, which includes English Turn in New Orleans, Santa Maria and Green Trails in Baton Rouge, The Parks in Plaquemines and The Estates of Northpark in St. Tammany Parish. Though passionate about his work, David’s first priority is his family: Kathy, his wife of 33 years, and son Scott and daughter Kelly, who are the fourth generation of Waltemaths in the real estate industry.

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NAHB Leadership Institute, August 4-8, 2014

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National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
Leadership Institute

St. Louis, Missouri

Monday, August 4, 2014 – Friday, August 8, 2014

For More Information, Contact the St. Tammany Parish Home Builders Association at 985-882-5002.

White Linen Night on the Northshore

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City of Covington’s
Office of Cultural Arts and Events
White Linen Night

Columbia Street
Covington, LA 70433

Saturday, August 16, 2014
6:00PM – 9:00PM

For More Information, Call 985-882-5002 or E-mail [email protected].

More Construction Spending – Both Traditional & Green Building

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Just like the Fed keeps an eye on the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the unemployment rates in the United States to determine the future fate of interest rates, the housing market has seen a significant rise in the economics of private residential construction spending compared to the 2nd quarter of 2013.  Funding of builders to construct new homes, new multi-family developments, and remodeling nationwide has increased by 7.5%, compared to last year’s numbers.  This spending is an indicator that the real estate market is continuing to recover with the increased expenditure on building supplies.

As construction spending is analyzed, McGraw Hill Construction (MHC) conducted a survey among National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) single-family and multifamily members in 2013 and found that the cost of building green, new homes was notably higher than standard construction costs.  Research and purchasing trends have shown that the extra cost is not only worth it for the long-term homes’ durability and energy efficiency, but that buyers are willing to pay for the one-time increased cost, spread out over years with their mortgage in order to save on monthly utility costs and home comfort.  Green building techniques include double and even triple pane energy efficient windows that will keep heat in or keep solar energy out, green roofs or cool roofs which will help either absorb the intense midday heat or reflect the radiation back into the atmosphere, insulation designed specifically to “seal” a home more effectively against the elements, ventilation which will more efficiently move heat and cool air through a home, solar power, wind power, and thermal solutions, and even paint and coatings which help a home stand up more efficiently against the weather.

Even though these energy efficient elements may cost more money, the data and analysis team with MHC found that builders that had a higher volume of homes built that encompassed green building techniques were able to cut their home building costs to the home buyer for efficiently than those builders who only had very few new construction projects throughout a year’s time which involved green building.  New home builders whose green building project averaged 30% of their single-family home business saved the consumer up to 3.3% over other builders without that much green building construction volume.  Many builders at Bedico Creek Preserve in St. Tammany Parish have extensive green building experience.  Some even hold the NAHB designation of Certified Green Professional.  For More Information About the Builders at Bedico Creek Preserve, please get in touch with us at 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected].

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

The Covington Farmer’s Market, Wednesday’s in August, 2014

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covington-farmers-market

The Covington Farmer’s Market

The Covington Trailhead
419 N. New Hampshire
Covington, LA 70433

Wednesday Dates in August, 2014

August 4 , 2014
August 11, 2014
August 18, 2014
August 25, 2014

10:00AM – 2:00PM

For More Information, call 985-892-1873.