Find out about the latest news in Madisonville, Louisiana as well as St. Tammany Parish. We will keep you “tuned in” to all of the information about Southeast Louisiana as well as the real estate industry in general. Many new home buyers are concerned about the market, mortgage information, and builder trends. We plan on keeping you as up to date as possible on these and many more topics. There is a lot going on in the Greater New Orleans area, so you will have plenty to read!

Several Tips To Follow When Selling a House in 2021

/in

Both selling and buying a home can be very exciting. When it comes to the sale of your home, it can be bitter-sweet. Leaving a home behind where there are sentimental attachments can be difficult. An emotional mindset might hinder the sale of your home. Here are some tips to follow that will help navigate you through the process and hinder costly mistakes.

1. Price Your Home Right

Low inventory usually means higher pricing, but that is not always the case when it comes to a listing price. A buyer can only purchase a home based on the fair market value when it comes to obtaining a mortgage. In a nutshell, the bank will only lend what the home is worth. During the mortgage process, the lender will require an appraisal from a professional appraiser who will determine the fair market value. It is always best to stick with a Realtor who can help you price your home right.

2. Keep Your Emotions in Check

Most homeowners live in the house for quite a long period of time. During this time, they will create a lot of memories and these memories will be attached to their house.  According to the National Association of Realtors, current homeowners lives in their home for an average of ten years. It can be hard for a homeowner to separate the sentimental value of a home from fair market value. Using a Realtor can help you with the process and can negotiate without emotional attachment.

3. Stage Your Home Properly

The first impression goes a long way when a potential buyer enters a home.  A buyer will not be impressed with all of your sentimental nick-nacks or special wallpaper hung in the dining room.  A home needs to be staged with a buyer in mind.  The buyer needs to be able to come into the space and envision it as their own. A Realtor can help you stage your home before it is listed.

If you are considering selling your current home, now is a great time.  Even though it is a seller’s market, it is a good idea to use a real estate professional.  A local Realtor can help you sell your home for the right price.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

Challenges With St. Tammany Zoning for Medline Distribution Center

/in

Medline had plans to build a medical equipment distribution company south of Covington. Many homeowners are up in arms about the prospect of such a project being in their community. Judge Reginald Badeaux of the 22nd Judicial District has thrown out the lawsuit filed by a group of residents.

January 12, 2021, the judge upheld the council’s vote to rezone the property for the distribution center. The 70 acres between Interstate 12 and Ochsner Boulevard will be the first project of its kind in the area. Residents are concerned that the project will cause traffic and drainage issues. There is also concern that the project will need its own comprehensive zoning plan.

Many in the parish are hopeful that the original plan to build a 1-million-square-foot center in St. Tammany will still happen. Bruce Wainer of All State Financial Company owns the property and feels the judge made the right decision. He states the decision was “a matter of fact and a matter of law — I think the judge ruled correctly.” St. Tammany Parish Council Chairman Mike Lorino is also in agreement with the judge’s decision and feels the Parish Council did everything correctly in its handling of the rezoning and acted reasonably.

Not all leaders in the community are for the judges ruling. Nancy Wagner, president of the Flower Estates Civic Association is part of those who appeal the ruling. “We have said from the beginning when the council approved the…rezoning without following the law that we would continue to pursue all legal options,” Wagner said in a text message. “We are disappointed that the ruling today mistakenly denies residents a full judicial review of our factual and legal arguments.”

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

Possible New Senior Center In Folsom

/in

As Baby Boomers are now seniors, Council on Aging St. Tammany (COAST) believes there is a need for a new senior center in the village. COAST Executive Director Julie Agan and board member Bill Magee explain that the organization has several temporary locations that are not really working that they have been operating out of. COAST lost its permanent location six years ago.

The Folsom Board of Aldermen and Mayor Lance Willie opened a discussion with COAST at their latest meeting. During the meeting, both Agan and Magee proposed that COAST builds a permanent facility on village property. In return for its investment in the building, COAST would have primary use of it on weekdays for at least 30 years. The village would in turn own the building and the land and have use of it at other times when COAST is not using the facility.

The draft cooperative endeavor agreement between COAST and the Folsom Board, would be funded by COAST and possibly funded by the Northshore Community Foundation, the Northshore Homebuilders Association and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. Mayor Willie believes that the village-owned lot on Railroad Ave across from the first station would be the proposed location. The village attorney, Roy Burns, will work on a draft agreement between the village and COAST.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

Existing Home Inventory Hits An All-Time Low

/in

Realtor.com’s December Housing Report shows that existing home inventory hit an all-time low. Existing home inventory has been low for a while but has been hit even harder since the pandemic. The December Housing Report reveals that homes for sale hit below 700,000 for the first time. This is a drop of 39.6% year over year with 449,000 fewer existing homes for sale than December 2019.

Newly listed homes have bounced back a little from the 8.7% decrease in November. December reported newly listed homes only being down 0.8% year over year. The country is seeing different improvements across the board. The Western and Northeastern regions are having the strongest improvements while the Midwest and South are lagging behind. The largest dip seen in new listings were in Nashville at -19.9%, Memphis at -18.5% and Charlotte at -16%.

As far as home prices, they continue on an upward trend into 2021. The report shows that the median listing price has increased 13.4 percent YoY to $340,000—though it’s just below the peak of $350,000. And within the nation’s 50 largest metros, prices increased by 8.8 percent—nearly the same as the month prior. The largest price gains were seen in Austin with a 20% increase, Riverside-San Bernardino with a 17.2% increase and New Orleans with a 16.8% increase.

“The shortage of homes for sale has been an ongoing issue for the last couple of years, but in December the combination of the holiday inventory slowdown and the pandemic buying trend caused it to dip to its lowest level in history,” said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Looking forward, we could see new lows in the next couple of months as buyers remain relatively active, but a surge of new COVID cases may slow the number of sellers entering the market. Newly listed properties have shown mixed trends. While December’s data points to possible relief on the horizon, this figure has been impacted the most in areas with large COVID surges, and consistent improvement will be key in order to get out of this extreme shortage. We eventually expect to see improvements in the supply of homes for sale, especially in the second half of the year. Until then, finding a home will continue to be a top challenge for buyers across all price ranges.”

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

How Much Does a Home Owner Save on a New Home With Solar Panels?

/in

Is there a good return on investment on solar photovoltaic panels (PV)? They do lessen the environmental impact and reduce electric bills but they are a big investment. Home Innovations Research Labs did a study to determine the PV’s cost-effectiveness.

The study was done in five different markets which included Phoneix, AZ; Tampa, FL; Boston, MA; Kansas City, MO and Seattle, WA using the System Advisory Model (SAM). The System Advisory Model is a software that was developed by the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). It takes the energy performance of the solar PV array at a specific location and for a specific house configuration and turns it into a model. It then calculates the expected electricity production and cost-effectiveness metrics for the system using local utility tariffs.

They are able to study the model and determine a new house construction scenario based on the assumption that the solar PV system was installed before the house sale as part of the new home package. The evaluation is based on local electricity pricing, utility tariff for purchasing excess electricity generated at the house, solar resource at the site, and panel orientation and installed cost of the PV panels.

The study concludes that it is more cost-effective in certain areas in the country while it is not in others. For Boston, it is effective because of Boston’s high local electricity pricing and favorable purchasing tariffs. Below is a chart detailing the outcome of the study done.

City Solar resource, kWh/m2/day Metering agreement Electricity price, cent/kWh* Price for site generated electricity, cent/kWh Simple payback
Phoenix 5.79 Net billing 3.4-26.8 2.8-3.0 16-42 years
Tampa, Fla. 5.22 Net metering 10.3-12.7 ** 18-33 years
Boston 4.06 Net metering w/ $ credits 19.6-22.3 18.0-20.7 12-21 years
Kansas City, Mo. 4.38 Net metering w/ $ credits 7.5-15.7 2.4 20-36 years
Seattle 3.47 Net metering 8.7-10.7 ** 25-59 years

* Prices vary by time of day, month, and/or max usage.

** Net metering agreements credit customers for site-generated electricity in energy units (kWh) and are not converted to $.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

2021 Will See A Conforming Loan Limit Rise

/in

The new year will bring a change in the maximum baseline conforming loan limits for mortgages obtained by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the announcement made by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) the baseline will increase from $510,400 to $548,250.

The FHFA adjusted the loan limit by 7.42% due to the increase in the average U.S. home value. The value has increased between the last quarter in 2019 and 2020. In higher-cost areas, the new ceiling loan limit will be $822,375 up from the current limit of $765,600. The list of 2021 maximum conforming loan limits for every U.S. county and county-equivalent areas can be found here.

The baseline limit is required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be adjusted every year to keep up with the U.S. average home price and is defined by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). Since the average price varies by the area they also defined “high-cost area” limits. HERA defines these areas in which 115 percent of the local median home value exceeds the baseline CLL, the maximum loan limit will be higher than the baseline loan limit.

This is good news for the U.S. housing market. In fact, the maximum conforming loan limit will be higher in 2021 in all but 18 counties or county-equivalents in the U.S.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.