Lafayette, LA

My Colleagues J.R. and Shelia High will be hosting an open house this Sunday, September 27th from 2 to 4 @ 208 Clem Dr. Please go by to see this great family home located in the center of Lafayette off of South College. This home features 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, formal dinning and living rooms and a very large den with lots of windows.

This home features 2865sqft of living area and is offered for $279,000, which is $97/sqft. There is also an inground pool, a double garage with work area and the owners have just installed a brand new CleanEffects Trane A/C system downstairs, which removes more than 99% of the influenza A (including swine flu or H1N1) from a home's filtered air (cost was 12K).

Directions: from Johnston St., turn on South College towards Pinhook, turn right on Clem and follow Clem to the left at the "T". Home will be on your right.

Click here for more details and photos of this great home.

One comment we often hear as real estate professionals is "I'm selling my home myself to save the commission." That is fine so long as you don't think that your potential buyers don't know that.

In fact, did you know that there are only 4 kinds of buyers out there? That's right, 4. And they are either working with a Realtor or they, too, will want to save the commission. If you have a "For Sale By Owner" sign in your yard, everyone knows that you are not paying a commission to a professional.

1. First time home buyers: They are the most likely to seek the help of a professional because they do not know all the ins and outs of the home buying process. Even if they come across your home and like it, they will want their agent involved. Being open to working with a buyer's agent and paying at least some commission might help you get your home sold.

2. Relocating buyer: They, too, usually work with a real estate agent because they are not in town, yet. Again, if you are willing to pay a buyer's agent commission, you may be able to work with one of these buyers and sell your home, that is, if you are available to show it when this buyer is in town house shopping. If not, they might just buy your neighbor's house because it's listed and on a lockbox and they were actually able to view it.

3. Moving up (or moving down) buyers: They tend to feel more confident about the process because they have been there before. However, if they choose to work on their own, they'll negotiate you down on your price to save some of the commission themselves. Since 2 out of 3 FSBO that go under contract do not close when no Realtor is involved, it might not matter if you split the would-have-been commission with this buyer. The question is: can you get them to the closing table?

4. Investors: Probably the most savvy buyer out there and you can bet that they will not pay you a commission to work the sale of your home for you. Unless you are an investor yourself and you've sold many homes in the past, this buyer knows more about the process than you do and he/she knows that they will have to do all the work. And, unless you are an awesome negotiator, you will not save money if your buyer is an investor. Not a penny.

There you have it! These are the only 4 kinds of buyers out there, no more, no less.

Here's another way to look at it: appraisers do not care about the commission. Your house is worth what it is worth, whether or not there is a commission involved. For example, if you live in a neighborhood where homes of similar age and sizes sell for 150K, then your home is worth 150K.

With a 6% listing commission, you would have to pay 9K in commission, usually split between the listing and the selling brokers (if two agents are involved). If you sell on your own, you are not going to save the full 9K. Buyers will want to split those savings with you and might only offer you 145K for your home. If this is acceptable to you, all is good, but your savings are now down to 4K. If you calculate 2 or 3 months extra on the market (and 2-3 months of extra house payments), the advertising and signs costs, and the time involved in showing your home numerous times to buyers who may or may not qualify to buy it, is it really worth the aggravation? Besides, getting an offer/contract on your home is the easy part. Do you know what to do if you ever get that far?

I know what my time is worth, do you?

First time home Buyers who want to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit better get moving. Some may feel like they still have plenty of time before the December 1st deadline to close on their new home but they don't. The fact is, finding and buying a home takes time, especially if you haven't done anything yet. Below is a breakdown of some of the steps you will need to climb in order to get the key to your new home.

Find a lender and get pre-approved: Definitely the fist step. If you haven't done so already, you need to talk to a lender and find out how much house you can buy. This could be the loan officer where you bank or a mortgage broker or both. It is not mandatory to shop around, but you certainly can.

Find a REALTOR®: This should be someone you can trust to work for you in your best interests. If you do not know a realtor, ask your friend and family to see if they might know someone they've used in the past and were satisfied with the services they received. Again, it is not prohibited to interview more than one person in order to find the best one for you. Of course, feel free to contact me; I would love to help!

Viewing and finding a home: This may take some time depending on your criteria. Keep in mind that your first home will likely not be your dream home. Such is life. You will need to view your home as your first major investment and while you would love to invest in a million dollars property, you budget may limit you to 150K for now. Shop in your price range and find the place that will grow with you for a few years (and your net worth will grow with it).

Write an offer and negotiate the price: As realtors, we are trained negotiator and if you have your own representation (your agent is not the one also representing the seller), your realtor will work in your best interests to get you the home you want for the best possible price.

The contract is signed by both parties: Congratulations! You are on the right track. From this point on, it will take another 40 days or so to complete the process, which involves:

1. Inspections (usually a home inspection and a termite inspection)
   
2. Completing your loan application
3. Appraisal
4. Title

Closing: If everything goes well, you are now ready to take possession of your new home. However, many things can happen after you signed the contract and before you close, that could delay the process and delay the closing. Buyers who wait until the last minute will probably miss the boat as lenders are already very busy and loan processing is likely to get backed up with buyers wanting to close before December 1st.

If you are seriously thinking about buying a home and you want to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, now is the time to shift gears!

Homes for sale in Lafayette, LA $0 - $100K

Homes for sale in Lafayette, LA $100K - $150K

Homes for sale in Lafayette, LA $150K - $200K

Homes for sale in Lafayette, LA $200K - $250K

Visit my web site to view all homes available in Lafayette and Acadiana

In July, the inventory for single detached home in River Ranch was high with 50 homes available on the market. Currently, the inventory is down with 41 single family homes now available.

Three homes sold in River Ranch between July and August with an average price of $794,467 ($222.90/sqft) and they spent an average of 154 days on the market.

What mostly made the total inventory go down in River Ranch is the fact that 9 properties were taken off the market (withdrawn) and 3 listings expired. Only 3 homes are currently under contract (pending) with an average price of $444,833 ($204.64/sqft) after spending 142 days on the market.

Of the 41 homes available in River Ranch, 21 are new or proposed constructions while 20 are pre-owned properties. Prices vary from $249,900 to $1,350,000 with the average price being $607,987. The average days on the market for available homes is 151.

Overall, when comparing statistics from 2008 and 2009, the average price for a home in River Ranch is slightly up from $651K to $658K while the price per square foot is down from $212 to $210. Days on the market have jumped from 87 in 2008 to 159 so far this year.

Click here to view all available homes and condos in the Village of River Ranch

There are always homes for sale in what we call the Saint Streets area in Lafayette, LA. The area is in high demand and homes that are priced right, do not stay on the market very long. I recently listed a home on Duclos Street and we had multiple offers after 5 days on the market. Buyers need to understand that if they see a good home in the saint streets, several other buyers have probably seen it, too. Waiting for a price reduction here is often not an option.

While the "Saint Streets" is not the official name of a particular neighborhood, it came about because several streets have saints' names: St. Patrick, St. Thomas, St. Mary, St. Catherine, St. John, St. Louis, St. Joseph, and more. To search by subdivision names, one would have to look for Souvenir Heights, Oaklawn & Oaklawn Heights, Fairfield, Suzanne Heights, Cornay Addition, Elmhurst Park, or Comeaux Place. For us agents, when a client says that they would like to buy a home in the Saint Streets, we know exactly where to look. If I had to draw it on a map, I would say from Johnston Street to a little past Congress street and from Cajundome Blvd to University Ave.

So why is the Saint Streets area always in demand? One of the reasons is no doubt that it borders the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. Another is that it is close to downtown and centrally located in Lafayette; it is simply close to everything one might need.

Another important reason, which makes the Saint Streets area popular, is the type of homes found there. Most of them are charming cottages that just always seem to appeal to buyers. Many of these homes have original wood floors, high ceilings and front porches, where it is not uncommon to see a swing or one or two rocking chairs for those cooler Louisiana evenings (not so many cool nights this time of year, though). Traffic in the neighborhoods is limited, which also makes it perfect for people with children. In fact, there are always people, young and old, walking or riding bicycles in the streets.

Home values in the Saint Streets vary greatly based on condition. For a home with limited upgrades, price should be between $80 and $110 per square foot. A completely remodeled cottage with (top of the line upgrades) will usually command a price between $125 and $135 per square foot. In fact, the area is always popular with investors who flip properties because of the demand for homes in the Saint Streets.

There are currently a couple of homes available in the Saint Streets and prices vary from the $150,000s all the way up to about $500,000. If you own a home in the Saint Streets and are thinking about selling, contact me for a detailed market analysis of the value of your home. I have several (pre-approved) clients waiting for the right home to come along. It might be yours!

If you are thinking about buying a home in the Saint Street, feel free to send me an email and I will send you detailed listing information and keep you up to date when new homes come on the market. Just understand that the game here is often "wait & hurry up." Wait for the right home to appear on the market and then hurry up to put it under contract!