About Waveland's Bayside Park

August 29th 2005, not a great day if you happen to live on the gulf coast states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. On that day, arguably the worst hurricane to hit the gulf coast came ashore. Hurricane Katrina roared in with 150+ mph winds and a tidal surge that towered over the buildings that it was about to crush.

So the cleanup began. The American Red Cross, the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, the national Guard, and thousands of huge hearted volunteers arrived. The chore of clearing debris made even more difficult by the knowledge that as the next remnant of a home or vehicle unturned may reveal another who didn't get escape.

In the months that followed, government officials began addressing the issue of rebuilding. Ideas of housing, grant programs, architectural styles all were set in motion and the reconstruction began. Or has it?

Biloxi is being rebuilt from the ground up, basically creating an entirely new waterfront city. An estimated 55,000 new homes will need to be built in the next few years, and less than 10,000 (less than 18%) of these homes have already been built. While the dollar value of building permits has exceeded one billion dollars in the Biloxi market, less than fifty two million dollars has been spent on new home construction. That is 341homes. (Source:The Journal South Mississippi Business)

The state of Mississippi has determined that there are still 40,000 homes to be rebuilt in order to bring its six southernmost counties up to their pre-Katrina count.

Based on a (2005) pre-Katrina population of 445,375 individuals in the six coastal counties of Pearl River, Hancock, Stone, Harrison, George and Jackson, this figure places the number of standing homes before Katrina at about 110,000.

State estimates indicate that 2+ years later, the 40,000 are still not livable - they remain either as slabs from water damage or crippled by excessive wind damage to walls, ceilings and roofs.

Why the slow going? After all the GO Zone act allowing the 50% accelarated depreciation was swiftly put in to place, laws were changed allowing casinos to be built on shore, the Mississippi gulf coast was the 6th fastest appreciating maket in the country according to Forbes.com, jobs were increasing. As another writer has so crassly put it, this was the "perfect storm." Try telling that to the hundreds of thousands of suddenly homeless.

Two things happened. First there was the news media. The coverage from the networks and the news channels riveted us with footage and stories of the destruction of New Orleans. They gave us captivating speeches by the politicians from that city who promised to be their savior. Then, the celebrity bandwagon started, with prominent entertainment figures shown walking the streets and asking everyone else to help. In the meantime, Mississippi was digging out.

Secondly came the "programs". Prior to Katrina, Mississippi was a 30%+ rental population state, but landlords are either still waiting for their insurance checks or they have received teir checks and decided not to rebuild. So as an incentive, the Mississippi Rental Assistance Program was introduced. The purpose of this plan was to entice private investors to build badly needed rental housing.

For doing this, the investor was to receive a forgivable loan for up to $40,000 for a single family home or $73,000 on a duplex. This was conditional on the home being rented for a period of 5 years at a rent set by the governing bodies. This rent would mean a negative cashflow for the investor, and would be made further negative if the investor did not cover utility costs therefore providing the tenant with a utility credit. This is also conditional on the property not being vacant for a period of time.

• Vacancy exceeding a certain period triggers repayment.
• Sale of the property before the end of 5 years triggers repayment
• The loan appears as a lien on the property during the 5 years
• The loan is an application/selection process not "guaranteed" as some claim

So how does all this tie in to the greed factor? It's simple, groups all around the country have marketed this program to investors with a "100% certainty" that they will get this money or they don't have to do the deal. Here is how this has hurt. Katrina hit August 29th 2005. The deadline for this program was October 31, 2007. To this date no money has been disbursed! This means investors haven't built any new homes, and to compound the problems the temporary housing for victims is making them sick. Literally! Investors all want this forgivable loan so that the new 328i, or the once in a lifetime cruise become reality, forgetting about the $400+ a month that they are negative in a property they can't sell for 5 years.

In closing, take a good look at the 50% bonus depreciation, weigh in on the growing market that is the Mississippi gulf coast and help this region get back on track. You may profit more than just financially.

Neil G. Blair-Bennett*GOZonehomes.com*

PASCAGOULA --

But a priority will be to recruit workers.

"We need to be able to find, recruit and retain a good work force," Edenzon said. "We need more people. And how do we make sure the ones that are here stay and continue doing a good job? And how do we go into the community and into the state to recruit people to come here to work?

"I'd be guessing, but I could use 400 to 500," he said

"In an appeal to business and government leaders in Jackson County, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems President Philip Teel said the Ingalls shipyard needs workers to keep up with the $9 billion backlog of Navy ships it has slated. "At the highest levels of government there are questions of whether we will be able to get that work done in the time frame they need it to be done," Teel told members of the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce at its annual membership meeting in Moss Point Tuesday. Teel said the Ingalls yard is short 400 craftspeople and 250 salaried positions. He blamed housing and insurance as two big problems. He said the yard has a three-year plan to solve the work force problem." .

The insurance issues are being addressed, but what about the housing?

Biloxi is being rebuilt from the ground up, basically creating an entirely new waterfront city. An estimated 55,000 new homes will need to be built in the next few years, and less than 10,000 (less than 18%) of these homes have already been built.  While the dollar value of building permits has exceeded one billion dollars in the Biloxi market, less than fifty two million dollars has been spent on new home construction. That is 341homes. The creation of an almost entirely new oceanfront city is unprecedented in modern American history, as most oceanfront real estate was developed years ago. This is a rare chance to create a brand new community, with none of the problems and disadvantages of real estate that was developed during and for the 19th and 20th centuries, instead of the 21st.

In short, this is one of the most viable markets in the country, and the outlook for the next several years is strong. Read more about the GO Zone and other projects at theMoneyTREIN.com

While the fallout of the sub-prime market and the slowdown in housing starts has been difficult for most of the United States, one area that is really feeling the crunch is the gulf coast of Mississippi.

An area rocked by Hurricane Katrina is now faced with a new growing crisis. Consider these facts;

• Mississippi was a 35% rental state prior to Katrina
• hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced (most want to return home)
• Insurance payouts have been slow and/or nonexistent
• many landlords chose not to rebuild rather choosing to accept the settlement check
• government programs designed to kickstart rental housing have been mired in bureaucracy
• many developers have come in from other areas with greed intentions rather than focussing on the mission at hand
• rental housing is more necessary than ever due to the fact that the storm devastated peoples credit as well as their homes
• with the tens of thousands of people still living in FEMA trailers, now come new information that the trailers are making people sick
• the Mississippi casino industry reported record revenues and are continuing to expand, these casinos are currently housing their own employees at $250 per night.
• military bases in the area are expanding, no housing available
• shipbuilding, NASA, Rolls Royce jet engines are all industries poised to grow in the area

This points out some of the reasons for the growth, but what of the demand? We talked to local property management professionals like Kathy Ellis and asked how quickly properties were being picked up, "we receive between 20-30 calls per day for housing". Ellis has some 250 units currently rented, but says that there is currently a waiting list of 25 people per unit. Another property manager Amanda Gallas says, "we are currently working with FEMA to relocate everyone from there trailers by the end of the year."

In conclusion, it's easy to see why this would be such a tremendous area of opportunity for an investor. Combine the benefits of a strong market, add the "GO Zone" tax strategy, and then build the best value product, you have a good reason to investigate further.

So does anyone think that a need doesn't exist along the Mississippi gulf coast for housing? Take a look at an excerpt of this months article from The Journal;

"The state of Mississippi has determined that there are still 40,000 homes to be rebuilt in order to bring its six southernmost counties up to their pre-Katrina count.

Based on a (2005) pre-Katrina population of 445,375 individuals in the six coastal counties of Pearl River, Hancock, Stone, Harrison, George and Jackson, this figure places the number of standing homes before Katrina at about 110,000.

State estimates indicate that 2_ years later, the 40,000 are still not livable - they remain either as slabs from water damage or crippled by excessive wind damage to walls, ceilings and roofs."

The entire article can be found here.

What does this mean for a real estate investor? It means that there is still one market in the country where a savvy investor can add to his/her portfolio of property for a lowcost-high return investment. The Biloxi/Gulfport area was an emerging market prior to Hurricane Katrina. Now with the rebuilding process, the passage of laws that casinos now be onshore, and with the introduction of "the GO Zone" tax strategies, this opportunity is even better.

TheMoneytrein.com has viewed most of the projects in the gulf coast area and found this to be among the best. This project consists of building single and attached villa units for the purpose of providing rental property in an area that desparately needs housing. The community chosen is Bayside Park. The reasons for this community are;

• the flood elevation for this area is higher than for most of the area
• the infrastructure (roads, utilities, etc.) fared better than most of the other storm hit areas
• land is plentiful and land pricing is still affordable, but is on the rise
• the area provides a good central location for Biloxi/Gulfport, New Orleans, Mobile AL, and Hattiesburg

These provide some sound reasons for choosing this area, the investment analysis contained in this presentation provides sound reinforcement as to why to choose this program.