Ann Dail, Broker/Realtor,ePRO, SRS, B.A.Chem

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra is having a spicial event, April 28th, "One Perfect Night, Two Perfect Voices' featuring Denyce Graves and Salvatore Licitra.

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to present the 11th Irene W. and C. B. Pennington Foundation Great Performers in Concert Series performance - "Two Perfect Voices - One Perfect Night," a brilliant evening of popular operatic favorites, April 28, 2011. Opera superstars, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and tenor Salvatore Licitra join the BRSO in their first ever joint concert appearance

An if you want special half-priced tickets visit Deal of the day and Buy Now!.  YOU MUST PURCHASE TODAY APRIL 23RD TO GET THIS SPECIAL DISCOUNT.

Not familiar with Denyce Graves?  Anyone who is a friend of Elmo and the Sesame Street gang must be a winner!

And the moving passion of Salvatore Licitra's performances will touch your heart.  Here's a preview of his performance on the soundtrack of The Man Who Cried, Tribute to Salvador Dali.

So join the Symphony this Thursday for "One Perfect Night.  Two Perfect Voices".

One of the most unique Baton Rouge Area Homes is haunted, or so some say. It dates to 1796 and is in St. Francis-ville, just north of Baton Rouge. It is an antebellum home on the National Registry of Homes, named The Myrtles Plantation.

I visited and stayed the night, but didn't get visited by ghosts as some do. It has 11 bed and breakfast rooms and an elegant restaurant, The carriage house, that serves gourmet meals. Of course the main attraction is the ghost tour at night unless a friendly ghost happens to visit your room during the night. The ghost of "Chloe, harmlessly hangs d sitting on the roof or standing on the veranda. She's quite a shy ghost though and disappears if approached too closely. Chloe was a slave girl and mistress of one of the plantation owners. She was jealous and controlling. Chloe accidently poisoned his children and wife in a scheme to gain the master's good will, but was hanged from one of the trees on the plantation instead. The plantation is supposedly the home of at leat 12 ghosts, making it one of America's Most Haunted Homes. It is reported that 10 murders occurred in the house, but records only indicate the murder of one.

It is a pleasant drive thru beautiful hill country to arrive at St.Francisville. So be sure and stay the night and meet some friendly ghosts.

On Baton Rouge homes that have wood siding, I am frequently asked "What is HardiePlank?" Many consumers have heard that term and wondered what that means, so I will take a minute and give you some background.

HardiePlank is a registered trade mark for fiber cement siding manufactured by James Hardie, a company based in Mission Viejo California. There are 2 other large U.S. manufacturers of fiber cement siding: CertainTeed based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and MaxiTile based in Carson California. Fiber cement siding is a mixture of sand, cement and cellulose fibers. The product has become a popular alternative to wood exteriors or vinyl or aluminum siding. It looks much like more expensive hardwood siding and requires less painting and maintenance.

Fiber cement siding came about as a replacement for widely used asbestos cement sheeting products that were manufactured by James Hardie until the late 1980's. Thinking about cement fiber siding for your Baton Rouge Homes? In selecting the correct product for your Baton Rouge home, it is important to know that the product comes in varying densities and thickness which can affect impact resistance of the product. In addition to low maintenance painting costs, another advantage of the product is it's resistance to wood destroying insects like termites; and it doesn't rot like wood and composites. It is noncombustible and in high fire prone areas is preferable to vinyl which is a petroleum based product. Because fiber cement siding does not have high resistance to thermal or sound transmission, it is recommended to be used in combination with wall insulation. Many consumers feel it is more attractive than aluminum or vinyl siding, as it is hard to tell it from wood. Here are some links that will get you started so you can discuss this product further with your contractor:

What Is Fiber cement siding?

Is HardiPlank Siding worth the High Cost for Baton Rouge Homes?

HardiPlank Details for the Baton Rouge homeowner.

CertainTeed siding products for Baton Rouge Homes

MaxiTile Siding products for Baton Rouge Homes

Baton Rouge Homes Comprehensive Information Source

This morning I read a humorous article by Kris, Berg, broker-owner, of San Diesgo Castles Realty, where she talks about some of the Catastrophies that can happen. It prompted me to share a few of her thoughts that made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair:

One area is that of the transactions themselves: getting the house, selling the house, closing on time, etc.

Kris explains, "This all sounds easy enough, except that the level of difficulty has increased in our profession to the point where even the most straightforward of tasks often leave us feeling like we are running a half-marathon in stilettos.

The lender accepted electronic signatures last week; this week he won't. On Monday, the bank approved the loan only to deny it on Friday, approve it again after the weekend, and -- "Whoopsie!" -- deny it yet again despite that fact that everyone has packed and moving trucks are idling.

Sometimes it's that the buyer who loved the home two weeks ago suddenly lost interest, that the county pulls the recording at the last minute because there was a smudge on page 142 of the documents, or that no one saw that cracked slab or toxic mold coming. Whatever the issue, the one thing we can count on as agents is having issues"

Now her comments made me reflect on my year of 2010, and all my contracts that DIDNT MAKE IT.

Like one was at the beginning of the year where I had a pre-approved buyer for an RD loan, wrote a contract, and when I took it to the loan officer was informed, "Oh, I'm sorry but this week RD just raised credit score requirements from 580 to 620." The seller's agent was furious and demanded we go to her lender, which we did, only to find out it was the same lender that had just told me they couldn't do the loan".

Then there was another young man with credit scores at 700, who was approved and ready to close on a DSF, but decided a condo nearer work would be better so during the inspection period withdrew and switched to a luxury condo...whoops! He was self-employed and only had 18 months of employment and 5% down. All of a sudden they now required 3 years income tax returns and 20% down on condos. He could have gotten a single family, but they changed the length of employment requirement and no longer counted those years of college and graduate school as employment! By the time we went thru several changes and rejections he was so frustrated that he just decided to rent for 2 more years.

Kris also throws in the second half of the puzzle all those diverse personalities we deal with and their "perceptions" and "expectations" How do you deal with a seller whose subdivision values dropped 25% in the last 18 months?

If you'd like to read all of Kris Berg's article it was in Inman sponsered by Lowe's.

Wheee...2010 was like a roller coaster ride where the rules changes every 48 hours! Those of us left in the profession (and numbers seem to be dropping like flies) must be adrenaline junkies!!

If you had any interesting experiences, please share them with me so we can laugh together.

Looking for information on Baton Rouge Homes?

Almost everyone has heard of Punxsutawney Phil, but how many of you have heard of Pierre Shadeaux or T-Boy? Pierre Shadeaux and T-Boy are nutria from the bayou and swamps of Louisiana.

Groundhogs are native to North America, with a range that extends south to northern Alabama. So if you live in the coastal south of Louisiana, just how are you supposed to predict the end of winter, or in Louisiana the beginning of summer? They picked the nutria, like the family pictured here, rodents who populated the swamplands when brought from South America as future fur coats. They are cute and fuzzy as babies but grow fierce, long orange teeth and other less appealing features as adults. Winter's not a big deal here, but summer is. Up north, seeing a shadow is bad news. For them it means six more weeks of winter, but in Louisiana it means a shorter spring and a quicker return of summer's grueling heat and humidity.

T-Boy is a cute, fluffy baby will emerge Feb.2nd from a hole at the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit at the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, LA to make his own prediction about the arrival of spring in New Orleans. T-Boy is a nutria, a type of semi aquatic rodent well-known in this part of the country for damaging the wetlands with its feeding habits. At 6 weeks old, T-Boy, whose name is equivalent to "little boy" among Cajuns, is still in a photogenic phase. See his cute baby face in this photo.,provided by Live Science blog.

The Louisiana town of New Iberia has its own "Cajun Groundhog," dubbed Pierre C. Shadeaux, which will emerge from its miniature Acadian-style house in search of his shadow. The furry guy is part of a ceremony similar to Groundhog Day. It takes place on Bouligny Plaza in New Iberia 7:30-8:00am and is followed by town events like awarding winner of the essay contest and other fun events.

If he does not see his shadow, spring will be long; if he does, start saving for that air conditioning bill!