June Foley

Open, airy, spacious, plus a panoramic view of the Chinchuba waterway. This spectacular Executive home is 1.5 stories with approx. 3802 sq ft living and 4500 sq ft under beam. Located in the demand Meadowbrook Lakes Subdivision and just minutes to the Causeway and I-12. This beautiful home features 4 bedrooms 3.5 baths plus an Office and a BONUS ROOM upstairs, great for a game room, media room or exercise room. Mother-in-law suite has a full bath plus walk-in closet. Great Room features high ceilings, curved archways, triple crown moulding, and architectural columns. Wall of windows to take advantage of the gorgeous view. Sun room, screened patio with ceiling fans. Formal dining room has wood flooring. Kitchen is spacious with new stainless steel appliances. In-ground pool with fenced yard. Ideally suited for relaxing at the end of the day or entertaining. A must see!!!

All information deemed reliable not guaranteed.

THIS TUSCAN INSPIRED INTERIOR DESIGN CREATES A WARM & INVITING ATMOSPHERE. It features 4 bedrooms with 2.5 baths and is approx 2187 sq ft living with 2866 sq ft total. A beautiful home that features high ceilings, curved archways & triple crown moulding. The focal point to the Great Rm is a beautiful antique Cherry gas burning Fireplace. Wall of windows creates lots of natural light. Spacious kitchen with corner window, center island & gas stove. Covered Patio. Two car attached Garage. Minutes to the Causeway and I-12. Mandeville School District. A Must See!!

All information contained deemed reliable not guaranteed.

At last, some promising news on the housing front. The National Association of Realtors has reported on Monday, March 23^rd that the sales of existing homes grew 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.72 million last month, from 4.49 million units in January. According to NAR this was the largest monthly sales jump since July 2003 with first time homebuyers accounting for about half of the transactions. Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Spring is in the air and despite a depressed economy we have Buyers shopping, eagerly looking to make a good deal and BUY homes. Interest rates are excellent and tax credits have contributed to this activity. In these economic times one thing is for sure, Buyers will most certainly test the waters. I tell my clients that offers can be tricky because you want to negotiate but you also don't want to insult. A good deal typically is where both the Buyer and Seller have made concessions, are not totally happy but, both are satisfied. In difficult financial times low ball offers are going to happen. It is important that Sellers not be insulted with low ball offers and instead consider that out of all the hundreds of homes listed on the market they have chosen their home to potentially purchase. Selling Agents should prepare their clients for this possible scenario in advance and advise them that it would be in their best interest to take all offers seriously and at least counter. Let the Buyer know if you are not willing to accept this offer what you are willing to accept in a sales price. A recent listing of mine was an excellent example of this situation. We received a low offer, countered, and wound up within a few thousand dollars of the asking price. If however my client would have been insulted and flatly rejected the initial offer we possible would not have had made the sale. My advice is to keep your mind open and explore all potential offers. You may actually sell your home sooner than later.

I read an article by L. Mullins of U.S. News & Report which stated, "With lower home prices and attractive mortgage rates 2009 will present plenty of bargains for real estate shoppers. But as the historic bust continues, Americans everywhere are learning a painful lesson about home buying: property values don't always increase. As such, anyone looking to purchase a home this year should make sure they're buying into a community that can support long term value." The top ingredients for a strong and healthy market included:

1. A well groomed neighborhood.
2. Good schools
3. Low crime
4. Availability of close public transportation
5. Favorable population trends (steady population growth)
6. Healthy employment landscape

It takes a gumbo of ingredients to make a healthy market and St. Tammany parish has been very fortunate. Our community has at least five of these points listed which contribute to a healthy real estate market. I do not agree however, with the painful lesson about buying property in that values don't always increase. Generally speaking property values do increase over time. Your rate of appreciation may be another matter. We do not always see the types of increase in value by leaps and bounds over night as we did in the post Katrina period.

For example my first home purchase was in the 1980's which was another tough time for the Real Estate Market. My husband and I financed at 11.5% and we thought we did well because there were other people out there paying 12% at the time. We put down 5% as first time home buyers and paid on that home for almost 13 years unable to refinance because we needed 20% equity in the home and market values did not support that amount. After a lot of sweat equity that we put into that house we finally sold our home in 1998. The market had turned around and it was a Seller's market in my pocket of the world on the Southshore and a Buyer's market where we were moving to on the Northshore. I could not have timed it better if I wanted to. This was before I became an Agent and yes, I did hire a professional agent. We sold our home in one week. The reason that little home sold in that amount of time was due to at least five of the six ingredients listed on that healthy market list. Timing, pricing and condition were also something that was key and of course the ability to wait it out until the market was right for us to sell.

If you can not wait it out until the market turns around in your favor I recommend you price well, have a good clean product, and hire a professional for guidance.