Sandy Ogburn Sandlin - Fine Baton Rouge area homes

Ascension Parish is booming these days, with its 6.7% unemployment over 2% lower than the national average, as new businesses going up all over town. If you happen to be one of the unlucky people who lose their job, you have to figure how to stay afloat until you return to work. If you have a mortgage, you want to save your home while taking care of your other bills too. These days, many households already have two wage earners, so if one loses a job, there is no one else who can jump into the job market to help out.

Ideally, you should have three to six months in savings to carry you over in case of emergency, but many people live paycheck to paycheck without this safety net. Finding a new job is often taking longer so having savings will not spare you from what every homeowner needs to do: develop a game plan for making it through till income returns to normal. When your income is down, you must the order in which you pay your bills, but every creditor feels like they should come first. You need to first pay your mortgage, insurance, utilities, and other necessities like food, followed by your car note, then your loans and credit cards. If you have no reserves, obviously you will have to modify the list.

When you income changes and you have having difficulty paying your mortgage, there are programs designed to help make it through and avoid what will happen if you cannot ultimately pay: foreclosure. Before you get to that point, it's good to ask yourself if you want to keep the home. You may realize that the maintaining the home always made things tight for you. Though the current real estate market can be challenging, you might consider selling. If you owe more on the home than it is worth, you may ask your Realtor® about selling it on a short sale, where the bank agrees to accept less than the loan value as full payment. In any case, the time you are off is a good time to prepare the home for sale in case you would later decide to that. Even though you might not be able to afford costly remodeling projects, you can paint and declutter - tasks you may have need to do anyway.

If you want to keep your home, you need to take advantage of available resources. This means contacting your lender (or an outside housing counselor who will do this for you). Your lender may be able to help you if you contact them early and agree to reduced payments, forbearance (where you don't have to pay for a short time), or a loan modification.

For some of these plans to work, you need some income. This may mean that you accept a job that pays less than what you were making but is enough to cover the house payment and your other basic expenses. There is no point of jumping through all the hoops to get a loan modified if you will default in a few months because the payment is still too high for you.

Some people who have tried to get help say contacting the lender is more than a notion. Though lenders say they want to work with customers, many distressed borrowers report that they can't reach them, don't hear back from them, or wait forever, only to be told that they don't qualify or that they should apply to the Federal Making Home Affordable program. This is why it is often a good idea to talk with a HUD-approved counselor who might be able to get in touch with your lender or at least help you explore other resources before foreclosure looms.

In trouble with your mortgage due to job trouble or any other reason? The State of Louisiana has many resources to help you. Want to discuss your situation with a knowledgeable Realtor®? Sandy-Ogburn-Sandlin and her Team can talk to you about selling your home at short sale. We can show the best homes in Ascension Parish, as well East Baton Rouge Parish or Livingston Parish.

Once you've decided to buy a beautiful Prairieville home, the big question is "How much house can I afford?"

You may already have a figure from the bank If you have gone to get pre-approval. This may be more or less than what you had in mind. It's only a starting point in your thought process. The perception is that bank puts the upper limit on what you can spend, but the lender may not take into account everything you need to consider.

How Much Can You Afford?

Some lenders use different percentages to figure out how should go for housing, but the most common guide to how much you can afford these days is based on the 28/36 rule. The means your housing should be 28% or less of your gross income before taxes, while your debt (not including your mortgage) should be 36% or less of your income. Based on an income of $60,000, you might be able to append about $1,400 a month on your mortgage, taxes, and insurance, but this would dip to $1,000 if you paid about $650 about for credit cards, car payment, and other loans. (Click here for a handy 28/36 mortgage calculator to compute how the 28/36% rule would work out for you.) Banks may use a magical formula based on your FICO score, but they are considering similar things: how your debt compares to your income.

With a household income of $120,000, your might be able to pay $2,800 for housing with no debt. What if your spouse is laid off? Do you have resources to help you make it for a while? What if one spouse wants to stay home with the kids? What if your salary stays the same but your other expenses keep increasing? Will you be able to handle increased energy costs if the home is bigger than your old residence? A mortgage you can technically afford can become a noose around your neck.

Bottom line, you need to be honest with yourselves. If you are saving for your kids' college or trying to keep them in private schools as well as number of expensive activities, a big house payment can cut off other life options unless your income increases.

Don't Sacrifice It All For Your Down Payment

You can reduce the amount of the loan and the monthly payment by putting more money down. It is a mistake to raid retirement funds ordeplete savings. Experts say you should have three to six months savings on hand in case of job loss, plus about 5 % of the purchase price of your home as a cushion for emergencies and repairs. In addition, you may need about 3-5% of the amount of the purchase price for closing costs and moving expenses.

The last thing you want to do is buy a house that develops a leaky roof six months down the road that you can't afford to fix. You are better off putting down less down payment - even if that means you buy a less expensive home or consider FHA financing, as that requires a smaller down payment. At this time, it seems like that an extension of the first time homebuyers tax credit is likely in some form, so you can probably plan on some assistance for either your downpayment or other move-in expenses.

Since home price and interest rates low, this is great time to buy an affordable house - but not to overextend yourself. Talk to Sandy Sandlin today about buying a Prairieville home Sandy's Team will give the most to date information about the status of the first time homebuyers credit, as well about the best properties in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, and Livingston Parishes.

This is a proud October for the 21 schools of Ascension Parish. As a whole the district was named the fourth best school system out of 70 in the state, while 17 of the 21 schools improved their individual performance.

The Ascension Parish district scored 105.09 in state performance scores. This score was the district's highest score ever and represents a 6.1% increase over last year. Superintendent Donald Songy praised the "exceptional commitment and expertise of ... teachers, administrators, and of staff" that resulted in this year's success and laid the groundwork for "a pattern of steady growth from year to year."

Further, he noted the "the level of growth this year.provides us with reassurance that the strategic initiatives set in place are producing results and fostering an improved education for all our students." Assistant Superintendent Patrice Pujol added that Ascension had moved to the top due to high level assessments aligned with the Districts' curriculum and teachers' instructional practices.

Particularly noteworthy are the achievements of these schools:

12.6 point increase- Lowery Intermediate School. For the second straight year, this school showed the larger improvement in the district and now has moved into the academically acceptable range.

12.5 points - Dutchttown High School

11.2 points - G.W. Carver Primary School

9.7 points - St. Amant Middle School

8.7 points - Galvez Primary

8.2 points - Donaldsonville High

7.6 points - St. Amant High

6.6 points - East Ascension High

6.3 points - Prairievile Middle

6.0 points - Dutchtown Middle

Seven other schools also shows great improvement, which qualified 17 schools to receive a Growth School Performance Score of 100 or more. For more information on the progress of the Ascension School District over the years, see www.apsb.org/schoolscores.

As noted in our previous blog Top Schools Districts Attract Buyers to Greater Baton Rouge Area, 10 years ago, the State of Louisiana set out to improve school performance state-wide. In 2009, nearly 80% of schools showed gains in their scores, while 43% met their growth targets this year vs. only 25% last year. Twenty eight percent of schools exceeded an SPS of 100; the percentage of schools with scores under 100 decreased from previous years. Additionally, the number of Academically Unacceptable Schools (AUS) fell from 90 to 55, or 4.3 percent.

This good news on school performance is one more reason why buying a home in Ascension parish is a great investment for your family. When buying real estate in Louisiana., contact Sandy's Team for the best properties in East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes.

If you are looking to start a business, particularly in high tech, Baton Rouge is a great place to come. Ranked at #9 on CNN Money's Best Place to Launch a Business in mid-sized metro areas, Baton Rouge offers a combination of young engineering talent, tax incentives, and quality of life that pulls in new entrepreneurs.

Between 2004-2007, the small business growth rate was 9.3%, as compared to 5.92% for other "Best Places." In 2007, this translated to 16,860 new small businesses with 1-49 employees. Much of the growth was in the technology sector, as engineering and construction firms settled in the state capital to work on post-Katrina restoration projects, some with Federal Go Zone funds. To further promote business, the State of Louisiana approved tax incentives of up to 40% for firms that do research and development in the state, as well as 35% of the state income tax for digital media companies.

Some of the new business were developed to provide services and housing to the increasing population. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Baton Rouge experienced a large population increase when displaced hurricane victims moved in. Some returned home but the region has retained an 11% population growth.

As the location of Louisiana State University, Southern University, and Baton Rouge Community College, Baton Rouge has a pool of educational talent. Some 28% of the population has bachelor's degrees, which make for an educated workforce. Average hourly wage for workers in the Baton Rouge area is $17.89, as compared to $18.35 in other "Best Places.

A key thing that attracts small business - and their customers - to Baton Rouge is the quality of life, marked by Louisiana cooking and a growing social nightlife scene. In an inviting business client, such amenities, coupled with a comfortable pace of life, make workers happy to stay put in Baton Rouge.

Well before Katrina, the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce embarked on The Campaign for a Greater Baton Rouge to promote the nine parishes in the region (Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana) as an economic unit. The group hoped to broaden the economic appeal of the area to more than the petrochemical industry. The recent accolades from CNN Money indicates that Baton Rouge is well on the way to becoming a more diversified

Looking for a place to call home in the Baton Rouge area? Sandy's Team at Re/Max Excellent Properties, headed by veteran Realtor® Sandy Ogburn Sandlin, are local experts in East Baton Rouge/ Ascension Parish real estate. Our new website presents the homes you will want to call yours in Prairieville, Baton Rouge, and the other fine communities in the area. Contact Sandy today for the blend of friendliness and professional competence that have made us area leaders in real estate.

You can fall in love with a house anywhere the greater Baton Rouge area, but when you finally make the move, the house located where the schools are the best is where you put down your money. That's why the latest report from the Louisiana Department of Education is great information for people looking to settle in the East Baton Rouge-Ascension Parish region. You don't even necessary have to go the most expensive area to find a home either, as great valued are available whatever your price range..

With a goal of 100% accountability in important measures of student performance, several area school districts exceed that goal for 2009. These include:

Zachary Community School District (116.8)

Zachary, LA in East Baton Rouge Parish has been the top performing district in Louisiana for the past five years. Fourteen miles north of Baton Rouge and 80 miles northwest of New Orleans, Zachary is a small town with a high percentage of college graduates.

West Feliciana Parish (110.9)

St. Francisville, LA in West Feliciana Parish has second highest top scores. The town of 1,600 people is located 30 miles northwest of Baton Rouge and about 100 miles northwest of New Orleans.

St. Tammany Parish (109.6)

Slidell, LA, roughly 30 miles north of New Orleans, is the main city in St. Tammany Parish. The schools are top notch, offering Advanced Placement and Honors classes at all schools.

Ascension Parish (105.9)

One of the fastest growing parishes I Louisiana, Ascension Parish reached its highest performance level ever and improved its scores by 6.1% district-wise for all schools

Overall scores for all districts is 91% this year. This represents as 4.7% improvement since 2008 and a 22% increase since 1999, when performance levels stood at 86.3%. At that time, the state fared poorly in comparison to other states to other states , so assessment measure were developed to be accomplished within 10 years. The sate falls a little short of its goal, but the 16% increase in performance very encouraging.

According to State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, "This progress is a tribute to the administrators, teachers and students in our classrooms and represents the good work of many individuals and organizations over many years,"

"We are very pleased by these gains - among the highest we've seen in the history of accountability. And in comparison to the last several years, where for the most part we saw marginal gains, a gain of nearly 5 points reinforces our efforts and tells us that many superintendents are focusing on the right things and are moving in the right direction."

The scores are actually reflect several measures, depending on the grade level. For grades K-8, School Performance Scores (SPS) are calculated for K-8th grade schools using student test scores (90%) and attendance (10%). Schools with a 7th and 8th grade configuration receive a SPS based on attendance (5%), dropouts (5%) and student test scores (90%). High schools (grade 9-12) receive an SPS based on test scores (70%) and their graduation index (30%).

District Scores include student permanence on standardized tests (LEAP, iLEAP and GEE), along with as attendance, dropout and graduation outcomes - calculated using the same formula as School Performance Scores - but using only one year of data.

Over the past school year, 65% of student scored Basic or above on statewide -administered assessments as compared to 45 in 1999. There is still a considerable gap of 23.4 points between races on the assessments, but the gap has narrowed by 10.3% in English and 9.8% in

In 2009, nearly 80% of schools showed gains in their scores, while 43% met their growth targets this year vs. only 25% last year. Twenty eight percent of schools exceeded an SPS of 100; the percentage of schools with scores under 100 decreased from previous years. Additionally, the number of Academically Unacceptable Schools (AUS) fell from 90 to 55, or 4.3 percent.

Despite achievements, which have resulted in higher scores on college admission tests , Louisiana is committed to bringing all children up to basic and closing performance gaps between races. For more information about Louisiana's education efforts, view the LDOE press release.

Now that the public school system in many parishes are proving to be an even better choice for buyers, finding a place where achievement is high is one of the priorities while buying real estate in Louisiana. Contact Sandy's Team for the best properties in East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes.