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Pelican Bay, Marrero LA

Lisa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:05:03 +0000

PELICAN BAY, Marrero LA

One of the newest subdivisions on the West Bank of New Orleans, Pelican Bay offers both resale and new construction homes in Marrero.

With prices under $200,000, Pelican Bay is a good place to start your affordable home search and get all of the bells and whistles that new and newer construction have to offer.

The majority of the homes are 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and range in size from 1400-1800 square feet. If you custom build, you can tweak that square footage to fit your needs.

The location is tucked away between Ames Blvd and the Lafitte Larose Highway (also known as Leo Kerner), just 30 minutes to downtown New Orleans and a few miles from the Barataria Preserve, with walking trails and nature hikes.

Marrero Community Information and Links

Marrero LA community and school information

Homes for Sale in Pelican Bay

More homes for sale in Marrero LA

For more information about buying a home in Pelican Bay, contact us. We’ll be happy to provide you with exclusive representation and help you find your next West Bank home.

New 2012 FHA Loan Limits in New Orleans

Lisa — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:32:55 +0000

With FHA being the most common form of financing across the New Orleans metro area, it’s good to see an increase in the loan limits for this type of financing. If you need a referral to an approved FHA lender, please contact us.

These maximum mortgage limits on residential loans will be in effect January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2013 in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany Parishes.

1 unit $287,500

2 units $368,050

3 units $444,900

4 units $552,900

New Orleans BestBank Track Club Welcomes New Runners

Lisa — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:09:16 +0000

Are you a runner, walker or jogger that is new to the West Bank of New Orleans? We’ve got just the place for you.

The BestBank Track Club has been around for almost 25 years, growing from a small group of friends in Algiers and Terrytown to the current group that meets to run, walk and socialize twice a week. Affiliated with the Road Runners Club of America, they run a 3 mile trek on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm, starting from the parking lot behind the Family Dollar at Woodland and General de Gaulle in Algiers. They meet again on Sunday mornings at 6:30 am in the parking lot of Holy Cross College on Woodland in Algiers.

Not just a track club, it’s a fun group that plans activities throughout the year, such as crawfish boils, tubing trips and swim parties. $15/year dues cover the cost of beverages at the weekly runs, but can you really put a price on the chance to make new friends that share your love for running? Members participate in local runs, marathons, triathalons and have an active facebook page to keep everyone informed about what’s happening with the club.

No matter whether you are an experienced runner or a newbie, everyone is welcome. Don’t worry about being left behind, because the group waits for the last runner to come in before leaving for the evening.

For more information, email bestbanktrackclub@yahoo.com or join BestBank Track Club on Facebook

Southwood Subdivision, Gretna LA

Lisa — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:33:43 +0000

Southwood is not one of those neighborhoods that has a fancy entrance sign. Instead, it quietly sits off of Belle Chasse Highway in Gretna, off of the radar of people who aren’t from the West Bank…a little hidden gem of a neighborhood with well kept homes and yards.

The majority of the homes are ranch style single stories, although there are a few 2 story models sprinkled on streets with names like Sugarpine, Cottonwood and Firethorn. Just a few miles from NAS JRB New Orleans, Southwood is a quick commute for military members who can’t swing the higher prices of neighboring Belle Chasse.

The average Southwood home has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and about 1800 square feet of living area. Priced from the low to mid $100s, the neighborhood is affordable and provides some excellent choices for first time home buyers.

Conveniences are all nearby…grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, fast food and more are all located within minutes of Southwood. Drive south for less than an hour and you can launch your boat for a day of fishing. Drive east for a few minutes and you’ll be in downtown New Orleans, with all of the excitement and activities the city has to offer. Come back home at the end of the day to your own little piece of the West Bank.

Jefferson Parish Schools

Homes for sale in Southwood

More homes for sale in Gretna LA

New Orleans in Top 20 Cities for Recent Graduates

Lisa — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:37:48 +0000

I’m not surprised a bit that New Orleans shows up on the top 20 cities for recent graduates. After all, when you are young, starting out your adult life, can you think of a more vibrant city to do it in?

Besides the obvious allure of bars that don’t close and Mardi Gras, we have a growing medical community and a renewed emphasis on technology development.

Affordable housing options abound, whether buying or renting and relocating residents can choose to be in the heart of the warehouse district or in one of the funky, eclectic and artsy neighborhoods or even to find something a little more suburban that’s within an easy commute to the city.

Search New Orleans homes for sale

We’d like to welcome all of the new graduates that have decided to call New Orleans home!

New Texting Service Being Offered For New Orleans Home Buyers

Lisa — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:51:08 +0000

How often do you drive past a home for sale and just want to know a few of the details without talking to an agent? If you are anything like me, I don’t want to be added to a call list or an email campaign just because I’m being a little bit nosy.

Enter the text for property information system.

Simply text KWNOW to 59559 and you’ll get a link to a list of properties for sale around your current location. You can view the address, list price, number of bedrooms and baths and square footage right on your iPhone or Android smart phone.

Not only will you get information on the particular house that caught your eye, but you’ll also be able to see if there are other homes for sale (and the details) in the surrounding area.

A couple of tips:

Save the number in your phone and you can text for listings wherever you are, no matter what brokerage it’s listed with

Smart phones are so smart that they want to auto correct your spelling….be sure it doesn’t change KWNOW to “know”!

If you prefer to get listing information in a more traditional way, feel free to call Terri at 504.258.5178 or email terri@westbankliving.com.

Military Relocations to New Orleans | Find Your BAH Rates

Lisa — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:14:21 +0000

As part of your relocation to New Orleans, your BAH is often the determining factor on where you live off base. Here are the 2011 BAH rates for NAS JRB New Orleans, which is actually located in Belle Chasse, LA.

If you need assistance in finding a home on the West Bank of New Orleans, whether to buy or rent, please contact Terri Babineaux at 504.258.5178 or terri@westbankliving.com.

Welcome to New Orleans!

Rank	BAH w/o Dependent	BAH w/ Dependent
E-1	$909	$1215
E-2	$909	$1215
E-3	$909	$1215
E-4	$909	$1215
E-5	$1077	$1263
E-6	$1170	$1461
E-7	$1218	$1503
E-8	$1305	$1548
E-9	$1365	$1662
W-1	$1194	$1464
W-2	$1302	$1521
W-3	$1371	$1578
W-4	$1473	$1695
W-5	$1515	$1833
O-1E	$1263	$1512
O-2E	$1350	$1569
O-3E	$1461	$1716
O-1	$1164	$1287
O-2	$1248	$1458
O-3	$1392	$1575
O-4	$1509	$1887
O-5	$1584	$2109
O-6	$1599	$2130
O-7	$1614	$2151

Information courtesy of NAS New Orleans Housing site

New to the West Bank of New Orleans? Toll Tags Save You Money

Lisa — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:05:20 +0000

While everyone is arguing about whether or not the tolls should be removed from the Crescent City Connection, it’s still a reality that it costs $1 to get from the West Bank to the East Bank on the CCC bridge.

Cut your costs by 60% with a toll tag. Your tag gives you access to toll tag only lanes to the bridge and to the HOV lanes that are much less traveled than the normal bridge. If you work downtown (or anywhere on the East Bank), you’ll be saving $3 a week, $12 a month or $144 a year just on your cost of commuting. Throw in some trips to the zoo, the aquarium, the French Quarter….and that savings adds up even more.

Information about toll tags

Will Federal City Improve Home Prices in Algiers?

Lisa — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:10:21 +0000

What impact will Federal City have on home values in Algiers? That’s a question that’s top of mind for many Algiers home owners who are hoping that the transformation of the Naval Base to Federal City will result in a reversal of the declining values we’ve been seeing for the last few years.

Before owners count on an increase in home values, they should remember that the entire project is scheduled to be phased in over the next several years. There won’t be any short term run up in prices or demand for homes that are a short commute from Federal City, whether in Algiers or other near by West Bank communities.

Recently, the Algiers Economic Development Foundation provided some updated Q&A information about the time line indicating that the majority of the improvements will take place over a 15 year span. We were happy to see that there will be about 400 new Marines transferring from the Kansas City area to work in the new location and are hopeful that the new residents will choose to call the West Bank home.

Official Federal City website

Find West Bank homes for sale

Algiers Market Reports

For assistance with a transfer to New Orleans or NAS JRB, please contact Terri Babineaux at 504.258.5178 or terri@westbankliving.com.

Finding Your Flood Zone When Buying a New Orleans West Bank Home

Lisa — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:33:02 +0000

One of the most common questions we get about a property is “what’s the flood zone?”

That can actually be a tricky question, because many long time residents are grandfathered in to old zones that have changed over the years and the old zone is what they disclose when selling their home. It’s not that they are trying to be untruthful, it’s that they are continuing to pay flood insurance premiums based on the zone at their time of purchase and that is what is reflected on their policy documentation.

What buyers really want to know is what flood zone a property is in NOW. Enter the FEMA Map Service Center.

The online FEMA Map Service Center allows anyone to search the flood maps for information on a particular address to determine the current flood zone of a property. If there are certain zones that buyers don’t feel comfortable with, they can avoid them in their home search. Conversely, the information is there to allow buyers to target areas that are in the lowest risk flood zones.

Many sellers will allow buyers to assume their existing flood insurance policies, but this does not change what zone the property is actually located in. It only changes the annual cost of insuring the property if they were grandfathered, which can be significant depending on the current flood map location.

More information about flood insurance

Disclaimer #1: Flood waters don’t care what zone you are in and living in a low risk flood zone does not mean that you are in a NO risk zone. Those don’t exist in this area.

Disclaimer #2: Even if your lender doesn’t require you to purchase flood insurance, I always, always, always, always (got it?) recommend that you spend the money to insure your property. Premiums for low risk zones are less than $400 per year.

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