Living in a sub-tropical climate is a definite plus if you love to spend a lot of time in your garden or yard. Despite the fact that it is November, there are still blooming flowers throughout my West Bank garden.
However, the periwinkles are starting to get leggy, the coneflowers are gone and the basil has started to flower and is done for the year. Before the holiday madness starts, I need to find time to get outside in the gorgeous weather we’ve been having and start the winter garden.
I stopped in to visit my favorite Algiers nursery this week – New Orleans Garden Center and Landscape on Huntlee Drive, just off of General Meyer. The fall and winter plants have arrived and wherever you decide to buy them (although I hope it’s from someone local) there is a profusion of color that can quickly take your garden from the end of summer blahs to the winter aaaaahhhhhs.
What I’m Planting This Winter
Pansies are probably the most traditional of the winter flowers, although we have to be careful not to plant them too early in New Orleans. They will survive the coldest of winters with ease, but our climate can be a little more challenging for them. The lovely ladies at the garden center shared this tip with me: if you want show stopping pansies, they love blood meal as a soil additive.
Most people think of petunias as a spring time flower, but in the south they are a perfect addition to your garden after the long hot days of summer have ended. Cool days and nights allow them to flourish and they can provide blankets of color for the next few months that will make all of the neighbors jealous :)
Snapdragons are one of my favorite winter flowers. A few years ago, I replanted my entire front garden in white – white petunias, white snapdragons and white pansies. I threw in a few sparkly Christmas lights and voila! A winter paradise, right in my own front yard.
I plan to finish off my winter garden with ornamental cabbage. The colors range from almost white to deep green to purple and the texture they bring to the space is fantastic.
Some other winter gardening tips from New Orleans Garden Center and Landscape
Roses need to be pruned in January, but how much depends on the type of rose. If you are a novice rose grower (like me), check with a professional before you start chopping off branches!
It’s time to winterize your lawn whether you have St. Augustine sod, centipede grass or even if you’ve seeded with winter rye
Mulch is just as important in the winter as in the summer and can help protect the roots of your plants during those rare freezes on the south shore
Once you’ve watered your plants in well, there is no need to water as much as in the summer. Of course, common sense rules and if they are looking a little droopy, give them a drink!
Hopefully, I can get all of this work done before the Thanksgiving holiday, because after that it will be time for a return visit to pick up poinsettias in every color for Christmas. Whew…I better get to work. Happy gardening!
New Orleans Garden Center and Landscape is located at 210 Huntlee Drive in Algiers. Call (504) 366-2017 for winter operating hours or more information and tell Blair HELLO for us!
I’m not talking about painting your house. I’m talking about one of the newest hot spots for West Bank ladies (and a few gentlemen too) to get together for a few hours and share food, drinks and definitely a few laughs.
Painting With A Twist recently opened in Gretna LA, just a couple of blocks off the West Bank Expressway. One of my friends decided that painting and drinking would be a fun way to spend an evening, so we rounded up a group and headed over there last night.
We all arrived toting trays of goodies to share, bottles of wine and even a few daiquiris. I figured the drinking was so that we wouldn’t cry if we hated our pictures. The entire premise is that anyone can be at least a novice artist. Bring your own snacks, drinks and $35 and Painting With a Twist provides the bottle openers, the cups, the space, the canvas, the paints, the brushes and the most patient instructors you’ll ever meet.
Each night of the week, there are open classes that anyone can attend. 2 hours classes are $35 and 3 hour classes are $45. Walk ins are welcome, but it’s preferred that you either call ahead or sign up online, since there are a minimum of 4 people to hold a class. A different picture is featured each night (see the schedule on their website) for the open classes or you can book a private party for 15 or more people and choose your own painting from a large gallery selection.
If you have company coming to visit over the holidays, wouldn’t this be a fantastic way to get out of the house and spend an evening as a group or a family?
Step by step, we were led through the process of turning a blank canvas into our own little piece of art. Rule number one from our fabulous teacher, Jason, was….relax! It’s supposed to be fun, not stressful and a room full of type A, perfectionist personalities promptly did just that. Music played in the background as we made those first hesitant strokes onto the canvas. I don’t know why we were worried to begin with. If we ran into a little trouble, Jason and another of the resident artists were on hand to help us out, encouraging us to put our own interpretation on the guide pictures we were trying to recreate and giving us how-to tips to fix our little mistakes along the way.
Now, I’m not creative or the least bit artistic by any stretch of the imagination. I can’t even draw a straight line, much less paint a picture, but I’m pretty proud of my first attempt and figure it’s at least a step up from what my mom used to hang on the refrigerator.
Painting With A Twist is located at 1900 Lafayette Street, in the Village Shopping Center in Gretna LA. Visit them on the web at www.paintingwithatwist.com or call (504) 361-0574.
Who needs an apartment when you can rent a single family home on the West Bank for only $1,000 per month? With 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, an updated kitchen and a modern bath, 102 Kingston Court is a perfect leasing alternative.
Only 3 miles from the Crescent City Connection, 6 miles to downtown New Orleans, and minutes away from both the Naval Support Activity in Algiers and NAS JRB New Orleans in Belle Chasse.
Long term lease available and the owner will consider a lease/purchase option for qualified buyers since this home is also for sale for only $125,000.
Tucked away in the Brentwood subdivision just off of the West Bank Expressway in Marrero, Louisiana, this beautiful home is now on the market.
Offered at $250,000
Constructed in 2006, the Westchester model floor plan was designed with entertaining in mind. Dinner parties? They’ll fit right into the formal dining room. Family get-togethers? The spacious den will accommodate a crowd. Movie night? The upstairs loft makes a terrific media or game room. And so much more….
4 bedrooms
2 1/2 baths
2,949 square feet living area (approximate)
Soaring, 2 story entry foyer
Open kitchen with island and attached breakfast area
Formal living/dining combination
Large den with wood burning fireplace
Oversized master suite
Roomy master bath with garden tub, separate shower and walk in closet
Maintenance is a breeze with the brick exterior and all of the major mechanicals are only 3 years old. Why wait to build when you can move right in to this lovely Marrero home?
To schedule your private showing or for more information about 1240 Artesa Drive, contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to assist you.
3 homes are under contract or pending sale, with an average list price of $474,667
Based on the number of homes sold in September (1), there is a 42 month supply of homes for sale in the community
English Turn | Number of Homes Sold | September 2009
Year to date, there have been 18 home sales in English Turn, compared to 21 at the same time last year.
3 of this years sales have been foreclosure or bank owned properties, which are selling for about $110 per square foot compared to $132 per square foot for normal resale homes in English Turn.
English Turn | Average Home Sale Prices | September 2009
Average home sale prices in English Turn are down to $507,378 as of the end of September 2009. This is a decrease of 14% in the average sale price when compared to 2008.
My initial thought was that with so few sales, the handful of foreclosures were impacting the average prices. But removing those from the mix resulted in an average of $507,607 – a negligible change not even worth noting.
All data is provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
Are you considering buying or selling a home in English Turn? Feel free to contact the West Bank Living Team with any of your questions or just for a little advice. It would be our pleasure to assist you with any of your real estate needs.
39 homes are under contract or pending sale, with an average list price of $144,823
Based on the number of homes sold in September (25), there is a 7.92 month supply of homes for sale in the area
Algiers LA 70131 | Number of Homes Sold | September 2009
September saw the highest number of home sales in Algiers for all of 2009 AND the most homes sold since April 2008. While we are still running behind this same time last year (160 this year compared to 175 in September 2008), it does appear that the market is flattening instead of continuing the steep drops that Algiers has experienced for the last couple of years.
BUT(there’s always a but), remember that for a period of time this summer Algiers was included in the City of New Orleans soft second mortgage program for homes that suffered more than $5,200 in repaired hurricane damage. When that money ran out, showing activity softened and slowed. The majority of those allocations have now been closed, so we’ll have to keep an eye on the trends to see what impact that has on the sales numbers going forward.
Algiers LA 70131 | Average Home Sale Price | September 2009
In another bit of good news, the average home sale price in Algiers is less than $1,000 lower than the 2008 average and is almost on par with 2005 (our last normal market). The expiration of the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers at the end of November may impact this as well, unless the credit is extended.
The choice of financing can tell you a lot about who is purchasing in a community. FHA continues to be the choice of the majority of home buyers due to the low down payment requirements and the ability to have home sellers provide some assistance with closing costs.
So far in 2009, 53% of FHA buyers in Algiers have received closing cost assistance from sellers. The amounts ranged from a low of $2,000 to a high of $11,500. The average amount of closing cost assistance provided to FHA buyers in 2009 is $5,581 or 3.71% of the purchase price.
All data provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
If you are considering buying or selling a home in Algiers and have a question or just need a little advice, please contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to assist you with any of your real estate needs.
3 homes are under contract or pending sale, with an average listing price of $229,300
Based on the number of homes sold in September (2), there is a 15 month supply of homes for sale in the area
Algiers Point | Number of Single Family Home Sales | September 2009
Algiers Point has had only 13 successful single family home sales this year, compared to 28 at the same time last year - a decrease of 54% in the number of closed sales. This marks the largest decrease of any of the West Bank communities that we track.
What about financing?
The buzz this year has been all about the first time home buyer’s tax credit. Most of these first time buyers are using FHA financing to purchase their homes. Given the percentage of conventional and cash deals in the Point, there appear to be very few first time buyers moving into the area.
Algiers Point | Average Single Family Home Prices | September 2009
While there was a jump in the September average (due to one high end home selling), the year to date average home sale in Algiers Point is $225,431, up slightly from the 2008 average.
While the prices may be holding their own, the number of sales (see above) is down dramatically and apparently sellers are not getting the message. The majority of homes on the market in the Point are priced above $250,000 - the homes selling are generally not. As we move towards the end of the year, it may be time to review your pricing strategy to see if it still makes sense in today’s market.
All data is provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
Questions about the Algiers Point real estate market? Feel free to contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to assist you with any of your New Orleans area real estate needs.
13 homes are pending sale or under contract, with an average list price of $134,992
Based on the number of homes sold in September (7), there is a 14.85 month supply of homes for sale in the area
Algiers LA 70114 | Number of Homes Sold | September 2009
Year to date, there have been 58 successful single family home sales in the 70114 zip code of Algiers, compared to 89 at the same time last year. This decrease of 35% is one of the largest on the West Bank, making Algiers the hardest hit areas for declining home sales. While reduced sales in Algiers Point have had an impact, the condition of properties being sold is also an issue, with a substantial number of homes in Poor, Fair and Average condition being marketed.
A large percentage of the 2009 sales in the area have been to cash buyers, and a review of those sales indicates that a large number of them are to investors and buyers who are willing to take on a fixer-upper. It remains to be seen if these properties will come back on the market as renovations or if they are being held as rental units and personal residences.
Algiers LA 70114 | Average Home Sale Price | September 2009
Prices have taken a hit as well – they are down 14% from 2008. Although much of this can be attributed to fewer sales in Algiers Point, which typically has the highest priced real estate in the zip code, the large percentage of homes in need of repair is pushing prices downward as well. If you are considering selling your Algiers home, be sure that your agent is pricing it to compete with other homes in the same condition rather than just using the average sale price.
All data provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
Have a question about buying or selling a home on the West Bank? Contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to assist you with any of your real estate needs.
Current real estate activity in the 70094 zip code:
129 homes for sale
High list price $369,000
Low list price $35,000
Average list price $133,781
Median list price $118,000
39 homes are under contract or pending sale, with an average list price of $103,667
Based on the number of homes sold in September (12), there is a 10.75 month supply of homes for sale in the community
Westwego Avondale Bridge City | Number of Homes Sold | September 2009
Westwego, Avondale and Bridge City ended September with a total of 104 homes sold in 2009, compared to 130 at the same time last year (a 20% decrease in the number of sales). In my opinion, part of the reduction in sales can be attributed to the condition of properties in the area.
Almost 50% of the sales were of homes that were in Poor, Fair or Average condition and were more likely to appeal to an investor or a do-it-yourselfer looking for a home they could put a little sweat equity into. Typically, these homes may not qualify for FHA financing unless the purchaser is willing to use an FHA 203(k) and pay a higher rate to be able to finance repairs into their mortgage.
Westwego Avondale Bridge City | Average Home Sale Prices | September 2009
Values in the 70094 zip code are holding steady, with a less than $1,000 difference between the 2008 and 2009 average sale prices. As more homes are rehabbed, I would anticipate a slow increase in values due to improved conditions of the properties themselves.
FHA remains the financing option of choice for the majority of home buyers in Westwego, Avondale and Bridge City. However, the large number of cash purchases indicates a fairly high level of investor activity in the community as well. Since this has always been one of the most reasonably priced real estate markets on the West Bank, it’s not surprising to find that people are snapping up the lower price range in an attempt to either rehab and rent or flip the properties.
Year to date, there have been 43 sales of homes for less than $75,000 in the area, making up 41% of all sales.
All data is provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
Do you have questions about the West Bank real estate market? Feel free to contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to assist you with any of your real estate needs.
56 homes are under contract or pending sale, with an average list price of $136,680
Based on the number of homes sold in September (24), there is a 10.6 month supply of homes for sale
Marrero LA 70072 | Number of Homes Sold | September 2009
Year to date, there have been 266 homes sold in Marrero, compared to 286 at the same time in 2008. This 7% decrease in the number of home sales is typical of the current West Bank real estate market, which has seen sales slide across the area since the high point of 2006.
FHA remains the financing option chosen by the majority of home buyers in Marrero. Why is this important? Because 62% of the FHA buyers in September also required an average of $5,557 in assistance from the seller with their closing costs and prepaids (insurance, lender fees, etc.). When selling your home, you need to know what concessions other sellers are making in order to successfully sell their properties.
Marrero LA 70072 | Average Home Sale Price | September 2009
Average sale prices in Marrero are down 9.5% from the 2008 average, but are running just a hair above the 2005 average. Unless you purchased your home post-Katrina, you more than likely have built at least a little equity in it. Of course, this varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, with some performing better than others. Find out what's going on in your neighborhood with this week’s free market snapshot
All data is provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
Do you have questions about the Marrero real estate market? Contact the West Bank Living Team today for professional real estate services and advice. It would be our pleasure to assist you.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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