Brusly's newest developement will host its first open house on Sunday May 18th from 2PM to 4PM.  River Mill Reserve Townhomes are located off La. Hwy 1 and west St Francis St.

Thirteen of the fifty-five units are at the completion state.  This will be a private, gated community with serene green spaces. Each unit has cedar gates for additional privacy. River Mill's exterior has brick and Hardy Plank with a 40-year warranty, and copper awnings.  Special financing available.

1year membership to Spectrum Fitness which is located walking distance from the townhomes.  Alexander Base Ball Park and Brusly Elementary are also walking or bike riding distance.

For more information, please contact Pat Travasos, REALTOR, 225-235-0428 for a private showing.       www.forsaleby patt.com

YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD REAL ESTATE AGENT

www.rivermillreserve.com

BUYING YOUR HOME IS A LARGE INVESTMENT.It  should be an enjoyable experience.. A couple should sit down do a wish list of all their wants and needs.  Plan for the future.  You don't want to buy the first house you see and a few months later, regret sets in.

RESEARCH YOUR LENDERS. There are some you can call and get pre -qualified in five minutes.   This will give you a starting point to how much you can really afford.  Maybe you would prefer to be pre-approved.

What is the difference?

Pre-qualified with a loan officer, will inform you of what price you can afford based on the down payment, your debts and the  amount of mortgage company will approve.

Pre-approved  is only a determination of your probable credit. If you are pre-approved, your credit, employment and funds have been approved by the lender.

YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT.

It is best to sit down face to face with your real estate agent and discuss your needs, style of home and everything you want on you wish list. Real estate agents have access to Multiple Listing Services which covers all properties listed for sale by areas.  Together, you can select the homes you would like to see, set appointments and preview homes via computer. A real agent can guide you thru this process.

• MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE PROVIDES THE FOLLOWING ON EACH PROPERTY.

LOCATION

PRICE

PHOTOGRAPH

UTILITIES

AMMENTIES

ANNUAL PROPERTY TAXES

LISTING COMPANY

MOST IMPORTANT HAVE FUN, RELAX AND ENJOY THE PROCESS

Fourteen cars from the Baton Rouge Corvette Club will be crusing to Memphis,                                                                                          to deliver a check in the amount of $25,000.00 to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. The Plaquemine Main Street Program and the Baton Rouge Rouge Corvette Club raised this money at their 10TH Annual Labor of Love Car Show on April 5th, which was held at the  Plaquemine Bayou Waterfront Park.

                                                                              Participants received a plaque with a picture of their car                                                                                              .These plaques were beautifully by Addis Athletics in Addis, La. Sponsor trophies and in memory trophies were given away to participants.  Bridgetone Firestone was one the many corporate sponsors had a simulator on the site.  Everyone enjoyed the BBQ chicken dinners, fast food, 50/50 and the auction. 

                                                                The date for next years show is April 25th.2009 Contact Jeff or Pat Travasos for more details @ jtravasos@cox.net

Are you looking for a Baton Rouge Real Estate Agent and thinking of buying a home in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana? As a resident of Baton Rouge, I must say that West Baton Rouge is a great place to live. These days the question on many minds is "Why should I buy when I can rent?". Of course, there are several reasons that could keep a person from buying but there are also several benefits that come with owning your own home in West Baton Rouge.
Take a look at some benefits you can gain by being a West Baton Rouge homebuyer:

 Pride
Property Tax Deductions
Captial Gain
Appreciation
    Stability
           Laying Down Your Roots

Pride- There's nothing like having a big dose of pride to go with your new home. Pride of home ownership is probably the number one reason that people want to buy. Wouldn't it feel great to have something that was totally yours? Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to ask a land lord permission to change the enviroment in your home? Having home ownership allows you to paint the walls just as you like, do the flower bed as you wish, and allows you to have as many pets as you want. There's no more asking when you own your own home, well except for maybe your wife or husband.

Property Tax Deductions- Eeeck, not taxes. Don't worry. Did you know that the IRS Publication 530 offers information on taxes for first-time homebuyers? The good news is that Real Estate property taxes for the first-time homebuyer are totally deductible.

Capital Gain- According to homebuying.com, as long as you have lived in your home for two of the past five years,you can exclude up to $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a married couple of profit from capital gains. So, you can basically exclude the above thresholds from taxes every 24 months. Wow! You can basically sell every two years and pocket your profit! Read to buy a home yet?

Appreciation- We all know that Real Estate goes in cycles. Sometimes it might be up and other times it might be down. In the long run, we all know that Real Estate is much more likely to appreciate than not. This makes buying a West Baton Rouge home an investment for you. No more paying someone else your money. You can finally put that money into an investment of your own.

Stability- Owning your own West Baton Rouge home allows you to have some sort of stability and emotional security. After buying your home, there's not more worrying about paying your land lord, the rent going up or the possibility of your home being sold. You will be the judge of how long you live in your home. You will have the power to do as you please. You will have stability and that emotional security that comes with buying your own West Baton Rouge home.

Laying Down Your Roots- If you have been a renter up until now, you probably have a feeling of disconnect from the community you live in. It's easy to assume that since you are renting you probably think you will not be there for the long run with somewhat puts you out of the loop in your neighborhood. Owning your own Baton Rouge home allows you to lay down your roots and finally have a place to call home. You'll finally feel the freedom to get involved in your community because it is just that, your community!

The most important word on your property tax bill is "millages" . A mill is one-tenth of one percent and is the means in which property taxes are generated for services provided by government agencies. West Baton Rouge Parish has 95.69 mills of property taxes. To figure out your bill, for example: If your house is valued at $10,000 then your tax bill would be $95.69. Another example is:

If your house is valued at $85,000, then it has an assessed value of $8,500 (which is 10% of value) less $7500 for homestead exemption. You would do the math ($8500 - $7500= $1000 x 95.69 would equal $95.69.

State law requires that the office reassess properties every four years to adjust the value of the market. 2008 is the year of reassessment. When you receive your tax bill at the end of the year, those values will be higher, which means your tax bill will also be higher.

This is a great way to get the kids off the couch and have fun. Once again, the WBR Parks and Recreation is offering FREE SPORTS CAMP for Baseball, Basketball and Football. All of the camps will be from 8:30am until noon. It will be open for youths age 4 to 14. High school coaches and players will be the instructors.   The camps is a great opportunity for the youth to learn new techniques and to gain skills.

Advance registration is requested by going to the Parks and Recreation office in the Port Allen Community Center at 749 N. Jefferson St., in Port Allen, La or they can register when they arrive at the camp.

Dates of camps as follows for Alexander Ball Park

July 1  baseball camp

July 2  basketball camp

July 3  football camp 

Dates of camps as follows for William & Lee Park 

July 8  baseball camp

July 9  basketball camp

July 10  football camp

Dates of camps as follows for Erwinville Ball Park

July 15 baseball camp

July 16 basketball camp

July 17 football camp 

Summer day camps will be held throughout the parish for children ages 5 to 12 years by the West  Baton Rouge Parks and Recreation District. The time of the camps are from 8:30am until 3:30pm and the cost is $5 per week.

June 10-12 Addis Community Center

June 17-19 Port Allen Community Center

June 24-26 Erwinville Community Center 

Activities include games, outdoor activities, space walks, shows at the WBR Library.  Lunch is also included.

Kids can attend all three camps. For more info, call 336-2423. Advance registration is requested by going to the Parks office at the Port Allen C ommunity Center located at 749 N Jefferson St in Port Allen, La. 

All buyers should be required to attend at least eight hours of classes on How to Buy Your House and also How to Treat Your Real Estate Agent!   What has happened to manners in this society? I am blowing off steam after my day yesterday. I had a duty call last week. The buyer wanted to buy a house for this particular price and particular area. No problem. I found the houses and emailed the listings.  She would never call back.  After a week, she finally called and said she didn't like the location.  I started again on the MLS and found exactly what she wanted. Not good enough!. I asked to meet me and we would ride around and she was excited.  Set up an appointment, meeting place and what type of cars we would be driving.  Guess what!  NO SHOW!!!!!!!    That afternoon,

  I had an email at work inquiring about Crystal Lake Development. This couple was relocating from California and need information about the area and the development.  The nice person that I am, put together a package about the area, even went to Chamber of Commerce and gathered information about schools, shopping centers etc.  I had contact with the wife and she said they were coming down end of May.  Great!  Guess what!  I got a call from the husband at 3PM telling me he was in town and wanted to look for houses.  I told him 9AM would be great and I could spend the whole day showing him houses and the area.  He told me he had an appointment with another real estate agent to look at houses.    STOP THE TRAIN!   Apparently, there was no communication between husband and wife about me.   His real estate agent was reccommended to him .  

I was totally blown out the water yesterday. That is why buyers should be educated on our rules also. Needless to say, yesterday was my day from H__L.  

I going to work this AM to do duty call.   Let's see what else this day will bring.

 P.S.  Thanks for letting me vent.

The Baton Rouge is having their annual Parade of Homes April 19-20 and April 26-27 2008 .

Saturday 11AM - 5PM

Sunday 1PM - 5PM

West Baton Rouge Parish   The Oaks at Main Street, Brusly, La.       Hwy 1

                                       River Landins, Addis, La. Hwy 1

                                        West Palm Estates, Port Allen  Court Street

 Livingston Parish              Juban Parc, Greystone Golf Community, Canyon Road             

  If you have any questions, call Pat Travasos, Prime Locations Realty      

                                          225-235-0428