http://www.wordpresssocratestheme.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate Video Blogging: Steve Garfield Interview On How To Be A Good Video Blogger?

Jim Kukral interviews Steve Garfield about how to be a good video blogger. Good tips and tricks for starting in online video.

http://www.zacharylouisianarealestate.info/ – Zachary Louisiana Home Appraisers: Castle Place Mid Year 2010 Housing Report

Castle Place was developed in the mid to late 1980s with a few homes built. New home construction resumed in approximately 2004-2005 with two quality levels: modular home construction (mostly in the rear section) and conventional home construction. There are still a significant amount of vacant lots in this development with some foreclosure activity noted in Legal News.

Solds In Castle Place from 1/2009 to 7/6/2010 revealed:
Average Sales Price: $138,683
Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft.: $99/sf
Median Sold Price: $145,700
Number of Sales: 12
Low To High: $92,000 to $155,000
Number of Sold REO/Foreclosures Noted In MLS: 1
Current # Listings: 3, 2 Are Foreclosures
Current Listings Prices: $119,900 To $171,900

Author’s Bio:

Bill Cobb is Greater Baton Rouge’s home appraiser frequently called upon by banks, homeowners, and savvy real estate investors to assess property values. A home appraiser with 18 years experience, Bill Cobb brings a wealth of knowledge to the table as a home appraiser.

Bill’s company, Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group, serves Greater Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, Western Livingston Parish and Northern Ascension Parish).

Contact Bill Cobb and Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group for your next home appraisal:

Office: 225-293-1500, Cell: 225-953-0638

Fax: 1-866-663-6065

info@accuratevg.com

http://www.accuratevg.com/

Data Used With Permission of the GBRAR MLS. Data was extracted on 7/6/2010 from periods 1/1/2009 through 7/6/2010.

http://www.batonrougerealestatebuzz.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate Video: Keller Williams Reports On This Month In Real Estate U.S. July 2010

http://www.batonrougerealestatebuzz.com/ - Baton Rouge Real Estate Buzz For Agents! Dropbox syncs your files online and across your computers automatically

Mike Mueller has a helpul post on Active Rain Network this morning about Dropbox. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1722200/do-you-dropbox-

File Sync: Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.

File Sharing: Sharing files is simple and can be done with only a few clicks.
Online Backup:

Dropbox backs up your files online without you having to think about it.
Web Access:

A copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers. This lets you access them from any computer or mobile device.
Security & Privacy:

Dropbox takes the security and privacy of your files very seriously. Military level encryption!

Mobile Device Access: The free Dropbox application for iPhone, iPad, and Android lets you access most everything on the go!

Setup dropbox for yourself and let me know what you think.

http://www.batonrougerealestatebuzz.com/ – What are your Baton Rouge Real Estate Subdivision questions at mid year 2010? Which subdivisions do you want an update on? Email us at info@accuratevg.com

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Buying A Baton Rouge Foreclosure? Watch This Renovation Loans Video By Real Estate Broker John Jones.

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ - Baton Rouge Real Estate and myth-defying truths from national real estate experts

Ralph Bivins reports on the broad consensus from economists, analysts and experts at the National Association of Real Estate Editors 44th Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference in Austin.

In Mr. Bivins post at “The housing recession is not over and other myth-defying truths from national real estate experts“, we learn that experts, such as Stan Humphries at Zillow, are saying the bottom will be long and flat, not hit bottom and see a V-shaped recovery.

The four myths about the housing market discussed were:

“Humphries listed his four “myths” about the housing market:

1. The housing recession is over.

It’s not. Home prices are continuing to fall in some places and the market won’t hit bottom until the third quarter of 2010.

2. The first-time home buyer tax credits saved the market.

Wrong, Humphries said. Research shows that only one in five of the buyers that took the tax credit bought a home they would not have purchased anyway.

3. The foreclosure problem is going away.

Actually, foreclosures are still increasing and they will plague the market for awhile, Humphries said.

4. Home appreciation will begin again after the market hits bottom.

Not hardly. Home values will not rise significantly for quite some time, Humphries said.”

Read the entire post by clicking the Real Estate Confidential logo above.

How much of this applies to the Baton Rouge Real Estate market is not totally known. While the Baton Rouge market has weathered this national storm fairly well, kind of Teflon coated, going forward we do operate within the national economic framework. We do have leadership in Washington now that opposes the industries that fund our Louisiana economy (oil, gas, chemical industry and the result Obama moratorium on drilling). What will the impact on Louisiana and Baton Rouge from this oil spill that could just get worse if BP can’t cap this leak and if BP files for bankruptcy? And, we do have local real estate challenges with a slower housing market, mortgage delinquincies, relatively high housing cost (new construction pricing is still very high compared to local incomes), and still an oversupply of high-end housing resulting in a softer high-end market. Check www.fsbobr.com and you’ll find plenty of high-end housing on the market.

New High-End Home Just Sits On The Market With No Buyers Since August of 2008 In 3 Different MLS Listings…Possibly Because Of Sticker Shock Pricing And Financing Challenges In U.S. Mortgage Market. Was The Greater Baton Rouge High-End Pricing Sustainable?

NOTE: About Ralph Bivins: Ralph Bivins, former president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, is editor-in-chief of realtynewsreport.com and was a chief organizer of the NAREE conference.

http://www.accuratevg.com/ – Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Pre-Foreclosure Driveby Inspection Process

In this video, Greater Baton Rouge Home Appraiser, Bill Cobb, performs a pre-foreclosure driveby inspection somewhere in Baton Rouge.

http://www.gbrprelistingappraisals.com/ – Baton Rouge Homeowner Loses $15,000 By Not Getting Pre-Listing Appraisal

Another Baton Rouge Homeowner Loses Money By Not Getting Appraisal. In June 2010, a Greater Baton Rouge homeowner is losing $15,000 in equity, selling FSBO or For Sale By Owner, by not getting a Pre-Listing Appraisal. No, this isn’t a distressed sale.

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – May 2010 Baton Rouge Housing Video: Numbers Show A Stable Market

Today is June 9, 2010 and by this time, the solds for May 2010 would have been reported within the local GBRAR MLS related to the $8,000 Tax Credit. The video below was prepared by Tony Zito, with Zito Real Estate Group, and shares the number of pending sales for each month from February 2010 to today on June 8 2010. Tony also shares the sales for each May from 2004 to this past May 2010. Be sure to check out Tony’s Blog @ http://perfectbatonrougerealestate.com/

The questions in my mind are these:

1.) What impact did the $8,000 Tax Credit have on Greater Baton Rouge area home sales in 2010 leading up to the April 30 deadline? In the video below, I think you’ll find that it had a significant impact on local home sales.

2.) Was our market functioning based solely on this government stimulus and will home sales drop off after this stimulus has been removed? The answer to this question and concern will be answered by the market in the coming months.