November 17, 2006 New Orleans Still Needs Our Help.
THE REAL (ESTATE) STORY
By Larry Underhill
THE SOUTH still needs our help and our prayers. My son Tom and I just returned from the National Association of Realtors annual convention in New Orleans. We saw Katrina’s devastation firsthand: Chest-high waterlines on home after home in low-lying residential areas. Spray-painted markings on each house showing the date a rescue search was conducted, the identity of the rescue party (National Guard, Marines, etc.)…and the number of dead found in that home. Sobering.
THE POPULATION of New Orleans stands at about half what it was the day Katrina struck. We heard “storm stories” that would leave you speechless. The good news: There’s a can-do spirit, an optimism, that’s contagious. People aren’t waiting for the government to help them. They’re just getting the job done! FEMA jokes abound. Humor is a valuable commodity in the face of this kind of devastation.
I was pleased when NAR made the decision to keep the convention in the Big Easy after Katrina. New Orleanians were happy to welcome over four thousand Realtors and their friends and family to town. Ours was the biggest convention to visit the city since Katrina hit. Want to aid in the rebuilding effort? One (fun) way is to COME TO NEW ORLEANS and spend some money! Eighty percent of the hotel rooms are open again. The FOOD is as fine and as fattening as ever. The French Quarter (Built hundreds of years ago on the highest ground around…them Frenchies were no fools!) is intact and open for business. The Garden District with its beautiful mansions is lovely to behold. The muddy Mississippi is bustling (fourth largest port in the WORLD)…take the steamboat Natchez and see the sights! The beat goes on at places like Snug Harbor on Frenchmen’s Street, where Tom and I heard Charmaine Neville and her very hot band (their last stop before Spain, the next gig on their upcoming European tour)..
Many other smaller groups (Microsoft, for example) changed their convention venues after Katrina, fearful that the city wouldn’t be able to accommodate them. NAR saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate support. Hundreds of Realtors worked with local groups on Convention Week on various rebuilding projects. Realtors have contributed over $40 million to Katrina-relief projects since the disaster
CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. Irene Schnabel on the successful SALE of her Westside Lodi home. Greg Adams and I worked closely with her sons on this sale. They reminisced about their Wonder Years growing up on this quiet residential street, walking to school back when Lodi’s population was a mere fraction of what it is today.
Lodi Realtor Chris Phelps (with help from her Broker, Margo Cook) did a great job of representing the young couple who bought the Schnabel place as their very first home. As I always say, it’s a joy when you have reasonable people (Realtors and principals) on both sides of the transaction. Thanx, ladies!
AS OF THIS WRITING, we’re still in offer/counter offer stage with a possible Buyer for my listing at 908 Downing, and experience tells me that offers do NOT always turn into transactions…so let me remind you about this great value! Three bedrooms, two baths, two-car garage with NEW DOOR, central heat and air, NEW CARPET, and a great Westside location! At $319,950, what’s not to like?
NEXT WEEK: I WRESTLE AN ALLIGATOR in the swamps of Louisiana! Have a great week. See y’all next Sat.
By Larry Underhill
THE SOUTH still needs our help and our prayers. My son Tom and I just returned from the National Association of Realtors annual convention in New Orleans. We saw Katrina’s devastation firsthand: Chest-high waterlines on home after home in low-lying residential areas. Spray-painted markings on each house showing the date a rescue search was conducted, the identity of the rescue party (National Guard, Marines, etc.)…and the number of dead found in that home. Sobering.
THE POPULATION of New Orleans stands at about half what it was the day Katrina struck. We heard “storm stories” that would leave you speechless. The good news: There’s a can-do spirit, an optimism, that’s contagious. People aren’t waiting for the government to help them. They’re just getting the job done! FEMA jokes abound. Humor is a valuable commodity in the face of this kind of devastation.
I was pleased when NAR made the decision to keep the convention in the Big Easy after Katrina. New Orleanians were happy to welcome over four thousand Realtors and their friends and family to town. Ours was the biggest convention to visit the city since Katrina hit. Want to aid in the rebuilding effort? One (fun) way is to COME TO NEW ORLEANS and spend some money! Eighty percent of the hotel rooms are open again. The FOOD is as fine and as fattening as ever. The French Quarter (Built hundreds of years ago on the highest ground around…them Frenchies were no fools!) is intact and open for business. The Garden District with its beautiful mansions is lovely to behold. The muddy Mississippi is bustling (fourth largest port in the WORLD)…take the steamboat Natchez and see the sights! The beat goes on at places like Snug Harbor on Frenchmen’s Street, where Tom and I heard Charmaine Neville and her very hot band (their last stop before Spain, the next gig on their upcoming European tour)..
Many other smaller groups (Microsoft, for example) changed their convention venues after Katrina, fearful that the city wouldn’t be able to accommodate them. NAR saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate support. Hundreds of Realtors worked with local groups on Convention Week on various rebuilding projects. Realtors have contributed over $40 million to Katrina-relief projects since the disaster
CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. Irene Schnabel on the successful SALE of her Westside Lodi home. Greg Adams and I worked closely with her sons on this sale. They reminisced about their Wonder Years growing up on this quiet residential street, walking to school back when Lodi’s population was a mere fraction of what it is today.
Lodi Realtor Chris Phelps (with help from her Broker, Margo Cook) did a great job of representing the young couple who bought the Schnabel place as their very first home. As I always say, it’s a joy when you have reasonable people (Realtors and principals) on both sides of the transaction. Thanx, ladies!
AS OF THIS WRITING, we’re still in offer/counter offer stage with a possible Buyer for my listing at 908 Downing, and experience tells me that offers do NOT always turn into transactions…so let me remind you about this great value! Three bedrooms, two baths, two-car garage with NEW DOOR, central heat and air, NEW CARPET, and a great Westside location! At $319,950, what’s not to like?
NEXT WEEK: I WRESTLE AN ALLIGATOR in the swamps of Louisiana! Have a great week. See y’all next Sat.
posted by Larry Underhill at 17:04
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