[StBernard] A Statement From Mark Madary, Councilman District A

[Westley Annis]

Jer,

Don't hold me to that (laugh).  Like I said, it's difficult to pinpoint what
a property should sell for - and it will probably be that way for a while.
If I understand what you're asking....is someone better off renovating their
house completely then selling it?  I would venture to answer "yes."  This
way what you might be able to sell it for could be a little closer to what
it was worth prior to Katrina.  I think it a safe presumtion there would be
some potential buyers out there who just want a house ready to move in to -
not wanting to bother with all the work in rebuilding the house themselves.
Still, there are those "bargain seekers" out there who will try to do it
themselves.

Something else to consider is a potential problem people will have trying to
buy a completed restored home in St. Bernard - - trying to get a mortgage
loan.  Put yourself in the shoes of a lender...would you risk your money on
a restored house in St. Bernard? What if the realty market (value) never
comes back? or takes too long to come back.  So, if you spend all that money
restoring your house to sell it, the folks who will be able to afford it
will only be those who can pay cash.

For example, my sister lost her home in Lakeview.  After being paid out in
full by her flood insurance coverage, then paying off the balance she owed
to her mortgage company, she had a reasonable amount left over to use as a
down payment toward purchasing another property.  What she would like to do
is purchase a higher-end home in Lakeview that was damaged selling for a
song, get a loan using her left over funds from flood insurance as down
payment, thus borrow the difference to rebuild the house she finds.  Her old
mortgage company already told her they are not interested in financing
anything in Lakeview or St. Bernard parish, even if the property she finds
has already been completely restored.  They told her a restored property in
those areas won't be woth what they were prior to Katrina - sort of like the
example I gave earlier about if a house was miraculously spared it still
wouldn't be worth today what it was before the storm because the rest of the
real estate market around it has been wiped out.

And can you really blame her mortgage company for taking that position.
Sure, everyone will ask "then what the hell are people supposed to do?"  And
that's a good question.  Unfortunately, I don't know what the answer is.

John Scurich