Louisiana Home Mortgage Tips: Getting Cash to Purchase a Second Home

"A tour of the city today confirms that not all neighborhoods are benefiting from the recovery. While tons of debris have been removed, endless blocks in Lakeview, the Lower Ninth Ward, Gentilly, and New Orleans East look just as they did six months ago. Whole swaths in St. Bernard Parish (one of the hardest hit) similarly seem untouched by recovery efforts," according to "Building a Better New Orleans: A Review of and Plan for Progress One Year after Hurricane Katrina", by Amy Liu, a deputy director at the Brookings Institution, which recently released a flurry of year-later reports about the devastated area.

Brookings says housing rehabilitation and demolition, are well underway, but slow rebuilding efforts are causing higher rents and home price inflation in some areas. But, other areas are suffering from sharply declining prices. Brookings says before Hurricane Katrina blew into town the average home price in St. Bernard was $107,207. A year later the average had plummeted to $35,880 -- yes, less than $36,000. In New Orleans, home prices before the storm averaged $273,032. A year later, the average was down to $247,436. On the other hand, St. Tammany, reveals home prices in the parish's east are up from an average of $176,397 before the storm to $187,596 a year later. And, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Maryland home prices have declined to the state's lowest rates in over two years.

But the news of Louisiana declining home values is not all bad. The FDIC reports that through July 2006, Louisiana regained 59,800 (25 percent) of the jobs lost during September and October 2005 due to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And, reporting to RealtyTimes.com's Market Conditions report for New Orleans, Wayne Waddell Realtors, L.L.C real estate agent Geri Bowen, says, "This is also the perfect time to buy a gutted home for a great bargain in an excellent area. New Orleans will be fine. I know it will be rebuilt better than ever."

Now may be the time to look into New Orleans home loans. For hurricane victims, home loans after Hurricane Katrina could be just the relief they are looking for. With the metro-wide shortage of low-cost apartments, now may also be the best time to buy investment property, and cash out through home equity loans (second mortgages) can be your investing tool of choice. A home equity loan on your primary residence is easiest way to get cash out for buying investment property. And, remember, you can take up to a 100% tax deduction on the interest you pay for your home equity line of credit or cash out second mortgage.

Nationwide Mortgages offers consumers living in the South, home loan financing tips for purchasing a second home with home equity loans and second mortgages.

Shop & Compare home loan products by state, with helpful advice for homeowners in Louisiana.