Posts Tagged ‘Mobile’

Loxley is a town in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, and about 22 miles east of downtown Historic Mobile, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 1,817 with a median age of around 35 years.

“John Loxley came to this area at the turn of the century (1900) to establish a lumber camp that included a commissary and sawmill. A large number of men came with him, and then stayed to settle and marry here. John Loxley is considered the founder of Loxley. There was a small village named Bennet here when Mr. Loxley arrived.

In 1920 the businesses in Loxley were an egg store, grocery store, two general merchandise stores, a train depot, drug store, telegraph office, land office, repair garage, post office, bank, hotel, butcher shop, orange packing shed, cement block plant, a blacksmith, a feed and lumber store. The main road was Highway 90; it was not paved then.”

“During World War II, Loxley was a satellite prison camp for the influx of German, Nazi, and Italian soldiers captured by American Troops. There were so many Germans captured and brought here that camps were put all over the country to house these POWs. The fall of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge saw many younger soldiers in the camps. The Loxley camp was primarily one used to work the POWs in the woodlands and sawmills.”

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This information provided by Albert Marshall Cheney, Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser, with over 35 years’ experience in the Mobile Bay Metro Area of Alabama, Baldwin County and Mobile County which encompass Mobile Bay.  You can know and read more information about me by going to a few of my blogging websites:  http://www.cheneyappraisalservices.com/ or http://buildingabrandonline.com/FinanciallyFreeYourself/. You may also contact me, Al Cheney, at (251) 533-2424 about my services and my non-financial (personal use, i.e. property tax issues, thinking about selling) condo or home appraisals for only $275. More complex or difficult properties are quoted on a case-by-case basis.

“The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to medieval Europe, passing through Rome and Venice in the 17th and 18th centuries to the French House of the Bourbons. From here, the traditional revelry of “Boeuf Gras,” or fatted calf, followed France to her colonies. On March 2, 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans, and named it “Pointe du Mardi Gras” when his men realized it was the eve of the festive holiday. Bienville also established “Fort Louis de la Louisiane” (which is now Mobile) in 1702. In 1703, the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrated America’s very first Mardi Gras. …” READ the entire history on this website, http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history.html, and may also like to go to this website for more information about Mobile, Alabama’s history of Mardi Gras timeline, http://www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/historical-timeline. Mobile, Alabama was the capital city of the French Louisiana territory but the people were concerned about hurricane destruction so it was moved to New Orleans in 1718. This informational history provided by Al Cheney, Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser in Mobile, Alabama. Call Al Cheney at (251) 533-2424 for all your real estate property appraisal requirements. Please visit http://www.CheneyAppraisalServices.com for more additional information. Thank you for visiting my company’s website.

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, is 17th February for the 2015 year.

“Sandy Oaks” is an older subdivision, about 14+ years, located along the east side of Celeste Road, just south of Radcliff Road, several miles west of U. S. Interstate Highway 65 and about 20-25 minutes northwest of Mobile, Alabama.

The majority of homes, about 70%, were built between 1997 and 2000. Around 25% of the homes were built between 2001 and 2006.

“Sandy Oaks” primarily has homes ranging from 1,800+- square feet to 3,187+- square feet as reported in the online tax records. Most homes, about 72%, will have gross living areas between 1,800 and 2,500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. Homes with over 2,500 square feet represent around 23% within “Sandy Oaks” and considered over-built for its neighborhood.

As for Saraland’s home values, it appears that median sale prices for homes (sampling size is around 46+ sales) having 1,650 to 2,250 square feet dropped 17% over a 12-month time period.

Home listings are increasing. Twelve months ago, calculations indicate around 17 active listings compared to around 43 active listings today–two and a half times higher! Having this significant increase in active home listings has increased the housing supply time period from 4.4 months to 12.9 months. This time period represents the absorption rate or, how long it will take a homeowner to sell their home if reasonably priced to sell. It now takes three (3) times longer to sell your home based on the available online MLS (multiple listing service) information!

Sales for 1,650 to 2,250 square feet homes has dropped around 43.5% based on inventory analysis calculations. The information indicated 23 closed home sales twelve (12) months ago compared to 10 home sales in the past three (3) months.

For homeowners in the Saraland, Alabama, the bottom line is, hold tight if you can for a few years and the home market should stabilize and maybe increase some but, don’t expect it to be like it was in the past. If you have to sell, consult a Certified Residential Appraiser first so you will have better insight into the property values surrounding your home. Pricing your home correctly will save you so much time. Remember, you are now competing with many other homeowners who are very motivated as well as appealing “short sale” and “foreclosure” offerings.

Al Cheney is a “Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser” who has over 35 years real estate experience within the Mobile Bay Metro Area, Baldwin County and Mobile County of Alabama. You can write Al Cheney at Albert@CheneyAppraisalServices.com or visit http://www.AlabamaRealEstateAppraisals.com/, http://www.CheneyAppraisalServices.com/ or http://www.CertifiedAppraiserNames.com/.

Al Cheney’s Comments and Opinions for 29 August 2010.

As a local, born and raised in the Mobile Bay Metro Area, I am sincerely happy that the bubbling crude has finally been capped after 90 days-after 90 days! It is worth repeating since this horrific ecological and environmental disaster should have never lasted this long if it wasn’t for the many faux pas by BP Oil and our own government. They say, the majority of the surface oil has dissipated and now can’t be found. Oh, really? The “on the surface” crude problem is only hiding in the depths of the sea-harming crustaceans, oysters and other seafood for years to come.

And, yes! I do realize that biological organisms will thrive on the raw crude and eventually remove it as a major threat but, this will take a very long time. The damage has already been done and its true damage is still hidden in the depths of the sea. Enormous amounts of crude, damaging dispersants, oil soaked wetlands and sea bottoms are here to stay for decades. A possible ecological disaster lurks beneath the sea and within the wetlands for years to come.

Furthermore, the inappropriate government overreach in shutting down oil rigs (overdramatic and very political), media sensationalism damaging our Gulf Coast tourism, and an already weaken real estate industry has created more negative affects upon Alabama and the other States along the Gulf Coast. Honestly, at this time, the affects of any significant real estate and tourism recoveries are unknown.

The fact is that, a fragile economy and a weakened real estate industry have been further exacerbated by the crude ecological and environmental disaster, and the crude politics of Washington. And, our tourism for this year has been damaged by irresponsible journalism by the media. Even so, the coastline of the Gulf States and its real estate will overcome this adversity and will eventually be less affected by the BP oil spill and the many missteps of Washington. The media needs to practice more responsible journalism and avoid the traps of sensationalism. Sensationalism is not journalism!

Well, our coastal properties along the beaches as well as other properties with gulf views and close to water tributaries will eventually improve over time. For now, the recent past spreading of crude through the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in a deeper real estate market slowdown affecting property values near and along the Gulf Coast. Whether legitimate, or not, many homes located well off water tributaries have also been affected to some degree. It is a real estate market slowdown caused by a fragile economy and the worse oil spill known in North America.

From my standpoint, the negative value affects for homes located off the beaches and the Gulf of Mexico should be negligible as time leads us into the future. When looking back in time, I believe, this catastrophe will reflect “a blip on the radar screen” when focusing only on the 90-day oil spill disaster. Then, there could be the possibility of a more normal level and slight positive return of property values; if a more normal level can be equated with a fragile economy under severe stress.

The fragile economy with high unemployment (9.5% but does not include the people who have given up) and uncertainty will be much more of a future problem for Gulf Coast property values than the BP oil spill. As time leads us into the end of 2010 and into the beginning of 2011, an even more fragile economy and real estate industry might be the result when continuing to implement recessive programs and tactics by the government while banks, entrepreneurs and small businesses mostly sit on the sidelines, “digging in their heels” or “going out of business” sales. Only deregulation and lowering taxes, the cessation of large government spending, small business incentives (get the oil riggers, shrimpers and other parts of the Gulf Coast seafood industry back to work) as well as “just plain honest positive talk” from the current Administration and our government representatives (most of them forget that they work for us) will improve the real estate industry– part of the backbone of America!