The Best of Tangipahoa Parish Blog

The Best of Tangipahoa Parish Blog

Do you still have Christmas shopping to do? Are you looking for a way to celebrate the Christmas season? Here is a list of some of the Christmas events happening in Hammond in December:

Fine and Functional Crafts 4 Hammond Regional Arts Center 217 E Thomas St, December 10 1pm to 5pm, December 11 11am to 3pm, December 17 1pm to 5pm, December 18 11am to 3pm. Get your holiday shopping completed here!

Hammond Ballet Company PresentsThe Nutcracker Columbia Theatre For Performing Arts 220 E Thomas St, December 10 and117pm. Watch this classic Christmas ballet performed live before you. Tickets are $25 for the Orchestra, $30 for Loge seating and $20 in the Balcony. Visit the Hammond Ballet Companys website to purchase tickets.

Louisiana Renaissance Festival 46468 River Rd, December 11 and 12, 9:30am to 5pm. While not a Christmas event, this is the last weekend for the annual LA Ren Fest. There will be fine live entertainment, food and demonstrations going on throughout the day.

There are several Christmas events happening in Hammond throughout December. Those listed above are just a few that you may not want to miss. Remember, if youre looking to celebrate your Christmas in anew Hammond home, please contact us and well be happy to help. Happy holidays, everyone!

Yvonne Martin andThe Martin Team, Let My FamilyBring Your Family Home to Hammond Real Estate

Have breakfast with Santa Bear in Hammond on Saturday, December 4, 2010 at the Louisiana Childrens Discovery Center. From 8am to 10am, parents are encouraged to bring their childrento enjoy milk and donuts, look through the museums exhibits and take pictures with both Santa Bear as well as Santa Claus. Make sure to bring your own cameras for the pictures, though, parents.

This event has been set up to benefit the Santa Bear Christmas Crusade, who gives toys to kids ages 2 8 of underprivileged Hammond families for the holidays. The price of admission to the breakfast with Santa Bear is just one new, unwrapped toy from each child who attends. Youre always welcome to bring more if you would like. The toughest age group to get enough toys for tends to be the 7 to 8 year olds. So, if you can bring more than one gift, please make at least one of them for these guys.

In addition to toys, the Santa Bear Christmas Crusade is also in need of monetary donations. Their goal this year is $15,000. But, with theslow economy, theyve only been able to raise about half of their goal so far. Theyre afraid that if they are unable to meet their goal, they may have to start turning away Hammond families in need from the applicationsthat have already been turned in. They would love to be able to help all the applicants instead of turning to a lottery system.

If you wish you make a toy donation but are unable to attend the breakfast, please bring them to:

The Daily Star

725 S Morrison Blvd

Hammond, LA

If you can make a monetary donation, you can bring a check to The Daily Stars offices or send a check to:PO Box 1149

Hammond, LA 70404

Come to the Louisiana Childrens Discovery Center on Saturday, December 4, 2010 from 8 10am and have breakfast with Santa Bear in Hammond. Bring a new, unwrapped toy to help benefit Hammond families in need this holiday season. Enjoy a fun event and make a difference in local lives.

Yvonne Martin and The Martin Team,Let My Family Bring Your Family Home to Hammond Real Estate

With so many different homes available on the Hammond real estate market,now is the time todip your toes into the homeowner pool with a fixer upper. If you dont mind buying a diamond in the rough, you may want to consider theFHA programthat offershelpto buy a home to rehab. The FHA 203 Rehab Program was created to help clean up the rundown homes in a neighborhood while helping homebuyersafford to do so.

Through a conventional home loan, the property must be worth at least what the loan amount is in order to be approved. However, when it comes to a home thatneeds a bit of work, oftentimes, the property isnt worth that much. This causes the homebuyer to have to secure financing through other means in order to pay for repairs or other construction work needed to fix up their home. These loans tend to be for shorter terms and higher interest rates, decreasing the chances that a buyer can purchase the fixer upper to begin with.

Through the FHA 203 program, a Hammond homebuyer is able to purchase the home as well as secure financing for repairs and construction in one mortgage loan, with one payment and the lowest interest rates they qualify for. This works out as a win win for the local housing market, since the properties that were previously considered eyesores can now be bought up by homeowners willing to put the work into them to make them better and more homebuyers are now able to afford their own Hammond home.

To qualify forthe FHA 203 Rehab Program, the home in question:

Cant be larger than a four family multiplex single family, duplex, triplex or quad will qualify

Must have been completely finished from initial construction within the last year no newly constructed homes allowed

At least have part of the original foundation left in place on the property if the rest of the home has been completely demolished

If you want to purchase a Tangipahoa home, are willing to put a bit of elbow grease into fixing it up and want to have the cost of the mortgage and repairs/remodeling in one payment, this FHA program offers help for buyers who want to purchase a home to rehab. Contact me today so I can help you find the perfect Hammond home for you!

Yvonne Martin, The Martin Team, Let My Family Bring Your Family Home to Hammond Real Estate

Want to celebrate Halloween and help make a difference? Go to the Lakeview Regional Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine facility 19055 Kane Lane on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm for Boo Fest. TheCovingtonBoo Fest helps Northshore Families Helping Families charity. The Boo Fest is the first fundraiser of its type to help benefit the local Hammond areacharity, who helps children with disabilities as well as their families.