Louisville, a cosmopolitan city influenced by many cultures, is once again celebrating the contributions of all its citizens with a three day WorldFest 2012 festival. “See the World Without Leaving Town” is the catchy slogan of the event now in its 10^th year. One of the region’s largest festivals, it made the Top 10 list of fall festivals and events on the Kentucky Travel Industry Association’s list. It runs at the Belvedere at 5th and Main, from Friday, August 31 through Sunday, September 2 from 11am to 11pm each day.For a schedule of events, see the WorldFest website.

As Mayor Greg Fischer says, “WorldFest is a great event for exploring and celebrating Louisville’s many faces and cultures and we always look to make it more vibrant, diverse and educational. So, it’s exciting to add many new features and attractions for the 10th anniversary.”

Cultural differences show up in food, music, dance, and handicrafts, as well as the customs reflected at holidays and in daily life. WorldFest tries to capture it all with a Parade of Cultures on Saturday and a weekend of exciting performances and delicious ethnic food. Whether you want to take home crafts great for gifts, printed information about other cultures, or new insights about how people live in their  native countries, WorldFest has it all. You can enjoy the music of Ireland, Latin America, Africa, or India on multiple stages as you adventure through something new at WorldFest this year – the Global Village. As you explore, you will meet people dressed in native garb and speaking the language of their country.

Kids are invited to the new World of Discovery where they can see the world with a passport issued at a designated checkpoint.  They can “visit” the continents and come away with a craft representative of one of the countries there.  World of Discovery will include Home Depot workshops, face painting, and inflatables.

Quite appropriate for our day, WorldFest 2012 will reach out to those in need. There will be a job fair to help immigrants find jobs in Louisville. Employers will be on hand, but the event will also offer resume, job searching, and interview help. Also, the festival, which is free, is collecting canned goods for Louisville Dare to Care.

For many, the most exciting event of the weekend will be the Naturalization Ceremony, where hundreds of people will take their citizen’s oath. About 300 people will become U.S. citizens at a ceremony held on Friday  in Kentucky Center’s Bomhard Theater.

WorldFest 2012 promises fun, but is also relevant to Louisville today. Half of the city’s population growth over the last few years has come from immigrant growth. Children in Louisville schools speak hundreds of languages at home. Even as new immigrants become part of our city, they always remember their roots. WorldFest 2012 brings it home what those roots are.

Louisville is a great welcoming city! I’m Mollie Younger from the Younger Group where We Know Louisville. Give me a call and get started in buying or selling a home in today!

Just when Louisville residents were thinking that a reopening Kentucky Kingdom was a reality, the expected new operators, the Koch family, owners of Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN, pulled out of the deal. They had state finances lined up, but were disappointed in the condition of the equipment they found in Kentucky Kingdom.

As we noted in our previous blog about the Park, maintenance was in the hands of the Kentucky State Fair Board. According to the Koch, rides were not winterized and buildings had significant water damage, largely due to snow back in February 2010. They already anticipated that any opening in 2013 would include only a portion of the rides that could be properly restored by that time.

Now, several business leaders have joined former Kentucky Kingdom operator Ed Hart in a proposal to reopen the park by 2014. Hart’s group seeks no state funding, but does want a share of tourism tax credits. Though Hart operated the park for 10 years prior to 2000, when Six Flags took it over, he was shut out of previous considerations to operate the park again. His current investment group is willing to invest $10 million and has an additional $30 million lined up, which would be guaranteed by the state.

Ironically, right as the hard group offered his proposal for Kentucky Kingdom, Kentucky Gov. Steve Bashear requested proposals from potential operators. The Hart group proposal will be considered along with many others that might be submitted. The State Fair Board will retain any control over the park and will determine who runs it. Supposedly, the governor and the board will make a decision within 60 days as to who will run the park.

Despite this promise, Hart is concerned that the request-for-proposal process will delay the reopening of the park past 2014, plus lead to further deterioration of the rides and equipment. As his fellow investor Bruce Lunsford points out, taxpayers are at risk if Kentucky Kingdom is not reopened. He remarked, “Surely the fair board knows that it would cost more than $100 million for the state to replicate Kentucky Kingdom, even in its current condition.”

Investor Ed Moseley adds that under Six Flags leadership, the park brought in 600,000 visitors. Prior to that, the park pulled in three times as much. With upgrades and new rides and attractions, the park can once again contribute to the Kentucky economy by expanding the tax base and giving a shot in the arm to tourism.

According to the Courier-Journal, the sticking point in the Hart proposal is the request that the state guarantee the $30 million loan in case of default. The Hart group believes this is reasonable as the state would own the assets including both the 57 acres devoted to the park, current equipment, and the value of any improvements made by the investors.

Will Kentucky Kingdom rise again? Will Ed Hart finally regain control of operation? Stay tuned! With or without a theme park, Louisville is a great place to live. I’m Mollie Younger from the Younger Group where We Know Louisville. Give me a call and get started in buying or selling a home in today!

With the Kentucky State Fair set for this week and the opening day of Jefferson County Public Schools on a calendar for next week, summer is winding down. Soon it will be time for fall cleaning, gathering rid of old clothes for donation, and getting your Louisville house reorganized. Whether you are thinking of selling or you just want to keep your home lean and mean, these seasonal and endeavors will keep you on track.

Even after you have packed up the used clothes, unneeded sports equipment, toys, household items, you will soon want a way to keep what you have left in good order. Some of what you own you need regularly, while other things you only need occasionally. Here are three ideas for organizing your possessions:

DIY organizers: Often constructed from vinyl clad warrior or pressed wood, organizational systems can revolutionize your closets. With rods set at multiple heights, shelves, drawers, racks, hooks, and baskets, these systems can make a place for the different types of things you store in your closet. Shoes, belts, purses, sweaters, pants, and dresses each have a place. If you have ever re-bought a belt, sweater, or blouse, because you could not find what you owned, you will see the immediate advantage of organizing your wardrobe. Assuming you have pared down your wardrobe by removing and donating unneeded things, you should be able to see each category of clothing you own.

Organizing systems are not just for the bedroom closet; there are comparable systems available for the kitchen, bathroom, laundry, workroom, basement, garage, and more. Available as units or à la carte, there’s a plastic, vinyl clad, or wood solution for your clutter problems.

Plastic totes: Whether you do crafts, have seasonal decor, have tools you use occasionally, or store files for your home business, colorful plastic storage boxes provide an attractive way to store these things. Resistant to moisture and dust, they are durable enough to store in the basement, attic, or garage, depending, of course, on what’s inside. You can color coordinate the containers with your room and contain clutter at the same time.

Off-site storage: If you have limited space, you may not have room for what you own. In many cases, ridding yourself of possessions just because you did not need them today is shortsighted. Why throw away your Christmas decorations if you know you’ll need them again next year? Why deprive yourself of having bikes or surfboards or camping equipment just because off-season storage is a burden? Why risk discarding old records or files you need for business because they take up too much space? Renting off-site storage might be the ideal solution for you. Most of the self storage units in the Louisville area offer a variety of storage options, so you can rent enough room for a few boxes or whole house full of furniture.

Organizing your home is a manageable task, especially if you take advantage of the resources mentioned. Once you have a good system in place, it should be easier to keep your home in order.

If part of the reason you’re organizing your home is that you thinking of selling, contact Mollie Younger from Younger Group Real Estate. We know Louisville.

With the inventory of moderately priced homes dipping in Louisville, buying a foreclosure and fixing it up is a viable option if you have the time, money, and patience.

After several years of foreclosure crisis, most prospective buyers know that bank owned homes are often stripped bare of appliances, fixtures, and plumbing and left to sit for months. Even if you buy a home from a private individual trying to beat the foreclosure clock, the property might not be in great shape because the seller can not afford to make needed repairs. You will be buying the property as it.

If you are thinking of buying or foreclosure or bank owned home-home, you need to protect yourself by hiring a knowledgeable foreclosure home inspector who will find potential problems you need to know about. Most banks don’t offer much time for inspectors to evaluate the home, but skipping this step can cost you big time. The inspection might cost $400-900 but knowing what problems the home has can save you in the long run.

Foreclosed homes may have the utilities shut off. To see if systems are working and check their conditions, you need to have the power on. If the bank won’t pay to turn it on, you may need to front the costs. If the meter has been removed, your foreclosure inspector might be able to test systems and equipment with a generator if local codes permit it.

Although you might find lists of foreclosures advertised, you should work with an experienced agent you trust. They can advise of comparable sale prices in the neighborhood. If you find out that the you want needs $100,000 worth of repairs, you will lose money if you pay $100,000 in a neighborhood where homes sell for $130,000. Since many agents are neighborhood specialists, they might be able to direct you to properties where the match makes sense and alert you when other suitable properties in the area are available.

Once you find a property and have done your due diligence to make sure you can manage the repairs, you may be able to get a great deal on a foreclosure in a neighborhood you like. This is particularly true if you are in a position to pay cash or put down a large downpayment (20% or more.)

If you need a mortgage, you will need to have a plan for fixing the home in order to get the money. Assuming you don’t have a stash of money on hand to make the repairs, a 203K loan could be your answer. Under the Federal Housing Administration’s 203(k) program, you could borrow enough money to make the repairs and cover the cost off the home. A 203K loan is also a useful way to fund repairs on a home you already own.

There are specific requirements for this type of loan:

• The home will be your principal residence.
• The amount you borrow must be no more than the loan amount you qualify for and be less than the maximum FHA limit for your area.
• You must be prepared to put down at least 3.5%
• Your mortgage will include mortgage insurance.
• Your interest rate will be higher than prevailing rates to cover the lender’s risk.

A 203K loan can assure that your new home will be safe and up to code within six months of you purchase. To comply with the FHA terms, you must have the necessary work to increase the value of the home done by competent professionals who familiar with the reporting requirements of the program.

Check with  your real estate agent for details about how a 403K loan can make buying a foreclosure a feasible option for you. Call me, Mollie Younger, of the Younger Group Real Estate. I can point you to homes in neighborhoods that have properties you’ll love that include some of the features mentioned here.