New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

Soneone on the active rain community put me on to Lowes about a month ago where you can have Loews e-mail your clients a news letter with your picture on it. I had my assistant enter about 100 past clients. I now also get an e-mail from them about real estate and various topics. I can read it or save it. The Lowes people were at the Convention in New Orleans earlier this month. The point is these guys really want to get the word out to Realtors and are willing to put up thier time and money. They know realtors see a lot of people and have influence far beyond theri numbers. There may be other companies that do this but I have taken notice? I just happen to buy some Lowes stock last week because it was a good buy in my opinion. Lowes courting realtors makes us feel more important?

Generally I have had very good luck in dealing with new agents. With 400 deals under my belt I have encounted an eagerness to do a good job. The last couple of deals has me rethinking the type of training these agents are not getting.

Deal #1 One was suprised that he had to put a closing date on the contract? I had to fill the contract that he wrote.He had no idea of what to write in the blanks. He works for my company, but knew very little. He wanted to know what condo docs were? A five hundred deposit on a 300k condo.

Deal #2 Next one was impossible to get in touch with. Forgot to send the contracts to the closing company. There were leins against the seller so I ended up calling the attorney to go over this with him and found out nothing was there. It was a cash sale and she did an appraisal for some reason. The appraiser left the door open. The agent did not do a final walk thru. She had her client drop me off the deposit check on her work hour. Forgot to tell me her client was coming to bring it to me.Her client did not have a copy of her contract and was going to get one from me.

Deal #3 Agent was doing a good job until she told her client to call my seller to tell them the deal was off because he had changed his mind. Wow? The guy changed his mind and still wanted it by the time I heard about this. Her closing company forgot to get the master insurance policy verified and we closed late.  I was wondering what next?

We closed on the three deals but wondered what was happening. Did the Hurricane damage the common sense of the agents, where was there training. Was it washed into the Gulf of Mexico. My deals now are with experienced agents who stay on top of their clients.

Marketing ideas? Condos ?

Just listed this condo in the Cotton Mill Condos over the weekend. I was going to list it at 259k and then one came up just like it for 269k. We decided to go in at 267k and take a crack at a higher price. Mine is a little larger. My listing has a full commission, the other doesn't offer but a 2% commission.I figured everyone would look at each one if they are in the market for a 2/2 in the New Orleans Warehouse District. I am going to take better pictures for the mls which should be in our favor. We can adjust as the other one adjusts their price. Mine also has a flat screen TV which we are saving as a bargaining chip, its already installed. Told my client do not put it in the sale as things like this get lost. I am still looking for some unique way to advertise since there is no sign. Flyers or Postcards in the lobby? I have a full page in Homes and Land which we will feature it, and we do no newspaper ad. I will put it on craigs list!! Good response from Craigs list? Am I missing some ideas for condo promotion! I always give listing a full page on my site New Orleans Real Estate as a featured property. Below is a couple of shots.Will add more photos of the actual unit #349 in the Cotton Mill. Give me some ideas that I may be overlooking.

Cotton Mill Condos #349 920 Poeyfarre New Orleans Warehouse District $262,000

The Cotton Mills is a 269 unit condo association in the New Orleans built in 1882 and is in the New Orleans  Warehouse District that was converted to condos from apartments in 2004-2005. The Cotton Mills features a 25,000 sq. ft. lush courtyard with pool and clubhouse. The condos feature high ceilings, large windows, wood floors, exposed beams and brick masonery. You have 24 hour live security with gated entry. Package pickup and on-site maintaince personnel. You have a large gym that features several tread mills and free weights. Basic Cox Cable is included in the moderate condo fee. Unit # 349 is less than two years old from renovation. All appliances are basically new. It comes with a frig, microwave, ceiling fans, new light fixtures and washer/dryer. Wood floors are in the living area and kitchen with carpets in the bedroom. The kitchen has stone counter tops with newer cabinets. The bathrooms have been updated and are in great shape. The unit is 948 sq. ft. of living area. The unit has 16' ceilings and two very large windows. The two bedrooms are 10.1x11.2. The condo fees are $298 per month. These fees include water, basic cable, exterior insurance, upkeep of the common area, security at front door, pool, gym, and the courtyard. It does not come with parking but parking is contract parking at $100 per month across the street. The unit faces Annunication and is near the corner.

Poolside view of Cotton Mill Condos from Courtyard

In Louisiana Bond for Deed is where the buyer makes a down payment but does not take title to the property. It is often a way to owner finance where the buyers has a note to the seller. If the buyer defaults, he loses all. His downpayment and whatever he has paid on the property. The note is paid to an intermediate step who pays the mortgage if the seller has one.When things get tough its a way to sell. The buyer takes the chance that he can pay the note. In practical terms the buyer generally refinances and pays off the seller. It rarely hangs around for more than 10 years. Its a great tool to use for flooded homes where the buyewr has a hard time gettig a loan and the seller has a hard time selling otherwise. I am not sure this exists in other states? 

No real estate done here Saturday afternoon. All the locals were either shopping or watching the best game in town. Both teams are very good. Arkansas was ranked #5 and has two of the top running backs in the college game this year. LSU finished the year 10-2 after playing all the away games against a top ten at the game. We finally got going winnning the last six games. We may be in a BCS game but lets see how the politics of college football plays out. We are in need of a top 16 playoff system. Too many vote their local teams and have much more population so small state teams tend to get less press. Mcfaddon was a super player for Ark, but will not make few all-american teams. He will be drafted high in the NFL.  

I talked to several companies where you can create postcards on line and get them fairly quickly. I have quit the local newspaper ads several years ago with no negative effects. I have developed a niche with condos and are searching for some new ideas. The postcard with the condo and info is an easy way to distribute, leave at the desk, give to security personnel, leave around at other condos. Has this worked for anyone. I will put them on Craigs list, the website, nice photos in the MLS, in Homes and Land. I even thought about handing them out with free gum, water or candy. Any ideas you guys use for condo promotion that gets you noticed. It won't hurt with people selling in the future in the area?  

Can you imagine a year living in a fema trailer for over a year. I shot this photo in the Lakeview area of New Orleans where this house had water above the roof for 2 weeks. They have made it home while they repair their flooded home. I have a lot to be thankful this year and after seeing the ruins daily, it really hits home. Things are neither here nor there, it family, friends and neighbors. Thanks to all who have given and prayed for New Orleans and its people. We are thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a nice way to get in front of buyers. I have done 5 or 6 over the years and should do more. I average one sale per meeting. It is actually more when you consider one buyer bought, then we sold his house, and his mother in laws. He didn't buy for a year after the seminar but he called us back. I tried to do too much in the beginning with a title company, lender and myself. All you need is yourself and a lender to help. My friend Shannon, a fellow agent said she would help me if I talked. That is easy for me. She was to get the buyers to sign in, handouts and build some repore. We have a place in the local paper to run free public service ads. We used this and logged in the people getting their info when they called to register figuring they may not come.  

1. Saturday morning was good for us. 10:30 to 12:00, lender to bring the doughnuts and coffee.
2. Handouts- MLS maps, step by step on buying, Lender sheet on type of loans,
3. We did a mock search between Shannon and I to show how we can search their criteria and come up with a groupof homes. How we would narrow the list down based on what the buyer was telling us.
4. Answer the search questions and lead them onto the lender as why they should start there first. The lender can go through the type of loans, low ball ads,ect Open for questions
5. Build some relationship with the buyers. 5-6 is the average that have attended. We invited our client base to come along with whoever. We even sold a client who couldn't come but did our follow thru.
6. Good public spot like lenders office or real estate office meeting room. Our company now has an in house lender and do not want us to use the office with my favorite lender. Use a Title company office as the in house lender is not a Saturday person. Keep it simple, smile a lot, and figure out who the best clients will be.
7. Niche buyers- had one planned for Condo purchasers. Have lots of handouts for this. Katrina came and cancelled us out. Been to busy since to try again. Couples will come on Saturday morning 
8. Work in your web-site and other services. If you get stuck use a past experience as an example, ti gets closer to home. They  share some of their experiences.
9. Follow-up by agents and lenders so you can keep your prospects warm. Review what you did and improve for next time.

                                 Bring a plant from your yard to give away as a drawing. Put in a clean pot.

Putting featured properties on your website is something I see seldom done. I do it to each listing that I get as its a way to show off the property to the public in a creative way. You can give additonal community info which the mls cannot offer. Your flyers and advertising can lead them to your site. You also get another unique page for your site. I keep the past sales on the site and say sold in 7 days or something like that. If they didnt sell I plan to do a learning tool section as to why it did'nt sell. Prospective listers can look thru the site to see waht you are doing. Google picks up on these pages fairly quickly and when you type the address, guess what often pops up. I have them on a long home page, it works for me! Pleases the sellers! Drives more people to the site. Check it out at New Orleans Real Estate and New Orleans Condos .

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