New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

The 909 Lafayette Condos are actually on Barone street where the front entrance is. The building is on the corner and parking is from the Lafayette Street. These are off the beaten path but still close to every thing in the downtown area of New Orleans. The 12 units are spread over 5 floors with the bottom floor for lobby and parking. The units are unique in the thay are almost all concrete but do have large windows, high ceilings and are generally very roomy for the price. You can walk to Lafayette Square which is about a block away and walk to the Superdome which is also several blocks away. The units come up for sale infrequently as there are few and several people use them as Warehouse District Second Homes. 

This area of the New Orleans downtown district tends to have smaller building with each of the units being larger in size. Since they are small in size you will not have some of the amneties as pools, courtyards, gyms and live security. The area is great and is undering a change for the better. If you want to play tennis you can go to the Hilton Indoor courts. If you want to join a health Club you can go to Elmwood Fitness center downtown center at One Shell Square. The St. Charles Streetcar line is also close. So if you are looking for a quiet area of town without being far away heck these out.    

   Louisiana Boond Authority released the information on the Louisian State  Bond money today.This is availiable to anyone who can qualify for a loan and meet the criteria below. Its a great way to get a 4% credit on your loan amount. You would have to have a conforming loan and find a lender who handles the program. I signed up one client today that will get about a six thousand dollar credit when we close. The rates were decided about a month ago and they be a little high in todays market but the 4% credit may be worth it. Check it out. I have had about 20 people on the program in the last 2 years. You need to check out the details.                             

By far and away I get more sales of New Orleans Condos from the Bay area. I cannot explain why this is. This is mainly leads from my website and people I just happen to run into. New Orleans and San Francisco are both unique cities that do not fit the American norm. Both our populations are diverse as are the real estate. The economies are totally different as is the weather.The areas are not close politically or close from a geographic standpoint,almost 2200 miles?  Why is there this connection between the two areas so far removed? It keeps happening so there muct be a reason.

LSU had the week off so I got to watch and see highlites to many of the games. The Big ten and big 12 are too easy to figure who the winner will be on most games. Georgia beating Florida was a wild one. Tennesse winning in overtime over South Carlina, Mississippi State beating Kentucky. USC loses to the Orgeon with the ugly uniforms, Cal and Arizona still going on. Wow what a weekend for action in these two conferences. I need to paint the house tommorow so I can skip the pro games. Your thoughts on the wild conferences?

The Cotton Mill Condos conversion from apartment to Condos was one of the New Orleans Warehouse District most successful conversions. The condos were enrty level prices along with the amenties that downtown loft living. The units had many of the things that people wanted in condo living. The complex is 268 units but still maintains that small feeling. The 20 ceilings, brick walls, 14 ft. windows, wood floors, and exposed beams are perfect for warehouse living. The amenties include pool, workout gym, party room,onsite security and management. The building is very pet friendly. The 25,000 sq. ft courtyard give you a lot of secure space to enjoy the outdoors.

In todays market the condos start at 175k for the small one bedrooms and go up from there. Getting one with more size and a view of the city or courtyard will be 200-220 range. Most of the units have been totally redone on the conversion that happened in 2005. The two bedrooms start at 230k and go up from there. I have sold about 20 units to date so know the building well. The condo fees include upkeep of the building, insurance, water, basic cable, security, elevators, and on site management. You pay for power and to insurace your contents. Condo fees are reasonable for the area. These are well worth checking out if you are in the 180-225 range as may offer one of the better values in the New Orleans Warehouse Condo market.

I do business in a rather poor area of the United States, Louisiana. I have had a sale per week for the past 3 years. This is a fairly conservative area with steady real estate values, little job base, and poor business prospects, and the fact Katrina wiped out thousand of homes and businesses has not helped . I have not had a client get a subprime loan but once out of 150 sales. Most of the time 50% I am able to get the client to a reliable lender that I suggest. I think I would talk someone out of a loan that is not in their best interest. Who knows what the future will bring. The one client that did an expensive sub-prime loan was a loan officer and I fgured he knew what he was doing. He got a high interest loan of 8% and we talked about it. He went forward and did OK.

Am I just in a different world thinking that realtors did not know what may happen in some of these hot markets and with loans that reset and low teaser rrates. There is not free lunch. The market housing or stock is going to go up and down depending on supply and demand. If I buy a stock and it jumps 20-25% in a short period I think about selling or watching it very close. Its too good to be true. My common sense told me that when housing becomes unaffordable for locals they have to move elsewhere. Do not buy something until you know you can afford it, buy less than you can afford and be happier. Just my thoughts?   

Tonite my cleint was meeting me to visit a condo that she wanted to see. She got caught in traffic and got lost big time. She was an hour late but did call me five time to explain. While for her I waited by the security desk. Meet a possible client who was waiting for someone complaining about her landloard. I told her she may want to be her landlord, gave her my card. An old client saw me there and he wanted to talk about listing his 330k condo if he moves to another area. I told him to give me a call and we could review his unit to see what it would fetch.

I also visited with another past client who said a potential client had called him wanting a realtor. I missed my tennis lesson but have several new leads to follow up with. Sometimes it works out for the best.

Condo review of the Lofts Condos at 402 Julia in the center of the New Orleans Warehouse District in downtown New Orleans.