New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

                                         Mels Diner in Walnut Creek California

My brother lives in Walnut Creek whom I visited several weeks ago. I done a lot of traveling in the United States and it never ceases to amaze me how different two places can be in terms of climate, culture, housing, politics and the life styles. Everything is upscale, clean, and well cared for in Walnut Creek, you wonder where the regular people live. Make 30k, can you afford to live there. I see very few african americans, most kids go to public schools, the cars are nice, people must have money, the streets are in great shape, the homes are expensive, the weather is cool, jobs must be plentiful, not much crime, very little rain, few weeds, lots of stores with shoppers, food is OK, roads are great, roads are crowded, commutes are longer, the trees are less green, they have rocks, there are hills, where do people hunt or fish, water bills are high, gas is more expensive, food cost more, Apple Computer stores, college football fever none, no pot holes, no humidity, no public housing. It is just very different. My two grown sond went with me and we all noticed the same things. I know these are just surface things that are noticiable. Do you notice things like this?

My New Orleans Condo site receives most of it visitors from google which is no suprise with 74.52%. MSN is next with 11.43% followed by Yahoo with 8.47%. Google has widen its lead over the last couple of years. The site is in the one or two positions of each of the search engines. One of the things is google picks a new change almost daily which must really help with the smaller terms that I tend to attract. Do You know where your visitors come from. One thing that helps google is pay per click which accounts for a number of visitors,most however come by the organic search way however. How are your stats? These are July stats.

Open houses are something I did on a regular basis over the years. I could always average 8 sales directly form open house per year. I would do at least one per week. I would prepare flyers, sign in sheets,put the signs up early, do the same home several times, get to know the area which is the inventory. Get people to sign in and followup. For the 4-5 hours on Sunday I figured I would make 30-40k per year. This of course would lead to more business indorectly from the people that I met. I have even picked up listings from the open houses. They worked for me. I have cut back since Katrina but am planning to do one tommorow. Not every house is going to get you business. You have to figure out why people come to certain homes and choose those. I have a check list.

 1. Curb appeal so people will stop. Put signs up early.

 2. Homes that are easily found by signs and near traffic

 3. Price range that you fit in. Doing a 400k home gets you 300k buyers.

 4. Like the area and have something to hand them.

 5. Give them a pen. Something they will remember you by.

 6. followup with e-mail and a hand written note. Have a sign in sheet. Fill one in and most will take your lead.

 7.  Have computer ready to show them what is there. Have your cards laying around

 8. Dress the part and make each person feel welcome.

 9. Be prepared for success as it may come your way.

 10. There may be a time lag in the buyers time line so keep in touch.

One time I did one as a favor for an agent. The house looked like a trailer and figured I would have a wasted day. Two couples came from the neighborhood. I said that was a totla waste. I got a call from one of them 2 months later because of the note and bought a home from me. The other one was a year later but I got to sell their home and help them buy another. They called recently want to move again. You never know which ones! Your time is valuable so make it count. You can blog if no one comes. They work for me and its 250k in the bank.

I am fond of Historic homes and New Orleans is fortunate to have a lot of homes that fall into this category. One of the common elements is the porches of these homes. The porches give the home a personality. The porches are there for several reasons. We get a lot of rain and this protects the windows form sun and rain. Leaving you wiondows open without a/c was a no-brainer. The porches and balconies are place to relax and watch the world roll by. It also gave these homes another way to decorate via the columns, woodwork ,steps and railings that can add to the smile of the home. The Oak trees are a fixture and a blessing in these old areas. If you ever visit New Orleans take time to view these homes,you can always see Bourbon Street at night. 

I use to recommend a couple of lenders to my clients. In the past couple of years I am using basically one except for special situations. I may have gotten lazy but I receive great service for my lender that I use. She always calls the clients. Has a gift to get them to her office and get their paperwork done. Her assisstant is always there to update me via e-mail on the process. I have also gotten to know her processor and underwriter during this time. I can pick up the phone and get the info quickly. Most of the loans are local and do not need to go out of town. I am happy and satisfied, should I be this way? I know most get very competitive deals with small fees.

Her cost are low since the loans are in house and rarely sold. I have had a nice run where 49/50 have closed. The one that did not close needed a co-signer who could not sign in the end. Not a bad record for the last two years. I have probably giver her 15 loans in the last 6 months. Do the rest of you settle on the best and stick with it. Or do you try to pass the loans around?

If you like the food and service why change with all being equal. Kitchen at Commanders Palace in New Orleans.

Slave quarters from a Louisiana plantation that dates to the early 1750s. Its a slave house double for two families. Some slaves never left the plantation in their lifetime. Brair Rabbit stories were written here as slaves related stories handed down by the generations. Most did not speak English as French was the word of the day. When you complain about  your house think of these guys sweating the daylite hours in South Louisiana. How far we have come on this journey, makes you think?

 SEC football is big in the South. None is bigger with LSU winning in Death Valley on a Saturday nite after a day of tailgating. Thousands that do not have tickets, only 93,000 get in. They come for the experience and watch on TV outside the stadium. LSU is picked to have a good season but play some tough games. The first being Virginia Tech the first Satuday Nite in Sept. No real estate that afternoon. With only one major state school all the smart eyes will be on the Tigers. Its loud the whole game and all the fans are drained by the end f the game if its close. Football is around the corner, ever get a chance to tailgate at Tiger Stadium you will never forget the site, smells, tastes, noise and outfits. The Gators come to town later! 

I just went to the act of sale after having this condo listing for about 2 full years. Marlon the seller was great to have as a client over the past 2 years. Its not often that someone keeps the same agent for that long. I am greatful for that. I sold him a unit for 800k the summer of 2005. We figured this would sell as it was so nice. Then came Katrina, the levee break was several blocks away that flooded New Orleans. These were on the correct side. The area around the unit flooded when the pumps were not started. Its like a dream now?

After Katrina no one wanted to be on the lake or live in a zone that looked like a ghost town. Its been an action packed 2 years that most of you cannot imagine. its a pre-Katrina and post katrina life. I would like to do something nice for Marlon and Charlene so was looking for some ideas. The money is not a big factor so am looking for some ideas.

I went to sale today with a listing I have had for some time. The purchaser wanted all the living room furniture,art work, rugs, televisons, and speakers. The offer did not specify the TV in the bedroom. The purchaser thought the flat screen TV in the bedroom would go with the sale. Our point was that it did'nt go with the sale. Of course the agent thought it did since he wrote the contract. I would have specified master bedroom flat screen. I told my seller not to worry as we would get it correct at the act of sale. It just caused several extra calls and time.

The purchaser agreed that he should have specified that much better. The face to face meeting between parties where both parties are invested in the deal going through. It was a 540k sale so the TV was peanuts. All ended happy as I explained the point to the purchaser. It went over well and the sale was concluded in 30 minutes. The rule is to be very specific as you can to avoid heartburn.

The levees in South Louisiana are designed to keep the Mississippi River in its banks. The water rarly ever comes to the bsae of the levee unless there are great amounts of rain in the Mid-West. The water levees are high in the Spring and are low the rest of the year. its a great place for outdoor activities. Living several blocks from the levee its a great place to bike and jog. The top of the levee is a bike and jogging path. They are about 30 foot high and are the highest points in town, you can see for miles. They run for miles along river road.

The other things is that the land near the river if filled with rabbits, hawks, turtles and a big variety of birds from all over. Great place to stop and rest. Fish get caught in pools which the Egrets enjoy eating. Its also a great place to hunt for driftwood that get caught in the trees and drys out. Its there for the taking and great for gardening.