New Orleans Real Estate by Eric

     In New Orleans there are conversions of four plexs or apartments into condos.  Many are just cosmetic changes and not close to being new. This is a great example of a total interior renovation where the developer started from the studs with new wiring, new Sheetrock, new a-c, new plumbing, new roof, new fixtures and much more. The idea was to save the old features and combine them with what people are looking for in today's New Orleans Market.

     The big advantage to the buyer is that almost everything inside is new. This means less will break in the first 10 years of ownership and you can enjoy the moderm modifications.

     This exciting condo at 1627 Conery Street in the New Orleans Garden District is a new listing of mine.  This is a great example in how we in New Orleans love to keep these old buildings and reuse them.  The developer really has gone  the extra mile to leave the old fireplaces with the exposed brick, wood plank floors while at the same time giving people what they want.  This is what we like about Historic Renovations. 

     The unit was renovated down to the studs meaning new electrical, new a/c-heater, new water pipes and much more.  At the same time people want new kitchens, new baths, crown molding and lots of windows.  I would guess this building was about 80 years old.

     This Garden District condo has two bedroom and one bath and is in a great location.  You are within half a block of St. Charles Ave. and public transportation via the New Orleans Street car line.  There is no parking but street parking in front of the unit does not seem to be an issue.  Most people living here would love to park and walk.

    The Condo features include 12 foot ceilings, crown molding, recessed lighting, renovated windows that work, under counter lighting, ceiling fans, custom cabinets, travertine tiles, upscale granite counter tops, new stainless steel appliances, and windows that still work.  Whenever you have windows with natural light and high ceilings the unit lives much larger than the 753 sq. ft. of living.  The condo fees are reasonable at $187 per month.  This cover insurance, flood insurance, water and up keep. The building has never flooded. 

      The bathroom is an executive bath all the way with the exposed brick fire place left in tack.  The travertine shower stall and custom vanity with the tall ceilings add to the overall feel.  Get the executive feel in a condo. 

      Once again this is a great location for someone working downtown, working at the LSU and Tulane Medical schools, attending Loyola and Tulane, a short ride to Audubon Park and even for people working on the West Bank of New Orleans.  You are a short trip to the New Orleans French Quarter and the New Orleans Warehouse District.

     The New Orleans Warehouse District scores well on the Walk Score.  Its a neat tool for a couple of smiles and conversations.  The New Orleans French Quarter scores even better.  These neighborhoods existed well before cars, so things had to be close.  You had local markets in neighborhoods and public transport was good because it had to be.  Few families owned cars before 1950 in New Orleans.  Check out the link above and see what your score  neighborhood score is. 

     One of the nice things about walking is that you get to see the sites.  There will be something for everyone to see.   I am sure the score did not give you the conditions of the streets or the joys of walking in our humid summers. Walking here you can easily work up a sweat which is not all that bad.  In New Orleans you can always dress down, fashion city we are not. 

     The Warehouse District scored a 92 on the test.  The French Quarter a scored 98.  There were no bonus point because you can walk and drink at the same time, it just has to be outside of a bottle.  Its the go cup which may have had it origin in New Orleans.

    The Warehouse District has a lot of small streets and wide sidewalks to make you walks easier.  This is a photo of Lafayette Street several blocks from the Super Dome, several blocks to the French Quarter, several blocks to the Mississippi River.

     You can actually walk across the Mississippi River for free on the New Orleans Algiers  Ferry which is free.  It operates from 6 am till Midnite from Canal Street.  Best way to ride is not to sit down but walk down to where the cars are.  There you get the breeze and the feel of the Mississippi River.  You can walk around while the ferry motors across.  The views are great and you cannot beat the price.  No meter maids will hassle you either.

     I did not check out the scores in the Uptown 0f New Orleans but I sure they are high as well.  Many people walk for their health in Audubon Park.  Take your dog along and it will become habit forming.

          The Paragon Lofts located in the New Orleans Warehouse District is a small complex of larger size units. The units are located on 900 South Peters Street.   Most of the 21 condos are spread over the upper 3 floors.  Most of the units are 2 bedrooms condos with two baths units and measure over 1500 sq. ft. of living area.  There are a few one bedroom units.  Everyone likes balconies but this is one of the few complexes in the New Orleans Warehouse District that has them.   The 900 S. Peters location puts them in the middle of the Warehouse District, a couple of blocks to Riverwalk and to Harrahs Casino.

     All the condos have secure garage parking spaces on the first floor with a secure entrance via elevators to the units on the 2nd and third floors.  The penthouses and terrances are on the top floor.  The Paragon condos were finished in August of 2000.  There has not been a lot of turnover since that time.

     The units are upscale with a lot of individual tastes put into each of the units.  Its not your typical developers units and the owners did a lot of custom work for their units.  The condos have wook floors , stained concrete floors, exposed brick, cypress beams, balconies, and garage parking.  The balconies are a real plus as few buildings in the area have them.  They have some great city views.  The larger units are in the 1700-1800 st. ft. range. 

     They are professionally managed and the owners have a very quiet complex on a one way street that is rarely ever very busy.  You have as many walkers as cars sometimes.

     There are currently 3 units in the building for sale.  A one bedroom for $345,000, a two bedroom for $519,000 and a penthouse for $629,000.  The last sale in the building was for 430k with the 2 previous sales dating back to 2005.  The sales price on those units were 700k for a super decked out corner unit and a 575k for another unit that I did not get to see.  As the price of the condos goes up I think you have fewer sales as people can afford to keep them longer.  None of these are my listings or sales.

    There are currently 38 condos in the Warehouse District for more than 500k that are for sale .  This number does include several pre-sales.  There are 11 units for more than a million.  The best of the units are selling but the competition is stiff for the things that people want.  Its much more than just the size of the unit in this price range. 

The heat and humidity of the New Orleans summer is upon us but sales are still happening.  Sellers have a nice unit and it has to be priced right to get the buyers attention.  The big trend that I have noticed is the demand for the 300-400k,` 2 bedrooms are way up over that of a year ago. I have sold several units this year around the 300k price to people that are buying them as second homes.  This second home segment of the market was missing last year.  You also see more people coming for jobs that are also buying condos as their primary homes. New Orleans Condo Trends for more info on area.

     There are currently 181 units listed as active which includes some pre-sales and a good number of developer units.  There have bee 38 sales since May and there are currently 33 units under contract.  The price levels remain rather stable year over year.  Condo fees have leveled off as the effects of Katrina have vanished from the scene in this area of town.  The energy prices seem to be having little effect on the area.

      The energy prices may be having a positive effect on condo sales.  The commutes are small and the need for a car is much less in a downtown area.  You can walk more or take the streetcar to avoid the increased fuel prices.  I tend to see an even split of locals and new comers choosing this area as place to settle.

   The expansion of the World War Two Museum in the Warehouse District is moving along will a completion date of next summer.  The expansion will triple the size of the present day museum.  There are several new apartment complexes expected to be completed in the next year as well.  Lots of construction in the area.

      Rentals have been hard to find as owners are not renting the units out as much and the demand has eaten up most of the supply in most of the complexes.

      My son Marcus just moved back for Houston for a better job, now that is a switch.  He had been there since Katrina and wanted to return to a small town. 

I rarely ever listen to the national news as it tends to rport what it wants and not what is really happening. The market for real estate in mixed bag in the New Orleans market so its hard to paint all areas with the same brush. I may have had one of my better months in 12 years of real estate in June of 2008. We had a client moving here from the Northeast who sold their home in a week and 21 people looked at it.

"The Haynesville shale is a formation that lies in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Researchers say it could eventually produce 29 to 39 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, making it one of the largest U.S. gas finds ever."

"This $48 million from the lease sale this month, and with $46.4 million coming from the Haynesville Shale play, makes it the highest single lease sale for the state in mineral leasing since the early 1980s," said Gov. Bobby Jindal. "This is terrific news for Louisiana and our continued work to encourage economic development in oil and gas and in every sector of our state to create great, high paying jobs so our kids don't have to leave Louisiana to pursue a great career."

Much of this gas will make it to areas that refuse to drill for oil and gas in their state.

Searching for that New Orleans second home can take time or you can find it quickly.  It is all in what you are looking for.  The New Orleans market offers a variety of choices.

      The weather in South Louisiana is great for growing things.  Plants, insects and fish are all included.  However I fool with the plant part.  Most of the time you never have to water here with 60 plus inches of rain per year.  You rarely have to worry about freezing during the day.  Snow comes every 20 years or so, the most was in 1964 so its been a while. 

     This blog has little to do with New Orleans Condos but you can grow some great plants in your condo with a little care, light and light food.  These are plants in my yard in no orgainzed way.  I can always find new plants when I show homes and can trade them with other backyard growers. You can always tie this in with photos to tie the hobbies togeather.  Bonus points if you can name three of these!!

    What are some of your hobbies. Do they tie into real estate. We have already had our morning rain which is early so maybe another is due later today.  

  Read beneath the line so you too can enjoy some of my plants.   When business slows there is always something to do.

      I subscribe to a number of local blogs that are very informative and give me many ideas for blogs of my own and how to tie them into the New Orleans real estate market. New Orleans have several local papaers that feature all local items, both have blogs that churn out ideas daily. This one that I read is a tourist blog that keeps me informed. This is a recent blog giving my readers another resource. on New Orleans Condo trends blog. 

"In a national survey, Americans voted online for the most "animated, brilliant, lively and vivacious" city in the United States. The winner--New Orleans! Yellowtail Wines sponsored the survey, and the city will receive its award, given by travel authority Pauline Frommer and Yellowtail, in front of St. Louis Cathedral, behind Jackson Square, on July 1. Welcome, and sparkle on!"   Sharon Keating- New Orleans Travel Blog

       This is a local travel blog I read weekly.  Living here we do not always know what goes on as we are doing our thing which is New Orleans real estate.  This is a blog I check into several times a week to see what is happening.  Its the positive spots we all need to know.  I sell more and more New Orleans second homes that are condos.  If you run out of things to do you should check out the blog before you come to town.  

    The New Orleans French Quarter and the Warehouse District have been hot spots for second homes with people even looking Uptown.  The French Quarter is much, much cleaner than it used to be and people are taking more pride in all the areas since Katrina.  There are becoming more family attractions than ever before and that is accounting for a lot of the new business.  Some of it are people living in the New Orleans Metro area that want to stay close to home and have a place to visit that has a little excitement.  

    These areas are a great place to entertain and visit on a regular basis.  Its easy to get people to accept an invitation.  It tends to go against the grain as to what is happening in other real estate markets, but then a lot of things in New Orleans tend to be against the grain.  Property taxes were lowered 30% in 2008.  Charter schools are the norm.  The Hornets are winning, the Saints should be winning and LSU are the college football champions for the 2nd time in 5 years.         

In the New Orleans market you have a lot of historic Uptown New Orleans homes and apartment complexes that have been turned into condos.  This historic type of condo is much more like living in an old home with the high ceilings, large porches, common yards, plenty of light and large spaces.  You just pay a lot less!  The unit I just sold with Lana Sackett to a new medical student attending Tulane University this fall was located at 2512 Magazine Street in the Garden District.

     The Livaudais House features 8 condos of varying sizes and types are located  among single family homes worth millions and a block or two from the local coffee shops.  its also with walking distance for grocery shopping and much more.  You can walk to the St. Charles Ave. Street cars and are about 25 blocks from the French Quarter.  You can be at Tulane the Med. School which is downtown in 15 minutes tops.

     The 2512 Magazine condo has one very large master and a smaller bedroom on the other side of the condo which would be perfect for a room mate.  The kitchen was updated, the hardwood floors and old fireplaces really brought that historic condo to life.  The secure entrance and parking spot on the side of the unit was a big plus.  Jogging and pets are allowed.  Everything is within walking distance and viewing the nearby homes and gardens is free. To Read the rest of the story visit New Orleans Condo Trends Blog