The Cotton Mills Condos located at 920 Poeyfarre Street is one of the most popular and largest of the Warehouse District Condos. Its about a block from the new addition to the World War II Museum. It has the most amenities for the price that you can find in the New Orleans Warehouse District. Its easy to find a one bedroom for under 200k. Two bedrooms should be under 250k for the smaller ones.
The positive points to the Cotton Mills Condos are the high ceilings, exposed beams, exposed brick exterior walls, extra large windows and that true warehouse feel. It features a 25,000 sq. ft. courtyard, swimming pool, fully equipped exercise room, live security, and low condo fees. The condos have a site manager and maintenance staff which is something all condos do not have.
The complex is one of the largest at 269 units but it spread over the entire block. Some of the units have not been updated since going condos in 2005. Many however have been updated with many personnel touches since that time. The units do not come with parking but parking is available on the street or in the secure lot across the street. The immediate area has a lot of new construction and additions in the neighborhood over the past two years.
The odd thing is that sales have been very very slow in the complex over the past 3 months. Currently that are 15 units plus 3 penthouses for sale with no condos under contract. This is highly unusual since going condos. I have sold 20 plus condo here so I know it quite well.
Breaking the units down there is only one 2/2 regular condo for sale at 250k which is a fair asking price. There are 3-4 nice units that are priced very well and are nice units. What is not selling is the 5 studios or studio conversions. There is one bank foreclosure which is a screaming buy at 153k.
If you are looking for a second home this can be a great complex with the amenities and low condo fees. The condos are easy to rent if that is the route you decide to go. The condos have no problem getting financing. Buyers should look at the Cotton Mills as I am sure the sales will pick up next year. Buyers can get the $8000 tax credit and low interest rates of around 5%. It ends up being cheaper than rent at the Cotton Mills.
This is a photo slide show from picnik. Its very easy to do for real estate or any other photos you want to showcase. The photos are downsized so they are not real sharp, Big photo files are not good on the Internet. These are all shots of New Orleans that you can enjoy. I use this service for all my photos so they all online for me to crop, size and adjust as I wish. Just move them to a slide show, its very easy.
All lenders are becoming much more selective in who they will give a loan and what type of properties they are lending on. Getting a local lender is the best way to start the process. Out of town lenders are short on people and specifics. They have really hard times closing on time and getting answers. Its always the last minute. This has been my experience of late. There are several thing to do early on in the process before you actually start the process.
1. Find a local lender that can do the loan and complete the process on time. Get an idea of what your payments are going to be. Give them a round number to quote you on. They should be able to provide you with a truth in lending statement that will have your projected cost. Not the exact cost as the property itself has to be known for that. Find out the down payment that you are putting down.
2. Know the type of loan you are getting. Is it Conventional or FHA ? Not all condos will qualify for certain loans. Some condos will not qualigy for either. The value of an FHA loan is that it has a lower down payment and less stringent lending standards for the buyer.
3. Rates are good once you have a contract signed. You can get quoted on one but it will change daily until you lock in the loan. Ask your lender about a float down feature. If rates fall can you then get the lower rate ? How long once you lock your rate in is it good for?
4. Condo Insurance is in the condo fees. The contents of the condo however are not included. You will need to get an HO6 policy for that coverage. See recent article on Condo Insurance, an HO6 policy.
5. Appraisals are taking longer. There are many more questions asked by all in the process. The underwriters and the PMI companies are having a hard time responding to the needs of the purchaser. Give yourself another week for the process.
So start early and ask lots of questions. Ask about the details! Ask friends what their experience has been lately. As Realtors we know who is on time and makes it easy. Don’t hesitate to ask?
This is a slow time of year for condo sales in general. There are a lack of buyers, but at the same time there are less premium listings coming on the market in the various categories. Just a couple of ideas as to why this may be?
1. Sellers know its a slow market. If sellers do not have to sell they are waiting for the market to improve. These are the people who do not have to sell but would like to sell. Its takes them a while to get caught up with the market once it turns.
2. The Holidays are approaching. Sellers would rather wait until its more convenient for them to sell. They may have some things to do before putting the condo on the market.
3. Many have given up! The rental market has picked up dramatically and some have decided to rent until the market improves. I suggested this to one of my sellers as I was approached by a person to rent for $2500 per month. I took it off the market. $30,000 for a years rental was too good to pass up.
4. People are not moving as much! Companies think twice about moving a person in slow times as it can be very expensive for them to make a move. Many companies are just not transferring people. They are holding off till better times in all areas of the country.
5. The market has always been somewhat seasonal ! Now it is much more noticable when you go to make appointments. There are not that many premium units to show. There are always the places that few want. There are more that are harder to finance in today’s market.
On the other hand people do look over the holiday times as that when they have the most time. The condos that everyone wants are still selling and many buyers do not get to see them because they do sell.
If your agent does work a particular area often he or she will know people that are willing to sell but have decided not to list at this time. Some of these could be the best buys if you can find them.
The Audubon Trace Condos are located in Old Jefferson between Jefferson Highway and the Mississippi River Levee. They are townhouse condos. Town homes are the particular style of home and condos mean common areas and maintenance are shared. This is not your typical apartment conversion to condos but rather a designed community of attached townhouses with plenty of common grounds. Its a little different lifestyle over your typical condo in Jefferson.
The townhouses are spread out over 15 acres with townhouses spread out in units of 8-10 condos. Almost all are two bedroom townhouse style unit. The townhouse style is where the bedrooms are up or down.type of condos. The larger units do have garages but parking is very easy and plentiful.
What you do not get at Audubon Trace is the normal apartment feel of being on top of your neighborhoods like so many condo complexes in Metairie. You have plenty of room for walking the pets as well as yourself. If you like being out doors Jefferson Playground and tennis courts are right out the back gate. There is a large playground, full size track, and the Mississippi River long a favorite of bicyclers and Rollerblades. There two large pools on the grounds of Audubon Trace Condos for residents.
Prices will be from 175k-200k for the most common floor plans. These will be units from 1250-1400 sq. ft. of living. These will have open parking. The prices will vary depending on the style of the unit, square footage and the amount of updates that have been done. They are almost 25 years old so almost all the units will have varying degrees of updates.
The Audubon Trace Townhouse Condos will have some some sort of private outdoor area for your own plants and outdoor furniture. The condo association is very strong. Its staff of workers do a very nice job of maintaining the exterior of the units and the common areas. The two swimming pools, large amount of trees, shrubs and grass make it its own special neighborhood. That why you have many long time residents!
The Federal Fibre Mills was once a rope factory in the late 1800’s. Later it was part of the 1984 World’s Fair. It was where the beer garden was. It is now one of the more popular downtown condo complexes that features high ceilings, large windows, exposed
A New Orleans Photo Blog is a blog that features photos of New Orleans neighborhoods thur photos and brief descriptions. Its a good way to show you what is going in the various neighborhoods. Once I post a couple of hundred photos you will get a picture of things you know and some thing you most likely not know. I will try to post a daily photosand pages that describe the neighborhoods.
The great thing about New Orleans is that you have a never ending number of subjects to shoot. Interesting and historic homes will dominate the photos along with New Orleans special and unique places.
The New Orleans Condos Website gives you a review of the condo complexes in the Metro areas of New Orleans. It gives you tips on purchasing and the various steps needed to purchase a condo.
The New Orleans Condo Trends Blog allows me to give updates on market trends, pricing and more timely posts dealing with the New Orleans Condo market.
A client called me today looking for a two bedroom in the New Orleans Warehouse District between 240k where they generally start to the low to mid 300k price range. I told her I would send her a list for the better units. There were 16 units for sale but only three worth really mentioning that would be considered premium condos.
I am seeing this more and more as less condos are put one the market and the better condos have been selling. The inventory is not as deep as a buyers market would suggest in the sweet parts of the market. I told her she would want parking, decent views and light, high ceilings, updated kitchen and baths, and in complexes that have the better locations. I added people do not like first floor units in the Warehouse District.
Once you take the overpriced units out you were down to the two best units fairly quickly. This is quite a change in the market over the last 3 months. I did the same search type of search in the 150-170k in Metairie and came out with about the same results. There are many more condos for sale in Metairie but getting down to the 5-6 better condos was not that hard.
I do have the advantage of seeing a lot and knowing the pitfalls of many of the condo associations. The negatives may be high condo fees, hard to finance associations, and units that will have poor resale values. The resale value is one of the most important factors buyers should be looking for when they buy.
As a real estate agent I am glad to get the credit extended. On the other hand I am worried that our Congress can only react to the crowds who want new favors. Does this make common sense when the real problem is creating an environment that will produce jobs. We will be getting ready for the next GM bailout shortly.
Its a carnival of incentives. Much like Mardi Gras- Throw me something so long as it cost me nothing. So if you can get it you have to take it. The interest rates remain low since the Feds are buying the mortgages. Its wild !
WASHINGTON— Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.
The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time homebuyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 3.6 percent in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit.
Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
The tax credits would be available to home buyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.
Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash
