New Orelans Condo Foreclosures! Warehouse District Update!
April 11th, 2010 categories: Market Trends, Warehouse District
I often get asked about getting a good or great deal on a condo in the New Orleans Warehouse District. There just have not been bank foreclosures for sale. Since the beginning of 2009 I can only remember 5 that came on the market. They all happened to be very good deals. I sold 3 of them, but they stayed on the market for a while before getting scoopedup by a Sawy buyer. They were generally in great shape and needed very little done to them.
One was damaged by the owner but the bank put it back together so it looked nice by the time it hit the market. One was entered as a condo and it was a town home and proved to be a great deal. The photos were terrible and I almost missed the deal since the photos made the place look bad. Two of the unit only had exterior photos but were very nice inside. They both sold for about 25 k below fair market value.
The banks will continue to reduce the prices on a regular basis. The out of town banks give you the best deals as they have no feel for the New Orleans Market. They tend not to want to listen so it does not matter, its generally someone else’s money they are dealing with. Coming out of the slow season is a great time to catch these. They tend to go with real estate companies that do not normally work these areas. All these factors tend to work in the buyers favor. The knowledge of pricing and trends are on your side.
Short sales are a totally different story. I know of no successful sales first hand and many disappointed sellers, buyers and agents. I would avoid these in this market. It generally takes many months to make it to foreclosure after a short sale falls through. The information flow is terrible from these companies to the point of being just downright rude. My advice to buyers is to move on to better deals. Once foreclosed then the deals get even better.
One of the reasons there are few condo foreclosures, a Warehouse District Condo is easy to rent and the rental market has been getting tighter. Fewer people are buying but opting to rent for a time before jumping into the market.
Most people think there are many more foreclosures than there actually are. Most happen to be in pretty good shape. This is not Miami or Las Vegas and New Orleans Warehouse District did not get overbuilt in this area. Hurricane Katrina hit at about the time that the real estate bubble was really building before the skid.
Eric knows what he is talking about…at least on New Orleans foreclosures…and resale values!
Thanks lana. Thanks Mona for the spelling correction!