Archive for May, 2010
Warehouse District Condos trends, I see more and more Second homes! The trend continues in 2010.
May 24th, 2010 categories: Second Homes, Warehouse District
The New Orleans Warehouse District is fast becoming one of the top locations in New Orleans condo market for people looking for second homes. Its a combination of location and the condition of the condos that are available. The condos make a great choice as you can lock the door and leave for a month. The Warehouse District is adding more and more things to do and is close to the others areas of town. Many are a walk or streetcar ride away.
The Warehouse District is fast becoming a center of commerce, entertainment, culture, and home to many locals in the New Orleans second home market. Lets look at what is in the Warehouse District. The Superdome, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans Convention Center, Childrens Museum, World War II Museum, Harrahs Casino, Aquarium of Americas, Federal Courts many hotels, Lucy’s Bar, Emeril’s, art galleries, music venues, and much more. New things are popping up monthly. The Mississippi River is still the biggest reason the area is what it is.
The New Orleans French Quarter is across Canal Street and is within walking distance to all the Warehouse District condos. The New Orleans Garden District and Uptown are a streetcar ride away. The area gets a great score for walking !
The condos themselves are much newer and have some great common areas for relaxing with friends and families. You can find pools, gyms, roof top viewing areas and views of the city and streets. These are the type of units that you can just leave and come back in several months with all in tack. The condo fees tend to be reasonable and most of the condo associations are professionally managed. The parking issue are not a large issue. Crime does not enter the equation in the Warehouse District.
The Corporate Condo market is also beginning to pick up as well. We are seeing companies buy units to entertain their clients on weekends. The Saints winning the Superbowl certainly did not hurt this thought. The fact that more and more things are being built every month you get a sense of an area on the move for something better.
The Warehouse District style condo with exposed brick walls, large windows and high ceilings, wood floors, exposed wood beams beams, thick walls and that historic feel are in style. Most of the buildings are over 100 years old but there are a few newer ones to chose from. Many have plenty of light and exterior views which is now very popular.
The Warehouse District is very pet friendly and all the condos allow for pets. There are parks and green spaces within walking distance too almost all of the condos. Lafayette Square is one such large park on Saint Charles Ave. One thing that is missing is fast food places. Its a lot of local places that have New Orleans written all over them. Wow! What a great change of style to eat good food and walk a lot.
The interest rates on second homes are now at 5% or below which is really the lowest rate in years. Some lemders were offering 4.75% last week. Always better to stay local as the know the market and seem to just care more in getting the job done in a timely fashion.
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Cotton Mills Condos gets FHA approval! Thanks to Ross Miller of Miller Home Mortgages! They have just become more affordable.
May 14th, 2010 categories: Condo Knowledge, New Orleans Condo Reviews
The Cotton Mill Condos in the New Orleans Warehouse District is now approved for FHA financing. The majority of the Thanks goes to Ross Miller for getting this started for one of his clients. The process took 3 plus months and a lots of work and paperwork by Ross Miller and the condo association management. With the ever changing rules in financing this was no small feat. This is now the first and only condo association in the Warehouse District that has been approved for FHA lenders.
The first question is “what does this mean”. This means the Cotton Mill Condos can be financed with an FHA loan which features lower down payments, lower mortgage Insurance fees, and lower credit scores. It allows the sellers to give concessions in closing cost to reduce the cost of closing.
The FHA interest rates are generally the same as the best Convention loans. During the past week these have been around 5%. This number means you pay $538 in principle and interest for each one hundred thousand you borrow.
Maximum loan is 287,500 for the New Orleans area. Must be owner occupied by the buyer. The 3.5% down payment is the bug number making it more affordable to the home buyer. This means you need a $7000 down payment for a 200k condo. This beats the 10% to 20% needed for a conventional loan.
The additional savings is also on the mortgage Insurance which is as much as one half the convention rate. This is a fee for not putting down 20% and can easily be $200 per month. This fee for FHA is worked into the loan which is even better.
All this means is that the Cotton Mill cost of ownership is going down for the purchasers in 2010. The value of the units for the sellers is also going to be better over the longer term as it makes for more buyers. This is good news for buyers and sellers in the complex.
Before the financial meltdown there were many lenders that would offer low down payments on condos. This has all changed since that time. Even though New Orleans has not had many condo foreclosures we still live by the National Rules and suffer for markets in South Florida and Las Vegas among others that have many foreclosures.
Ross Miller Update-Cell 504-231-5105
05/21/2010
On May 11, 2010 I was able to work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to obtain FHA lending approval for The Cotton Mill Condominium Complex located at 920 Poeyfarre St., New Orleans, La. 70130. The complex will be eligible for up to about 80 units to obtain FHA financing for purchases or refinances. This means any units where the loan amount will be under $287,500 is eligible for 96.5% financing. Please send any potential clients to Miller Home Mortgage, LLC for Pre-Approvals for this complex.
On conventional financing for condominiums we can do 95% conventional financing on strong purchasers. Our lenders are still doing Limited Reviews on condo complexes which makes the process much easier. We also have mortgage insurance companies who are approving these strong borrowers as well. Hud has recently announced that they are already at 30 days for the initial review of the condo documents. Expect this timeframe to continue to grow as approximately 44,000 complexes need to be reapproved this year.
One new regulation that you should know about. Beginning on June 1, 2010 all loans will have a second credit report run a couple of days prior to closing. If any change in debt or debt not disclosed on the original application is present the loan can be declined or the closing can be stopped immediately. Please advise your clients not to apply for any new credit or to charge up any current liabilities during the lending process.
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Interest Rates
Interest rates are GREAT right now. You can expect rates ranging from 4.625% to 5.0% with no points on Conforming loans and about the same on FHA and VA. We can offer rates as low as 4.375% with 1 point on strong conventional borrowers.
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Warehouse District Market Update for the Spring of 2010.
May 4th, 2010 categories: Market Trends, Warehouse District
The Warehouse District condo market has showed increased sales activity over the last month or two. The strength of the market has been in the two bedroom and two bath condos. The price range that is showing the most activity is the 250k to 450k range.
We are seeing second home buyers, students buying for medical schools with a desire to have a roommate. We are seeing more people wanting to live in New Orleans on a part time basis and want the extra bedroom for guest. We are also seeing a couple of companies buying units to have for their clients.
The one bedroom units have been the slowest of the Warehouse condo market. There have been a couple of foreclosures that have been some great buys. We are seeing some locals looking to take advantage of the low rates and flat prices of the last 4-5 years. When certain segments have fallen out of favor, this is when you get your best buys.
There are currently120 condos for sale up to the 500k range. There are 40 condos that are under contract or have been sold since March 1, 2010. Not all are priced correctly or may not be the most desirable units. It is still easy to narrow the choices down to 5-6 that meet your criteria.
The things that are selling have been updated. Not many people that want to buy and then fix up at this point. Parking remains an important factor in a buyers decision process. I would not recommend buy a place without parking unless the price is great or no others in the complex have them. The amenities are also becoming more important than ever.
Real estate is seasonal so that is where we currently are. Interest rates are still around 5%. The down payments have increased making it harder for first time buyer to afford their first place. This could be one of the reasons for the lack luster sales of the one bedroom units.
The Cotton Mill Condos is getting closer to being on the FHA that will make it much easier to purchase. Thanks goes to Ross Miller of Miller Mortgage who has been the lead person helping this along. This is not an easy process but would greatly help sales of units below the 300k level. But the 3.5 % down with lower cost is a great incentive.
835 Julia has sold all but two on the one bedroom units that they had for sale. This is a new development that got hurt form the financial crisis of 2009. This is a great sign. There are a couple of new 2/2 penthouses that are for sale. These are good buys in the 400k range.
In the last couple of weeks we have seen more condos come on the market. This is a combination as a better selling environment and the seasonal aspect of the New Orleans Condo market. The premium units have the best change of selling unless a fixer upper have big decreases on cost. Many times the units needing work are just not discounted enough.
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