We're looking to purchase a 'shotgun double' in New Orleans in the next few months. While the ultimate goals would be to acquire several of these properties as rentals, eventually one would be to live in as a primary residence. That being said we are primarily limiting this first property to the Lower Garden District over to Uptown. Anyone have any advice in terms of pros, cons, what to watch out for, etc. . I'm looking at vacancy rates on NeighborhoodScout and they're quite high in some neighborhoods as well, even in neighborhoods I would have thought were insulated by the university.
Hi @Brandon Wright. Welcome to BP! You will find a wealth of information on this site, as well as many fellow investors that are willing and able to assist you and answer any questions you may have. I am both an investor and a licensed realtor here in the New Orleans area. Be sure to check out the Education tab here on BiggerPockets. You will find a ton of useful information to help you with your foray into real estate investing.
Check out our local REIA, which is the New Orleans Real Estate Investors Association (NOREIA) and search MeetUp.com for local real estate investing meetups.
If I can answer any questions for you, feel free to reach out.
Hi @Brandon Wright. Welcome to BP! You will find a wealth of information on this site, as well as many fellow investors that are willing and able to assist you and answer any questions you may have. I am both an investor and a licensed realtor here in the New Orleans area. Be sure to check out the Education tab here on BiggerPockets. You will find a ton of useful information to help you with your foray into real estate investing.
Check out our local REIA, which is the New Orleans Real Estate Investors Association (NOREIA) and search MeetUp.com for local real estate investing meetups.
If I can answer any questions for you, feel free to reach out.
I started my REI with a shotgun double in Mid-City. It was a great way to start out. I still live in that house and the other side is still a great rental also. I now also own a duplex in Algiers and a duplex and a SFH in East New Orleans. B/C class tenants and lower rents than where you're describing, but that's just more my personal cup of tea for investing. But I know another investor who only does A class rentals in Uptown.
As such, I don't own any rentals in the area you're talking about. I do participate in a local real estate group. From my experience and the stats they have, NOLA has a soft rental market. I'd guess that Uptown has the additional challenge of rents that are higher than most of the population can afford. Which is not to say it's a bad place to invest, but vacancies could take longer to fill.
And if you want to live in Uptown/Lower Garden anyway, than buying a double in an area that you all like and want makes perfect sense. The rent money from the other side will just be gravy.
The other nice thing about that area is it's usually a great appreciation play.
I'll assume you're pretty familiar with those areas. But, just in case you're not...always! always! pay a lot of attention to the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhood that a property is located in. There are many spots where it can go from "amazing" to "sketchy" within a couple blocks.
I am always hunting in that area as well as all of Uptown including Broadmoor (hidden gem), Tulane, Lower Garden, Irish Channel, Milan, etc.
Since you are planning on living in at some point, you may want that point to be the beginning. FHA 3.5% down mortgages are available for singles through quads. If its a fixer upper, you can do a FHA 203k which gives the same limits based upon post-Reno appraisal value. The kicker is you have to live in it for a year. Not a bad trade off.
(Also look into the other side being a Short Term Rental as the city is ok with you living in one side and Airbnb'ing the other!)
I recommend @Braden Smith's link on guides and would push you towards using the BRRRR method as it is an amazing way to pull the equity from the reno and turn it into cash for your next property. BRRRR can be explained in detail by the pro's and guys who created the term on BP.
@Brandon Wright I would not categorize NOLA has a soft rental market or somewhere with high vacancy, exactly the opposite. As for your desired area, it is doubtful that given today's house prices, you will find anything that will cash flow in after you move out, which will mean that you will need to plan on selling when you move. Run the number when you start looking.