All Forum Posts by: Greg Jeanfreau

Please add me to your list. [email protected]

I'm a multi-generational New Orleanian who has been in Real Estate for 20+ years full time as a Realtor and an investor. I live in the city and have a freakish map of it in my head that my wife is still shocked by when she gives me an address ("2100 block of _______Ave.?" Oh the pink and beige house with the tall concrete fence?"). That being said, I still want to pull my hair out sometimes because of the difficulties investing and working here. I love the town, but I guess that my point is that it has substantial challenges as a full time local. Trying to do it from out of town can be a nightmare. I've watched  it unfold many times over the years. People come here, buy, move away and try to keep the house as a rental. It all goes to s***. Quickly. And that's not even taking into account the regular tenant BS. That's easy compared to trying to fight and erroneous $13k water bill (a real issue we had) or an insurance policy tripling (that too). Or subs or property managers who run off the rails. 

@Vante Jay As with juat about everywhere else in the country The New Orleans market has many many active investors. It is still competitive , but as with all markets there are always deals to be found. I personally have not had much of a hard time finding tenants for my apartments. Mine are all in pretty good neighborhoods that are very walkable. That being said, In order to successfully invest in the city of New Orleans you must have a fairly deep understanding of the city. I would urge great caution when choosing neighborhoods and even blocks to invest in as things can go uphill or downhill very quickly. There are multi-million dollar houses that you can walk just a couple short blocks and watch the neighborhood get pretty rough and potentially dangerous. I still find the rents to be strong with a fairly decent tenant pool to choose from. Louisiana is also a very landlord friendly state and that doesn't hurt either.

 Thanks! Some folks run away from historic homes. I run toward them.

@Jeff S. My wife and I have been investing for about 10 years or so - although my first small multifamily "house hack / BRRRRR" was in 2006. Our first strictly investment purchase was in 2014. We boot strapped and DIY'd the Reno. It cash flowed great. Then we bought another and another. Slowly, but surely we have been buying a small multifamily or two every year and they are usually fairly substantial reno projects. Each time we finish and rent out a house and the dust has settled from the refinance and such, we allocate a bill or 2 to be paid by the cash flow. The first major one was our own house note. Then some groceries. Health insurance. Now tuition for 3 little ones. We still work (jobs that we enjoy), but as our expenses grow with our family, the financial pressure hasn't. At some point, the rental income will go beyond our expenses and I can absolutely see that light at the end of the tunnel. But, for now, we have the freedom to spend lots of time with family and friends, travel how we want and generally not worry about finances. We have also kept a very reasonable level of leverage and a good amount of untapped equity. When the time comes, we can tap that as we see fit.

The saying is something like "You can tell how people treat others by the way they treat their dead." We treat them quite well. Also, the above ground tombs keep our family members from the water table and/or floating away in the case of a flood. Hopefully you were treated right here in NOLA and enjoyed it. 

Originally posted by @Ned Carey:

@Mike Richardson Jr. If you go to the Annapolis meeting you can mention my name to Joe Child who runs it. I have spoken at his group before. I am not 100% sure it is even a live meeting ye. Most clubs in the area are not yet meeting in person. It may be a virtual meeting.

Just tell people you are new and want to learn. Don't pretend to be something you are not. Experienced investors can spot a new investor in about 30 seconds.Often as many as 1/2 of the people at meetings are there for the first time. so people will understand if you are new.

Just ask questions. A million of them will come up. Your not going to get al of your questions answered but the goal is to start learning and building your network.

PS I just got back from the BP convention in New Orleans. I took a tour of the city and we went to 5 graveyards. They are proud of their graveyards and their ghosts. So Bigger Caskets is sort of appropriate. 

@Stewart Campbell I'm liking this deal to hold. If you can get the 75% LTV and pull most or all of your capital out, get monthly cash flow and move on, then that is the wise way to go. Another factor to consider is where it's at in Metairie. Any chance for appreciation? Also, are the rents your are projecting very reasonable? I personally have a hard time making buy and hold deals work in Metairie because the rents and often not as strong as New Orleans proper to make the numbers work (1% rule). I wish I could because it would certainly be far less headaches dealing with JP services! If you decide to go for the cash, please feel free to PM me the details.

@Braden Smith I'm wondering where things will be in October. 2 months is nothing and things got worse here pretty fast. I just realized yesterday that the first time I wore a mask again anywhere was only 2 weeks ago and now there isn't a question. It's kind of insane at the moment and we don't know when it will peak. Schools are shutting down right and left from exposures. Not trying to be doom and gloom, but I've got some high quality toilet paper stockpiled in an undisclosed storage unit. Anyone wanna JV? Jokes aside, this is troubling for me attending BPCON21 personally with little ones. I hope that it all just subsides and more people do the right things.

@Shawn Regnier Thanks so much! All of this is still pretty much true and I would add that if you have any way to stay in NOLA for a week or two after the conference, GO TO Jazz Fest. It is the best festival on Earth. The music is incredible and the food is amazing. It is "only" 6 days this year and we always go every day. 

@Laura Guy From now on, I shall be called:

"Dude with the spare keys and good credit score who takes 25% of gross income and occasionally fixes stuff, LLC"

You gotta have the LLC part so they know you mean business.