All Forum Posts by: Leilah Davis

@Mike Wood - this is what I'm refering to: https://www.nola.gov/safety-an... I forget where I saw it refered to as "NRDRD", I think it was somewhere on One Stop. (I'm so done with all these acronyms, lol!) If I'm reading that page correctly, it sounds like any area that is considered a "historic district" (see the map here, https://laocd.maps.arcgis.com/...) even if it's outside of an HDLC area, requires city approval for demolition. Right? 

The house I referenced earlier, that had issues with the demolition getting approved, is on my block. We're not in an HDLC area, but it is a "historic district". You mentioned that they'll approve it if you have redevelopment plans ... it's possible the owner didn't have a permit approval when all of this went down. He did build on it after the house got torn down, but maybe he just went about it the wrong way, and only submitted for permitting after the house was finally demolished? Really not sure, but if you haven't had any issues with getting them to approve demolition that's encouraging!

And yeah, we have been totally avoiding HDLC areas alltogether. I've heard the same thing from a lot of people, that's it's basically a huge pain in the ***! Thanks for confirming, haha. 

@Jay Hinrichs oh man, yeah it's a real headache! We had a hunch that our neighbor secretly cut the roof rafters with a chainsaw so that it would finally get on the blighted list and they'd let him tear it down, lol. And yes, in New Orleans specifically there are TONS of title issues, specifixcally because of hurricane Katrina. Good note about wholesalers not really going after land much. I have been noticing that ... that's good for me because it means most of the people I'm contacting won't have been bombarded by calls before I get to them. 

@Greg Dickerson thanks for the tips! I am a realtor myself. I'm pretty good about keeping business cards on me and handing them out to pretty much everyone I meet haha. I often mention, just casually, that we're looking for lots and having a hard time finding anything. I guess I hadn't thought of this as a method for finding deals, since no deals have come my way from it yet, but it's definitely a good thing to keep doing! You never know who could help, whether they just happen to know someone who has a vacant lot or whatever. 

@Guillermo Oyola great thanks!

@Guillermo Oyola ok gotcha. Yeah that's what I thought skip tracing was ... what's the cost on that generally? As I said I'm currently just looking up phone numbers and contact info through White Pages. Having info on judgments & liens would definitely help!!

Hey @Mike Wood! Yeah, been talking to a lot of wholesalers recently but so far no luck. I agree it's slim pickins right now!! And everything listed on the MLS is so overpriced (I mean I guess it isn't overpriced if people are buying ... I just want better deals than that haha!)

Yeah, definitely been considering teardowns a lot more recently ... but most of the areas we're interested in are in NRDRD areas, so they won't let us tear down unless it's literally falling over, right? There was a "house" next to my house a few years ago that was in HORRIBLE shape. I'm not sure of the exact order of things, but if I remember correctly the owner was getting code enforcement liens up the wazoo, and it was a real hazard (a small tornado came through and the house almost fell directly on top of my house!) ... but for some reason it wasn't ending up on the "blighted" list. The owner was trying to tear it down, but NRDRD wouldn't let him, even though it was falling over. It took a really long time of him fighting and arguing to get it on the blighted list because the damage was completely irreversable at that point. Eventually they did, and he was abel to tear it down and build something new, but that process was arduous and not fun to watch. Very wary of something like that happening if we go for a tear-down! Have you had any similar experiences, or do you think that was mayb e a one-off?

@Guillermo Oyola thanks! What do you mean by "skip tracing" exactly? Do you mean outsourcing that, or just doing the research yourself? Currently using WhitePages.com for getting contact info. I've also found people on facebook and DM them there if I couldn't find a good phone number. Do you have any specific resources you recommend for skip tracing? Thanks again!

@Kenneth Reimer it does help, thanks a lot!! 

Hey! To all the licensed agents out there ... when you buy a property off-market do you run it through your brokerage? I asked this question previously awhile back and got some confusing answers. I have confirmed with my real estate commission that legally I don't have to run it rhoguh my brokerage, all I have to do it disclose my licensure status. (And of course if there were any commissions involved, I totally understand that I would have to run it through my brokerage so that they can make money, and I can earn the commission) .... but when there is no commission involved at all, should I still run it through my brokerage .... or am I basically just like any other cash buyer buying off market deals, and I just need to ensure I'm disclosing my licnesure status?

Thanks!

We build spec homes in New Orleans and I'm having a lot of trouble getting in touch with the owners of infill lots to buy properties. We intended to buy a property by 1/15 and we're currently running behind on that. Going forward we intend on picking up a new lot at least every 2 or 3 months. Our niche area & criteria is pretty small ... Does anyone have some suggestions? 

I do cold-calling, cold-texting, and mailers. I also recently posted on criagslist with a keyword that people can text me to receive a free cash offer on their lot, but havn't received any hits on that yet. I haven't tried bandit signs or door knocking. What methods do ya'll typically rely on? Any specific advice on scripts or best practices with regards to any of these methods? 

Lastly ... do ya'll work with wholesalers? I feel a bit wary about this, because so many of them seem like they don't know what they're doing. And if I tell them our criteria and what we're looking for, I'm a bit worried they'll snatch up the lots that I'm looking to buy, try to sell to me for a premium and/or turn around and sell to someone else. Has anypone had success workign with wholesalers to buy infill lots? Any tips?

Thanks a ton!!

@Julie Williams mailers are my last attempt to contact someone. The response rate for mailers is significantly lower than that of cold-calling or cold-texting. And I get why ... I get so much junk mail, it goes directly in the trash. I'm sure I'm not the only one!