All Forum Posts by: Stephen E.

I own a home in New Orleans, Algiers Point. I bought it just before Covid and it doesn't really fit my plans going forward, but it's actually in a great spot and well set up for people looking to work at home. I currently have it rented to a monthly long term tenant for basically break even money on my mortgage/tax/insurance with the tenant responsible for all maintenance. So technically I'm making money because $500 of that mortgage goes against principle. In other words, I'm not desperate to sell the property.

I recently sold a condo without using a realtor because it was a referral from another condo owner in the same complex and it was great.

My main problem with using a realtor is the 5%. I think this house should sell for $459,000, possibly $449,000, which is break even money. To cover the realtor fees I would have to increase the price to $475,000, and I don't see the house selling at that price.

I'd love to know people's thoughts on this. I own 3 properties and have sold one. My best deal I ever got was buying a property from someone I knew who was willing to sell it for much less because we didn't use a realtor.

Thanks in advance for all thoughts!

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Oh! I misunderstood. OK, then it's different but you still have the condo board. Also, a lot of what people are saying here is not entirely accurate regarding STR. The percentage of time an apartment is rented as an STR is totally irrelevant (no offense everyone). All that matters is what you make per month. I have a place, for example, that pulls in very significant profit and is only rented half the time. That's because in New Orleans near the French Quarter you make 80% of your money on the weekends and when the weekends rent, depending on the season, if you're left with a Monday/Tues/Wed in between they're unlikely to rent, even if you drop the prices significantly, which I do. Etc.

There are ways to research the AirBnB market where you're going. You can use data from AirDnA. But mainly you want to look at other listings nearby that are similar. The things that matter are the number of bedrooms of course. Number of bathrooms is a little important. Now when you're looking at similar properties you first have to eliminate all the people in the area who aren't serious about it. That's going to be a lot. It could even be half. What you're looking for are places that have bookings but are not completely booked for 3 months, because if they're completely booked they're not charging enough. Some people just set a price, say $100 a night, and leave it at that. So that's not great information. Find someone who is varying the software, see what it would cost to book two or three weekdays with them (you can do this is easily on the site by plugging in the dates you're considering renting) but then what are they charging the next month, and the month after that. Check what their weekend price is and what their weekday price. They should be mostly booked up for the next 30 days but only 50% booked in the second month and maybe 25% booked in the 3rd month out. Then you know they're renting and pricing things accurately. Find as many of those places as you can, create a spreadsheet with the information, and you'll have an idea of what an STR can bring in.

Owning is definitely the way to go but it's not impossible to find a landlord that is OK with you doing STRs on a rental. I have done that, but it's very hard to find. There are benefits for the landlord, depending on the building, for instance offering to pay more rent than normal. But it's a thing to be worked out.

Good luck!

Originally posted by @Yankel Raskin:

@Stephen Elliott

I’m not in NO. But I will definitely check our Tampa;)

Thanks

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This is unlikely to work for a couple of reasons. First, you can't even list an AirBnB in New Orleans without a permit. Go here to see the zoning for the property address: http://property.nola.gov/ then download the short term rental handbook: https://nola.gov/short-term-re... and look up your zoning to see if it's even legal for that unit to get a permit. If it's in the CBD it likely is allowed, but otherwise it probably isn't unless it has a commercial designation. Then the condo association would also have to be on board. If the condo association won't allow it then you can really screw yourself.

New Orleans isn't a very easy town to start an AirBnB business anymore. I'd suggest Tampa.

1 Vote

I just never thought a broker would be interested in representing a space that would rent for $1,500 a month. I've only used brokers when buying and selling, but not when leasing. I guess that's my hesitation.

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New Orleans, Louisiana

Hi. This is my first discussion posting, so bear with me if I'm doing it wrong. I have a large commercial space in New Orleans I'm ready to lease out. It's 1,700 square feet in the heart of the Treme on a good corner very close to the French Quarter and Louie Armstrong Park. It needs work though. The retaining walls are temporary and will need to be solidified or replaced. There's space for windows but they're currently covered. And whoever uses it will want to put in a new floor. I considered doing this but it seems that whoever rents the space will have their own ideas so I think it's better I work it out with them in exchange for 6 months free rent, or more, that they would do the improvements and then the space could be however they want it.

I'm wondering about listing on Craigslist or with a commercial broker. I have experience renting to residential tenants and being a commercial tenant, but I've never rented a commercial space that I owned. It's exciting but I'm not sure of the ins and outs.

The place is zoned HMC-1 and was previously a corner store, but it's currently completely gutted. There is gas and electricity and water/sewage, etc.

Thanks for any comments!

0 Votes

New Orleans, Louisiana

All Forum Posts by: Stephen E.

Stephen E. has started 18 posts and replied 165 times.

Post: Selling Without Realtor

Post: Airbnb hopeful: found an apartment but getting cold feet

Post: Airbnb hopeful: found an apartment but getting cold feet

Post: Should I Use A Commercial Real Estate Broker in New Orleans?

Post: Should I Use A Commercial Real Estate Broker in New Orleans?