I do have a lender w. available funding for rehab loans. Contact me & i will give you details. 985-640-6889. Danaschuster427@aol.com

Lisa:

You can reach me at
Dana.Schuster@Century21.com. I've lived in Slidell for 23 yrs. & I know the market here. If you are looking for houses to flip in that zipcode,I would suggest Westchester,Dellwood & that area off Ponchartrain on both sides.

I am a HUD certified agent working out of Slidell,LA(70458) Distressed properties here are different than in New Orleans. If you live in 70458,you will know that the parish & city of Slidell have demolished those which were considered unfit for renovation or abandoned. You can pick up some good bargains on houses that are partially completed. If you're looking for rental properties,the rental market has never been stronger in Slidell. An incredible number of former rental buildings(Check out Ponchartrain) have been converted to condos. The Anchorage is another good example. Please feel free to call or e-mail me & I will be happy to send you a list of properties. We are still selling houses here. People are being transferred in & out & there is always a market for houses at the low end.

Be very cautious buying a distressed property in south Louisiana. Consider the following:
1) Your insurance is going to be $5k to $6K per unit/house.
2) Flood insurance is going to be at least $1200.00 per year
3) A construction loan will only lend you 75 - 80% of the appraised value of the property when it is completed.

Allow for at least $40 to $80k to put back together any house that is gutted...and those numbers are if you know something about construction. For more breakdowns on rebuilding prices in our area, visit my website noted below.

4) If you have alot of cash, coffee, martini's and patience, you may be able to make a couple pennies buying foreclosures in our area...we are no southern California...for we do not have incredible deals like other parts of the country..the subprime balloon issues did not happen here.

At the end of the day, everyday, someone flies into New Orleans from NY and California thinking they are going to make a gazillion dollars by picking up distressed property for nothing, rebuilding with nothing, then selling to people who have not returned with no money.

Better to spend your time looking for a double/Duplex listed with an agent..a Duplex that is 95% complete, whose owner fell into the categories noted above, who is tired of getting their copper stolen out of their house, or is too tired working on sheetrock to paint anymore and wants to unload.

These type of listings come up everyday, (we got one today) and are alot less risky to potential buyers and can be picked up and financed within 30 days without the drama of foreclosure world.

Hi Lisa, Just briefly....
When someone is not making their payments and has fallen behind, they can try to sell their home....however if they get an offer and it is not enough to pay off their mortgage then this is a short sale and the lender needs to approve it in order to close unless the seller wants to come out of pocket for the difference.

If an owner does not pay their mortgage and cannot sell eventually the home is forclosed on and these may go back to the mortgage companies. The Mortgage company has the property appraised and based on their internal thresholds will place the property back on the market. Of course they want to cover the loan amount but because house prices have decreased and the condition of the house may not be up to par they have to look at each property on a case by case bases.....so there is no magic formular.

And lastly, gov insured loans on properties that are taken back are put up for bid. An owner occupant has the first opportunity to bid on these but if no one bids or has a winning bid then the bids are open to anyone. An Approved HUD agent must place the bid.
....feel free to call me, I am HUD approved and do have access to distressed properties.

Shoot me an email and i will give you my number to call me. I will be glad to answer most of these questions and help find your fixer upper property.
realtorcraig@cox.net