I think you need to come down here and get the lay of the land. I know that most of the areas zoned for special development and loan forgiveness are not places I would feel safe living in. I am speaking of the Metro area. However, St. Bernard Parish might provide better opportunities and the recovery there is going well. Also, the cost of living is pretty high in NOLA. We pay over 5K per year for insurances and an additional 3k in property tax for a very small Uptown house. We have a retirement income of 63K and still need to budget.

NOLA is fabulous and addicting, so do your research well because it is one of those places that holds onto the heart. It is very hard to leave--we've been talking about selling and moving to a more retirement friendly city...but we just...can't. We love NOLA so much.

Elong, the road home covenants will be a bit of a challenge. It requires the property to be owner occupied for 3 years from the date of the original closing you may have difficulty with financing. There are some loans out there even with 500 credit scores. As far as the Finance Authority program they require the property to be in move in condition so this property may not qualify due to condition. Also i don't think you can use the program with a property that received road home money.

You can contact me to discuss your option further if you wish.
Wayne Clark
CCS Realty, LLC
504.304.2307
clarkconsultingllc@msn.com

In addition to the answers below, which are both excellent, there are two other options that are worth exploring. The first is, non-conventional financing. Basically, instead of financing the home as your primary residence, you will be obtaining commercial financing, as an investment property. Typically, you would need 25% down, and would be subject to a slightly higher interest rate. The bank may also require that you escrow the funds, with their bank, needed for repairs, if there are any

ALSO I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU VISIT THIS LINK: http://www.financeauthority.org/ .

The city of New Orleans has designated 8 Zones in the city for a special municipality-funded financing program. It only requires the borrower to put down $2500 or 2% whichever is greater. The city will give you a second mortgage of up $50,000 and up to $5000 for closing costs for properties within these zones. The best part is the loan is at 0% (with NO payments until you sell or refinance) and THE LOAN IS 100% FORGIVEN IN 10 YEARS!!!!!!!! So, if this is the house you want to live in for awhile, they (the city of NO) is literally giving money away.


Please read up on the details, I would love to speak more about the issue with you. The city has mostly come back very strong. Don't get me wrong, there are pockets where it still looks bad. But, resilient New Orleanians and a new influx of people like yourself are making huge differences every day.

Katherine is correct. Owner financing is probably your best option as your scores are too low to qualify for financing.

That all depends on what you will be bringing into the property. With a short sale in the works, I would assume you won't have much (if any) for a downpayment. You may have to hope for owner financing. Best of luck.