Things to Know Before Investing in New Orleans Real Estate
Within the metro area of New Orleans, the best public school districts are in St. Charles, East Jefferson, and St. Tammany, achieving high ranking academic scores and showing excellence in their other programs as well. Still, these are not the only good schools in the area, you just need to check around into other individual schools to find out their reputations. There are several great private schools in many parts of the metro area that also meet top quality standards.
If you’re not interested in living right inside the city boundaries, there are several wonderful communities within an hours’ distance of the city. These include Slidell, Mandeville, and Hammond to the north of the city and across Lake Pontchartrain. Much closer and to the northeast are Metairie and Kenner and to the immediate east are Harahan, River Ridge and Destrehan all along the river.
As with any major city, the real estate prices in the New Orleans region are likely to decrease the farther away they are from the metro area. Plus you get more house and yard for your dollar outside the city limits. One nice thing about the area is that home prices have slowly but steadily continued to appreciate over the past several years, unlike many other parts of the nation.
Since the inner parts of the New Orleans metro area have been so heavily filled in, some of the smarter, less expensive options are condos and townhouses. There are many conversion projects taking place within the city, turning old factories and commercial buildings into condos. For those looking into buying investment property, these brand-new high rise flats can be the perfect way to go.
Finally you may want to know how much you will end up paying in property taxes to own a home in New Orleans. The good news is that the tax rates are relatively low compared with much of the country. In some cases you may pay just 0.5 percent to 1 percent of the home’s value. Be aware that flood insurance is required for most of the surrounding areas and will add slightly to your total homeowner’s costs.