New Orleans coverage
New Orleans,where I am from.
New Orleans is home for me, and it is the market I want to help people break into. My focus here is vacation rentals and investment property — single family homes and multi-unit buildings — alongside the first time buyers who are buying a house in this city to live in. Because I am from here, I can tell you which block, which neighborhood and which kind of property actually fits what you are trying to do.
Why New Orleans
A city I know block by block.
“New Orleans is one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities you could ever live in. The food, music and culture are always on point.”
New Orleans is where I am from, and that is not a small thing when you are buying property here. This is a city of neighborhoods that behave nothing like one another. Uptown and the Garden District hold their value and rarely turn over. The French Quarter, the Marigny and Bywater draw visitors all year. Lakeview and Mid-City are where families find a real house on a real street. A few miles in any direction changes the price, the rules, and the kind of tenant or neighbor you end up with.
The work I want to do here is specific. Vacation rentals and short term rentals, because very few cities hold visitor demand the way this one does — the calendar runs through the year rather than in a season, which is exactly why a property here can genuinely earn while you are not in it. And investment property, which in this city usually means one of two things: a single family home to hold and rent, or a multi-unit building where more than one door pays the mortgage.
Two questions come up in almost every conversation here and rarely anywhere else. The first is elevation and flood insurance: how a particular property sits, what it costs to insure, and what that does to the monthly number. The second is the city’s rules on short term rentals, which are stricter than in most markets and have been tightened over time. Both are questions with answers, but only if somebody checks them for the specific address rather than assuming.
So that is where we start. Not with a listing, but with which part of the city actually suits what you want the property to do — and what it will genuinely cost to own there. And if you are buying your first home here rather than an investment, the same local knowledge works in your favor: I can tell you where the quiet streets are, what a house needs after a hundred summers, and what is worth walking away from.
Worth knowing in New Orleans
- Elevation and flood insurance shape the real monthly cost
- Short term rental rules are stricter here, and worth checking per address
- Multi-unit buildings carry their own insurance and maintenance math
- Historic homes bring character and their own upkeep realities
Who I help in New Orleans
Three reasons people look at this city.
Working with investors
Every investor is different.So we start where you are.
Most investors who write to me want to pick my brain first — the market, the numbers, the neighborhood — and get my honest read before they move on anything. Others arrive already knowing exactly what they want and just need someone to go get it done.
Both are welcome here, and neither is the wrong way to do this. You get my full attention either way, with over 10 years of real estate experience behind the answers.
Tell me what you are building, and we will start there.
— Ja’me Varnado
Talk through a purchaseWhat I look at first
- The marketWhere you are buying, and what is genuinely moving there right now.
- The numbersWhat the property costs to hold, and what it is realistically likely to return.
- The neighborhoodThe street itself, the surroundings, and what changes around it over the next few years.
Whether you want advice, a second opinion on a property you have already found, or someone to handle the whole thing — everything is in writing, by email, so you always have the numbers in front of you.
Buying your first home
Not qualifying is a question,not a verdict.
It is the worry I hear more than any other, and it is almost never the end of the road. Usually it is the start of a conversation: what would it take, how long would it take, and is there another way in. Those are questions with answers, and finding out where you actually stand is the first step — not a decision about you.
So before we look at a single house, I will connect you with a lender to find out exactly where you stand. In plain terms, with no pressure, and nothing you did not agree to.
There are first time buyer loan programs and down payment help available in Louisiana that many people have simply never heard of. Part of my job is making sure you know what you are eligible for before you decide you are not. Then we go step by step, from pre-approval through closing, so you are never left guessing what comes next.
You may be closer to qualifying than you think.
— Ja’me Varnado
Ask where you standStep by step
- 01A lender, in plain termsOne conversation with a lender I work with, to find out exactly where you stand. It costs nothing, and it commits you to nothing.
- 02What you may be eligible forFirst time buyer loan programs and down payment help get checked against your actual situation, rather than assumed.
- 03Pre-approval, then the searchA real number to shop with, so we are only looking at homes that are genuinely yours to buy.
- 04All the way to closingOffer, inspection, appraisal and paperwork — every step explained in plain language before you sign anything.
No phone calls, no pressure — everything in writing, by email, so you always have the answer in front of you.
Where we work in New Orleans
Three sides of the city, three different lives.
Uptown & the Garden District
Oak canopies, grand historic homes and a grid that has barely changed in a century. St. Charles Avenue runs through it, the streetcar still runs on it, and the blocks on either side are some of the most sought-after addresses in the city.
- Historic homes and landmark architecture
- Multi-unit conversions and long holds
- Walkable, established and tightly held
French Quarter, Marigny & Bywater
The oldest part of the city, and the part visitors know best. Creole cottages, shotgun houses and converted buildings, with a short term rental draw that runs all year rather than in a season.
- Cottages, shotguns and historic conversions
- Year-round visitor demand
- Rules and permits worth checking first
Lakeview, Mid-City & the Northshore
Where a great many families and first time buyers actually land. Rebuilt and renewed neighborhoods close to the lake, plus Mandeville and Covington across Lake Pontchartrain for buyers who want space and a quieter street.
- Single family homes on family streets
- More house for the money
- The Northshore, a bridge away
Vacation rentals & investment property
Buying here to earn, not just to visit.
Very few cities hold visitor demand the way New Orleans does. There is no quiet season to plan around — the calendar runs through the year — which is why a vacation rental here can genuinely earn while you are away, and why investors who already own in the city tend to look at a second property rather than somewhere else entirely.
On the investment side, most of what I help with falls into two shapes. A single family home, held and rented, often to long term tenants, in the neighborhoods where people actually want to live. Or a multi-unit building — a double, a fourplex, a converted historic property — where several doors share one roof and the rent covers the note. Those are different purchases with different numbers, and they attract different kinds of financing.
What we do first is the unglamorous part: check how the address is classified under the city’s short term rental rules, what the permits actually allow, what insurance will run, and what the property costs to hold through a New Orleans summer. You should see that arithmetic before you fall in love with a courtyard.
And if you are out of state, that is not a problem — most of my clients are. We can walk the property on video, look at the roof and the foundation together, and work through the whole thing by email and phone so you are never making a decision on a photograph alone.
Four states now
Louisiana joins California, Nevada and Arizona.
Same group, same way of working — one point of contact from the first question to the closing table. If your life already crosses state lines, that is the whole reason this practice is built the way it is.
Questions we hear about New Orleans.
New Orleans
Considering New Orleans?
Tell us whether this is a vacation rental, a single family home you want to hold, a multi-unit building, or your first house in the city — and which part of New Orleans you have in mind. That is usually enough for a genuinely useful first reply.
Write to Ja’me