Cash Home Buyers in Uptown New Orleans: Get a Written Cash Offer

Selling an Older Uptown New Orleans House: Neighborhood History and Your Options

By Andrew Rodriguez & Tony Bertucci

Uptown was not built all at once. It grew as a string of separate towns along the river, among them Lafayette, Jefferson City and Carrollton, which New Orleans annexed in 1852, 1870 and 1874. That history still shapes the houses: the narrow lots, the building types, and which blocks fall inside a city historic district. Here is what we see in each Uptown neighborhood we buy in, followed by the questions that come up most when an older Uptown house is sold as-is.

Garden District

Most of the Garden District was laid out as the Faubourg Livaudais in 1832, on the old Livaudais plantation, and became part of the City of Lafayette in 1833. New Orleans annexed Lafayette in 1852, and travel writers were calling the area the Garden District as early as that year. Its houses run from Greek Revival raised center hall cottages and side hall townhouses to Italianate and Queen Anne homes, with shotgun cottages appearing from the late 1840s. The Garden District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Since 2007 it has also been a city local historic district, where the HDLC reviews proposed new construction, holds a public hearing on proposed demolitions and can cite owners who fail to maintain a building. If a Garden District house came to you through a family estate, read what heirs of an inherited Garden District house should know.

Irish Channel

The Irish Channel was also part of the City of Lafayette, and its busy waterfront drew Irish immigrants in the 1840s, many of them leaving the famine, alongside German and Italian immigrants, native-born Americans and free people of color. Most of its houses are single and double shotgun cottages from the second half of the 1800s on narrow lots, often about 30 by 120 feet. The city designated it a local historic district under the HDLC in 2002, and the Irish Channel Area Architectural District is listed on the National Register. Our guide to selling an old Irish Channel shotgun as-is covers what that means for a sale.

Touro

Touro takes its name from Touro Infirmary, the hospital Judah Touro founded in 1852, and the neighborhood carries that name on the city’s official neighborhood map. Like most of Uptown, where the HDLC counts more than half the buildings in its Uptown district as shotguns or camelbacks, Touro is full of century-old singles and doubles, many with additions and conversions from several decades.

Milan

Much of Milan sits in what was Jefferson City, a separate Jefferson Parish town until New Orleans annexed it in 1870. The long, narrow lots laid out there for speculative building produced the rows of shotguns and camelbacks that still fill its blocks. Many have stayed in one family for generations, which is why we see so many inherited Milan houses with deferred repairs.

Freret

Freret takes its name from Freret Street, named for William Freret, mayor of New Orleans from 1840 to 1842 and again from 1843 to 1844. The Freret Street commercial corridor between Jefferson and Napoleon Avenues anchors a neighborhood of shotgun singles and doubles. We buy Freret doubles with a tenant in place, with one side vacant, or with both sides in need of work.

Audubon

The Audubon neighborhood surrounds Audubon Park, about 350 acres and the site of the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 to 1885, along with the Tulane and Loyola campuses and the residential parks of Audubon Place and Rosa Park. House styles here run from Italianate and Eastlake to Arts and Crafts and Colonial Revival, from large homes near the park to shotgun doubles on the side streets.

Carrollton

Carrollton was platted in 1833, grew along the Carrollton Railroad from 1836, served as the Jefferson Parish seat from 1852 and was annexed by New Orleans in 1874. The Greek Revival Old Jefferson Parish Courthouse still stands from that era. About 45 percent of Carrollton’s buildings are shotguns, and it has more bungalows and raised basement homes than most of the city. Its local historic district, designated in 2017, gives the HDLC full control along Carrollton Avenue and control of demolition on the blocks flanking it.

Broadmoor

Broadmoor sits on low ground on the lake side of South Claiborne Avenue, and most of it was built in the twentieth century once drainage allowed. The Broadmoor Historic District is listed on the National Register and is known for its bungalows and Colonial Revival homes. The neighborhood flooded in May 1995 and again after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Broadmoor Improvement Association organized much of its recovery. We buy Broadmoor houses with old flood repairs, raised and unraised.

Historic district review: what the HDLC does and does not cover

New Orleans has two kinds of historic districts, and their boundaries often overlap. National Register districts are administered through the State Historic Preservation Office; for a private owner they mainly mean possible tax credits on income-producing property and limited review of federally funded projects. Local historic districts are designated by the City Council and administered by the Historic District Landmarks Commission (HDLC), and their reach depends on the district. The Uptown local district, designated in 2017, is limited to demolition control. Carrollton has full control along Carrollton Avenue. The Garden District covers new construction and demolitions.

So do not assume your Uptown house needs HDLC approval for every repair, and do not assume it needs none. Check your address with the HDLC before planning exterior work. A renovation that stalled in review, a demolition request or a demolition by neglect citation can all slow a traditional sale. We buy Uptown houses with those questions still open.

100-year-old shotguns, doubles and raised center halls

Most older Uptown houses are wood-framed and raised on piers, and many are well past 100 years old. The issues we see most are foundations (settled piers, rotted sills, sagging floors), termite damage in framing and trim, including from the Formosan termites common in New Orleans, older wiring such as knob-and-tube or an undersized panel, and roofs near the end of their life that draw questions from insurers. Doubles add their own wrinkles, like a tenant on one side or a half converted into a single. We buy these houses as they stand, so the projects become ours, not yours.

Inherited homes and unopened successions

Many long-held Uptown houses pass to children or grandchildren, and sometimes nobody opened a succession when the owner died. In Orleans Parish, successions are handled at Civil District Court, and before heirs can sell they generally need a judgment of possession or court authority for a succession representative. Some families find the title still in a grandparent’s name. That does not stop you from getting an offer: we can walk the house, put terms in writing and hold them while your succession attorney does the legal work. Property taxes and insurance keep coming in the meantime, so an early start helps.

Heirs living out of state

When the heirs live in Houston, Atlanta or farther away, the hard part is usually logistics: keys, a house full of belongings, a roof leak nobody can check on. Much of a sale can be handled from a distance. One heir or a local relative can let us in, documents can often be signed before a notary where you live, and your attorney and the title company coordinate the closing. If the person who died lived outside Louisiana, an additional Louisiana proceeding may be needed for the Uptown house, so ask a Louisiana succession attorney early.

More Uptown reading: our Uptown New Orleans cash-buyer guide, how we handle distressed houses in Uptown New Orleans, our New Orleans cash home buyer page and our Old Metairie page just across the parish line.

Uptown Seller FAQ: Historic Districts, Old Houses and Successions

Does every Uptown house need HDLC approval?

No. The rules depend on the address. Some Uptown blocks sit in a city local historic district and some do not, and the local districts differ: the Uptown district is limited to demolition control, Carrollton has full control only along Carrollton Avenue, and the Garden District covers new construction and demolitions. A National Register listing by itself mostly affects tax credits and federally funded projects. A sale on its own is not something the HDLC reviews.

Will you buy a 100-year-old shotgun or double with foundation, termite or wiring problems?

Yes. We buy Uptown shotguns, doubles, camelbacks and raised center halls as they stand, including sagging floors, rotted sills, termite damage, old wiring and worn roofs. You do not need to fix anything before you sell to us.

Can I sell an inherited Uptown house if the succession was never opened?

You can start now. The closing happens once a judgment of possession, or court authority for a succession representative, lets the heirs sign. In Orleans Parish that runs through Civil District Court. We can walk the house, agree on terms in writing and hold them while your attorney finishes.

I live out of state. Can I sell my family’s Uptown house without coming back?

In many cases, yes. A relative or neighbor can let us in, documents can often be signed before a notary where you live, and your attorney and the title company coordinate the closing. You can leave behind any furniture or belongings you do not want.

Which Uptown neighborhoods do you buy in?

We buy across Uptown New Orleans, including the Garden District, Irish Channel, Touro, Milan, Freret, Audubon, Carrollton and Broadmoor, plus Mid-City, Old Metairie and the rest of Orleans and Jefferson Parish.

Who will I be dealing with when I call?

Andrew Rodriguez & Tony Bertucci, the local owners of Bertucci Investment Group, based at 128 Colby St in Metairie. Call 504-920-4747 any day of the week.

Have an older Uptown house with one of these issues? Call 504-920-4747 or fill out the form at the top of this page for a written cash offer. General information, not legal advice.