The Irish Channel. Bayou St. John. Mid-City. Uptown.
“They’re hot,” realtor and real estate agent Adele Borie, with Urban Vision Properties, said about the active markets. “But the trick is figuring out the next hot area before everyone else catches on.”
Borie is banking on Central City, the 7th Ward and Gentilly.
“I don’t know if it’s ever going to level out,” she said about the accelerated state of real estate in New Orleans, “but it’s definitely a seller’s market because there’s not much inventory. We’re running out of houses for people.”
According to Trulia.com, the average listing price for a New Orleans home for the week ending Feb. 11, 2015, was $305,246. Zillow.com reports the median list price per square foot in New Orleans is $125, which is higher than the New Orleans Metro average of $109.
“We’re seeing lots of cash offers,” Borie said. “And the competition is fierce. You hear about people offering thousands over asking price and still not getting the property. Once houses go on the market here, they’re hard to get unless you have cash and/ or act fast.”
Borie recently joined Urban Vision Properties, a boutique real estate firm located on 4025 Ulloa St., in Mid-City, which prides itself in playing an integral part of the revitalization of New Orleans by helping buyers and sellers understand and conquer the unique challenges of the post-Hurricane Katrina real estate climate.
While the 53-year-old Louisiana native’s path took many twists and turns, all roads seemed to lead to a career in real estate.
Coming from a long line of New Orleanians of both French and Spanish descent who settled in the Crescent City in the 1800s, Borie graduated from LSU in 1985 and moved to Washington, D.C. There she worked on Capitol Hill, was a club DJ, produced small art shows and opened up a vintage clothing store named after her grandmother and great aunt from New Orleans – Meeps and Aunt Neensie’s.
She moved back to town a decade later and eventually met and married Tad Mondale, whose uncle, Walter Mondale, served as Vice President (1977-1981) and was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1984. Mondale, a preservationist and developer, has used historic tax credits to renovate and revitalize multiple properties around town, showing Borie the ropes at every stage.
First, it was their digs in Broadmoor, which they purchased and turned into rental property. Next, it was developing the Falstaff Apartments in the old Falstaff Building located in the Tulane Avenue corridor, where Mondale turned a beer-brewing landmark into a modern apartment complex. More recently, there have been commercial and residential mixed-use parcels and spaces rehabbed on Freret Street and the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard area where Mondale used his innovation to bring old lots and tracts back to life.
Along the way, Borie was the Membership Assistant Coordinator and Special Events Coordinator for the Contemporary Arts Center and one of the co-founders of 3 Ring Circus Arts Education Center, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization that produced collaborative arts productions, offered art workshops for children and adults, provided a venue for theatrical and musical performances and presented independent films.
“The non-profit art thing is always challenging,” Borie said. She and co-founders Kirah Haubrich, Tracy Kennan, Patrick Perret and David Rex Joyner engaged in guerilla style, pop-up art events from 1999 to 2003, when they moved their operations into The Big Top, which was located on Clio Street, and was another one of Mondale’s properties.
“It was very rewarding, and I’m glad we did it,” she said of the trailblazing organization that closed up shop in December 2013. “I made great connections, collaborated with many talented artists and was proud to provide a valuable service to the City.”
((For those of you who remember the cutting-edge “Art in the Dark” alternative art expo produced at The Pickory in the late 1990s, Borie and fellow original 3 Ring Circus co-founders are arranging for an “Art in the Dark 2” to be exhibited sometime this year at Studio3, Inc., in Bayou St. John.))
Borie also moonlighted as a legal secretary at law firm Rosenberg & Clark, LLC, which specializes in commercial real estate. While learning about title insurance, closings, leases, contracts and zoning, Borie also got to flex her artistic muscles by helping boss Staci Rosenberg, the founder of the Krewe of Muses, organize the parade and ball every year for its 1,100 female riders.
“My love for real estate was a natural progression,” Borie said. “When I started to get tired of being tied down to a 9 to 5 job, I earned my real estate license in August 2013.”
Grateful for the opportunities and advantageous training programs at Keller Williams Realty Services in Mandeville and Re/Max Alliance in Slidell, Borie now calls Urban Vision Properties her new vocational home.
“So many people are moving to New Orleans,” she said. “People in the film industry, the tech fields and Millennials. And they’re all looking for homes in the best city there is. The movie stars love it here because of the anonymity and laid-back culture.”
Borie said real estate agents like her get paid on commission. She said the seller generally pays the commission, and it’s split between the 2 brokers. The brokers then pay the agents. Borie said commission amounts vary, but they are generally 6% of the sales price, so each broker gets 3% at the closing of the sale. From there, agents get whatever they agree to with their broker. At Urban Visions Properties Borie said experienced agents enjoy an 80/20 split.
She said a successful residential real estate agent could make in the vicinity of $200,000 a year in New Orleans, depending on how hard they’re willing to work.
“I'm not in it for the money,” Borie said. “I do it for the betterment of New Orleans, to improve our communities and neighborhoods. When someone buys a home, they will take pride in it and care for their neighborhood. It's a beautiful thing! And I take pride in giving my clients the best service I can. It's all about building relationships.”
While real estate can be a risky business in any neck of the woods, Zillow.com ranked New Orleans 15 out of the 20 riskiest markets in the U.S. over the last 35 years, Borie insists investment properties are one of the best places you can put your money.
“The American Dream of owning a home is more attainable than ever,” she said. “To be a part of the process of helping someone make such a big life decision is very special. I feel privileged to be able to help people with that. And now is the time to do it because the interest rates are low, and there are great programs out there for first time homebuyers. The only problem is finding a house before it gets snatched up by someone else.”
She said many new homeowners invest in the popular “Shotgun Double,” a multihome dwelling where you can live on one side and rent out the other for residential income to pay off the mortgage.
She also advises to start small, when looking for lenders.
“I tell clients to go local and try to avoid the big banks,” Borie said. “The smaller local lender can help you more. They’re more flexible and offer better services.”
When not hanging out with friends at the Freret Street Strip, at the standing room only oyster bar at Pascal’s Manale, or taking Cha-Ching, Borie’s and Mondale’s catamaran, out for an aquatic adventure in the Rigolets area where they share a second home, Borie has also been involved working for the New Orleans Film Festival, the Ponderosa Stomp Festival and the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo. She’s also the assistant backstage manager of the Gentilly Stage for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Borie said what she loves most about working with New Orleans historic properties, waterfront homes and both commercial and residential properties, is meeting different types of people and getting to see amazing homes, properties and architecture. "I learn more about the city I love every day,” she said. “And most importantly, I get to help people make their dreams come true! What I know and love is in New Orleans. It’s where my heart is.”
Adele Borie, Realtor
Urban Vision Properties
4025 Ulloa St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
Cell: (504) 715-3281
urbanvisionproperties.com
adele@urbanvisionproperties.com