Lafayette Parish and Acadiana
Whatever your situation with a house, start here.
Chris Fontenot is a licensed Louisiana REALTOR® who also purchases property directly. Two honest answers are available here instead of one, including the one that pays this business less.
Free, and there is nothing to sign to have the conversation.
Louisiana Licensed REALTOR®Real Estate InvestorLocal Acadiana Experience
Three ways this goes
Pick the one that sounds like you
Each of these opens onto a page written for that decision, not onto a form. Nothing on any of them costs anything or commits you to anything.
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01
I want to sell
Listing on the open market with a REALTOR®: priced off closed comparable sales in your part of the parish, prepared where preparation pays, and negotiated by somebody who is not also the buyer.
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02
I'm looking to buy
Buyer representation across Lafayette Parish and the parishes around it. Flood zones, insurance costs and what a lender will actually finance, worked out before you fall in love with a street.
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03
I need to explore my options
Repairs you cannot pay for, an inherited house, a tenant, a denied claim, or a date you did not choose. Four paths, and what each one costs in money and in weeks.
Or start from the situation
Six situations, six real answers
If one of these is closer to the truth than "sell" or "buy", start here instead. Each goes to a page written for that specific problem.
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01
I want to buy a house here
First house, moving to Acadiana, or building new. Buyer representation, flood zones, and what insurance is going to cost you before you pick a street.
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02
I want to list my house
Pricing off real comparable sales in your part of the parish, prep that pays for itself, and what a traditional sale actually nets you after everything comes out.
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03
This house has to go
Repairs you cannot pay for, a move you cannot delay, a house that will not survive an appraisal. Four paths, and what each one costs in money and in weeks.
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04
I inherited property
Louisiana calls it a succession, not probate, and that changes the steps. Usufruct, naked ownership, and what all the heirs have to agree on before anything can be sold.
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05
I am done being a landlord
Selling with a tenant in place, selling empty, or listing it as an investment. Each one lands differently on your taxes and on your timeline.
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06
Storm or denied claim
A roof the insurer will not pay for, a claim that came back short, a house no lender will finance in its current condition. There is more than one way out of that.
The part most sites leave out
Two doors, and he will tell you which one you are standing at
Most cash buyers will not mention that listing might net you more. Most agents will not mention that a fast as-is sale sometimes beats four months on the market. Chris does both, so both get said out loud.
List it on the market
Highest price- Usually right when
- The house shows well enough to appraise and you can wait out a normal marketing period.
- Who pays for repairs
- You do, before or at closing, out of the proceeds.
- Typical timeline
- Weeks on market, then roughly 30 to 45 days to close a financed buyer.
- What comes out of the price
- Commission, seller concessions if the buyer asks, repairs after inspection, and the payments you keep making while it sits.
This is the right answer more often than a cash buyer will admit.
Sell it as-is, directly
Fastest and certain- Usually right when
- The repairs are larger than your budget, the timeline is not yours to control, or the house will not pass a lender.
- Who pays for repairs
- Nobody. The condition is priced in and the house is bought where it stands.
- Typical timeline
- A date you pick, once title work and the succession, if there is one, are clear.
- What comes out of the price
- The offer is below what a fixed-up version of the house would list for. That gap is the trade for speed and certainty.
When Nexus buys directly, Chris is a principal in that deal and not your agent. The full disclosure is in the footer of every page.
The arithmetic
One page, both paths, real numbers
List price, commission, concessions, repairs, holding costs and net to seller, worked through on the same house and set against a direct offer.
Who you are dealing with
One person answers the phone, and it is the same person every time
Chris Fontenot has been buying and repairing houses around Lafayette Parish for years, which is where the as-is side of this came from. He is now a licensed Louisiana REALTOR® sponsored by Real Broker, LLC, which is where the listing side came from. Both are the same business and the same phone number.
There is no team, no call center, and no lead being sold to three investors in another state. If you send a message through this site, he reads it.
Where he works
Lafayette Parish first, and the parishes around it
Close enough to walk a property the same week rather than send somebody else to photograph it.
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Lafayette
The parish seat, the Oil Center, the Saint Streets, River Ranch, and everything the 2016 flood taught people about the difference between a flood map and a flood.
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Youngsville and Broussard
Newer construction, subdivision inventory, and the growth pushing south and east out of Lafayette along LA 89 and the US 90 corridor.
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Carencro and north of town
Older stock closer to the center, newer subdivisions off Gloria Switch Road, and quick access to I-49.
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Opelousas and St. Landry Parish
Older housing stock, long-held family land, and successions filed at the St. Landry Parish courthouse rather than in Lafayette.
One inbox, one person reading it
Start with the property
Address, situation, and how soon you need an answer. If a phone call is easier, the number is in the header on every page.
Where to check it yourself
Nothing here has to be taken on trust
Every claim on this page can be checked against a public source. These are the ones it rests on.
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Verify a license
Louisiana licenses are public record. Search a license number before you sign anything with any agent, including this one.
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FEMA flood maps
The current flood zone for a specific address, from the source. Zones vary lot by lot and the maps are revised.
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HUD fair housing
What the Fair Housing Act protects, and how to file a complaint if you believe you were treated differently in a housing transaction.
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Louisiana law, in full
Successions, usufruct, indivision, partition and mineral servitudes are all in the Civil Code, published by the state.
Questions people ask first
Straight answers, before you call
Does Chris Fontenot list houses, or buy them?
Both, and that is the point. He is a Louisiana licensed REALTOR® sponsored by Real Broker, LLC, and Nexus Home Partners also purchases property directly. Because both are available, the recommendation is not constrained by which one happens to be the only thing on offer. When Nexus buys directly he is a principal in that transaction and not your agent, which is stated in full in the footer of every page.
What areas does Nexus Home Partners cover?
Lafayette Parish first, and the parishes around it. In practice that is Lafayette, Youngsville, Broussard, Carencro, Scott and Duson, plus Opelousas in St. Landry Parish, Breaux Bridge in St. Martin, and New Iberia in Iberia Parish. The limit is practical: this is one person who walks the properties himself.
Does it cost anything to get an offer or a valuation?
No. The conversation, the walk-through, the comparative market analysis and a direct as-is offer are all free, and nothing is signed to get any of them. A fair number of these end with somebody deciding to keep the house, which is a perfectly good outcome.
How fast can a house sell in Acadiana?
A direct purchase can close in about two to three weeks once title work is clear. A financed buyer on a listing usually adds an appraisal and an underwriting cycle, so thirty to forty-five days from acceptance is normal, on top of the marketing period. What actually stretches a closing here is almost never the buyer: it is an open succession, an unreleased lien, a tax sale in the chain, or a co-owner who has not signed.
Which is better, listing or a cash offer?
It depends on one thing more than any other: whether you can put the house in the condition a listing needs. If you can fund the repairs and the timeline is yours, listing usually nets more. If the repairs are out of reach, an as-is listing is usually the worst of the three options, because you pay commission, concessions and months of holding costs to reach the same small pool of buyers a direct sale would have reached anyway. The full arithmetic is worked through on one page.
Is Nexus Home Partners a licensed brokerage?
Chris Fontenot is a licensed Louisiana REALTOR®, license number 995720550, sponsored by Real Broker, LLC of Lafayette. In Louisiana the agent holds the license and a broker sponsors it, which is why the broker name and phone number sit in the footer of every page here rather than in small print. Licenses are public record, so the number above can be checked against the Louisiana Real Estate Commission register before you sign anything with him.