Resources
Notes on Acadiana real estate.
Short pieces on what decides an Acadiana transaction: successions, insurance, flood maps, roofs, and what closed rather than what was listed. No market reports written from a national template.
Where this stands
Nothing published here yet
The notes are being written and the archive from the old site is being read through before anything is carried across. Posts worth keeping will keep their original web addresses so existing links and search results still work.
In the meantime the guides below are the substantial writing on this site. They are longer and more useful than a blog post, and they are kept current rather than dated.
Read these instead
The guides that answer most questions
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01
Listing versus a cash offer
A worked example with the arithmetic shown: commission, concessions, repairs, holding costs and net to seller, three ways.
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02
Louisiana successions
Succession rather than probate, usufruct and naked ownership, co-owners in indivision, and what has to happen before a sale.
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03
A denied storm claim
Actual cash value roof schedules, percentage named storm deductibles, and how to reopen a claim that came back short.
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04
Buying in Acadiana
Representation, the flood and insurance questions that decide what you can afford, and the process through to the act of sale.
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05
What your house is worth
A real comparative market analysis against an automated estimate, and why the difference is condition.
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06
Prepping to list
Which repairs pay for themselves in this market and which ones never do.
Faster than a published note
Ask the question directly
If there is something you cannot find an answer to on this site, say so and it will probably become one of these notes.
How to read the local market
Where Acadiana numbers actually come from
Most of what circulates as market commentary is a national figure with a parish name pasted on it. The numbers that describe Lafayette Parish come from four places, and knowing which is which is most of the skill in reading them.
Closed sales, not listings
An asking price is an opinion. A closed sale is evidence. Everything on this site that refers to what a house is worth is built on closed sales from the REALTOR® Association of Acadiana MLS, adjusted for what is different about the specific property. A portal estimate is a model reading public records, which is useful for watching a trend and is not a price.
The parish assessor, for what a property actually is
Square footage, year built, lot size, ownership and the assessed value all sit in the assessor record, and it is public. It is also the fastest way to settle which parish an address is in, which for a Broussard property changes the school district, the tax bill and the courthouse that holds the conveyance records.
The clerk of court, for what has happened to it
Conveyance records hold the chain of title: acts of sale, mortgages, liens, privileges, judgments, servitudes and judgments of possession. In Acadiana this is where a sale is usually won or lost, because an open succession or an unreleased privilege decides the calendar long before condition does.
FEMA, for the flood zone that a lender will use
The mapped zone is a lending rule rather than a forecast, and the maps are revised. What actually happened to a house in August 2016 is a separate question, and in this parish it is worth asking out loud: a great many homes that took water were mapped outside the high-risk area.
Every one of those is public, and every one of them is linked below. The notes published here will be built on them rather than on a press release.
The four sources
Public records anyone can read
These are the sources behind every number on this site.
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FEMA flood maps
The flood zone a lender will use for a specific address, and the panel it comes from.
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Verify a license
License lookups, and the advertising rules a Louisiana agent is bound by.
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Insurance complaints
Company lookups, the consumer complaint route, and the state roof programs.
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Louisiana law, in full
The Civil Code articles behind successions, usufruct, indivision and partition.
The Lafayette Parish and St. Landry Parish clerks of court and assessors publish their records online as well.
Related
Where to go next
The pages most people read after this one.
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Listing versus cash
The full arithmetic on one house, three ways, with the assumptions written down.
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Inherited property
How a Louisiana succession works, and what has to happen before anything can be sold.
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Buying in Acadiana
Representation, flood zones, insurance, and the process through to the act of sale.
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Free valuation
A comparative market analysis from a person, against an automated estimate.
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Accessibility
The standard this site is built to, and how to report a problem.