Frequently Asked Questions about Selling a House Direct to an Investor for Cash

Home Buyer Louisiana is a New Orleans-based real estate investment company that buys houses directly from homeowners across Louisiana in as-is condition.  Founded in 2018 by Stephen Keighery, the company has completed over 250 Louisiana real estate closings, including inherited properties, rentals, vacant houses, major repair projects and transactions involving complicated title or succession issues.

Home Buyer Louisiana founder Stephen Keighery, an Australian-born entrepreneur, real estate investor, and marketplace operator based in New Orleans. Before relocating to the United States, Stephen was an early partner and senior executive at hipages Group, where he led sales and marketing functions as the company scaled into one of Australia’s leading online home services marketplaces. Since moving to Louisiana in 2018, he has applied that marketplace experience to distressed residential real estate, helping homeowners sell properties that may be difficult to sell through traditional channels.

Stephen has invested heavily in distressed property acquisitions, renovations, and community revitalization. Stephen serves as Director of Marketing & Memberships for the New Orleans Real Estate Investors Association (NOREIA) and leads the Westbank Real Estate Investors Meetup. Stephen is a frequent guest on real estate podcasts, industry panels, and in publications like Realtor.com, Biz New Orleans, and New Orleans City Business. .

Home Buyer Louisiana has experience working with homeowners dealing with foreclosure, inherited property and succession, costly repairs, relocation, problem tenants and other situations that can make a traditional sale difficult.

Home Buyer Louisiana is:

• Accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.
• 5-star rated on Google with dozens of verified seller reviews.
• Known for closing on time, every time, through licensed title attorneys.
• Transparent about our process, with references and proof of funds available on request.

You can learn more about Stephen’s background on our About Us page and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Our mission is to make selling your house simple, fast, and stress-free, while giving you the peace of mind that you’re working with an experienced, trustworthy local buyer.

We can sometimes close in as little as 8 days when title is clear and the seller needs a fast closing. Because we purchase properties directly, the transaction is not dependent on a traditional buyer obtaining mortgage financing. The exact timeline depends on the property, title work and seller’s situation, but many of our transactions close within a few weeks.

If you are in a hurry you can get more information on selling your house fast here.

Home Buyer Louisiana regularly works with Louisiana homeowners who are behind on mortgage payments, in pre-foreclosure or facing a sheriff’s sale. Selling before the foreclosure is finalized can help protect your credit and avoid a forced sale. Our team works with you and your lender to arrange a fast, legal, and above-board closing so you can move forward.

You can get more information on selling before foreclosure in Louisiana

We confirm the basics and condition by phone, then send a no‑obligation cash offer in writing. If you accept, we open title, do a walk through. schedule closing, and handle paperwork and utilities. There are no repairs, showings, or financing delays.

Yes. In Louisiana, the legal process for transferring ownership after someone passes away is called a succession (similar to probate in other states). You do not have to wait until the succession is finished to start the sale process. In many cases, we sign a purchase agreement with the heirs first and then have our local title attorneys handle the succession and the title work at the same time. This can save weeks or even months and allows you to close as soon as the court finalizes the transfer. We regularly help families sell inherited properties, even when there are multiple heirs or the property needs significant repairs.

You can see more details on selling an inherited property in Louisiana here.

No. You can leave the property as‑is, you don’t need to make repairs, paint, or even clean. If you have unwanted furniture or junk, we can handle the disposal after closing.

We price repairs into the offer and handle everything after we close. This saves you time, cash, and stress compared with trying to prep a realtor listing.

Yes. Home Buyer Louisiana regularly buys properties with storm, flood, and structural damage.

We factor repairs into our offer and handle the work after we own the property, saving you time and repair costs.

See more information on selling a house after a natural disaster and selling a house with foundation issues.

Yes. We can buy your property even if you have an active insurance claim for storm, flood, fire, or other damage. Depending on your preference, you can keep the claim payout, or we can work it into the purchase so repairs are handled after closing.

You can see a case study of a seller in Laplace that sold us a house after Hurricane Ida in as-is condition and kept the insurance check. This is a pretty common scenario for hurricane and fire damaged houses.

Yes. Home Buyer Louisiana buy rental properties with paying and non-paying tenants.

We follow all local laws for tenant notice and can handle the eviction process after closing if needed.

You can see our FAQ page on selling a rental property with tenants for more information.

We start with the after‑repair value, subtract renovations, holding and selling costs, and a fair profit margin. We are happy to show our numbers so you can see how we got there, and we welcome any comps or bids you want us to consider. You can see more information on how we calculate cash offers here.

We buy single-family homes, multi-family properties, mobile homes with land, condos, and vacant lots.
We also purchase storm-damaged homes, fire-damaged properties, and houses in historic districts across Louisiana.

Yes. We regularly buy inherited Louisiana properties where succession is complete or still underway. We have worked with transactions involving multiple heirs, missing heirs, unfinished successions, liens and properties needing major repairs. The title company and appropriate succession attorneys determine the legal requirements before ownership can transfer, while our role is to evaluate and purchase the property.

Yes, but it’s more complex. We regularly work with situations where multiple heirs have different opinions about selling. Our title attorneys can help resolve disputes, track down missing heirs, and handle court approvals if needed. We can often get purchase agreements signed by the willing heirs and work in parallel to resolve the others, so the sale can still move forward.

You can see a case study of a house we bought in New Orleans with a tricky heir situation.

There are no commissions and we typically pay standard seller closing costs. You receive the net amount on your closing statement unless we agree to handle a lien, taxes, or occupancy needs.

We buy directly for cash, so there are no listings, showings, or agent commissions.

Unlike iBuyers, we buy as-is, including distressed properties, and can close in days instead of weeks or months.

No, we are not affiliated with any Realtors association; we are a private Real Estate Investors who purchase our properties direct from the owners.

We buy lots and land in Louisiana. As long as there are no title issues we can buy your lot fast for cash so you don’t need to keep paying the taxes and maintaining the lot.

Yes. We buy houses in historic neighborhoods across Louisiana, including properties in designated historic districts. We understand that older homes may have specialized renovation, permitting and preservation requirements, particularly when they have been neglected for extended periods.

Yes. This situation is often called being “underwater” on your mortgage. We have multiple ways to help:

• Short Sale – We work with your lender to accept less than what’s owed so the sale can close and you can avoid foreclosure. This can reduce the impact on your credit and help you move forward.
• Take Over Payments (“Subject To”) –  In some cases, we can purchase your property by taking over your existing mortgage payments. This can be faster than a short sale and may work even if your lender won’t approve a payoff for less than the balance.

We can evaluate these situations for Louisiana homeowners and explain whether a direct purchase, short sale or another solution may be appropriate based on the property and existing debt.

See our frequently asked questions on selling a house with negative equity

Yes. You can sell your house even if you owe back property taxes, as long as it has not been fully foreclosed through the Louisiana tax sale process.

In Louisiana when you are behind on property taxes the city sells your tax debt to investors. That doesn’t mean you’ve lost your house, the investor must wait 3 years (if the property is occupied) or 18 months (if it’s vacant) before they can complete the foreclosure. You can still sell during this period by paying off the tax debt from your sale proceeds at closing.

You can read more about what happens if you don’t pay your property taxes in Louisiana here. We also have a FAQ on selling a house with liens or tax debt.

Yes. We buy houses in any condition, including those with code violations, safety hazards, or condemnation notices. In many cases, we can close before the city enforces repairs or demolition. We’ll work with the city or parish to resolve the violations during the closing process, so you don’t have to make repairs or bring the property up to code.

Not exactly. FSBO (For Sale by Owner) means you’re finding the buyer yourself, often by listing on websites or showing your home to the public. When you sell to us, there’s no listing, no public showings, and no need to negotiate with multiple buyers as we are the direct cash buyer.

This can be faster and simpler than FSBO, especially if you want to sell as-is without repairs or inspections.

Home Buyer Louisiana has completed over 250 real estate closings across Louisiana since launching in 2018. Our transactions include properties throughout Greater New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, the Northshore and other Louisiana markets. We’re accredited with the Better Business Bureau (A+ rating), have over 50 5 star Google reviews, and complete our purchases through established Louisiana title companies.

When choosing any cash home buyer, here are key things you should check:

• Proven track record with a reputable title company that has closed many deals for them (it’s a red flag if they’ve only closed a few).
• Proof of funds to show they can pay cash.
• Better Business Bureau registration and positive reviews.
• References from past sellers in your area.

At Home Buyer Louisiana,  we provide proof of funds and connect you with our title company so you can verify our track record immediately. As one seller in St. Bernard Parish said, “They kept every promise and we closed in under three weeks.” You can read more stories like this on our Testimonials page or ask us for a direct reference in your parish.

Yes. You can sell a house even if one of the owners is incarcerated and at Home Buyer Louisiana we have done this multiple times.

Most correctional facilities have a notary who can facilitate signing the necessary sale documents. The process may take extra coordination with the facility and the title company, but we handle this regularly for sellers. If the owner in jail also holds a mortgage or lien responsibility, those details can be resolved during closing.

Home Buyer Louisiana buys houses throughout Louisiana. Our core markets we concentrate on are Greater New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, the Northshore, and River Parishes.

We are particularly active in Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, St. Bernard Parish, St. Charles Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, Tangipahoa Parish, Ascension Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish, Lafayette Parish and surrounding markets.

If you have a Louisiana property outside one of these core areas, contact us and we can let you know whether it fits our current buying area.

We only buy houses in Louisiana but we also operate a sister company, Home Buyer Mississippi, which buys houses across the state of Mississippi.

If you’re located outside those two states, we may still be able to help. Over the years, we’ve built relationships with reputable property investors in other markets who operate with similar values and standards.

Below are referral markets only, where we can introduce you to an investor we know and trust.

– Atlanta, Georgia
– Denver, Colorado
– Jacksonville, Florida
– Kansas City, Missouri
– Louisville, Kentucky
– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
– San Antonio, Texas
– San Diego, California
– Springfield, Massachusetts
– St Louis, Missouri
– Orlando, Florida
– Tucson, Arizona
– Warner Robins, Georgia
– Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area