First-time buyers · Greater New Orleans

Your first home can be brand new.

Most first-time buyers think their only option is somebody else's old house. It is not. You can build — a house, or a duplex that helps pay for itself — with the same 3.5% down.

Two ways to start

1. Build a house

If you want a single home for yourself and your family, we build that. New construction, built to today's code and today's wind ratings, on your lot or on a lot we find for you. No 1970s wiring, no roof with four years left on it, no surprise behind the drywall.

2. Build a duplex and live in one side

Same 3.5% down, same owner-occupied loan, but the building has two doors. You live in one. Your tenant lives in the other, and their rent goes against your mortgage every month. It is the same first purchase — it just comes with an income.

A lot of people who could afford a house choose the duplex once they see the numbers. Some do the opposite. Both are right, depending on what you want your life to look like. See how house hacking actually works.

"I thought building was only for people with money"

That is the belief that keeps most first-time buyers out of new construction, and it is wrong. The loan programs first-time buyers already use work on new builds:

• FHA — 3.5% down. The most common first-time buyer path. Works on a house and on a two-unit building.
• VA — $0 down. If you served, you may not need a down payment at all.
• Conventional — if your credit and savings are strong, there are low-down-payment conventional options too. Your lender will tell you which is cheaper for you.

What we handle

• Finding the lot. Do not have one? We find and secure buildable land, and we check the zoning before you commit.
• Plans and permits. Whichever city or parish your lot falls under.
• Survey and the build. Turn-key. You are not managing subcontractors.
• The timeline. You will know what happens next at every step, in plain language, in English or Spanish.

The honest part

Building is not instant. A resale closes in 30 to 45 days; a build takes months, and you need somewhere to live in the meantime. Costs can move. Permits can take longer in one jurisdiction than another. And if you build a duplex, you are going to be a landlord — a tenant on the other side of the wall, a lease, repairs, and the occasional bad month.

We would rather you hear that from us now than learn it later. If after hearing it you still want to build, you are the kind of client we do our best work for.

Start with a conversation, not a contract

Bring what you have — a rough budget, an area you like, a pre-approval if you have one, or none of that. We will walk your numbers with you, tell you honestly whether a house or a duplex fits you better, and tell you if the answer is "not yet." Booking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

(504) 407-3199 · [email protected]

Where we build