By Andrew Rodriguez and Tony Bertucci, Bertucci Investment Group
If you are a tired landlord in New Orleans and you are ready to sell your rental property, the 2026 version of this decision is different than it was three years ago. Orleans Parish has spent the last two years tightening short-term rental permits, insurance carriers keep leaving the market, and the tenant-transfer mechanics in Louisiana are not what most out-of-state guides describe. We are a local cash home buyer that closes on rentals every month, tenants in place or vacant, STR-permitted or not. This guide is for the New Orleans landlord who is done and wants a real number and a closing date.
We are Bertucci Investment Group. We buy rental houses, doubles, triplexes, and quads for cash across Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, and the Northshore. Text or call us at (504) 920-4747 and we will set up a walk-through this week.
Why New Orleans landlords are selling their rentals in 2026
Long-term rental owners in Mid-City, Gentilly, Broadmoor, Uptown doubles, and 7th Ward singles. STR owners in Marigny, Bywater, Treme, and the Bayou St. John edge caught by the permit rewrites. Inherited rentals nobody in the family wanted in the first place. The tired-landlord pattern in New Orleans in 2026 is real and it has a few specific drivers.
- Orleans STR permit crackdown. The city rewrote short-term rental rules again, restricting non-owner-occupied STRs across most of the parish and imposing an operator-permit lottery in the corridors that still allow it. Marigny, Bywater, Treme, and 7th Ward STR operators who bought a property specifically to run it as a short-term rental have watched the numbers evaporate. Converting back to a long-term lease at 2026 rents rarely covers the mortgage they underwrote.
- Insurance renewals that keep climbing. Homeowners, wind, and flood renewals on an Uptown or Gentilly rental have crossed thresholds nobody underwrote when they bought. Even the LA Citizens depopulation carriers are pricing rentals hard. If your carry is up $6,000 to $12,000 a year over three renewals, the cap rate is not what you signed up for.
- Section 8 friction and turnover cost. Long-term Section 8 tenants who have been in the unit for years, HANO inspection cycles that fail the property until you replace flooring, plumbing under the slab that failed at year 22, HVAC on borrowed time. A gut turnover on a 1950s Gentilly rental is a real number. Cash sale in current condition skips it.
- Inherited rentals with an out-of-state heir group. A parent owned three Mid-City doubles as their retirement plan, and now the succession is open and the heirs live in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Nobody wants to remote-landlord Orleans Parish rentals from a different time zone.
- Sheriff-sale or tax-sale timeline on the rental. Orleans Parish tax adjudication or a mortgage foreclosure calendar is real, and you want out with something in your pocket instead of watching it get taken. We move fast when the timeline is real.
- Deferred maintenance no one is going to finance. Roof past its life, galvanized supply lines, active water intrusion, old aluminum wiring, foundation movement on a pier-and-beam Uptown double. A financed buyer’s inspection response is going to kill the deal or shred the price. A cash offer prices the condition once and closes.
Can I sell my New Orleans rental with tenants still in place?
Yes. Occupied Orleans Parish rentals are a normal part of our buy box. Louisiana law lets a landlord sell during a lease. The lease travels with the property under Louisiana Civil Code article 2712, which means the buyer steps into the landlord’s shoes for the remainder of the lease term. Neither the tenant’s occupancy nor their existing lease has to end for the sale to close. You do not need to give notice you are selling, and you do not need to deliver the property vacant.
Month-to-month tenants can stay in place at closing, be terminated on the standard Louisiana 10-day notice, or be transitioned with a cash-for-keys arrangement, depending on what makes sense. For fixed-term leases, we honor the remaining term. For Section 8 tenants, we can either continue the HAP contract or coordinate a transition with HANO. On the walk-through we will tell you which path we are taking on your specific property so there are no surprises at close.
Selling an Orleans STR after the permit crackdown
If you bought a Marigny, Bywater, Treme, or 7th Ward property to run as a short-term rental and the current STR rules made the numbers unworkable, you are not alone. A lot of STR operators from the 2018 to 2022 buying wave are unwinding right now. Two paths matter.
If your STR permit is still valid. The permit itself is not typically transferable to a buyer under current rules, which means most retail buyers will not underwrite based on continued STR income. That collapses your buyer pool. A cash buyer prices the property on its fundamentals (condition, long-term rent, comps) instead of on lost STR revenue and closes. You keep the operational revenue up to the day of close.
If your STR permit lapsed, was denied, or was revoked. Same result on the offer side. We buy the property in current condition, whether it is still furnished as an STR or partly reset for a long-term tenant. Do not throw money at “converting back” before selling. Let us look at it as-is.
How the security deposit transfers at closing
Under Louisiana law and the Louisiana Landlord and Tenant Act, tenant security deposits transfer to the buyer at closing as a credit against the purchase price. On the settlement statement you will see a line item passing the deposit balance to the new owner. The new owner takes on the deposit-return obligation for that tenant. You do not have to return deposits and then ask the buyer to re-collect. This is standard on every Louisiana closing on an occupied property.
How fast can we actually close on a New Orleans rental?
Clean-title Orleans Parish rental, we can close in about two to three weeks once title comes back from the abstractor. If the title is more complicated (an open succession, a tax lien, a judgment lien, a co-owner out of state), we close when the paperwork is ready. The value of a cash sale is never speed alone. It is certainty on a date you pick. Retail listing on an occupied rental typically runs 90 to 180 days, and financed buyers on rentals with real deferred maintenance often lose their loan at inspection or appraisal. Our version is one walk-through, one offer, one closing.
What tired landlords get at closing
Whatever is left after any liens and payoffs come out of the sale proceeds. Mortgage, Orleans Parish tax arrears, code fines, hospital or judgment liens if applicable. Security deposit credit to the buyer as described above. No agent commissions, no repair credits, no months of carry while the house sits on the market with an active lease and a monthly HANO inspection cycle. If the equity is thin, we tell you straight, nobody wants to burn your time with an offer that is not real. If the numbers work, we hand you a purchase agreement and a closing date.
Want to see what a real cash offer on your New Orleans rental looks like? Start on our New Orleans cash-buyer page or call or text (504) 920-4747. We will set up a walk-through this week, tenants in place or not, and you decide whether the number works.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell my New Orleans rental with tenants still in place?
Yes. Louisiana Civil Code article 2712 lets the lease travel with the property, so the buyer steps into the landlord’s shoes for the remainder of the lease. Month-to-month tenants can stay, be terminated on 10 days’ notice, or transitioned with cash-for-keys. Fixed-term leases are honored through their remaining term. Section 8 tenants can continue on the HAP contract or transition with HANO coordination. We do not require you to deliver the property vacant.
What does the Orleans STR permit crackdown mean for my rental?
Recent rewrites restricted non-owner-occupied short-term rentals across most of Orleans Parish and moved corridors that still allow STRs into an operator-permit lottery. Because the permit itself is not typically transferable to a buyer, retail buyers underwriting based on continued STR income have largely disappeared. A local cash buyer prices the property on its long-term fundamentals and closes, whether the STR permit is still valid, lapsed, denied, or revoked.
Do I have to give my tenant notice before I sell?
No. Under Louisiana law you do not owe the tenant advance notice that you are selling the property. Their lease travels with the property to the new owner. The buyer takes on the landlord-side obligations on the day of close. We tell you what our post-closing plan for the tenant is on the walk-through so you are not blindsided at close.
How does the security deposit transfer at closing?
The tenant’s security deposit transfers to the buyer at closing as a line item credit on the settlement statement. You do not have to refund the deposit to the tenant and then have the buyer re-collect it. The new owner takes on the return obligation under the Louisiana Landlord and Tenant Act. This is the standard mechanic on every Louisiana closing on an occupied rental.
Will you buy a Marigny or Bywater STR that lost its permit?
Yes. Marigny, Bywater, Treme, 7th Ward, and Bayou St. John STR properties that lost their permit, had it denied, or watched it lapse are a normal part of our buy box in 2026. Do not throw money at “converting back” before selling. We look at it as it stands, price it honestly, and close on the calendar that works for you.
Do you buy Orleans Parish rentals in any condition?
Yes. Long-term deferred maintenance on 1950s Gentilly slab houses, Uptown pier-and-beam doubles with foundation movement, Mid-City creole cottages with galvanized supply lines, active water intrusion, roof past its life, old aluminum wiring, none of it disqualifies the property from a cash offer. We price the condition into the offer once and close.
Ready for an actual number on your New Orleans rental? Call or text (504) 920-4747, or start with our New Orleans cash offer page. Also useful: our Orleans Parish cash-buyer page and Uptown New Orleans page if the rental is in that pocket.