Louisiana real estate: buy or sell with a local AXEN agent
Louisiana runs on civil law, not the common law every other state uses. That means different words and a different deal. You sign before a notary, not at a title table. And you get a built-in protection against hidden defects called redhibition, which the purchase agreement will ask you to sign away. Here is what is the same everywhere in Louisiana, and where to search homes.
Louisiana cities we cover
Tap a city for its local guide or the newest homes for sale there.
What every Louisiana buyer and seller should know
Redhibition: Louisiana's hidden-defect rule
Louisiana is not a buyer-beware state by default. The seller warrants you against hidden defects, called redhibitory defects. If a defect makes the home useless, or so inconvenient you would not have bought it, you can undo the sale. If it only lowers the value, you can get part of the price back. No other state gives you this.
A seller who knew owes a lot more
A seller who did not know about the defect only has to fix it. If he cannot, he returns the price plus the costs of the sale. A seller who knew and said nothing owes the price, those costs, damages, and your attorney fees. That difference is worth knowing before you write your complaint letter.
The clock is short on houses
Against a seller who did not know, a redhibition claim on a home dies one year after the property is delivered to you. Against a seller who knew, it is one year from the day you find the defect, and never more than ten years from the sale. Put your complaint in writing early, because notice is part of the law.
The waiver of redhibition: read it before you initial
The state purchase agreement makes you check one box: sale with warranties, or sale as is with a waiver of redhibition. The as-is box gives up redhibition and the warranty of fitness, and it gets copied into the act of sale. A waiver only works if it is clear and actually pointed out to you, and it never protects a seller who claimed a quality he knew the home did not have.
The Property Disclosure Document
A seller of a 1 to 4 unit home has to give you a signed disclosure of known defects no later than when you make your offer. If it comes late, you have 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, to cancel and get your deposit back. It is a disclosure, not a warranty. Fourteen transfer types are exempt, including succession, foreclosure, court order and new construction nobody has lived in.
Closing is an act of sale before a notary
A Louisiana closing is signed before a notary, often an attorney. To be an authentic act it needs the notary, two witnesses and the signature of every party. Lawyers who are notaries can act anywhere in the state, and so can any notary who passed the statewide exam after June 2005. Older notaries who never took it are limited to their own parish. Under the state form you pick the settlement agent or notary, and you have to bring good funds. Personal checks are capped at $2,500 per closing.
Recording at the parish clerk of court
Louisiana has 64 parishes and clerks of court, not counties and recorders. The clerk is the parish recorder of conveyances and mortgages. Your act of sale goes in that parish's conveyance records and the mortgage goes in the mortgage records. Until it is recorded the sale has no effect against other people. Louisiana rewards whoever records first.
Usufruct, forced heirs and community property
A usufruct is the right to use and enjoy property someone else owns, and that other person holds the naked ownership. When a spouse dies leaving children, the survivor usually gets a usufruct over the dead spouse's half of the community until death or remarriage. Children 23 or younger, or permanently disabled, are forced heirs and cannot be cut out. And if a married couple owns the home as community property, both spouses have to sign to sell it, whatever the deed says.
Closing costs in Louisiana: who pays what
Who pays what in Louisiana. Recording fees are set by state law. Most of the rest comes from the state purchase agreement, which means it is negotiable.
| Buyer pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Notary and act-of-sale fee | Set by the notary or title company. You pick the closer and you pay act-of-sale costs under the state form. |
| Title exam and abstracting | You pay by default under the state form. |
| Owner's title insurance | Optional, a one-time premium by policy amount. You pay by default, and your lender will require its own policy. |
| Recording at the clerk of court | Set by state law by page count: $100 for 1 to 5 pages, $200 for 6 to 25. Each parish adds its own fees on top. |
| Survey | No law requires one. Order it during the inspection period. |
| Home inspection | Your cost, inside the negotiated due diligence and inspection period. |
| Termite report | Issued only for an act of sale or a refinance, and only by a state-licensed termite operator or certified technician. |
| Flood elevation certificate | Prepared by a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect. FEMA no longer needs one to price a policy, but it can lower the price or be required for a permit. |
| Property tax and dues proration | Your share from the act-of-sale date forward. |
| Seller pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Clearing title | You pay all costs to deliver merchantable title. |
| Mortgage, conveyance, tax and release certificates | You pay. State law sets it at $20 for the first name and $10 for each added name, everywhere in Louisiana. |
| Mortgage payoff and lien cancellations | Your payoff, plus $50 per cancellation to record, set by state law. |
| Orleans documentary transaction tax | Orleans Parish only. A flat amount, not a percentage. The ordinance names the seller. |
| Prior years' taxes, dues and special assessments | You pay everything bearing against the property before the act of sale. |
| Current-year tax proration | Your share through the act-of-sale date. |
| HOA or condo dues | Prorated through the act of sale. The association sets any transfer or statement fee. |
| Agreed repairs and any home warranty | Only what you agreed to in writing during the inspection period. |
Recording fees are statutory and uniform, but every parish adds its own charges on top, and a credit sale recorded in both the conveyance and mortgage books pays the fee twice. Louisiana taxes are not billed in arrears the way most states are: most parishes bill in November for that same year, and Orleans bills in late December for the year ahead. Ask your AXEN agent what applies in your parish before you sign.
How a Louisiana home purchase runs
From accepted agreement to recorded act of sale, most Louisiana deals run 30 to 45 days. The deadlines in the state form are short and missing one can void the agreement.
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Agreement accepted, deposit delivered. You or your agent deliver the deposit within 72 hours of acceptance.
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Property Disclosure Document confirmed. It should already be in hand. If it arrives after your offer, you have 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, to walk with your deposit. That one is law.
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Due diligence and inspection period. You hire the inspectors: general, termite, survey, flood zone. The length is negotiated, not fixed. Say nothing by the end and you have accepted the home as it is.
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Buyer's request and seller's response. Each side answers in writing within 72 hours. Missing one of these deadlines can void the agreement on its own.
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Loan, appraisal and Closing Disclosure. Your lender's work, roughly 2 to 4 weeks. You have to receive the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you sign. That part is federal law.
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Title exam and parish certificates. The notary or title company orders the abstract plus the mortgage certificate, conveyance certificate and tax research from the parish clerk. Usually 1 to 2 weeks. The seller pays to clear anything found.
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Final walkthrough. You re-inspect within five calendar days before the act of sale.
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Act of sale before the notary. Everyone signs before the notary and two witnesses. Bring good funds, because Louisiana R.S. 22:532 caps personal checks at $2,500. Keys pass at the act of sale unless you agreed otherwise.
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Recording at the parish clerk of court. Same day or the next business day, in the conveyance records of the parish where the home sits. Until it is recorded the sale does not bind anyone else.
Louisiana by region
Louisiana's parishes each keep their own records and their own fee sheet, so the closing changes as you cross a line. Tap a city for homes for sale there.
Greater New Orleans
Three parishes with three different clerks and three different fee sheets. It also holds the state's only documentary transaction tax, which sits in Orleans alone.
Capital region
East Baton Rouge Parish, the state's second land-records market. The parish adds a building fund fee and a remote-access fee on top of the statewide recording fee.
Acadiana and Southwest Louisiana
Lafayette and Calcasieu parishes. Coastal and near-coastal wind and flood exposure drives most of the closing timeline here.
North and Central Louisiana
Inland markets, generally outside the coastal flood zones, running the same civil-law closing as the rest of the state.
AXEN Realty in Louisiana
Every AXEN agent in Louisiana works under a licensed managing broker: Kaisha 'Kai' Lymon (AXEN Realty, LLC, firm license BROK.995718690-CORP). See every state on the state brokers page.
Buying? Start with the home buying guide and get pre-approved.
Selling? Read the home selling guide and get your home value.
Moving here? Read buying in a new state.
Real estate agent? Changing brokerages in Louisiana: you file it (a broker cannot start it); state fee: $35. See how to transfer a Louisiana license, the switching checklist, advice for new agents and how keeping 100% works.
Louisiana real estate questions
What is redhibition?
It is Louisiana's built-in protection against hidden defects. The seller warrants the home against defects you could not see. If the defect is bad enough that you would not have bought the home, you can undo the sale. If it just cuts the value, you can get part of the price back.
What does the "as is" waiver actually give up?
The as-is box on the state purchase agreement waives redhibition and the warranty of fitness, and that waiver gets repeated in the act of sale. You are agreeing you cannot come back at the seller later over a defect you did not find. Ask for the warranty box, or price the risk in.
Is a waiver always enforceable?
No. It has to be clear, unambiguous, in the sale document, and actually brought to your attention. And it never covers a seller who claimed the home had a quality he knew it did not have. That is fraud, not a defect, and no waiver reaches it.
Do I need a lawyer to close?
You need a notary. Many Louisiana closing notaries are attorneys, and an attorney-notary can act in any parish. A non-attorney notary is commissioned by parish. Under the state form you choose the settlement agent or notary, so ask who it is early.
Why does my spouse have to sign if the house is in my name?
If the home is community property, the law requires both spouses to agree before it is sold, mortgaged or leased. The name on the deed does not settle it. A title exam catches this, and it is a common reason closings slip.
What are usufruct and naked ownership?
A usufruct is the right to use property somebody else owns. The owner underneath holds the naked ownership. When a spouse dies leaving children, the survivor usually holds a usufruct over the dead spouse's half and the children hold naked ownership. Selling needs both.
Does Louisiana charge a transfer tax?
Not statewide. The constitution bans any new tax or fee on transferring real estate created after November 30, 2011. New Orleans has a documentary transaction tax that predates that ban, so Orleans Parish is grandfathered in, and the city ordinance puts it on the seller.
What is the homestead exemption worth?
It exempts $7,500 of assessed value on a home you own and live in, from state, parish and special taxes. Residential property is assessed at 10% of fair market value. It does not reach municipal taxes, except in Orleans Parish, and except municipal taxes levied for schools anywhere.