NEW ORLEANS — A Mid-City house is on the market, and the owner claims it's eradicated several threats houses usually face through design.
Brian Opert designed and built the three bed, two bath house in 2008. You can feel the difference.
“You knock on the wall you go, 'Oo this hurt my knuckles.' Yeah, it’s solid concrete," Opert said.
The entire home is made out of precast concrete that looks like wood.
“All of these were poured in a factory that we built in the East, and then trucked here and erected with a crane," Opert said.
Since it was built, Opert said he's had to do little maintenance.
“If I were a buyer, I would move in here and paint the inside. Maybe paint the outside because you’re going to get another 20 years, or maybe not. Make the grass pretty. That’s it. There’s nothing else that needs to be done," Opert said.
If that's not a selling point, there are other perks Realtor Kim Kantrow lists.
"...resists hurricanes; doesn’t care about big winds; flooding doesn’t matter; no fire, no rodents, no termites; and bullets will bounce off the concrete exterior walls. With another plus – it’s pretty much sound-proof too!" the listing said.
Opert said Hurricane Ida knocked down trees on the property, but the house wasn't damaged. He said the house is designed to not take on water.
“It’s a reverse swimming pool. Swimming pool keeps the water in, this keeps the water out," Opert said.
There's no wood in the home, so termites won't like it. Even the doors and trim are made out of MDF.
“There’s no wood anywhere. All of this is MDF. There’s no nuts and nut screws. All of this is glued," Opert said.
Plus, you don't have to worry about mold.
“The inside is covered with paperless sheetrock. Paperless because it doesn’t get mold," Opert said.
Opert said the home is peaceful and soundproof.
In January, there was a shootout a half mile away. The NOPD said three people died and they found 70 bullet casings.
Opert said it's possible a bullet could come through the windows, but they would bounce off the home's walls.
“No bullet is going to come through this house," Opert said.
The 1,318 sq. ft. home is listed at $360,000.
“Our pitch was this is not luxury, this is safety," Opert said.
Kantrow called it a unique buy.
“I was a little skeptical, but it checks a lot of the boxes and makes homeownership in New Orleans possible," Kantrow said.
Opert said he's leaving New Orleans and moving to Italy to be with family.
“We’re out of control and my heart is broken, and I’m going to be 80 this year so I’m no longer investing my time in this," Opert said.
Opert built two other homes like it in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Those are occupied.
If you want to check out 2930 Banks Street, there's an open house on Sunday between 1 to 3 p.m.