By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine

These boats are helping in the cleanup efforts. That's dirty boom hanging off the ship (yellow material). In this region, it only takes about an hour for boom to be spoiled. The bottom of that ship is coated in oil. The Gulf does smell like gas, but I only on the water.

Houma, La., yesterday, Grand Isle, La., today, Gulfport, Miss., tomorrow.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far on my trip to the Gulf:

Most people living here are opposed to the moratorium on deep water drilling because it would worsen economic impact of the spill. “Do you want to see this country completely dependent on foreign energy sources?” asks Bill Boyd, broker-owner of Town & Country Real Estate in Houma, La. “That would be devastating to the Gulf.”

He says that in the Terrebone and Lafourche parishes of Louisiana, oil contributes to about 60 percent of the economy, followed by fishing at 20-25 percent, and to a lesser extent, agriculture (sugarcane) and medical.  Here’s a NYTimes story that outlines how and why deepwater drilling is such a huge economic driver in the Gulf region.

I’ve also found a lot of resentment among locals, especially on Grand Isle, toward BP for what they view as a slow response and cleanup. “I would take 10 Katrinas over this because after a hurricane, it’s done. We can clean up and we can survive. We’re a hands-on community,” says Carolyn Angelette, broker-owner of Century 21 Island Realty in Grand Isle where the beaches are now completely closed.

Angelette is especially concerned about a drop in tourism. “Grand Isle is about the beach, fishing, and fresh seafood. Are we going to get that back? No one knows. Who’s going to come [to Grand Isle] if you can’t fish?” Angelette says.

As far as real estate sales, there’s no major change in Houma as a result of the oil spill, Boyd says. In fact, his sales numbers are right on par with last year at this time. However, on Grand Isle, Angelette says she’s lost several contracts and has not sold a home since the devastation began with the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20. Yet business is still busy for her, as homes on Grand Isle are being rented in droves by BP contractors, cleanup workers, and media employees.

More than anything, people on Grand Isle just want things to go back to the way they were before the spill.  “The oil needs to stop coming out of that pipe,” says Dustin Cheramie, a fisherman and home builder on Grand Isle who’s now a contract cleanup worker for BP. “It’s affecting everything. Our homes, our jobs, our livelihood.”

Chermaie says that he’s trying to finish up the two houses he and his partner Gerold Torres are building so they can rent the properties to BP workers.

My trip to the Gulf has been a whirlwind so far. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting with real estate practitioners from this region and hearing their stories and perspectives. Through my posts on this blog and the story I’m writing for the September issue of REALTOR® Magazine, my goal is to capture their stories and the spirit of the real estate community here.

More to come. More photos, too.

Blog Contributor