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Condo Troubles Further Squeeze Property Lenders (Those with deposits can't get mortgages)
Wall Street Journal ^ | 8.25.07 | ALEX FRANGOS

Posted on 08/24/2007 7:33:27 PM PDT by BurbankKarl

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To: Flavius
what a wonderful opportunity to buy 30-40c on a dollar

My wife has a friend who put 45,000 down on a San Diego condo that she is now going to lose. I'd be tempted to swoop in and buy out her contract for 40 cents on the dollar, but I fear the project will never get built.

-ccm

21 posted on 08/24/2007 10:07:56 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: ClaireSolt
More than 25,000 condo units under construction or planned in Las Vegas. At least that many were planned and scraped in the last couple of years. At least that many have been completed and sold.

I only know certain parts of stuff.

One is something like a hotondo or condotel. Half the units, more or less, in the project are hotel rooms the others are sold as condos with hotel services. Owners of the condo units use the management services to rent out their unit as a hotel suite, complete with services, while they are absent. Something like the latest takeoff on time share units, but rental revenue minus overhead goes to individual owners. I understand anecdotally that, if the owner is absent, the income may or may not cover the mortgage payment. Profit is another deal.

Several large highrise condo projects have gone belly-up the last couple of years here. Bankruptcy usually leaves depositors at the bottom of the creditors' list.

Can't say how many are speculators, but Las Vegas has no problem building giant casino hotels with 5,000+ rooms and separate residential highrises (towers, condotels).

yitbos

22 posted on 08/24/2007 10:21:45 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: PAR35
One of the real estate rackets I just heard about today involved a condo developer who needed to pre-sell something like 25% of the units in his proposed project in order to secure bank financing.

So he went out and got several wealthy investors in town to "buy" a bunch of units up front, with the understanding that they'd be bought back once the financing package was finalized.

I'm thinking of putting in a bid on one of these units for about 50% of the listed prices.

23 posted on 08/24/2007 11:23:34 PM PDT by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: ClaireSolt

Atypical construction loan requires 20% down. Developers require the deposits to cover this. Depending on the size of the developer depends on the request deposit. I have heard anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.

Condos and Townhomes are niche market properties. Keeping from over saturation is important on those type of properties. If developers overbuilt then it is the cities fault for allowing to many projects of that type to occur. At least around here in DFW the cities will monitor rental properties and condo/townhome percentages to help decide on project approvals.


24 posted on 08/24/2007 11:41:08 PM PDT by neb52
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To: goodnesswins

“WHAT? It does NOT take 2-3 years to build a Condo....this is pure bull.....”

It sure does when the condo is a high rise.


25 posted on 08/24/2007 11:47:18 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: goodnesswins

Just how long do you think it takes to put up a 50-story building? Many of these south Florida condos are high-rises. My building in downtown Chicago took five years from pre-sale to occupancy.


26 posted on 08/25/2007 12:04:55 AM PDT by rebel_yell2 (iI)
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To: BurbankKarl

We are not losing condos, we are gaining apartments. ;-)


27 posted on 08/25/2007 12:48:46 AM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free
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To: BurbankKarl

I remember this happening years ago on Perdido Key, in Florida. The condos that had been abandoned by their builders, were picked up after that dive, and finished a couple of years later. As of just a couple of years ago, they were selling for about 5 times what folks paid for them for back then. Not too bad an investment, I must say. I just wish we could have afforded one back then!


28 posted on 08/25/2007 1:04:02 AM PDT by SuziQ
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To: BurbankKarl
Miami has 25000 condos being built

I can tell you first hand that many of these complexes are half occupancy and far, far less in many cases.

They are building a new condo complex on the corner of 441 and Broward Blvd with units from 250K up. This is right next to one of the worst neighborhoods in SoFlo North of Miami. 250K is what an entire neighborhood yields here in a year of welfare checks. We regularly find spent bullets and casings in the area (I have to go there from time to time.)

I can't even imagine what the builders were thinking when they decided to construct them.

29 posted on 08/25/2007 4:10:18 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Caipirabob

A few months ago, I heard that 15,000 French Jews had moved to Miami to get away from Muslim antisemitism.They were working to relax refugee limits. They can buy the condos. Lots of rich Venezuelans are in Miami, too, but my daughter says they already had their apartments, because they wisely keep their money in the US.


30 posted on 08/25/2007 5:20:59 AM PDT by ClaireSolt (Have you have gotten mixed up in a mish-masher?)
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To: rebel_yell2; dalereed

Yes, you’re correct.....I forgot about CONDO HIGHRISES.....yech.....like living in an apartment.


31 posted on 08/25/2007 7:08:03 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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To: SuziQ

There were a whole lot of condos that were salvaged after the Northridge Earthquake, jacked up, added some more wood, and paint....and were put on the market. They were going for $99,000 in Sherman Oaks.....and now for $400k ten years later.

I probably could have bought one, but my dad owned one and saw how much destruction occured. The water main pouring through the living room ceiling was the kicker....


32 posted on 08/25/2007 12:03:27 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: BurbankKarl
The water main pouring through the living room ceiling was the kicker....

LOL! I can see how that would be a real deal breaker!

33 posted on 08/25/2007 3:15:53 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: Caipirabob
The builder is giving free flack jackets each unit. If the building is successfully look for more to be built. The land is relatively cheep.Back before the late sixtys this was a white neghbourhood.
34 posted on 08/26/2007 4:04:08 AM PDT by G-Man 1
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To: BurbankKarl
My condo is in a prime location, so I'm not worried the new building next to mine won't be occupied. For some people, its perfect. Others may prefer a single family home.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

35 posted on 08/26/2007 4:08:25 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goodnesswins
Mine is just a two story condo. I have to go up only one floor and I love having a deck. There's no elevator but I like the exercise that goes with climbing up and down the stairs every day.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

36 posted on 08/26/2007 4:14:23 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: G-Man 1
The builder is giving free flack jackets each unit.

They're going to need them...

37 posted on 08/26/2007 5:04:15 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: goldstategop

I’m on my 4th one of those.....LOL. And, yes, I get LOTS of exercise on our stairs.


38 posted on 08/26/2007 10:55:39 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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To: goodnesswins

All of us rats that live in “beige boxes in the sky” are going to forgive you for that inhospitable remark. We kind of like where we live. No grass to mow, no trees to fall on our power supplies. Walk to work. Hmm. Now I remember why I live in one.


39 posted on 08/27/2007 11:56:59 PM PDT by rebel_yell2
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To: rebel_yell2

Sorry....I’m from the COUNTRY.....transitioning to 2 story condo’s has been hard enough.....I lived like a “rat” on the 8th floor of a “beige box in the sky” in Vancouver, BC for a year......walking everywhere was great, but as for everything else.....NO THANKS. I need some DIRT!


40 posted on 08/28/2007 10:51:55 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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