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Florida Taking Its Toll (Brothers) On Daughter's Condo (sign of the housing apocalypse?)
CNBC ^ | 11 FEB 2008 | Diana Olick

Posted on 02/11/2008 8:02:52 AM PST by 2banana

Florida Taking Its Toll (Brothers) On Daughter's Condo

You just can’t make this stuff up. Apparently even a big builder’s daughter can’t seem to keep faith in the Florida housing market. According to an SEC filing, Wendy Topkis, daughter of Toll Brothers co-founder and Vice-Chairman Bruce Toll, is walking away from a Florida condo, just like everyone else. A Toll Bros. condo!! The Palm Beach Post says it best: Et Tu Wendy?

According to the home builder’s proxy statement:

Prior to fiscal 2007, the Company entered into an agreement of sale to build and sell a condominium to Wendy Topkis, Bruce E. Toll’s daughter, and her husband for a purchase price of $2,468,075. In January 2008, the buyers informed the Company that they did not intend to make settlement on the condominium. The Company intends to pursue its rights under the agreement of sale.

Does that mean they’ll sue darling daughter? The company’s general counsel says they are pursuing normal procedures.

Daddy is quoted as saying she just changed her mind because she had another child and the place would be too small, but I’m guessing the 13 percent drop in Florida prices was screaming at her a little louder than the baby. So Wendy just adds to the company’s 61 percent cancellation rate in the Sunshine State.

Now, if Wendy was required to put down the same 7 percent deposit on the new home as everybody else, then she could be out $172,765. Of course, daddy made about seven million dollars last year, so maybe he could help out, or perhaps he wants her to learn about fiscal responsibility the hard way. None of my business of course; just family business…or lack thereof.

And check out the video on my discussion about home ownership, with Richard Gaylord, National Association of Realtors president.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bubble; condo; housing
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This is really too funny. How bad the housing bubble was and how bad it is going to get...
1 posted on 02/11/2008 8:02:58 AM PST by 2banana
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To: 2banana

$2.4M?????

Please, someone hand me a tissue. I can’t stop weeping over their plight. Maybe we should hold a bake sale to help them.


2 posted on 02/11/2008 8:06:39 AM PST by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: 2banana

2.4 million for a condo? OUCH.


3 posted on 02/11/2008 8:08:58 AM PST by Pikachu_Dad
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To: AppyPappy
I cannot get worked up over Real Estate Screw-Ups of the Rich and Famous...
4 posted on 02/11/2008 8:09:33 AM PST by gridlock (A proud McCain supporter since February 7, 2008)
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To: 2banana

bttt


5 posted on 02/11/2008 8:11:54 AM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: 2banana
" So Wendy just adds to the company’s 61 percent cancellation rate in the Sunshine State."

The real story.

6 posted on 02/11/2008 8:16:12 AM PST by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: 2banana
This is really too funny. How bad the housing bubble was and how bad it is going to get...

Most of the home builders are in the green so far this morning, including Toll Brothers, up 1.75%.

7 posted on 02/11/2008 8:24:34 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Moonman62
Most of the home builders are in the green so far this morning, including Toll Brothers, up 1.75%.

From a high of almost $60 in July of 2005 to todays share price of about $21. Before this is over - several major homebuilders will be bankrupt.

8 posted on 02/11/2008 8:31:23 AM PST by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: AppyPappy

Well it was too small. Poor thing.


9 posted on 02/11/2008 8:33:45 AM PST by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: 2banana

But the news about the condo came out today. Nobody cares. Home builder shares have been flying the past month. I’d never bet the government when it’s on the warpath, and that includes the Fed lowing interest rates.


10 posted on 02/11/2008 8:34:32 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: 2banana

the builders are going to have to rethink their prices very soon.....

Buy cheap....buy now (or soon anyway).


11 posted on 02/11/2008 8:35:21 AM PST by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: Moonman62
I'd never bet against the government...
12 posted on 02/11/2008 8:36:17 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Vaquero
''When the blook is running in the streets, I buy.'' -- afon Rothschild

Too soon. Keep your powder dry. By Inauguration Day, there'll be some screaming bargains in the high-profile mkts.

13 posted on 02/11/2008 8:38:39 AM PST by SAJ
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To: CaptainK

How small can a 2 million dollar conda be??????


14 posted on 02/11/2008 8:38:41 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: Vaquero; SAJ
Er, ''blood'[, not ''blook'', sorry.

Or, perhaps, in this case ''build''.

;^)

15 posted on 02/11/2008 8:40:36 AM PST by SAJ
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To: freekitty
How small can a 2 million dollar conda be??????

Dahling, if you need it explained, you just won't understand it...

I am being sarcastic (I hope you got it)...but in the lifestyles of the rich and near famous, a second child would (could) mean a second nanny (so a second nanny suite would be needed...ie, another bedroom w/ at least a 3/4 bath attached...I mean can you really hire good help if they have to share a privy?)

16 posted on 02/11/2008 8:46:01 AM PST by PennsylvaniaMom (I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them. Jane Austen.)
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To: 2banana

Folks, even folks in the “know” have no clue how big of a mess they have created.. they continue to be in denial about it.

This thing is bigger than ANYONE is telling you folks.... it will be measured in TRILLIONS when its all done, and some big houshold names will not survive it.

“rebate” checks will not stop this correction, interest rate cuts will not stop it... its going to get very very ugly long before it gets better.


17 posted on 02/11/2008 8:47:31 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: PennsylvaniaMom

Now there is always a solution. Give the nannies bunk beds. :)


18 posted on 02/11/2008 8:57:31 AM PST by presently no screen name
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To: HamiltonJay

Granted but in this situation - I hardly think this princess is waiting by her mailbox for her rebate check.


19 posted on 02/11/2008 8:58:53 AM PST by presently no screen name
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To: presently no screen name

Oh, no doubt this particular situation is nothing more than a person with means saying, nope I’ll eat the legal losses of the back out, over the 250+k I’m going to lose if I close this deal.


20 posted on 02/11/2008 9:04:29 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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