Pre-construction

[buzzer]

Firts post here.

I'm wanting opinions if you think buying pre-construction condos in Florida is still lucrative or not. If so, what areas? I have done several and done well, but I'm not so "bullish" anymore. How about the Tampa area...too late to jump in there?

[Dan Auito]

Hey Buzz, nice to have you with us first off. I saw the condo craze coming on years ago in Tampa, St.Pete, Clearwater your right in taking caution. If anything I would take a closer look at Trumps new place downtown. He always fills them and they command a premium due to the prestige of the name brand.
Have you investigated Trumps place yet?

[buzzer]

Dan, thanks for the reply. I know about the Trump place, but haven't looked at at any Tampa location yet. A friend is going to show me a place near it that has had a couple of contracts fall out. I did some surfing, trying to find some info/opinions...ran into your website via some comments of yours on another forum. The pace of this run-up in condo prices had been great, but I don't want to get caught trying too hard to dump one when everyone else is doing the same. Your thoughts? You still think the Trump place has plenty of upside still?

John

[Dan Auito]

Sure do! Buzz, the condo market in my opinion is going to be pretty stable in built up markets. The reason is, lets use Pinellas county, it is totally built out, housing prices are beginning to top out and many prospective home buyers are looking at condos as a cheaper alternative to the traditional single family home.

Retiring boomers are buying 25% of today's housing stock as second homes and they want low maintenance so the condos fit the bill, also regarding the Donald's place, everything he owns in New chork is sold out, rented up or leased out!

The only thing the Donald has had problems with is his casino and that represents 1% of his holdings.

I think people will want in on Trumps only Tampa Trophy and that also takes into consideration the people from all around the country that he will attract to the Tampa offer, it is worth investigating further is all I am suggesting!

[buzzer]

Thanks again. I thought Trumps place was sold out though. I'll let you know how I feel after I check out a few condo's over the next day or two.
John

[buzzer]

OK, for anyone who is interested, this is what I found out. I thought perhaps I was too late to enter the market in Tampa, but ended up with a purchase.

First about the Trump place. It is sold out. They took reservations, filled them, and now are making everyone go to contract at 20% down, no assign-ability. If you want, you can be put on a list to take any contracts that don't go through. You have to put up 100K (refundable) to get on that list!

I did my research. I looked at all condo listings, active, sold, original prices etc in the downtown area and charted all the info I was interested in. I read a number of articles on what is going on in the entire area. I determined that there is good upward potential in this market (subject to change with major economic changes of course). I didn't find though much for sale that I thought would be great for a prepurchase deal that I will flip after completion.

I liked the Towers at Channelside and found a few good units were available at about last years price though. They have about 10 units left. They are mostly done taking everyone to contract with 10% down, nonassignable. You are not locked in on price until you go to contract and they raised everyone 10% due to construction cost (they say). So several units are available at the same price that people signed up for a year ago. Also, they did raise price on several others that fell out of contract but are hot items. It shocked me that more people wanted city views than water...not that it was overwhelming though.
Anyway, they will raise price 10% very shortly as they almost have the funds required by the bank to start digging. The complex in my opinion has almost everything going for it and except for not having the name, it is a much better place than the Trump Tower in most ways.

Two penthouses became available, and I got one. I'm paying about $446 sq/ft. I'm pretty sure that it will go up enough to make me a good profit without holding on to it and the penthouses go fast so I feel good about it. I found that the units under 500k and the one's say 900k plus go faster than the one's in between.

I could always be wrong and I'm not worried about any critics, but hopefully someone will get something out of my abbreviated description of what I did and how I made the decision. I spent about 10hrs total analyzing, asking questions and signing my name over about 3 days. I have done this before and so I have some experience...but the Tampa market was new to me. I think there are many areas in Florida that are good for this right now and I'm looking for another one. It's funny how condo's are such the rage compared to the stink they got in the past.

[Dan Auito]

Buzzer, you certainly have done your homework and I believe you will indeed come out on top for all the trouble. I wonder if you could have gotten a better deal on a Trump place if you had known about it in the planning stages?

About that Tampa research of yours, I would be very interested in getting a set of notes on that from you, if you would be so inclined?

Please private message me and we can talk more about that research of yours, that is something that in many cases you just can't buy.

Do keep everyone here up to date on your findings as you progress. Thanks for these insights, they really get my attention! Dan

[buzzer]

Dan, I have written in this forum hoping to share info. I will share my thoughts openly at this point, hoping to learn from others in exchange. My notes are simple and not worth sending to you. I did a search on all types of articles on what is going on with the Tampa area and what condo places are goiing up to get a feel for the area and learn what the market sentiment is. I got on the MLS and looked at what units sold for and are listed at. I grouped them different ways and made some comparrisons. I looked at what is happening in each building as well as comparing them to other similar and dis-similar buildings/units. I was amazed at the people flocking to Trump Tower.
When I went looking, I didn't think I would buy anything. When the penthouse came up at Channelside, I knew that is was much less sq/ft than what others were selling for, and it was a better unit/location. I put up 10% on a 1.3mil unit that I think is worth 1.5 right now. It is two years out and will go up 10% this month (on paper). All the hard data I used pointed to a smart deal, but the feel I got from talking to various people and just looking around helped me buy with no fear. I still feel very good about it.
Do I think I would have done better with the Trump Tower if I got in earlier...maybe, but they want 20% down. I'm leveraging much better at 10%.
I'm not going to buy this guy's book, but look at this website I just ran into.
http://www.milliondollarrealestatedeals.com/
John

[buzzer]

Now that I am more familiar with Downtown Tampa and see that thousands of living units are going up....guess I can't help but think that there will be a need for more commercial space to service all the people living there soon. Perhaps it's time to buy now knowing that $$/sq ft will have to go up in that area. The downtown units are not cheap and will be occupied by people with money to burn on service.

[optionfl]

i never done it and know nothing about pre-construction. but i'm getting prepare and ready. u may missed the boat, good news, there's another boat on it way. i like this guy chris anderson ph.d out of niceville, fl . you might want to check out his website getpreconstructiondeals.com be prepare, and get ready.