Sunday, April 30, 2006

No Risk of Paying Too Much for a Condo?


Condo ad in the Washington Post Express for the Tuscany Condos
Posted by David at 3:21 AM

16 comments:

  1. MariniteApril 30, 2006 2:25 AM

    caveat emptor

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 8:10 AM

    This would not protect you from speculators who bought at the earliest, lowest pricing. But it is a smart marketing technique.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 8:25 AM

    I think it would only apply to what the builder is pricing units at. Fairly easy to establish, unless they are completely sold out.

    I am currently trying to determine the number of units that have come back (cancelled) to a builder and at what price they are being sold. Not in the mls - so I have my agent working on it.

    I am trying to determine whether to close on a particular condo next month.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rob DawgApril 30, 2006 9:24 AM

    Standard clearing price auction, just like treasuries. The highest price necessary to move all inventory. Get it? A close out auction, they are actually desperate to get these pigs sold and become someone elses problem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 9:38 AM

    I am not getting that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 10:21 AM

    bad deal..price is never known at any point perfectly anyways...i say BullSHit.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 11:55 AM

    That place is in the worst neighborhood in Alexandria. I'm actually surprised they're still starting in the 300s. I don't know why anyone would want to live there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 1:07 PM

    Hey Anon 8:55, what do you think of the Royalton - across from the new Patent & Trade offices. King ST. metro. Whole Foods on 1st floor? Deal or no deal?

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 2:27 PM

    Isn't that place sold out?

    It seems to be a decent location; relatively nice condos by the metro and Old Town, but one thing I've noticed about the Carlyle area is it feels dead after the offices clear out. I'm not sure if that's going to change with the new buildings planned. Even so, I don't think anyone can go wrong with the location. I was stuck in traffic there at 5:00 once and just couldn't believe the horrible congestion. At the time, I was thinking how many people wished they were sitting on a couch in one of those condos.

    Also, there's very little street retail coming in as far as I know. That's one thing they're going to try to do differently with the Braddock Metro small area plan and all the new development coming in there. People in the Carlyle/West Old town area have been complaining for years that they've failed to create an urban community like Ballston or Courthouse. Something they want to change at Braddock.

    One thing I remember while watching construction of the Royalton was being surprised they were using wood framing. Kind of disappointed me. I guess that's because it's only 4 stories.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 3:37 PM

    Thanks anon. Four units have come back available, I believe. I have a friend who got in very early. The development sold out before they even dented the waiting list, but prices only went up 100k because they sold so fast.

    I am trying to decide whether to buy. I like Old Town alot, but, obviously, don't want to overpay.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 8:42 PM

    If I were to purchase a unit at this development based on this "gaurantee" I'd make sure I read the details very carefully. What determines value? What the builder sells a unit for (this method is useless as soon as the units all sell out), or what a similar unit most recently sells for? Also, what is there is no similar unit - how do you arrive at value then? Too many holes here - this guarantee is worthless, and probably worded to basically release the developer from any liability

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 10:13 PM

    This is an area I used to deliver pizzas in about twenty years ago (and I go throught the general area regularly). It's certainly not what I'd call a charming area, but I wouldn't call it the worst one of the worst neighborhoods of Alexandria. On the other hand, It's about as far from Old Town as you can get and still be in Alexandria. For those of you familiar with the area, it's even west (south west) of Landmark shopping center, near COMPUSA. A couple hundred more yards you'd be in Annandale.

    Take the "close to Old Town, Metro" with a grain of salt. It is very close to I-395 though.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 10:19 PM

    One other thing (I'm the anonymous ex-pizza delivery person above): The protection is only until the construction is completed. If they have a bunch of unsold condos when construction is completed, they can still lower the base price after the completion of construction all they want, and you're just as stuck.

    There's nothing sneaky or dishonest about this; it's just a very limited amount of protection.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousApril 30, 2006 10:37 PM

    I just can't stand that Landmark area. When I first moved here, I lived in Mark Center up Beauregard, but I felt that was even better than the convoluted mess of ugly mid to late century apartment buildings, strip malls, and traffic lights that is southwest Alexandria.

    I just think that whole area needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch, otherwise, it will deteriorate with time.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousMay 01, 2006 9:03 AM

    "Should the base price value change before construction is completed we'll give you the lower price at closing"

    In other words we are trying to rip you off as much as we can get away with.

    At least Bozzuto is acknolowging a bubble burst. They also admit that the buyer is paying too much. Good find!

    ReplyDelete
  16. DavidMay 01, 2006 9:10 AM

    wvu_84,

    Amen to that. Exactly.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)