patrick.net

Condo prices are irrelevant unless you know what the monthly fee is.

Well at 1/6th the price, it's most likely going to be a decent value regardless. There won't be a huge number of unoccupied places, taxes will be minimal. Sounds interesting.

dude the Condos in South Florida were the Canary in the Coal mine, as a South Floridian, that was the hardest thing for me to swallow that they were getting as much as 250K for those little Senior Citizen warehouse cubbyholes that typically sold for 25-35K for the last 30 years.

And if you ever saw one, you would know why.

It's a 11X15 br, next to a 13 X 15 Liiving room with a 3X7 hall next to a 7X7 kitchen at the entrance.

They definitely don't appear huge, but a place at that price is pretty much a bargain anywhere. I personally don't mind small, as long as it's not 70's decor, appliances, flooring + small.

What's the catch?

They could give them away, and the HOA could still be too high.... Might be a good deal, But price alone is not enough. Area, how far from services, and surrounding area, and oh lets see, Property Taxes, and other items.

thunderlips11 says

Tenouncetrout says

dude the Condos in South Florida were the Canary in the Coal mine, as a South Floridian, that was the hardest thing for me to swallow that they were getting as much as 250K for those little Senior Citizen warehouse cubbyholes that typically sold for 25-35K for the last 30 years.

10oz., what are Miami prices looking like these days? Near the water, near downtown? I was there about a year or so ago, prices were dropping like a stone.

location location location...

The right building with the right mojo in the right location, you could spend a million on a closet.
The rest of those reworked buildings into half Assed condos, in the Art district, is still in the thick of "Over town".

Well I wouldn't give you a dollar for one, even if I had a million of them.

There's a million unlit windows in the Miami skyline these days, don't belive the hype. All of the cool buildings that says, "Yeah, that place is cool" are all full, the rest are ghost ships in the night.

In general, who controls the HOA fees? Don't all the owners get together and either hire an outside company, or do it themselves? Or do the builders hold onto this as eternal rent control?

Homeowners are elected (by proxy) as board of directors of the HOA. An active BOD would be able to make important decisions of the HOA, including fees. The HOA manages the day to day affair but the BOD have the final say. If it works perfectly, the HOA works for the BOD who works on behalf of the homeowners.

Of course there are things on the HOA bible like renting that even the BOD will stuggle with. I'm not sure if the BOD can do anything about the HOA bible.

I suggest before complaining about the fees, at least review the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statement and understand why the fees are the way they are? I mean, they do break down expenses by line items like gardening, security, utilities, etc. and what the reserve amounts are for.

HOA corporations are set up by developers and is frequently controlled by the developers, builders, and even the vendors of the HOA corporation, such as the HOA management company and HOA attorneys. The HOA homeowners and even the board members themselves may have very little control over the monster they willing agreed to buy into. HOA vendors are very aggressive in making sure the HOA homeowners and board members do not rock there gravy train. HOA are setup under the false pretense that it will keep the the area as "nice" as when you purchased your house, to keep the neighborhood going to hell, but in reality they are a piggy bank for who ever set them up. They can charge what ever they free like it to mow the grass and other services. They can even raise your HOA fees without your approval. Often they restrict you to certain brands of products, inferior replacement windows and air conditioning units, so the neighborhood looks uniform. But in reality the developer got kick backs from the vendors when the built the development in the form of much lower prices, and now they have a customer for there products forever, they produce crappy products because they know the homeowners have to buy from them, there is no competitive incentive to produce a better product, better to make something that fails right after the warranty is up so they can sell you another one at inflated prices. HOA are evil and only exist to rob you of your property rights and your money.

So think carefully about buying these "Bargain" condos. The developer might have things set up so they will make any loses and earn huge profits from you over the long run. Hell they might even give them away to get you to willing sign your soul over to them.

Source: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/08/04/47120

The condos in the video were definitely small, but for that price, you can buy 2 neighboring condos and combine them.