Are condo builders and converters playing escrow games?
Here’s the scenario: condo seller has a bunch of units that won’t sell and is afraid that prices might start dropping – seller puts a few of those units into escrow (brother-in-law, neighbor’s dog, etc) at the dream price and hopes that the ‘pending’ sales put a floor beneath prices (“Well, Mr & Mrs Jones, we’ve got three of these units in escrow at $429K. You’d better secure your unit today …”).
Eventually the pending sales fall through and the units become available again. (And Mr & Mrs Jones sue the seller because he is selling units for $30K less than they paid just a few months ago.)
I saw a local condo converter put 8 units into escrow on the same day in late 2005. No sales for 4 months and then 8 units go into escrow on the same day – I know this can be explained but it makes me suspicious. Prices in this development continued to drop and units are still available today.
I agree with you, powayseller, I’m not seeing “sold” signs popping up (although condo sales aren’t as visible as single-family houses). I am seeing more “for sale” signs and more single-family properties being cleaned up in preparation for sale. How many sellers are planning to take advantage of the spring bounce? Will we see lots of new listings in the next few weeks?
