If real estate investors are looking for blood in the streets, they had better be wearing galoshes.
Even the books of venerable luxury builder Toll Brothers, America’s largest luxury builder of tract homes, are in the red. For the first time in 21 years, the company is suffering its first quarterly loss (Oct. 31) in the amount of $81.8 million. Much of this loss can be attributed to $314.9 million in pretax write downs for homes it could no longer sell at a profit. Even Robert Toll, the company’s founder, concedes that 2007 has been the most challenging year in the company’s 40 year history.
But every loss also registers a gain–somewhere and somehow.
It has been evident that newer tract home subdivisions have been hit especially hard the past couple of years. Many homeowners needing to sell had bought during market highs and more than a few a have been forced to sell at a loss. Funds spent on landscaping, hardscaping, flooring/ surface upgrades, and window coverings (and perhaps even the down payment) have gone down the drain.
It is a tough time to be a home seller. And very tough for the luxury builder of homes.
This has forced a number of builders with standing inventory to offer costly upgrades as an incentive for potential home buyers. Those buyers, who once had to budget for many of these improvements, are now getting them for free–sometimes packaged with interest rate buydowns and other incentives. It is a spiral that has forced builders and their prior home buyers to compete.
Many shrewd real estate buyers have been renting and waiting for opportunities such as these–and are coming out of hiding. Real estate investors who sold at or near the top of the market a couple of years ago are also back into buying mode. And so are foreign investors, who benefit not only from depressed real estate prices in prime US markets, but also the strength of their Euros and Canadian dollars against the US dollar.
This may explain the recent phenomenon in the beaten-down San Diego real estate market, where multiple offers are being made on properties that are priced under market. It’s something we haven’t seen in a long time, and just may be the beginning of a market bottom.
If you have any questions (or need to borrow a pair of rubber boots), just give us a call at 760-942-9100 or 760-402-9101.
Do we have to file a lawsuit to recover our Condominium or Preconstruction Deposit?
When considering your options in a contract dispute with a Florida Real Estate Developer, remember, filing a lawsuit is the last and most costly option.
The Real Estate Attorneys at Deposit Recovery Services are working hard to forge productive relationships between investors and developers. We never take a “Sue” first approach. We find that litigation is a last resort, one which we employ only after all attempts at negotiations fail.
We are here to help you resolve your issues, not collect court enforced legal fees.
As one of the most respected and well known Contract Rescission law firms in the state, we have been very successful at resolving the majority of our case load without entering a drawn out lawsuit or court proceeding with the very well funded Real Estate Development companies.
Positive negotiations have been the keys to our success in this arena of law.
You will find, that a partial Deposit Recovery and contract rescission will usually be a more appropriate financial decision than an all or nothing litigators approach.
To date (as of 12/11/07) all of our deposit recovery clients have been taken on with a “contingency” fee structure. We only get paid if you recover some or all of your deposit.
Again, we do not want to “make a name for ourselves” in the court system, we are here to inform you of your legal rights and negotiate a contract rescission and deposit recovery on your behalf. But, be sure, if a developer is unwilling to negotiate a resolution in good faith, we will fight using whatever means necessary, including litigation, to insure our clients rights are protected.
Are you currently involved in a Florida Preconstruction or Condominium Real Estate contract dispute? Are you looking to negotiate out, before your contract closing date?
Have you spoken to a Florida Real Estate Attorney focused on Deposit Recovery and contract rescission? Do you know the protections you are afforded under Florida and Federal Law?
Deposit Recovery Services has become one of the fastest growing, most well known firms in the state of Florida regarding Condominium and Preconstruction Contract Law.
We are contacted daily by attorneys across the United States looking to us for our experience in these matters.
Please call or email Deposit Recovery Services for a FREE consultation.
Miami Real Estate will be back, we are bullish on the long-term, but perhaps you can have a better entry point at a future date, with the help of a Florida Real Estate Attorney.
http://www.DepositRecoveryServices.com
Very interesting blog. Keep up the good work!