Buy or Sell A Condo
Are you looking to buy or sell a condo but need a real estate agency to represent you? It’s extremely important to not only choose the right real estate company but the agent representing them as well.Â
Buying and selling a condo is important business. Think about the amount of the transaction. Are you selling your condo for $100,000, $200,000 or more? Are you looking to buy a condo for the same price, possibly more than $200,000? That’s a lot of money and you shouldn’t look past what I’m about to say. The real estate industry is like any selling industry on earth. Twenty percent of the people are doing eighty percent of the selling. At the end of the year when 1099’s are distributed, the top twenty realtors out of a team of one hundred made eighty out of a hundred sales. Think of that.
For those of you that do not know how the real estate industry works, let’s paint a typical picture. You want to buy or sell a condo in the Chicago area. You wake up one morning and decide to call your local real estate company around the corner thinking that they would be able to handle the transaction because they’re right down the street. You call them and a realtor answers the phone and tells you to come right down, this is a perfect time. What you didn’t know is this part time realtor is just there on Sunday’s and has a full time job during the week hanging windows for a living. You come into the office and tell the realtor what you want for the condo and he agrees that the price seems normal for that area and you give him and the company the listing.
Months go by and you haven’t even heard from he or the company. Buying or selling a condo is serious business. Interview the heck out of the company and make sure you choose a company that specializes in condos and someone that works that particular area. Next, find out a lot about the real estate agent that will be representing you. Are they full-time? How long have they been selling condos? How many condos did they sell last year? You get the picture.
The more detailed the questions, the better representation you’ll end up receiving. In the end, you want a great company and realtor when you buy or sell a condo.
Downtown Chicago Condos
Downtown Chicago condos are made up of six areas known as Chicago’s River North, The Loop, Streeterville, South Loop, Gold Coast and West Loop. Each area has it’s pluses and minuses, but they are by far, the priciest of all condos throughout the Chicago area.
To finance a condo in downtown Chicago may be a bit harder than other areas because the prices are higher. Normally you can get away with putting 3.5% down to 5% and the rest would be mortgaged by the condo lender, but that is many times not the case with these downtown Chicago condos.
Downtown Chicago condos typically will start at a price around $250,000. This price is the low end, the starter condo. And they can go up to basically infinity. It was reported that one of the penthouse condos was selling in the new Chicago spire building that is soon to break ground for forty million dollars. In today’s market place, I’m sure the buyer got a deal, but whether it was forty million or twenty million, that’s a lot to pay to buy a downtown Chicago condo.
On average a condo in the downtown area of Chicago will go for about $500,000. Some areas are more expensive, but this is the average. The Near north area of Chicago which takes in River North, Streeterville and the Gold Coast averaged higher than the Loop, South Loop and West Loop.
If this price range is a bit steep for you but you want to move close to the Chicago downtown area, the next in line may be north of the downtown area which is known as Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park is very trendy and upscale, but has a deal here and there. On the southside of town you can find a condo in Bridgeport and Bronzeville for much less than going North and you’re literally only five minutes for the Loop.Â
There’s a price you’re going to pay for having a downtown Chicago condo address. It puts you in the center of commerce, shopping, bars and restaurants and an easy commute to work if you work downtown. They may be expensive but when you compare the cost for commuting and what your time is worth saving a few hours every business day, you may end up actually realizing that it’s better to pay now than later in time and travel. Downtown Chicago condos are an image. You may want part of that as well.
Condos
Condos can be found on any multiple listing service website, but you’re only getting an address and a price. The Real estate agent’s function in a transaction is immeasurable. The real estate agent will first arrange appointments with the seller to view the condos you want to purchase. This is saving you valuable time. When you start the process of viewing the condos, you’ll need to get the condo financed. A real estate agent’s contacts are essential at this point in the game. They’ve worked with numerous lenders over the years and have narrowed down the real ones from the fake. The Realtors do not want to spend time showing you condos all over the city winding up with a transaction that doesn’t close because the lender cannot perform.
How do they know what lender can close the transaction. Simply from the experience they have with each individual loan officer. As Realtors, the only thing we want is an answer quick. If you can’t do the deal, let us know right away. The worst thing to do to a realtor and a client is to hold the file more than two weeks, come back and say you can’t to the financing on the condominium. It delays everything, gets the buyer saddened and it just wastes time. A lender on a condo should know they could do the deal within a seven day time frame. After that, it’s getting a little long. There have been several deals that sometime go into the one month, two month phase where a lender literally takes it out that long and decides not to finance the condo at that point. That person should lose their license for acts like that. If you have the deal that long and you can’t finance the condo, you haven’t done your job. You were probably on vacation fifty-eight of sixty days. There is no reason in the world to hold a file that long.
Condos generally should close within a thirty day time frame. We should see a deal come into our walls, get approved within seven days and close over the next twenty one days after that. There’s always the last of the loose ends, but if everybody is doing their job, you should see your condominium close within thirty days.
Make sure this step is covered before you make an offer on condos in your area. Find the right lender and get that part of the transaction taken care of before anything else.
Chicago Condos
We have a ton of clean up now with the Chicago condos that are sitting there unsold and foreclosed on. The people that service Chicago condos have their work cut out for them. The job is humongous and the sooner we take care of it, the sooner we can start seeing a rise in value again.
Chicago condos are being foreclosed on left and right. The amount is up 50% last year. Sounds high, but last year it was up 100% from the year before. We have to get this wholesale real estate closed and rehabbed, rented and back on the market. The wholesale market is so large right now that we’re not expecting to see any real appreciation in the retail sector of condos for at least three to five years.
Think of the condo complexes in Chicago that have one hundred and fifty units in them. If twenty-five of those Chicago condo units are being foreclosed on, who pays the condo association fees? That’s right, no one. A condo association cannot handle twenty five unpaid association fees. It eventually will go bankrupt or have to collect more money from the current condo owners.
We’ve got a lot of work in front of us from the fall of Chicago and national real estate. It’s going to be a combined effort of a lot of companies. We have to do it as fast as possible to save value and to get people back on track with their lives. Not every area of Chicago is affected the same. There are some areas of virtually zero foreclosures causing an area to keep steady with appreciation, but when you blanket the city, overall the depreciation is about 25% from three years ago.
What can we do? Buy up the foreclosures and make tons of money. We need to clean out the product from banks and keep doing it for a few more years. The economy is not helping this situation but we have to keep pushing to get this wholesale real estate back into the retail market. This will take time but we can have some fun with this along the way. Money is to be made. The first thing is to get a hold of a foreclosure specialist and start looking at some Chicago real estate. The choice of Chicago condos is unreal. Go out there are buy some real bargains right now.
Miami Condos
OwnACondo.com is looking for real estate agents and brokers to open a Miami OwnACondo.com office to service buyers and seller of Miami condos. We are experiencing leads coming in from our national exposure of the brand and need help in servicing all types Miami Condos.
OwnACondo.com specializes in the sale of condominiums throughout Chicago currently but will be opening an office in Miami in the third quarter on 2009. If you are a licensed Florida real estate agent of plan on getting your license soon please contact us at 877.627.5543 for more information. Until we have a physical office, we are dispatching our leads to various Realtors in Miami. If you would like information on this, please call the phone number above as well.
Miami condos need a specialized real estate company for servicing all the various aspects of the market right now. There are short sales and condo foreclosures in Miami like never before. There are Miami condo deals like never before but they have to be investigated thoroughly before moving forward. The condo associations in Miami are having a lot of trouble because so many Miami condos are being foreclosed on causing associations to go bankrupt. Make sure your condo attorney checks out everything that is required for a condo association to be up to date.
OwnACondo.com will also be open in Los Angeles and New York servicing the needs of buyer and seller of condominiums as well. Eventually OwnACondo.com plans to be a national brand with offices in fifty cities across the United States. Condominium specialization is needed more than ever in today’s market. There are so many issues with associations, financing and the buying and selling of condos that only a true specialist of this could handle the immense amount of knowledge needed to do it at a high level. OwnACondo.com specializes in all aspects of condo brokerage training our realtors on all these areas of the business.
If you are relocating to the Miami area and would like to talk about the possibility of being an OwnACondo.com agent in Miami please call us at 877.627.5543. OwnACondo.com has one hundred real estate agents in Chicago today focused on the Chicago real estate market. Each day more than fifty leads are dispatched to our agents from internet marketing. We’re already experiencing the beginnings of this in Miami without physically being there. If you meet our criteria and would like to start receiving our Miami condo leads, please call us today.
Condos
Condos can be purchased from just about any real estate broker or agent. When a real estate agent get their license to sell they can sell any kind of real estate there is. They can sell homes, land, office buildings, apartment buildings, shopping centers of condos. That’s the law. Once a Realtor has their designated state license, they have the ability to sell any kind of real estate they want.
So now imagine you wanting to buy or sell a condo and you call a real estate company to handle your needs. The agent that you’re on the other line with can be doing a mixture of several things. Why is this not good? Can you imagine going to a general practitioner nowadays to handle a heart problem? Back two hundred years ago maybe, but today there are specialists. The heart doctor knows more about the heart than any other doctor. Any they get that way by specializing. They work with the heart all day long, each and every day.
If you are looking to buy or sell a condo, why not turn to a company that does nothing but sell condos. OwnACondo.com does one thing; it sell condos. They do not help you with your apartment building or home or piece of vacant land, they help you sell condos. What this does is make them the best at what they do. Everyday people come to them that want to buy condos. So every Realtor on their team is dealing with buyers that want to buy condos. If you’re selling a condo wouldn’t you want your real estate agent to be working with people that are buying condos? You’re selling a condo. Of course you would. And then that real estate agent is showing condos all day long. Do you think that they are getting to know the market better than anyone else? Of course they are. So now you have an agent that does nothing but show condos and works with condo buyers all day long. Guess what? They go back to their office and over one hundred condo Realtors are there that just sell condos as well. An entire office dedicated to one thing; selling condos.
Condos are now to a level that just about as many condos sell as homes in major metropolitan cities. If you’re serious about selling or buying condos, it would make sense to choose a company that does nothing but sells condos.
Chicago Real Estate
Chicago real estate is about to explode. All signs are there. The $8,000 first time buyers tax credit, interest rates lower than ever before, the condo market in a depression and investors ready to pounce on all the foreclosures is going to cause one of the greatest buying frenzies of all time. We should see the market easily double if not triple the number of units sold last year within the next six months.
Chicago real estate has never been positioned riper to have this happen then now. The investment funds are in place to start buying up all the real estate in Chicago from banks, the urgency for the $8,000 tax credit will be ending November 30th and who knows how long the interest rates will remain this low. We should start to see a record number of closings starting to hit over the next six months.
How do find the best Chicago real estate to buy? Chicago real estate can be found by starting with a strategic plan of what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. Are you looking to own a condo, a block of condos or are you looking to capture a few investment properties you can have a professional management company help you out with. What is your long term goal? Investments in Chicago real estate are in front of you right now. Where do you want to begin? The foreclosure market is interesting because it is probably the best place to get the lowest price. Condos are simply able to be purchased at pennies on the dollar. Banks are selling in bul, packaging dozens and hundreds of Chicago condos together and then looking for a buyer that can move in bulk.
What if you do not have the cash to buy Chicago real estate in bulk? There are so many short sale condos available allowing you to still be involved in tremendous deals but allowing you to just close on one deal at a time. Find you realtor and mention short sale and they’ll know what you’re talking about right away.Â
Chicago real estate is here to stay. Buy some now and you’ll not regret it. There are too many deals not to get into this as soon as you can. Ten years from now, this will be looked at as the best time to ever buy Chicago real estate. I can almost guarantee that.
Condos
Condos can be purchased for as little as under $100,000 in so many areas of the United States, you wonder why people rent apartments? Condominiums are here to stay and the selections are crazy. There are studio condominiums for the person wanting to spend the least amount or have the smallest space. Studio condominiums range between 250 square feet to about 500 square feet. They typically do not have a separate room for a bedroom but rather one space that allows the condo buyer the luxury of having a kitchen , living room and bedroom all in one space. The studio condo is great for the kid leaving home for the first time (or second time) and needs a place to live. The studio condo accommodates their needs and allows them to build up equity instead of throwing rent money out the window.
Condos can be incredible investments if you pick the right ones. In all my years of being involved in the real estate business (twenty-five years) I’ve never seen deals like the one’s that are in front of us today. The next level up from the studio condominium is the one-bedroom unit. The one-bedroom condominium is perfect for the single person or the young couple just getting a start in life. It typically can range in square footage from 500 square feet to 750 square feet. Of course, there are deluxe one-bedrooms that are larger but this is typical. The one-bedroom condo can be great for the student as well creating a nice getaway from home.
Condos are a perfect real estate investment for many individuals or small start-up families. Most people would love to own their own real estate and the condominium allows the affordability for just about anyone with a job to get started owning their own condo.
What are the down sides to owning condos? Remember, condos are purchased under one roof. You have many condo owners living in one small area opposed to one owner living in one space as in buying a house. Many owners in a condo complex can be difficult if a neighbor or two is louder than normal, or messier than normal. Usually there are laws for the complex (good for the abiding, bad if you’re a musician) that prohibit these kind of things but who wants the hassle. It usually all works out in the end and condos end up being either a first time step to ownership in real estate or they become a life long treasure that many people never leave.Â
Condos are here to stay forever and ever.
Miami Condos
I absolutely love Miami condos. Even the word Miami has a certain greatness to it. When I think of Miami condos I think of these huge towers overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. And what a time to be looking to buy. Never have we seen the deals.
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As we go down Collins Ave starting from downtown Miami and heading North we pass through an area that is probably the hippest known as “South Beachâ€. South Beach Miami condos are always at a premium because of the area, but right now they’re not. The market has changed everything. Foreclosure condos, short sale condos, condo auctions, rent to own condos are all part of the wholesale market that’s creating a buyer’s frenzy. A condo that was selling for $1.5M three years ago can be picked up at $500,000 today. If only I had another five million in my pocket! The deals are outrageous.
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Let’s continue looking at Miami condos. As we continue north of past the South Beach condos we’ll start to come up to an area we all love called “Miami Beachâ€. Miami Beach condos. On one side is the Atlantic Ocean, the other side the intercoastal. There’s water everywhere, blue skies and beautiful people. There’s history, present and the future. Let’s continue north. As we pass the Miami Beach condos things are starting to look rather upscale. What area can this be? I see a sign that says “Bal Harborâ€. Bal Harbor condos are for the upscale people, the celebrities and the rich. This is the area for the rich & famous. The Bal Harbor area has some of the most exclusive shops around. Let’s get out of here, I’m feeling a little intimidated.
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As we get out of Bal Harbor Condo land we’ll continue north down Collins Ave. I see the next stop, Sunny Isles Beach. Sunny Isles Condos have come from no where to be one of the most incredible spots in all of Florida. In the fifties and sixties, it was home to a number of two stories motels all sprinkled with a different theme. The Sahara, The Golden Nugget, The Whispering Palms…oh the great memories. Today there are Sunny Isles condo towers everywhere. We see the celebrity name Trump on one of those big jobs a few doors down. Let’s get out of here.
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A stones throw from here are those Ft. Lauderdale condos. I hues I’m getting out of Miami. Boy I love those Miami condos.
Condo Company
Choosing a condo company is awfully important. Just think about the size of the condo purchase. Have you ever bough anything so large? There are people that spend weeks, sometimes months investigating what car they will buy. They may spend $50,000. When it comes to the purchase of your condo, you want to do at least the same due diligence by choosing the right condo company to work with.
What is a “condo companyâ€? Just like a Century 21 or a Remax agency, there are companies out there that specialize in the selling of condominiums. This makes all the difference in the World. A Condo company does one thing; they sell condos. Lots and lots of them. Really think through this. If you were to have an eye problem you wouldn’t go to a back specialist. You go to an eye doctor. The same holds true with condos. There are some real estate agents that work for very generalized names and these agents do everything. They list condos, homes, apartment buildings and vacant land.Â
When it comes time to sell or buy a condo, search for a firm that focuses on Condos. There is one firm that is headquartered in the Chicago area called OwnACondo.com. They not only help people buy and sell condos, they also have a financing and insuring division as well, known as FinanceACondo.com and InsureACondo.com. Just think of a company that does nothing buy sells, finance and insures condos and has well over 100 real estate agents that just sell condos. It’s obvious that you’ll get a company that knows what it’s doing.
OwnACondo.com has programs that will get the renter on a fast track to owning a condo. They specialize in condos in the Chicago area today, but will be going national over the next few months. They began their illustrious career by representing condo developers that were converting their apartment buildings to condominiums. They’ve been around since 2000 and expect to be known as a household word for selling condos by 2010, when they unveil their national advertising campaign.Â
Until then, they are here for you if you need any of your condo questions answered. Choosing the right condo company is the first and most important decision in the process of either selling or buying a condo.
