The foremost and pre-eminent condominium developing company in Myrtle Beach is hands-down, Strand Capital Group LLC, of North Myrtle Beach.
Loyd Daniel, Patrick Lowe, and the other partners in this company are consumate gentlemen, impeccable businessmen, and have impressed me as the smartest men in the area... And Myrtle Beach is not lacking in brilliant executives, believe me.
I ran across this story in the Miami Herald today about a condo project gone bust because of poor planning on the part of the developer, and it brought to mind how impressed I had been with this group that New Resorts markets preconstruction Myrtle Beach condos for sale.
Surprisingly, the developers for this Miami project were not fly-by-nights, and in fact had been without tarnish for 25 years of business. What I DON'T understand, is why any project would be pre-sold before the zoning and construction had been approved and licensed. There's always a possibility of unforeseen circumstances that can delay a project's ground breaking...but this was on the ridiculous side to me. I cannot imagine our guys doing this. Maybe they just do things differently in Miami than they do in the Myrtle Beach condos market.
Here's part of the article with a link for more...
Posted on Fri, Dec. 30, 2005
Codina Group pulls plug on project
Well known developer Armando Codina is returning deposits on a Kendall condominium after some permitting snafus.
BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA AND MATTHEW HAGGMAN
Prominent Miami developer Armando Codina has pulled the plug on a much anticipated luxury condominium project in East Kendall, because his company didn't obtain all the necessary construction approvals from the county by a Dec. 31 deadline.
Mission Bell Park was slated to be built on 9 acres of vacant land just west of Baptist Hospital at 9100 N. Kendall Dr. About 75 percent of the units in the planned 318-unit complex had been sold.
But for the first time in the Codina Group's 25-year history, company executives say, it sent letters Wednesday notifying buyers their deposits -- plus 7.5-percent interest -- will be returned.
Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, which represented the Codina Group in marketing and selling the project, also has never been involved in a project that returned deposits, according to Ronald A. Shuffield, president of EWM, the second-largest real estate broker in South Florida.
''This project is halted indefinitely,'' said Rafael Rodon, executive vice president of the Codina Group. "That's not to say that something couldn't come back to life.''
In part, Codina's move amounts to another cautionary tale about buying preconstruction condo units, which generally are marketed and sold to the public before regulatory approvals are completed.
But typically, troubled condo projects in the current boom have run aground -- forcing developers to return deposits -- because of developers' inexperience, difficulty in getting financing, or rising construction costs.
In this instance, the developer is an accomplished veteran ready to start construction.
MORE...
Friday, December 30, 2005
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Google and AOL-The best match
I was rather shocked to read the NY Times article about MSN buying the AOL Search several weeks ago. Even a bigger shock to find out it wasn't true. There's been speculation that Google will give AOL more than an even chance to be in search results and other ways that it might hurt webmasters, but they assure the world it isn't so, and I believe them. They were too good of a match to part ways anyway...Here's the latest from the Google blog about AOL...
About the AOL announcement
12/22/2005 06:25:00 PM
Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experience
The recent announcement of the AOL partnership has been the source of a lot of rumors and misconceptions. We'd like to clear some of those up.- Biased results? No way.
Providing great search is the core of what we do. Business partnerships will never compromise the integrity or objectivity of our search results. If a partner's page ranks high, it's because they have a good answer to your search, not because of their business relationship with us.
- Indexing more of AOL's content. Our goal is to organize all of the world's information. When we say "all the world's information," this includes AOL's. We're going to work with the webmasters at AOL -- just as we work with webmasters all over the world -- to help them understand how the Google crawler works (with regard to robots.txt, how to use redirects, non-html content, etc.) so we don't inadvertently overlook their content.
- AOL will receive a credit towards advertising purchased through Google's ad program. You might wonder if this will affect the ad auction. It won't. We don't offer preferential treatment on advertising (in either the auction or the display) to any of our partners.
- We have a service called "onebox" for which we provide some additional links separate from ads (sponsored links) and search results. (Try searching on [new york transit strike] and look for the news section.) AOL and its products have always been a part of onebox, along with many other providers, and will continue to be.
- There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage or web search results pages. There will not be crazy, flashy, graphical doodads flying and popping up all over the Google site. Ever.
Our service and our business works because of you - our users. You're important to us and something that we think about all the time -- as we build new products, negotiate deals, and think about what our future holds.
We're looking forward to what AOL can help us do for you, and believe that our new agreement with them will only create a better experience for you in 2006 and beyond -- one where you can continue to trust that we're giving you a result because it's the best one we can possibly provide.
About the AOL announcement
12/22/2005 06:25:00 PM
Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experience
The recent announcement of the AOL partnership has been the source of a lot of rumors and misconceptions. We'd like to clear some of those up.- Biased results? No way.
Providing great search is the core of what we do. Business partnerships will never compromise the integrity or objectivity of our search results. If a partner's page ranks high, it's because they have a good answer to your search, not because of their business relationship with us.
- Indexing more of AOL's content. Our goal is to organize all of the world's information. When we say "all the world's information," this includes AOL's. We're going to work with the webmasters at AOL -- just as we work with webmasters all over the world -- to help them understand how the Google crawler works (with regard to robots.txt, how to use redirects, non-html content, etc.) so we don't inadvertently overlook their content.
- AOL will receive a credit towards advertising purchased through Google's ad program. You might wonder if this will affect the ad auction. It won't. We don't offer preferential treatment on advertising (in either the auction or the display) to any of our partners.
- We have a service called "onebox" for which we provide some additional links separate from ads (sponsored links) and search results. (Try searching on [new york transit strike] and look for the news section.) AOL and its products have always been a part of onebox, along with many other providers, and will continue to be.
- There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage or web search results pages. There will not be crazy, flashy, graphical doodads flying and popping up all over the Google site. Ever.
Our service and our business works because of you - our users. You're important to us and something that we think about all the time -- as we build new products, negotiate deals, and think about what our future holds.
We're looking forward to what AOL can help us do for you, and believe that our new agreement with them will only create a better experience for you in 2006 and beyond -- one where you can continue to trust that we're giving you a result because it's the best one we can possibly provide.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Preconstruction in Las Vegas Cooling Down?
The doom and gloom of bubble predicting still plods on...with the less than hopeful prophets trying their best to create that which isn't yet happening. I think that if enough of them say it enough times it will convince many investors that it's true, and unfortunately become true just from the negative publicity.
Thank goodness Myrtle Beach condos have a longer way to go before they price themselves out of existence. I won't believe in any of it until I see it happen in Miami, Vegas or one of the other hot-spots. Here's another little blurb I ran across today...
Signs Condo Craze in Las Vegas Cooling Off
Dec 19, 2005, 07:13 PM EST KLASTV.com
The condo craze in Las Vegas may be in a cooling down period. The advertising blitz for high-end condos is aggressive. But some projects, like the well publicized "Ivana Trump Las Vegas" are failing to just break ground.
The Ivana promised to tower over the Las Vegas skyline. But, experts say that if a high end project fails at first, that doesn't spell it's doom. There is a good chance that another developer will pick it up and be successful with it.
Linda Rheinberger, with the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors says rising construction costs, poor planning, and just bad timing are some of the reasons why some hi-end condo projects are not making it. But, Rheinberger says that more of these projects are making it than what was initially thought.
At first, experts thought only 20-percent would be successful. Rheinberger says "It's closer to 30-percent or 40-percent, so I think it's fairly normal." Some realtors are confident the trend to build upwards will continue and be successful.
Jeannine Cutter with Spanish View Towers says she's been experiencing successful sales, where the starting price for a condo is around $800,000.
Cutter says: "My thinking is there is no bubble."
**********************
There's no slow down of condos for sale in Myrtle Beach or North Myrtle.
Thank goodness Myrtle Beach condos have a longer way to go before they price themselves out of existence. I won't believe in any of it until I see it happen in Miami, Vegas or one of the other hot-spots. Here's another little blurb I ran across today...
Signs Condo Craze in Las Vegas Cooling Off
Dec 19, 2005, 07:13 PM EST KLASTV.com
The condo craze in Las Vegas may be in a cooling down period. The advertising blitz for high-end condos is aggressive. But some projects, like the well publicized "Ivana Trump Las Vegas" are failing to just break ground.
The Ivana promised to tower over the Las Vegas skyline. But, experts say that if a high end project fails at first, that doesn't spell it's doom. There is a good chance that another developer will pick it up and be successful with it.
Linda Rheinberger, with the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors says rising construction costs, poor planning, and just bad timing are some of the reasons why some hi-end condo projects are not making it. But, Rheinberger says that more of these projects are making it than what was initially thought.
At first, experts thought only 20-percent would be successful. Rheinberger says "It's closer to 30-percent or 40-percent, so I think it's fairly normal." Some realtors are confident the trend to build upwards will continue and be successful.
Jeannine Cutter with Spanish View Towers says she's been experiencing successful sales, where the starting price for a condo is around $800,000.
Cutter says: "My thinking is there is no bubble."
**********************
There's no slow down of condos for sale in Myrtle Beach or North Myrtle.
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Myrtle Beach Condos STILL Flying High!
Ran across this article today in the Wall Street Journal. Note that there are markets that are NOT slowing, and Myrtle Beach condos are part of that market that's still hot!
Investors back away from buying homes
Reluctance could stifle housing market
By RUTH SIMON
The Wall Street Journal
Individuals are pulling back from buying homes and condos as an investment, a move that could accelerate the cooling of the housing market.
Fewer people are competing to buy properties as an investment in heated markets such as Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C., real estate brokers and housing analysts say. Some investor-owned properties are returning to the market for sale. With the pace of price appreciation slowing, some investors who were betting on quick profits are instead being squeezed.
The apparent pullback by investors is recent and is just beginning to show up in national data. Evidence of the development also can be seen in a number of markets that had until recently been a hotbed of investor activity.
As speculators withdraw from the market in San Diego, for instance, the number of investors buying property has fallen by nearly half, estimates Russ Valone, president of MarketPointe Realty Advisors, which tracks the San Diego housing market.
In the Phoenix area, as many as 30 percent of properties for sale are owned by investors, said Jay Butler, director of the Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University. Six months ago, most investors were buying rather than selling, he said. The shift has helped to drive up inventories of homes for sale in the Phoenix area, which climbed to 22,340 in October from 8,600 in April, according to data from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.
In the latest sign that the housing market is cooling, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that its index of pending home sales dropped 3.2 percent in October. The reading is the lowest since March.
It’s too early to tell just how a pullback by investors will affect the broader housing market, but their impact on the housing boom has been considerable.
Investors accounted for 9.6 percent of mortgages used to buy homes in the first nine months of this year, the most recent data available, up from 6.7 percent in 2002, according to LoanPerformance, a unit of First American. But the investor share began to drop in the third quarter, the firm said. The figures don’t include second homes that might also provide rental income and serve as an investment.
Myrtle Beach remains one of the nation’s top markets in investor-driven purchases, according to LoanPerformance. It said 18 percent of Myrtle Beach’s housing purchases in the first 10 months of this year were by investors, the 10th-highest rate among metro areas nationwide. The other areas were in California, Idaho, Oregon and Florida.
A softening in investor demand is likely to accentuate any slowdown in home sales, said David Berson, chief economist at mortgage giant Fannie Mae.
He estimates that home sales will fall 10.4 percent over the next two years, largely because of a decline in investor and second-home purchases.
Another concern is that investors will be quicker to sell if prices soften, accentuating any downturn, particularly in areas where speculation has been most prevalent. Some of the most vulnerable markets include Daytona, Fla., Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fresno and Bakersfield, Calif., according to Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Dennis McGill.
Investors back away from buying homes
Reluctance could stifle housing market
By RUTH SIMON
The Wall Street Journal
Individuals are pulling back from buying homes and condos as an investment, a move that could accelerate the cooling of the housing market.
Fewer people are competing to buy properties as an investment in heated markets such as Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C., real estate brokers and housing analysts say. Some investor-owned properties are returning to the market for sale. With the pace of price appreciation slowing, some investors who were betting on quick profits are instead being squeezed.
The apparent pullback by investors is recent and is just beginning to show up in national data. Evidence of the development also can be seen in a number of markets that had until recently been a hotbed of investor activity.
As speculators withdraw from the market in San Diego, for instance, the number of investors buying property has fallen by nearly half, estimates Russ Valone, president of MarketPointe Realty Advisors, which tracks the San Diego housing market.
In the Phoenix area, as many as 30 percent of properties for sale are owned by investors, said Jay Butler, director of the Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University. Six months ago, most investors were buying rather than selling, he said. The shift has helped to drive up inventories of homes for sale in the Phoenix area, which climbed to 22,340 in October from 8,600 in April, according to data from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.
In the latest sign that the housing market is cooling, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that its index of pending home sales dropped 3.2 percent in October. The reading is the lowest since March.
It’s too early to tell just how a pullback by investors will affect the broader housing market, but their impact on the housing boom has been considerable.
Investors accounted for 9.6 percent of mortgages used to buy homes in the first nine months of this year, the most recent data available, up from 6.7 percent in 2002, according to LoanPerformance, a unit of First American. But the investor share began to drop in the third quarter, the firm said. The figures don’t include second homes that might also provide rental income and serve as an investment.
Myrtle Beach remains one of the nation’s top markets in investor-driven purchases, according to LoanPerformance. It said 18 percent of Myrtle Beach’s housing purchases in the first 10 months of this year were by investors, the 10th-highest rate among metro areas nationwide. The other areas were in California, Idaho, Oregon and Florida.
A softening in investor demand is likely to accentuate any slowdown in home sales, said David Berson, chief economist at mortgage giant Fannie Mae.
He estimates that home sales will fall 10.4 percent over the next two years, largely because of a decline in investor and second-home purchases.
Another concern is that investors will be quicker to sell if prices soften, accentuating any downturn, particularly in areas where speculation has been most prevalent. Some of the most vulnerable markets include Daytona, Fla., Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fresno and Bakersfield, Calif., according to Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Dennis McGill.
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