Here’s a clever if desperate way to sell a condo:
"Believe it or not I am going to try to sell my condo one square inch at a time. So what do you get when you buy a ‘link unit‘? Well, I will send you a beautiful certificate which you can frame and put on your wall. Plus, you’ll get a link from my website. I’ll buy the shares back when and if I sell the condo."
Um, while I will pass, 1,971 have already made their $35.50 purchases. Just 8,029 to go!
via condofiasco.com
people think that the housing market is bad now?? wait until Jan-Feb……We are only warming up at this point.
If market (housing) does’nt pick up in the coming spring then you can kiss it off until 2009 at the earliest.
But lets send the market up almost a hundy points because Wal-Mart found yet another way to celebrate higher food costs while cutting labor costs, again.
Sounds like a great growth story to me……
Ciao
MS
Barry,
This is a great idea! Selling unregistered securities to millions and millions of chumps.
With 12,000 unsold condos in Miami, the market seems primed for the investment banks to make a killing. Goldman better get in on this before they lose marketshare to this guy.
Imaging the commission flow! And since these banking deals aren’t priced into the stocks, the brokers could really take off.
~~~
BR: That was one of my very 1st thoughts — unregistered securities !
I was going to buy a share, but I’ve already bought a square inch of the Moon…
Ok, let’s assume the seller is serious for a second.
If it’s 10,000 square inches, then the apt is 833 sq feet (assuming 12 sq in = 1 sq ft).
So if each sq inch is $33.50, then that’s $426 sq foot. Anyone know if that’s a lot or a little for the Miami market?
The total market value of the condo would be $354,000. (833 sq feet x $425)
I wonder if that is more or less than the value the guy paid. And what happens when the condo sells for more or less than $354K.
Do the shareholders split the profits? Does the seller keep a cut, like a comission? Who pays taxes on it?
And couldn’t the guy just oversubscribe his condo, ala the scheme in “The Producers” ??
Worked for this kid:
milliondollarhomepage.com
shoulda been millioneurohomepage though…
Waiting… “assuming 12 sq in = 1 sq ft).”
Ummm… a sq ft would be 12 inches on a side, or 144 sq in total, would it not?
Million Dollar Home Page knockoff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Million_Dollar_Homepage
The pitch is actually rather clever (assuming enough people ‘buy’ and clickthroughs build): the guy is basically trying to sell advertising. From the explanatory page of his ‘link site’ at http://www.condofiasco.com/terms-in-plain-english-2/ “The original intention of this sale was to raise money and share the profits of the sale of the condo with those who contribute. That still is the intention. It turns out that the immediate ‘real’ benefit of contributing is the advertising value of the link from my website.”
For some reason this reminds me a bit of a fellow who sold shares in a patent lawsuit: He was an inventor of a valve used in most water-beds and was suing major manufacturers who he accused of infringement and non-compensation but the suit was so expensive and long-term he created a syndicate with rights to the proceeds (in the case of victory) and sold shares. I have no idea how well that worked.
Somehow people continue to figure out how to make lemonade when given a lemon but that bitter after-taste makes me think we’re getting closer to the rind these days.
Perhaps they could use one of the mortgage brokers referred to in this Oped piece by Professor Elizabeth Warren from Harvard Law School.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/02/mortgage_brokers_sleight_of_hand/
“For example, a family that might qualify for a 6.5 percent fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage could easily end up with a 9.5 percent variable mortgage because the broker can pocket a bigger fee. The ultimate blow is that often the buyer who has been defrauded will end up paying the bribe as additional “points” added to the closing costs.”
Think of the possibilities, a yield spread premium for EVERY INCH. These kinds of gains would even make Goldman Sachs blush!!
Seems a bit shady to me… he’s only selling ~70 square feet for ~$350,000.
Rather brilliant, as he sells a small portion of the condo for a vastly inflated price, then sells the condo at a (gain/more likely loss), paying back each person on the fraction they bought. Result being step 3, profit.
Rough numbers: 700 square foot condo, 70 square feet sold at $350,000, 10% sold. Condo sells for $250,000. 10% of this is 25,000, which is then split amount 10,000 shares. $2.50 return for your $35.50 investment.
Then again, if this is just slicing his condo into 10,000 pieces rather than 10,000 square inches, it’s a bit more legit.
Small numbers. People are more willing to bet, I mean lend, $35 than $350,000.
I wouldn’t sell to anyone that knows what you look like or where your family lives.
What’s the true marginal benefit of registered vs. unregistered securities?
It’s all very, very, very shady indeed. The chap is completely anonymous, with now way of contacting him. He claims to have sold 1,971 shares already, but there are zero links on the map, despite the fact that every share should mean one link. The business plan makes no sense, since when the condo is sold all the proceeds go back to the buyers, and the chap is still underwater for his deposit.
I hope he has a good lawyer and accountant!
Go to the video below that story to the auction. The Platinum is a very nice preconstrution condo that a buyer was able to buy a 2 bdrm. on the 19th floor for $295k. That is an unbelievable price for that location. I guess the main drawback is if the builder goes under before finishing the units. There is going to be some great RE buying opportunities for vacation spots. I’ve been reviewing the sales in Fl. for 6 months now, but this one is a new low….nothing like Miami Beach in January.
What I want to know is: Is there any way I can short a few square inches?
Francis,
Apparently, you just need to put up a web page and start selling.
Hello all,
This is the owner of condofiasco.com writing. Just as I expected, there would be some positive and some negative feedback. As far as anonymity, I have to maintain some degree of privacy but anyone who really wants to know who I am can find out. As far as what I’m really selling, I try to make it as clear as possible. Just to make it perfectly clear, when you spend the $35.50 on condofiasco.com you will get a certificate and a link on my site. It is perfectly legal to sell links on my site and any webmaster will tell you that a link from a site that gets as much publicity as condofiasco.com has been receiving is worth more than $35.50. So how does the condo fit into the whole story? Well for starters, the site would not exist without the condo. I intend to peg the value of the link with the value of the condo.
Hope this helps. There are obviously details to iron out and the I will be appending explanations to the terms on my site.
Zack
You guys are looking at this with some skewed perspectives. $35 for a link on a popular site? Being a small owner of a novel idea would be gravy.
Go to these text link broker guys and they will charge you monthly to be put on a bad website. This could be the cheapest $35 PR your website ever gets.
Good luck and I recommend you get a link.
Michael
And we are only helping with the advertising.. Does Barry get a commission? (I hope)
Can you save louis?
http://WWW.SAVELOUIS.COM
Not on my AdBlock-equipped browser mate.