Well, I suppose desperate times, call for desperate measures….. [Hat tip L!]
In February, throngs of people gathered at a $100,000 poolside party in Miami, downing Roberto Cavalli vodka, sampling food from local restaurants and dancing to a DJ blasting hip-hop and house music. Nearly 1,000 more people showed up than expected, sending the hosts scrambling to provide extra booze and triggering noise complaints from neighbors.
It wasn’t a wedding or a birthday bash. The swanky event — designed with a film theme, with a red carpet and a giant movie screen — was hosted by the Related Group, a luxury developer, to get people to see, and eventually buy, apartments in its new 1,000-unit complex.
"I was nervous when I saw how many people had shown up," admits Ricardo Vadia, an assistant vice president of development for the company. "But it was well worth it. We got people into the buildings who otherwise wouldn’t have come."
Apparently free flowing vodka is good for business. You have to wonder, then, just how drunk you have to be before buying a Miami condo sounds like a good idea.
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There’s a lot of drinking going on in R/E circles. I just got my Bexar County Appraisal District notice for next year. They have raised my property values 7%, on top of the 13% they got me for last year (which prompted me to put my house up for sale). Someone is still drinking Kool Ade and Everclear.
I sent them a notice that the house is under contract for slightly less than they had me appraised at two eyars ago (which is 4% more than I originally paid in 2004 but 9% less than I’ve put into it).
I’m thinking about printing up flyers to hand out in those crowded, angry hallways for the informal hearings next month. I’d really like to tell San Antonio to go to hell, but I’d say it’s already arrived here.
If my contract doesn’t fall thru, I’ll see you at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, Twist.
I only lost 6% on the house, not 9%. Sorry, too much coffee makes my fingers too shaky for the keypad.
tc, I am not sure about your specific county, but most assessed values are based upon an average of LAST years sales. They are usually only updated yearly. So assessed values could be 15% or so too high. Of course no one complains when assessed values are much lower than the heated R/E market values of a few years ago.
Hey, if the party is a tax write-off, then what the heck.
This was happening in San Diego two years ago, too. I think it was either on Ben’s Housing blog, or on Keith’s. They also hired male and female models to lounge around half-dressed in the adjacent condos, which had the windows open.
Beyond whether or not it worked (it did), you have to wonder what those homedebtors were thinking. The line from ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ keeps rolling in my mind. Al Pacino asks for a kiss, and when asked why, replies, “I like to be kissed before getting….”
Oh, you finish the quote.
I’d have to be next to losing consciousness before I’d buy a condo in my ham eee!
tc, is the 6% loss include the RE commissions too? Just curious since I will be looking soon in SA housing market.