As we all know, the housing market is in dire straights.
The concept of foreclosure has come to roost here in Jacksonville. People have found themselves in circumstances that never seemed plausible. I am one of those individuals. In late 2006, my life-partner and I began a search to purchase a condominium. We spent weeks traversing the city in hopes of finding the perfect community in which to buy.
During our first two years here in Jacksonville, we rented a four bedroom, two-bath home located in Southside. The property was part of a beautiful subdivision off Kernan Boulevard. Our rental included a two-car garage, nicely enclosed backyard, and great neighbors. Unfortunately, we needed to buy property and have ownership, due to our income level. Therefore, we began moving forward in order to find the perfect community in which to purchase a condominium.
After visiting many different communities, we chose to buy in the Lantern Square Condominiums, situated in Kendall Town. For those of your readers who are not familiar with Kendall Town, it is a mix of residential and retail living off 9A and Monument Road (adjacent to Southside Boulevard). In any case, we concluded that based upon the information presented to us by the sales personnel, that this particular community would fit our specific needs. One of the most prevalent incentives for making our purchase here at Lantern Square was the building of Phase II, which is (or should have been) the creation of a community of shops, restaurants, offices and hotels (similar to what is going on at St.Johns's Town Center or Tapestry Park off Southside Blvd).
The sales staff walked us outside pavilion, which faces Lantern Street and directed our attention to the parcel of land that sits between Lantern Street and the Walmart Supercenter. The sales personnel indicated that within a few weeks, construction would start and within in a year, Phase II would see completion. This statement alone influenced our decision to purchase our condominium at Lantern Square. At a price of over $220,000, you would think that we were making a smart choice. Have you ever heard the expression, "I bought a lemon"? Well, we bought a very sour lemon.
Well, here we sit some seventeen months later and no completion of Phase II. In fact, the developer/owner of this community recently told the condominium owners in a meeting that she does not have any idea when or if Phase II is to be completed. It could be another year, two years or possibly longer. GL National Inc - the real estate division of Gate Petroleum Co. that owns development of the property is being used as the scapegoat as to why construction was never done (with the exception of the Marriott Hotel). Nevertheless, my partner and I along with many of the other condominium owners here are wondering why the sales personnel at Lantern Square highlighted the development of phase II, especially if it was known that this parcel of land would not be developed in its entirety.
We closed on February 15, 2007. For weeks after the closing, we asked people in the sales office when construction was slated to begin. We heard excuses, unclear answers, and lots of double talk. It was more like trying to dodge a silver bullet.
The other issue is the fact that we purchased into a condominium development and not an apartment community. There exists a cap of 30% on the number of investors who can lease out owned condos to their own tenants. However, we are now finding that the developer of this community is now going forward with leasing as many of the empty and unsold condominiums as possible. Again, the excuse for continuing to lease is on the economy and current housing market. Therefore, we sixty-eight condominium owners now are finding ourselves in the position of being stuck living in an apartment community. We did not know until recently that Lantern Square Condominiums were planned as apartments. The developer who purchased the community in 2006 decided to convert the community to condominiums, and sell the units to perspective buyers. We were unaware of this fact upon buying our condominium or we would have never gone through with the purchase. The property management company and the developer have denied marketing Lantern Square as an apartment community, although anyone can conduct a Google search and find condominiums for rent here on Apartments.com. Apartment TV.com, ForRent.com, and on the Real Estate program on Comcast on Demand, and many other property rental sites.
Here is my quandary. Even if we wanted to attempt at renting our condominium out, I cannot compete with the prices being offered by the leasing office. We would need to acquire a tenant who can pay enough to cover the cost of our current mortgage. I am unable to sell, as I cannot compete with the prices being offered by the sales office to a perspective buyer. They are selling the same condominium I have for under $40K less than what I would have to ask in order to pay off my mortgage. Not only that, but who would buy into an apartment complex, when they could rent for less than what a mortgage would cost them and have all the same amenities as a homeowner here at Lantern Square.
Our fellow condominium neighbors, my life-partner, and I were told recently at a homeowners meeting that the developer is stuck, so that means we are too. In addition, references were made to the sinking Titanic, that we would all hang together, she was not going to buy any of us out (some of asked to be bought out at our purchase price), and that her husband was a lawyer in a large law firm of over 1,000 lawyers. There were veiled threats and innuendo. In fact, an individual there by the name of Cathryn Winterfield sat in the back of the room throughout the meeting and took notes. She spent her time antagonizing many of the owners throughout the meeting and in fact, continued to harass many of the owners after the meeting was over. She stood outside the clubhouse, took photos of a group of the owners, and continued doing so, even after some of the owners asking her to leave the property. Her background is that of a CAM (Community Association Manager). She is in some manner professionally connected to the developer/owner of Lantern Square.
The meeting we had with the developer and her entourage of property management & sales employees was a fiasco. The developer throughout the entire meeting rudely dismissed the owners, and it was clear to us owners that the developer views this community to be a financial drain. You can only imagine what living here is like. The only thing happening is the property management company's diligence in making repairs and trying to address as many of the ongoing issues as possible. We are certain your readers get why this is all happening so quickly. The property management company is another story and we will not even go there. Well, at least not yet.
This is where we are now; stuck in an apartment community with no completion of phase II and no idea as to whether or not it will ever happen. Laying out almost $2,000 a month for something that has lost significant value, and weighing our options of even trying to rent, sell, go to foreclosure and just walk away.
No innuendos. No forced or veiled threat. Just a dose of reality.
Scott M.
Jacksonville
"Unfortunately, we needed to buy property and have ownership, due to our income level. Therefore, we began moving forward in order to find the perfect community in which to purchase a condominium."
What the f does that mean? If your income level is low, you are likely much better off renting. Yor best option now is probably to walk away, accept the damage to your credit, and accept also that this unfortunate event is entirely of your own creation.
You may have been mislead by a salesman...that is what salesmen do, get over it.
Unfortunately the old statement "when the housing market get a cold, the condo market get the flu" Is almost always true. With the housing market suffering from viral pneumonia, I can only imagine what the condo market is like. My advice is to never buy a condo unless it faces the river or ocean. Too often a condo is nothing more than a glorified apartment. Unfortunately in this case that seems to be the case.