Condo Blog - A Non-Corporate Blog From CondoDomain HQ

Amid a slumping condo market, developer Jorge Perez is joining with a Wall Street firm to create an investor fund that will buy troubled mortgages and distressed property that ranges from raw land to finished condominium units in the southeastern United States. To read the entire story.. CLICK HERE

As reported by the Miami Herald, the condominium developer who led South Florida’s high-rise building boom is making a $1 billion bet that the region’s real estate market is a bargain.

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Source: BlogSouthFlorida / Miami Herald

SEATTLE – Jan. 23, 2008: Online real estate broker Redfin Corporation today launched its online real estate blog, “Sweet Digs,” for the first time on the East Coast. Home buyers and sellers in Greater Boston and the Washington, D.C. metro area can read local, data-driven real estate market information online or in a daily email newsletter. The Boston-area blog is available at http://boston.redfin.com/blog and the D.C.-area blog is available at http://washingtondc.redfin.com/blog.

Every week, the Boston and D.C. Sweet Digs blogs each offer as many as 20 candid, saucy and analytical write-ups of recent sales, price reductions, open houses and real estate trends. Local coverage includes Back Bay, Cambridge and Somerville in Boston; and Bethesda, Loudoun County and McLean in the D.C. area.

Redfin’s investment in the blog’s quality has been significant. Redfin evaluated hundreds of candidates, and contracted with nine independent writers who are deeply knowledgeable about their local real estate market. As Sweet Digs’ Boston and D.C. readership grows, Redfin will expand its neighborhood coverage.

Greater Boston:
Alyk: Boston’s South End
Cosmo Catalano: Back Bay, Beacon Hill
Michael Martin: Beverly, Salem
Pamela Reynolds: Brighton, Brookline
Margaret Sanford: Somerville, Cambridge

Welcome Sweet Digs Boston Team !!! 

Other Great Boston Real Estate Blogs:

Boston Condo & Luxury Real Estate Blog

BostonREB.com (The Original Creator)
Boston-Condos-For-Sale 

Bushari Real Estate Blog

Lots of activity going on here….check it out.

Toprak Mansion on The Bishop’s Avenue, Barnet, sold last week for $94 million, breaking a U.K. record for a newly built property which was set only two weeks ago by a nearby house called Palladio, which was sold for $68 million. The name of the Toprak purchaser was given as Horelma Peramam, a billionaire from Kazakhstan.

It was marketed discreetly for several years, and the asking price climbed to $94 million as prime residential London prices soared. The house had been nicknamed Top Whack Mansion but will now be known as Royal Mansion.

The Bishop’s Avenue, a street of super-sized mansions, is known as “Billionaires’ Row.” The Sultan of Brunei and the Saudi Arabian royal family own a number of properties there.  Continued… 

Source:  Fox News

Go Patriots.

AFC Championship Game starts @ 3!

We are loving InTheBox.tv !!! Today they had a great video on 15 Central Park West…one of NY’s newest and most exclusive buildings hands down. So….they stuck a Best Buy in the nicest luxury residential buildings in Manhattan! Hmmm…maybe it will help in reducing their condo fees for the unit owners which include Denzel Washington and a-whole-lotta other celebrities.

Best thing about this is…we witnessed the same thing up here in Boston where Best Buy bought out the enormous retail space @ 360 Newbury, a high-end boutique loft condominium on Boston’s Park Avenue (Newbury Street).

Looks like Best Buy is going UP-MARKET!

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One of the sexiest Providence Condo Developments aims to go rental.  Kind of a shame…but most likely temporarily.  Currently there  is some other great competing Providence Condo projects on the market that are further along in construction or ready to move into including:  The 903, The Residences at the Westin, and Pearl Street Lofts.Boston developer Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. is considering converting one of the two condominium high rises in Providence’s Waterplace Park that are scheduled to open in the spring into rental apartments until the real-estate market improves.

“We’re looking at alternatives, which may include renting one of the two [towers] for a year or two,” Intercontinental’s chairman and chief executive officer Peter Palandjian said in an interview last week. “We love the project. We love the building. … It’s just no one is buying.”

Only 14 of the 193 units in the two towers are under purchase-and-sales agreements, he said, and the building is scheduled to be completed in three or four months.

A decision will probably be made early next month, Palandjian said, and the building would be “ready for a spring rent up.”

The Waterplace Park towers — which contain 193 units — were the first and the biggest of three condo developments in downtown Providence when the developer broke ground in May 2005.

Since then, the real-estate market has slowed to a crawl and the inventory of unsold condominiums has climbed. It would take nearly 12 months to sell all of the 1,816 condos on the market as of the end of October — almost double the six-month supply two years earlier, according to data from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

In Boston, three major condo developments have recently hung “For Rent” signs, including the Mezzo Design Lofts in Charlestown backed by a former Los Angeles Lakers basketball giant Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Fund.  Continued…

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Cool new ideas to relax, sip up…and me a real estate agent… (by way of the NYTimes)

…Though still a rarity, the office-camouflaging tactic is being tried in several parts of the real estate world. “You’re starting to see a lot more creative ways to reach out to people,” said Joel Burslem, a marketing expert in Portland, Ore., who founded a popular blog called Future of Real Estate Marketing. “It’s an awakening to the fact that agents really need to court buyers these days. They’re looking for ways to entice and engage.”

Of course, sooner or later, visitors to Ms. Jones’s plush coffee-bar-style lounge (which is open until 9 p.m. five nights a week) figure out that it is merely a comfortable place to browse property listings on the Internet, either via a 40-inch flat-screen television or at one of several desks outfitted with personal computers and designer lamps. The high-style atmosphere is a lure to get them in the door, something real estate agencies everywhere are finding harder to do as the house hunt increasingly goes virtual.

A similar experiment has been undertaken by Rick Higgins, founder of the Higgins Group (where Ms. Jones is a managing partner). A company storefront in Westport’s chic Main Street shopping area resembles a Chamber of Commerce information center. Visitors to the cozy wood-beamed space will indeed find useful local data, but a sales agent will also offer to walk them through the search technology on the Higgins Group Web site.

“It’s a nice icebreaker, without requiring a commitment emotionally of the people coming in,” Mr. Higgins said.

Thaddeus Wong, a co-founder of a company in Chicago called @Properties, has taken an even subtler approach. Last year, in the city’s River North neighborhood, Mr. Wong’s agency went into partnership with a Starbucks-style coffee shop; eventually, patrons logging into the cafe’s free Wi-Fi service will pull up the brokerage’s Web site.

Called @Spot, this is foremost a coffee shop (owned and operated by one of the company’s agents) that simply features the @Properties logo on its cups and sleeves. “It’s just another form of branding,” Mr. Wong said. “It’s just a little bit more of a progressive form of marketing.”

Not every such venture has met with complete success. In 1995, Bill Wendel pioneered an enterprise called the Real Estate Cafe about three blocks from the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass. The cafe invited buyers to look through property listing books on their own at a time when listings were not publicly accessible on the Internet. The agency operated on a fee-for-service basis, and sponsored networking events like a Roommate Rendezvous.

The need for such a clearinghouse dissipated after 2000, however, when listing and other real estate-related data became more readily available online. Mr. Wendel eventually went virtual…continued…

Source: NYTimes

25 BOND STREET, 2 East - I have been in this unit and it is truly amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to Buy this - Email us (experience@condoDomain.com) and we will hook you up!
Nestled in historic Bond Street, the widest cobblestone street in New York City, 25 Bond uses only the highest quality materials to create a new gold standard in luxury.

The hand-chiseled Egyptian limestone facade, its rich 10-foot floor-to-ceiling bronze windows with sliding glass doors, and the 100-foot long, hand-carved granite sidewalk by sculptor Ken Hiratsuka combine to bring light and texture to the Bond Street exterior.

The exacting attention to detail make 25 Bond a distinctive and timeless building representing a truly one-of-a-kind downtown New York City address.

Unit Specifications

Rooms 7
Bedrooms 3
Bathrooms 3.5
Home Theater 1
Approx. SF 3,722
Approx. Exterior SF 80

Financial Information

Offered at $8,950,000
Maintainance $5,000
Tax Deductible 10%
Financing: 50%

Apartment Features

Direct elevator access into a 50-foot wide living room with a 9′6″ tall hand-finished Venetian bronze sliding window wall

Two private attended parking spaces with direct elevator access
10′6″ ceilings
Two wood-burning fireplaces
Glass-enclosed balcony off master bedroom
Hand-oiled 4″ quater sawn Oak floors
Lutron HomeWorks diming and shade package
Crestron audio/video system
Bulthaup-designed performance kitchen:
Side-by-side SubZero refrigerators
2 Fisher-Paykel dishwashers
Meile cooktop and wall oven
SubZero wine cooler
SubZero ice-maker
Stainless countertops
Garbage disposal
Walnut & aluminum cabinet faces
Self-closing drawers
Bathroom features include:
Limestone-tiled master spa with Agape soaking spoon tub and steam shower
Floor-to-ceiling limestone tiled bathrooms and powder room
Lualdi Porte frosted glass & lacquered doors
Laundry room
Power & plumbing for master bedroom mini/wet bar
HVAC management control system with remote monitoring capability
Simultaneous heating and cooling capability
Touch-screen video intercom
Wireless internet-ready

Building Highlights

New Construction
8 floors / 9 units
Hand-finished bronze elevators open directly into apartment
Individual security card access
3,000 Sq. ft. fully landscaped garden with outdoor grill
John Houshmand-designed bronze & Walnut slab lobby desk
Individual, ground floor storage lockers
Dedicated service entrances and elevators
Emergency generator
Hand-chiseled Egyptian limestone facade
Hand-carved granite slab sidewalks by sculputor Ken Hiratsuka

 Other Posts on 25 Bond

25 Bond Minting Money 

25 Bond NY

Schrager & Goldman Dance
Want to Buy this - Email us (experience@condoDomain.com) and we will hook you up!

IntoTheBox is all about peering inside the surreal housing market here in New York City. With approximately 13 million people residing in the New York Metropolitan area — and available housing at an absolute premium — it’s no wonder the market has been compared to a blood sport. People will lie, cheat and steal for a small slice of the scrumptious real estate pie.

IntoTheBox takes a look at the news, trends and politics of the NYC real estate market. The stories here are even better than fiction. Our daily videocasts provide you with an intimate view of the way New Yorkers cope with the absurdities of living in the best city in the world.

Visit InTheBox and watch some neighborhood clips - its pretty cool…or visit their Blog!

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Joel - this feature was built for you! Every page on the all new CondoDomain Boston is now Facebook ‘able.  Find a listing and want to post it….just facebook it, find a development, video, listing, building, or even parking spot…Facebook Us!

Also we have 2 Facebook Groups we are running…feel free to join in.

Boston Real Estate Exposed

CondoDomain Group 

CondoDomain.com Steps into Online Traffic: Online Condominium Lead
Generation Company Takes Real Estate Brokerage Head On

BOSTON, MA— CondoDomain.com, the top-ranked urban condominium portal knownfor generating real estate leads in more than 30 U.S. markets, is now an exclusive buyers’brokerage firm for downtown Boston real estate. As of January 9, 2008, instead of passing Boston real estate leads to respective advertisers, CondoDomain will establish relationships with perspective buyers themselves. Founder and CEO Anthony Longobelieves that serving the online buyer is the future of real estate brokerage. More so, he believes in focusing in on a niche and creating efficiencies in the currently inefficient real estate purchasing process. By doing so, CondoDomain.com will operate on a flat fee
business model, refunding the majority of the buyers’ brokers commission back to their client.

CondoDomain’s niche—“luxury, urban, condominium sales catered to the online buyer”
meets a great demand among Boston’s Internet-savvy local population. CondoDomain
understands buyers; as a lead generation company, they spent the last two years studying
what buyers need and want in their real estate search. Longo notes, “After witnessing thedramatic increase in online inquiry activity and the growing fallout rate in online leadcapture and conversion, we saw an enormous opportunity to help these online buyers get what they need.” Now buyers who choose to work with CondoDomain will not only get the #1 online resource for local condominium information in Boston, but they will also get a team dedicated to searching and showing properties along with a personal guide to
help them through the home buying process.

CondoDomain is breaking the traditional mold of the real estate industry. By watching revolutionary firms such as Redfin begin to change the definition of how real estate transactions are completed, CondoDomain is pushing the envelope further by concentrating on a niche market: urban condo sales for a flat fee of $5,000 rather than for a commission. Nationally, the average $500,000 sale pays a co-brokerage commission of 3% or $15,000. In this example, CondoDomain would collect the $15,000 commission at the closing, subtract a flat $5,000 fee, and refund the remainder to the buyer after the
closing (that’s a $10,000 cash check to the buyer). Longo says, “In our opinion, the current buyers’ brokerage model is backwards. After all, why should our consultants be compensated more if our buyers spend more, or why should an agent be compensated 10 times more for a $3,000,000 purchase compared to a $300,000 purchase? This doesn’t
make sense to us—and we have set out on a mission to change it.”

However, CondoDomain’s business model is not about discount. Longo says, “Although the refunded money is a big perk to our clients—who can use this money to make a more aggressive offer, pay down mortgage principle, obtain a lower rate, buy furniture, pay condo fees, or just put it in their savings account—it is not our focus, nor is it a gimmick to get buyers in the door. We think this is a very fair way of conducting buy-side real estate transactions.” In fact, outside of their flat fee, CondoDomain conducts business just
as any other traditional real estate firm would—with the added bonus that they are experts in the Boston condominium marketplace and offer an unparalleled online resource.

With cutting-edge real estate companies like CondoDomain in Boston, this new way of conducting business is surely going to be the future model for the industry. CondoDomain is giving buyers what they didn’t even know they wanted: comprehensive listings online, a full-service brokerage team ,expert buy-side negotiators, and a refund of the traditional commission after a flat fee is subtracted. Working with CondoDomain is not just a smart and efficient way to purchase Boston real estate, but one that offers the highest level service in a transparent, no pressure atmosphere.

# # #

About CondoDomain.com
CondoDomain.com is the online marketplace for condominium buyers. Operating as a destination site in more than 30 U.S. cities, CondoDomain.com most recently has opened up its first real estate brokerage in Boston, MA. An innovative real estate brokerage, CondoDomain.com works exclusively with buyers and only accepts a flat fee for their services. Dedicated to the buy-side of the real estate industry CondoDomain.com utilizes its local market expertise and high-tech capabilities to offer the highest level of full
service exclusive buyers brokerage. CondoDomain.com, which serves the niche of urban living, has built its foundation on trust, transparency and customer loyalty.

Side Note: You may have to reflush your Cache or DNS to view the site immediately as we propagate over the net.

Visit the new site for Boston Condos  WERE LIVE!

Visit the new site for Boston Condos

Redfin is to give gave away $10,000,000 in their most recent milestone customer rebate tour.

“Redfin refunded $1 million in home-buyer commissions scarcely more than a year ago, so this milestone reflects the company’s enormous growth in one of the worst real estate markets on record,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “We aren’t aware of any other brokerage that grew as much, if at all, in 2007, and know of no other startup that had as profound an impact on an industry as we already have. We still have a long, long ways to go, but the business has done better than we could have hoped so far.”  Continued…
Congratulations Redfin…we hope to join you in the fight (maybe this week) for creating a more transparent and consumer centric real estate marketplace!  Hats off to you!