Where, oh where are the good deals? In brand-new condos.

I looked at several new condo projects with buyers yesterday. As we all know, there's a glut of new condos on the market. I think you have to be an optimistic person to be a real estate developer these days. Either that, or you just don't let facts confuse you. Anyway, most of the developers are wheeling and dealing as they are very anxious to get these units sold, and there are actual good deals to be had. As financing has been difficult over the last several years, most of the buildings have already gone ahead and gotten approved for FHA loans, which used to be a major hurdle. Many developers will also not only negotiate on price, but pay some/all closing costs, buy down rates, etc.

Anyway, here's my take on several of the buildings I saw. All offered units from the low $400's to the high $500's. Yes, there were a couple of units in the high $300's.

5254 Corteen Place, Valley Village. Nice, typical finishes: wood and stone floors, neutral colors. Each unit is three stories, with the top floor leading to a roof top patio. The views weren't great. This street is all multi-unit dwellings and parking can be a problem.

5232 Satsuma, North Hollywood (pictured). This 28-unit development is represented by one of the all-time broker class acts in local real estate, Anita Rich. Unfortunately, the developer made many design choices which will be unpopular, I think. The units are very loft-y, and as such, there are next to no kitchen cabinets. Whew! I've never heard any potential buyer say that they needed less cabinets, not more. Some units had painted concrete floors. That's an interesting choice, but again, I don't know too many people who would want that over wood or carpet. I know this "loft" style is cheaper for designers and developers, but let's stop pretending we live in an abandoned industrial building on the lower east side of NY, okay?

5227 Denny, North Hollywood. The top floor units have incredibly high ceilings. Very nice finishes -- at least the ones we could see, as the building electricity was off. Seems like they're offering lots of incentives.

10609 Bloomfield, Toluca Lake. Certainly the nicest location that we saw. This is a bank liquidation (the bank took it back from the developer) and there are only two units left. Nice finishes, but unfortunately the units have no patios or balconies.

Answer to condo/loft glut: lease 'em, don't buy 'em

Here's an article in today's LAT that says many of the recently rehabbed condo/loft building developers are now leasing their units because they have been unable to sell them in the current market. You don't say. The article says it is happening in downtown L.A. and to a lesser extent, Hollywood and the SFV. Wow. What a surprise. I have been wondering for a long time when this trend was going to end -- this is not a city like NY or San Fran where mixed-use happened because there was no other kind of use -- people have tended to live where they worked in those cities because, well, for many decades there was no other viable place to live or way to get to other housing. They didn't move downtown from the suburbs because for many decades, there were no suburbs. Our current move-into-an-urban-area-from-the-burbs trend is the reverse of what has occurred in the past.

While I think urban living is a fabulous idea for many, I also think the market for buyers has been more limited here due to there being no schools and few essential services (grocery stores) available anywhere close to the condo/loft communities.

And this trend also tells me that developers, inspite of whatever research they may do, are as susceptible to fads as anybody else.

But hey, if I was 25 and had lots of money, I bet a downtown loft would be a really cool place to live!