If you could, would you live near Land Shark Stadium?

Imagine seeing an ad for a home for sale “near Land Shark Stadium”. You might not have to anymore.

Land Shark Stadium??? I heard about this and I thought about the hysterical sketch on the early (and funny) days of Saturday Night Live with Chevy Chase knocking on apartment doors and "eating" the residents who opened the door for his "Land Shark" costume. Then I saw this in print, and thought that maybe a reputable news operation had picked up a story from The Onion.

But, silly me. This could happen within hours of writing this. It seems that name is now the name of a beer. This could be the name of the same stadium the Miami Dolphins have played in for years. The stadium I still refer to as Joe Robbie Stadium, since that's how it was introduced and Joe Robbie was the Dolphins' owner who got it built.The same stadium that right now technically isn't named for the team that plays in it (Dolphin Stadium and NOT Dolphins Stadium). The former Underwear Stadium (whatever). The same facility that cuts off beer sales at half-time and had to implement a "family section" so that kids attending a pro football game would have a safe harbor. Let alone that it is not and has never been in Miami.

Next, I thought about how this stadium name will make property and home owners in the area feel. Will it present an added challenge to sell a home or commercial property near Land Shark Stadium?

Think about it. This publicity also begins less than a year after more shark attacks near Florida beaches. While it is hard to name a percentage, it is safe to say a portion of potential home buyers in the Miami – Ft. Lauderdale corridor come from the northern cities as second homes or homes to retire at. The Southeast Florida market has had its share of challenges in today’s real estate market as it is. I have recently spoken with several regional mortgage lenders who tell me they continue to stay away from advertising in and pursuing the Miami area.

Sports fans are the ones who will react in whatever way (humor, sarcasm, etc.) to Land Shark Stadium any minute now. I just don’t see it being a favorable reaction toward the area. Granted, this stadium is actually so isolated from civilization in South Florida it really won’t make that much of a difference, but unless people have actually been there, they don’t realize this. The local government will point out that they receive the tax portion of the millions of dollars paid for the stadium naming rights, and that it will add to the economy. While that may be true, I happen to think this name could take away from the local economy long term as it could negatively impact the local real estate market.

Meanwhile, there is something to be said for picking up a piece of an historical building as the highest bidder. But this is a highly unusual story. It seems that several items from the original Chicago Stock Exchange Building, including a cast and wrought iron elevator enclosure panel and leaded glass ceiling panels with values estimated to be in 5 figures. The Louis Sullivan designed building was completed in 1894.

What makes this unusual? The building was demolished in 1972 in Chicago, yet this auction takes place (on June 2) at The Rockefeller Center in New York City. The Associated Press story quotes an official of Christie’s as saying they could not reveal how the auction house got these items.
Seems to me there is a very interesting news or investigative story in the making. How do in tact parts of a building demolished 37 years earlier suddenly appear for auction? What happens to expensive parts of demolished buildings?

Speaking of demolished buildings, did you see the NBC News report on Tuesday about the demolition of a group of homes in Victorville, CA?

It seems that the city determined it was more economically feasible to bulldoze a group of homes that were not completed rather than spend the money to complete them. The video showed pile after pile of debris. Once everything is cleared (and at who’s expense?), the space could remain a series of empty lots for months if not years.

My first reaction is that city officials didn’t see the story about the Florida investor who purchased several unfinished homes for under half price, and spent a portion of his savings to finish construction, leaving him with a huge profit margin whether he rented or sold the brand new houses.

In other words, the Victorville demolition is another example of the lack of creative thinking about today’s real estate market. You can’t tell me that no one would have shown up if the city officials and others associated with the project held an auction. An investor or investment group could have done the same thing. But start from scratch on a series of vacant lots? It could take several years of waiting, and that is a lot of lost potential revenue for the city – and for those still employed in the real estate community.

A winning investment in residential property

Creative thinking continues to put a few ahead of the game in this weeks' real estate market. Instead of soaking in the barrage of negative statistics from the realty associations and industry officials, there are a few people acting and investing on a great idea.

And, no, it is not making lowball offers to try and prevent specific foreclosures. You see, it is not just "complete" houses that are owned (repossessed) by the banks. Unfortunately, many small builders have vanished from the scene. In some cases, this happened while one or more single family homes were still being built and thus not yet sold.

I got curious when I saw that someone bought a 3,000 sq. ft. house in Central Florida for $28,000 cash and may have been the only actual bidder. Upon further investigation, the buyer got himself an unfinished house that was left for dead by a failed builder. In today's market, consumers and investors who can afford to take advantage of the deals out there want something they can turn a profit on without having to spend any more to do so. Yet, in this instance, it translates to missed opportunities.

This buyer/investor estimated that the house needed about $50,000 more worth of work to be completed, and he has the contacts (and the finances) to make that happen. The result is that within a few weeks, he will have a completed and brand new 3,000 sq. ft. house in Florida ready to sell - or rent. And his total cost will likely be under $80,000, with no mortgage.

If over the next few weeks the market doesn't improve to the point of easily being able to find a buyer, he knows the rental market is strong among people who don't have credit worthy of getting a mortgage. Better yet, there will likely be a ton of "rent to buy" candidates out there.

Those who rent to buy make much better tenants, as they are not likely to let necessary household matters slide.

This, after the bank which "took over" this unfinished property was amazed to get rid of something they couldn't sell against the foreclosures ready for immediate occupancy.

What gets me is that this investor/buyer, to the best of my knowledge, is NOT a licensed realty agent.

Now put this together with the usual batch of negative real estate market stories started by the people in the industry. Notice that the realty associations continue to release the "down market" statistics so fast it's hard to keep up:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090126/ap_on_bi_ge/home_sales_southern_cities_1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090126/ap_on_bi_ge/home_sales_northeastern_cities_1

Now the Chicago market joins the rest:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/currency/1398509,CST-FIN-wallet27.article

Let me get this straight. The realty agents and mortgage lenders complaining about the lack of business (except for mortgage refi's) are sitting around reading the doom statistics, while investors not in the profession are using creative thinking to score a nice profit within the course of the new year.

What's wrong with this picture?