David Podgursky

I agree...there is no excuse for this behavior I understand homeowners are HURT...but the home is a place of warm emotions and memories, why would you destroy it? We don't mutilate the bodies of our loved ones prior to burial! Also - why would Realtors be at fault for prices? We didn't control or fix them? A buyer that bought at a price and then lost value didn't do so because the Realtor did something wrong. There are some isolated cases of collusion and fraud out there but they're far from the Norm. The fair market value and fair market price were set by the MARKET These people really have no motivation NOT to take out their anger on the property! But Karma bites back and they'll learn that soon enough.

nice article - but I wish you had focused more on the consumer side - who cares about Trump? We should educate the consumer more about this property type. As concerning Joel Greene's comment http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/stock-backed-loan-arrangers-may-be-risky-saviors hmmm... first of all, what do Condotels have to do with the SEC? Timeshares are securities, not real estate. Condotels are real estate - so the SEC has nothing to do with it. Marcus Millichap is an INVESTMENT Real Estate Firm and everything they sell from land to condo buildings are INVESTMENTS... and no one is on their back since LAND is historically a terrible investment. Backing your loan with your stock portfolio is a horrible idea - and unlike the Mortgage Brokers you quote in your interview, Joel, I do know what I'm talking about. Given the economic climate and people having issues with property value decline, having a 2-7yr finance vehicle on a property with an insecure price that is collateralized by their stock portfolio is a horrible ideal. When their equity vaporizes and they're upside down due to the fact that condotels are essentially impossible to borrow against, it would seem that this proposition would also put in peril the security of the borrower's stock portfolio creating a double risk. Condotels are a very specific niche property and would therefore require a very specific niche lender and it is good to see that there are 2-3 people willing to lend...but the niche BUYER for a condotel that does not have the cash to buy one outright is likely not going to have the comfort level or the risk tolerance based on standard financial risk modelling to actually get a stock-collateralized loan AND not lose their asses in them! David Podgursky david@themortgagegotoguy.com www.themortgagegotoguy.com

I understand the mentality of Congress... but these programs are BETTER than the government giveaways and cost the tax payers NOTHING. They typically don't offer as much money either which helps assure that the buyer is not buying way over their head. I like the AMERIDREAM program and we should have more SELLER Education on how these programs work. Here in Florida, so many people try to use the SHIP program - Florida State Housing Initiative Program. They offer up to $75,000 per buyer to subsidize the purchase of a new home. The problem is that the funds are allotted annually and funded quarterly. As some counties get such small sums from the state, the money is used up very quickly. If a buyer is in a transaction and the well dries up, then the seller may simply not wait around to try again. I think the whole system needs to be reworked but that is just me... I won't run on that platform! http://www.themortgagegotoguy.com