Grand finale of Marco’s 40-year condo boom

The trailer that served as the sales office for Madeira was only open for 10 days in January 2004.Marco Island’s real estate market was booming.It was the best of times.Jim Prange, successfully selling real estate on Marco Island for 30 years with Premier Sotheby’s, waited in line to place offers on desired units for several …

Condo inventory detailed in new report

Developers have sold 85 percent of the condos built in South Florida during the building boom beginning in 2002, according to a report released this week by Bal Harbour-based consultancy Condo Vultures. The report, which studies condo markets from South Beach to West Palm Beach, found that developers have sold 41,258 condos in the last …

Churches Find End Is Nigh

Residential and commercial real-estate owners aren’t the only ones losing their properties to foreclosure. The past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of churches losing their sanctuaries because they can’t pay the mortgage. Just as homeowners borrowed too much or built too big during boom times, many churches did the same …

New real-estate sales tax is on the way Realty Q&A

Question: I am one of those anal-retentive people who starts working on his tax returns before the tax year even comes to an end. But forget about 2010. I have heard that there is a new real-estate sales tax for 2011. What do you know about that? —K.J.S., Laurel, Md. Answer: Not a lot, if …