Real estate brokers struggle to resurrect churches

Real estate brokers struggle to resurrect churches

Faced with a smaller congregation, the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in Sacramento, Calif., is up for sale.

Church members hired a real estate broker in December and priced their two buildings on 15,000 square feet at $1.4 million. Two months later, Leigh Nurre faces one of the toughest transactions in real estate: selling a property designed for one purpose and of interest to only a sliver of the market.

Nurre is among hundreds of U.S. real estate agents and brokers marketing older churches as traditional mainline congregations decline, people move to the suburbs and churches increasingly become all-week lifestyle centers that need more room. Nurre and others make telephone calls to new, renting congregations that may or may not have money to buy. They advertise on commercial real estate sites under “special purpose” designations. And they get exploratory calls from developers and others floating ideas for other uses, from funeral homes to private schools.

Nothing about the process is easy. Most older churches are designed solely for services and can require rezoning for alternate uses. Residential areas accustomed to a low-impact religious neighbor can be fussy about busier uses. Seller congregations can even balk at buyer proposals they find offensive. Churches also are expensive and fledgling congregations often lack the necessary large down payments on sites often listed for more than $1 million.

First-time homebuyers walk into financial trap

First-time homebuyers walk into financial trap

Two years ago, Luis Mapula was living in a converted garage with his wife and two daughters, earning $54,000 a year as a fence company construction worker. Then, almost like magic, he became the owner of a $543,000 home with no down payment.

Situated on a quiet cul-de-sac off Quimby Road in East San Jose, the two-bedroom home was to have been his family’s piece of the American dream. Instead, it became a financial trap that consumed most of Mapula’s income. He got out only after his real estate broker took back the home and paid off the loan as part of a legal settlement.

Renters once again, the family has no plans to buy another home.

“Better a garage than live without enough to eat,” Mapula’s wife, Cristina Plata, said through a translator.

Executive Suite Today’s Entrepreneur: Miami magnate gives city a makeover – USATODAY.com

Executive Suite Today’s Entrepreneur: Miami magnate gives city a makeover

If you stand in just the right spot on the Brickell Avenue Bridge, it’s possible to think that every new building in this rapidly evolving city — every single glass-walled pillar of aspiration and ambition — belongs to one man: Jorge Perez.

Of course, that’s not the case. Even an urban developer as ubiquitous as Perez can’t be everywhere. But visible from the modest concrete span over sparkling Biscayne Bay are the three towers of the $1.5 billion Icon Brickell hotel and condominium project, the multihued facade of another condo building called 500 Brickell and the eye-catching Loft 2, distinguished by a public transit system that passes through an opening in its midsection.

The three projects are among 11 freshly minted buildings that Perez, chief executive of closely held The Related Group, has under construction in what was once a desolate downtown landscape. Coupled with earlier projects already completed, the distinctive cluster puts Miami on track to have a people-friendly downtown worthy of a city that bills itself as the unofficial capital of South America. And it’s cementing the Cuban-American entrepreneur’s standing as one of the nation’s most prominent Hispanic businessmen.

Condo resales turn buyer’s market

Condo resales turn buyer’s market

Roughly one-third of investors who committed to downtown condo towers during Florida’s post-2000 real estate boom appear to be having buyers’ remorse.

Driven by a desire to distance themselves from rampant speculation or avoid owning overpriced space, buyers are bailing from a handful of high-profile Sarasota towers.

Their movement is likely mirrored across the region and the state.

“It certainly isn’t surprising in this market,” said Lisa Rooks Morris, a Rooks Morris Real Estate partner who, until last autumn, sold condominiums at 1350 Main, one of downtown’s most talked-about addresses.

Best condos restrict rentals

Best condos restrict rentals

My wife and I are interested in buying a condominium for investment purposes. But the condo homeowner association tells us we cannot rent it to tenants and must keep it vacant or live in it. Can they legally impose this restriction on us? –Joe M.

Yes. When you buy a condominium or any property subject to homeowner association CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions), you agree to abide by them, plus the condo association bylaws and rules.

The best condo complexes have restrictions or complete prohibitions against rentals. When you see a run-down condo complex, chances are it has a high percentage of renters who don’t care about proper maintenance of the condo common areas.

Nicaragua, the new beachfront frontier

Nicaragua, the new beachfront frontier – Los Angeles Times

What second-home buyers yearn for in Central America is Costa Rica before the building boom. They want ocean views and unspoiled land, without the steep prices, crime and American fast-food chains. They want Panama before Donald Trump.

Adventurous Americans, Canadians and Europeans willing to dodge livestock and potholes for the two-hour car ride south from Managua to this sleepy fishing village on the west coast of Nicaragua are finding just that. Three-bedroom homes with unfettered views of shimmering bays and turquoise water start at $155,000; condos, from $129,000. Undeveloped land with ocean views — sites of a quarter-acre — start at $35,000. Construction costs generally range from $55 to $75 per square foot. To investors, it simply screams “ground floor.”

Sure, Costa Rica is still a destination for many U.S. retirees and near-retirees — condos at Marisol at Punta Dominical in the southwestern coastal region of Costa Rica, for example, start at the mid-$200,000s, and come with three community pools and nearby hiking trails. Then there’s also the province of Guanacaste in the northwest region, where luxury condos start at $500,000. Seems the word is out.