Wow, that's all I can say! Fannie Mae just released a bulletin detailing a new Special Approval Designation for Florida Condominium Projects. As a result, you can now get financing in many condo buildings where cheap units were previously only available to all cash buyers.
Many existing condominium projects were previously made ineligible for Fannie Mae loans as a result of increasing delinquencies and foreclosures. As a result, prices fell precipitously in those buildings as the universe of potential buyers was drastically reduced. To illustrate, in a building like the Club at Brickell Bay in Downtown Miami / Brickell you could purchase a 1br unit for between $120,000 and $145,000, but it had to be an all cash transaction. On the flip side, to purchase a similar unit in one of the new buildings by the Related Group, you would have to pay almost double the price, but you would be able to get a loan. The quality of the Related Group's buildings is slightly better, but it doesn't justify paying two times the price. The difference is the financing.
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