Real Estate... Hong Kong Style

There's a broker in our office that turns over new condos in South Beach. She has so many listings on any given Sunday, that she often calls me to hold open house. I spent the last few weekends at the Beacon. Due to one particular broker (aka rogue agent) and his/her "unethical" practices, the HOA has relegated the resale agents to the HOA office. The developer is also trying to unload units and probably doesn't want any competition from the Realtors and their flipper investor clients.

So here is the scene at the Beacon HOA office on Sundays 2-4pm: You've got 11 real estate agents sitting around. Strewn on the office table are fliers for 19 different resale units. Coming in or out are residents with their dogs (there is a dog run in the opposite building). So many dogs have I seen that I've dubbed the Beacon "Doggy Development". The only thing missing are the buyers, many of whom are scared away as soon as they enter through the glass doors. Let me explain. Most of the units for sale are not selling. Rogue agent mainly farms this building and a high percentage of the units for sale here are in his/her inventory. This means if these units don't sell, this broker doesn't eat. So, rogue agent strategically places non-licensed assistants at the door to hijack buyers and take them only to this broker's listings. These types of practices have pissed off the other agents. So now we all crowd the lobby staring at the door, waiting for buyers. As soon as one arrive, we jump on them. Can you imagine the feeling of being rushed by real estate agents? And we wonder why we rank so low on consumer surveys. So intimidated are buyers when they walk through the door, that some have ducked through a side door to avoid being accosted by all of the agents. And if they do make it to inside the HOA office, they are usually confused by all the fliers. Just looking at the myriad of marketing fliers gives me a headache, I can only imagine what it does to wide-eyed first time homebuyers. I told another broker about the "competitive" atmosphere at the Beacon and he told me this is how real estate is sold in Hong Kong. Real Estate Hong Kong style... only at the Beacon.

To top it off, I learn this past Sunday that the Beacon is being sued by high profile attorney Patrick Catalano for misrepresenting the square footage of the condo units and structural defects. I did a search for this attorney and he made the same allegations against another developer in La Jolla. Square footage is never quite accurate and the Beacon's owner, Mission Place, always stated the sq ft is an approximation. Sounds like an ambulance chaser, but lawsuits always happen in a down market. Call it a symptom of a bubble beginning to burst. Next look for the regulators to step in as people start to lose their life savings .