You Can’t Polish A Turd But You Can Put Glitter On It

A report from WUFS. “Last Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis called on lawmakers to do something before the 2025 legislative session to address the crisis facing condominium owners. But Florida Rep. Vicki Lopez doesn’t feel the pressure of convening a special session on condos before the end of the calendar year. ‘When all 100% of condominium buildings complete their structural integrity reserve study, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what is the increase in the condo fees,’ Lopez said. ‘That’s what I don’t have right now.’ In the meantime, she still advises prospective buyers not to buy a condo in the state. ‘I feel like if the structural integrity reserve studies haven’t been completed, you don’t really know what you’re entering into when you purchase a condo. So I’ve actually said to everybody, you’ve got to make sure that you know what are all of the costs going to be,’ Lopez said.”

From CBS Miami. “One Brickell resident told CBS News Miami, away from our cameras, that he was upset that his neighbor of two decades could no longer afford to stay, overwhelmed by skyrocketing assessments and maintenance fees. He’s not alone in hoping something changes fast. ‘People are moving and moving away from this area of town,’ shared Shawn Cozzolino. Cozzolino tells us ever since he purchased his condo in Brickell four years ago, his association fees have gone up. ‘Add it all together, it’s like an extra $1,000 more a month,’ said Cozzolino. ‘For a lot of people, they can’t do that.’ Condo costs are rising for thousands in South Florida. ‘My brother and sister-in-law are on Brickell Key and they have had three special assessments, one per year over the last three years,’ said a Brickell resident who goes by Steve.”

“‘It’s way too cumbersome,’ said Craig Studnicky, ISG World’s CEO. ‘It’s way too much. It’s way too soon. Yes, it needs to be phased.’ Studnicky has worked in real estate for four decades, believing state laws negatively affected the condo market in South Florida for aging buildings. ‘It’s the uncertainty of it that has created the conclusion in every prospective buyer’s mind as well as lender’s mind that the special assessments will be six figures plus per unit,’ added Studnicky. ‘It is the opinion of a lot of realtors, and I agree with them, that if we just went back to 40-year recertification, we’re good.'”

Bloomberg on New York. “Developers of the Mandarin Oriental residences on New York’s Fifth Avenue secured an inventory loan to help with the cost of unsold luxury condos at the building. Manhattan-based Northwind Group provided a $120 million loan for the 50 remaining luxury condo units at 685 Fifth Ave., according to a statement. The project was built by New York-based developer SHVO and Deutsche Finance America, along with other equity partners including some of Germany’s largest pension and insurance fund managers. The group converted the building, formerly the headquarters of Gucci, into luxury condos with a rooftop pool, spa and gym. The project was completed earlier this year. Condo inventory loans can help developers pay the costs of holding onto those units while they try to strike deals. The Mandarin Oriental developers added more cash equity as part of this financing, bolstering Northwind’s bet on the property, according to the statement.”

Community Impact on Texas. “Single-family home sales decreased year over year by 8.3% from 8,006 in August 2023 to 7,240 in August 2024, according to the August market update released Sept. 11 from the Houston Association of Realtors. Active listings in Houston are at its highest since July 2011, with 30,841 single-family homes available, and active listings are up 34.6% from August 2023, according to the report. ‘Although sales have slowed, the Houston housing market is still in good shape,’ HAR Chair Thomas Mouton said via news release. ‘Expanding inventory and easing mortgage rates are offering buyers more opportunities.'”

KSAT in Texas. “Staggering rates of new deliveries hammering occupancy and rental prices in San Antonio’s apartment market are likely to persist through 2025. Since the beginning of the year, San Antonio has delivered a whopping 9,000 apartment units, according to MRI ApartmentData. Bruce Mcclenny, industry principal with MRI ApartmentData, expects another 6,000 deliveries before the year is out. While he says it might not be a record for San Antonio given the construction booms of the 1970s and 1980s, it’s certainly head and shoulders above numbers MRI has recorded for the Alamo City since it started tracking apartment unit growth. ‘We’re likely going to deliver way more apartment units than we’re going to be able to absorb this year,’ Mcclenny said.”

News 19 in South Carolina. “A Lexington County apartment complex, Westwood Estates, is in foreclosure after failing to repay its real estate company in time. According to court documents, Westwood Estates is facing foreclosure after allegedly breaching a loan agreement with 100 Riverbend, a real estate company. The complex reportedly borrowed over $24 million in 2021 and has failed to meet its repayment obligations. Mark Fessler, the deputy director for ligation and training with S.C. Appleseed Legal Services, said the real estate company has the right to reach this conclusion. ‘Practically speaking, you have to refinance the loan or get an extension from the lender, which the lender is not obligated to give, or you’d have to sell the property to someone else and use the proceeds from the sale to pay off the matured loan,’ he said.”

“Timothy Bridges, who has lived there for over two years, says he has experienced issues that inconvenienced him. ‘It’s one time I had to go to Planet Fitness to take shower because our water was cut off for so long,’ Bridges said. ‘It took them almost two years to a fix plumbing problem, and it was horrific,’ resident James Lewis said. ‘It was really horrific. I have holes in my bathroom walls and roaches are coming in. It’s really gross in there.'”

Colorado Springs Gazette. “A new Colorado law has lifted restrictions on how many unrelated people can live in one dwelling, causing concern and celebration among some Pikes Peak region officials and residents. House Bill 1007 went into effect July 1 and prohibits local governments from having restrictions on the number of people who can occupy a single dwelling, regardless of their connection to each other. The law allows for exceptions based on health and safety concerns. Dutch Schulz, president of the Old North End Neighborhood Association, said that he was concerned that the new legislation would allow density that would cause parking pressure on residential streets. ‘Where do they think these cars are going to go?’ he said.”

KATU in Oregon. “People in the North Portland neighborhood of University Park are on edge after they said crime is running rampant, and some blame a Safe Rest Village. KATU found some alarming data backing up that claim. It is happening as a neighbor showed a KATU crew surveillance video that shows someone seemingly breaking into a pickup truck at a home near the Peninsula Crossing Safe Rest Village. The homeowner told KATU the person stole several valuable items. Neighbors said they had similar experiences, although none wanted to talk on camera. They all said property crime has picked up since the tiny home community was built.”

“However, several others also said the area has gotten much cleaner, and they are seeing for less homeless camps in the area. ‘Since the city has put in the Safe Rest Village, things are honestly a lot better on this street. There used to be a massive tent city of more than a 150 tents up and down that bike path,’ said Brian Kim. ‘Now, that there is the Safe Rest Village, it’s all contained.’ Portland police data backs up the claim of crime running rampant in the University Park area. Between July 2023, shortly after the tiny home village opened, and July 2024, there were 923 property crimes reported. That is much higher than the 482 property crimes reported between July 2022 and July 2023.”

NBC San Diego in California. “It’s a good-looking piece of tuna that Tsuyoshi Maruyama is preparing for the evening’s dinner he will be serving his customers at Sushi Maru in downtown San Diego. He just bought the place a few months ago. He said business has been great since he opened, but there is a bit of an eyesore less than a block away: the vacant building at 101 Ash St. ‘Some homeless people hang out there. They should do something in there. It should be cleaner. It should be better,’ he said. Three new proposals are now on the table from different “entities” as the city called them. According to the mayor’s office, two of the proposals offered to turn the building into housing for low-income families. The third proposal offered to turn it into housing and support services for the homeless. ‘Hopefully, that could help our business as well, but I feel there should be people living there, and maybe there could be less homeless,’ Maruyama said.”

Global News in Canada. “An Ontario new homebuilding company is now facing 124 charges after the regulator found it was illegally building homes without permission. Albion Building Consultant Inc., also known as Albion Builders or simply Albion, had its licence to build and sell homes in Ontario revoked in February 2023. Over the winter, the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) executed a search warrant at the company’s offices and seized thousands of company documents. At the time, the HCRA said it had reason to believe Albion was still building homes.”

“The regulator said that based on evidence obtained during the search warrant, it has laid 124 new charges against Albion and five business associates related to the construction of 40 new homes. The charges include illegal building and selling, failure to enrol homes, failure to comply with conditions and being a party to an offence. ‘It is the largest investigation in the HCRA’s history,’ the regulator noted. In addition to the charges, the HCRA is also seeking a restraining order to prevent Albion from further violating the law and endangering consumers. Albion is run by Zamal Hossain and his wife, Farida Haque. In 2022, the company was convicted of failing to enrol new homes in the warranty program with Tarion, as required by law. It was ordered to pay over $200,000 in fines for illegal building.”

“Hossain was individually convicted of acting as an officer in a company that failed to enrol new homes. Haque was individually convicted of acting as a vendor of a new home without being licensed. In February 2023, Global News showed up at Albion’s offices on Danforth Avenue in Toronto to locate Hossain, who agreed to do an interview with reporter Sean O’Shea. ‘Yes, I broke the law. Anything else?’ Hossain said. ‘One hundred per cent, I agree with that,’ Hossain said when asked about the requirement to register warranties.”

Daily Hive in Canada. “A Metro Vancouver home that has been listed for sale since April has caught the attention of some residents online, and it’s not because they love the aesthetic. Located at 3530 Hastings Street in Port Coquitlam, the five-bedroom, two-bath home with just over 2,600 sq ft of space was originally listed for $1,798,800. Subsequently, it saw a $200,000 reduction for a new asking price of $1,598,000. That’s still much more than the latest BC Assessment value of $1,279,600. Greater Vancouver Realtors say the benchmark price for a detached home in Port Coquitlam last month was $1,432,100.”

“The listing caught the attention of the Facebook group called Metro Vancouver Housing Collapse. ‘Just another overpriced, plain vanilla house,’ said the original Facebook poster. ‘The asking price for this box qualifies for a Monty Python episode,’ one person said in response.”

Daily Express. “A third of people in Spain believe their local area now has too many international visitors, according to a continent-wide survey that has found most people across Europe are sympathetic to protests against overtourism and back steps to combat it. The YouGov survey comes after a summer of protests and urgent warnings against the impact of mass tourism, from tourists being sprayed with water pistols in Barcelona, to 20,000 demonstrators in the streets of Majorca’s capital Palma, to measures aimed at regulating the number of visitors announced in Amsterdam, Santorini and Athens.”

“People in Spain also felt most strongly about the short-term holiday rental sector, such as Airbnb, which is widely blamed for removing accommodation from the local market and pushing up the price of rent to the point that many residents cannot afford housing. As such, in July, the Spanish government announced a ban on short-term lettings pleading to check that listings had licences, while Barcelona’s city council aims to ban all holiday flats – of which there are 10,101 licences – by November 2028. ‘High levels of international tourists have been a persistent challenge for cities across Europe,’ said Eva Satkute Stewart, YouGov’s global head of travel and tourism, with the issues ‘particularly acute in Spain, which is reflected in our data.'”

The Herald Sun in Australia. “Despite leaving the judges breathless, swooning and even declaring they were thinking about bidding on one of the houses themselves, nobody came out of main bedroom week an outright winner. Because Kylie once again refused to play her bonus point penguin, Mimi and Kristian and Courtney and Grant ended up tying for first place. They now must split the $10,000 prize and, adding insult to injury, were told there would be no special night away with Scott Cam to enjoy. ‘It’s like in the footy when its full time and it’s a draw. You haven’t lost but you don’t feel like you’ve won,’ Kristian moped. At least Kylie has finally found her groove (or at least a version of her moody aesthetic that the judges don’t despise).”

“Her gold wall-papered ceiling had been a risky move and one that Foreman Dan had earlier failed to understand, planting seeds of doubt about whether her choice would strike gold with the judges. Inexplicably, all three judges loved Kylie’s ugly homemade lamp, with Marty saying it should have been the winning effort. ‘They must have been on drugs,’ Scotty smirked. Cam took things a step further (and down market), offering his own frank assessment of Courtney’s handywork. ‘You can’t polish a turd but you can put glitter on it,’ he said, with the sort of delight you see on a preschooler’s face when they engage in a bit of toilet humour. Despite the faux fire faux pas, Marty declared Courtney and Grant’s room the ‘most marketable’ (which is the greatest compliment a real estate agent can bestow), marvelling at their workmanship.”