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| Written by Anthony Parker |
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Investors and developers interested in earning big bucks through foreclosure flipping will have a field day in Florida Keys. The area is swarmed with about 18 pricey developments projects that stopped construction since the last two years. During the peak of the real estate market, luxury developers paid large amount of money to buy campgrounds, marinas, trailer parks and motels, including the Holiday Isle and World Famous Tiki Bar. Many residents in Florida Keys were alarmed by the flood of development projects they thought would destroy the area. Then the real estate market crash came, resulting to the cancellation of about 18 high-end development projects, including the Harbor Place at the Historic Seaport District in Key West and the Islamorada, site of the 2008 Dream Home of Home and Garden Television. The recession and market collapse provided a slight reprieve to a few inexpensive lodgings in the Keys. The crisis stopped developers from buying budget motels and trailer parks. However, the foreclosure problem left behind rows of empty properties, with some being bulldozed to prevent them from becoming blights. Many properties were placed on the market at pre-boom prices, making them good foreclosure flipping deals. One notable project is the Marlin Bay Yacht Club valued at $220 million. The developers defaulted and the property went from one bank to another. The 25-unit Indigo Bay condominium-hotel in Islamorada was nearly 95 percent complete when its developer went bankrupt. It was placed on the auction block twice but still, it remained empty and for sale at a price of $6 million, lower than the original asking price of $8 million. There are still other high-end projects that never see the light of the day. The developer of Key Largo’s Playa Cristal Resort bought the American Outdoors RV Park with a plan to convert it into a condominium-hotel featuring 92 high-end units, a lounge and a restaurant. After the purchase, the only progress the developer Cortex Living Resort has done was demolished the park. The property is currently involved in an almost $40 million foreclosure case. Industry experts have not given up hope for Florida Keys. They said that foreclosure flipping is one of the ways that the area could get rid of the foreclosed properties and turn them into productive use. |
