Tonight's Keynote Speaker Joins Starwood Capital's Team

Jonathan M. Pertchik, the former chief restructuring officer for luxury condo developer WCI Communities which built several South Florida towers before seeking bankruptcy protection for a time, will have plenty to discuss as the keynote speaker at tonight's Condo Vultures® seminar.

Pertchik has just been named the chief operating officer for the newly created residential division of Starwood Capital, which last fall beat out several bidders for the $3 billion portfolio of the failed condo construction financier Corus Bank.

Starwood Capital acquired the failed Chicago bank's portfolio in a complex deal that allows the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. - the appointed receiver - to share in the upside realized by Starwood in selling off the Corus assets.

Before resigning from WCI in January, Pertchik was instrumental in facilitating luxury developer's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2009. In his last nine months with WCI, Pertchik successfully sold off $112 million of assets.

The upcoming Condo Vultures® seminar entitled "An Insider's Look At Closing A Bulk Deal" will examine what it takes to actually complete a large distressed transaction.

More than 40 bulk condo deals for 3,300 units at a combined price in excess of $900 million have closed in South Florida since July 2008, but many more prospective buyers have failed in their attempts to close a big deal.

Founded in 1946, WCI Communities - which built the One Bal Harbour and Mosaic luxury condominium towers - filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2008 after failing to refinance $1.8 billion in debt that was set to mature, according to the company's website.

In the past 15 years, Pertchik has also worked as the managing principal of The Staubach Company South Florida and an attorney directly servicing the Resolution Trust Corp. during the end of the Savings & Loan crisis.

Anyone involved in the cottage industry of bulk transactions cannot afford to miss this event from 5.30 pm to 8 pm on Tuesday, March 23, at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel.

A one-hour networking session begins at 5.30 pm, and will be followed by a 90-minute program with a questions-and-answers session.

Registration is required. Admission is $45 in advance, and $50 at the event.

For more information, please contact John Fakler, the executive editor of CondoVultures.com, at 800-750-0517 or by email at JFakler@CondoVultures.com.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or view our Video Gallery. Looking for bulk projects direct from developers or lenders? Visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Official Condo Buyers Guide To South Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Sunny Isles Beach™, Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and the First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2010, Condo Vultures® LLC

Downtown Miami Land Trades For $39 Million

A Boca Raton company has paid $39 million for nearly 300,000 square feet of vacant land situated on nine parcels in Downtown Miami, according to a new report from the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database.

The newly created PWV Group 1 Holdings LLC, with Gary N. Gerson as registered agent, paid $130 per square foot on Sept. 21 for 27 lots located a block west of four new highrise condo towers on Downtown Miami's Biscayne Boulevard, according to CondoVultures.com research.

The seller, six corporations controlled by AI Holdings (USA) Corp with Tamir Kazaz as chief financial officer, paid a combined $32.3 million, or $108 per square foot, for the land, which was acquired between August 1999 and March 2006, according to Miami-Dade County records.

The powerful Africa Israel fund controls AI Holdings (USA) Corp, according to a notarized document recorded with the deed.

"The purchase price works out to a gross premium of 21 percent for the seller minus expenses, and there have been many of them," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "For the buyer, the purchase price is 8 percent less than today's assessed value of $41.6 million, or $139 per square foot, for property tax purposes."

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Regulators Shut 2 Florida Banks, Lose $140 Million

Regulators have seized three bank, two headquartered in Florida and one in Oregon, resulting in an estimated loss of $185 million to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

First State Bank, a Sarasota, Fla.-based institution with assets of $463 million and deposits of $387 million, was shuttered on Friday, Aug. 7, producing a loss of $116 million to the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund. The FDIC ensures deposits up to $250,000 per account.

On that same day across town regulators were seizing the Community National Bank of Sarasota County, with assets of $97 million and deposits of $93 million. This failure resulted in a loss of $24 million to the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund.

The deposits of both Sarasota banks were assumed by Stearns Bank of St. Cloud, Minn. This is not the first time that the FDIC has worked out a deal with Stearns Bank to assume the deposits of a failed institution.

In June, Stearns Bank took over the deposits of the failed Minnesota institution Horizon Bank with assets of $87.6 million and deposits of $69.4 million.

For the year, regulators have seized six Florida-based institutions with combined assets of $14.2 billion and deposits of $9.8 billion. The six Florida bank failures of 2009 have resulted in an estimated loss of $5.4 billion, according to CondoVultures.com research based on FDIC data.

Florida ranks fourth in the country in 2009 for the greatest number of bank failures behind Georgia's 16 closings, Illinois' 13 closings, and California's eight closings, according to the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy Condo Vultures®.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

FDIC To Open Failed Bank Office Next Month In Florida

Federal regulators are staffing up for next month's scheduled opening of what is poised to be a 500-person bank failure and asset sales office in Florida.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which insures individual accounts up to $250,000, plans to open a "temporary" east coast office on Jacksonville's south side of town in September.

"Throughout its history, the FDIC has used these offices to keep temporary asset resolution staff closer to the concentration of failed bank assets they oversee," according to an FDIC statement. "As the work diminishes, the temporary satellite offices are closed."

Industry watchers expect a surge of bank failures to occur in Florida in the upcoming months as the sunshine state is one of the hardest hit real estate markets yet only six of the 94 FDIC institutions to fail since January 2008 have been headquartered in Florida.

By comparison, neighboring Georgia leads the nation in bank failures with 21 seizures, or 22 percent of the overall total closings, since 2008, according to Condo Vultures® LLC research based on FDIC data.

The FDIC's satellite office is viewed by many industry watchers as further proof that a series of Florida bank failures is imminent in the upcoming months. The FDIC is not dispelling the speculation.

"You put the office as close to the bulk of your work," FDIC spokesman David Barr told CondoVultures.com.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Wall Street real estate borrowers going to South Florida banks

By Jim Freer
Special Correspondent
CondoVultures.com

The past year’s disruptions in the financial markets are leading to new commercial real estate lending opportunities for some South Florida-based banks.

Two of those banks are U.S. Century Bank , based in Doral, and Stonegate Bank , based in Fort Lauderdale.

They are receiving loan requests from some owners of larger office buildings, major retailers and other commercial projects that previously obtained permanent financing from lenders that are often generically referred to as “Wall Street.” Those loans are generally for purchase, refinancing or operations of properties.

For years, the list of lenders on those projects has included large multi-state banks and other so-called “conduits” that package loans into commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS).

Life insurance companies and pension funds also have been long-time players in that lending.

But that financing has been drying up. Some large lenders are scaling back and many institutional investors, who are stilling seeking to overcome losses on subprime residential loans, are reducing their overall real estate investments.

Data from the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association shows the huge decline in the CMBS market.

A record $230 billion in loans were packaged into CMBS deals in the United States in 2007, according to that trade group.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

'Reverse Bank Heist' Stuns Customers Late On Loan Payments

Guest Opinion

BY ERIK WESOLOSKI

(Editor's note: Views expressed in this column are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of CondoVultures.com.)

The other day a client literally ran into my law firm, visibly shaken. He asked to see me immediately. My secretary whisked him into my office and before he even took a seat, he exclaimed that $6,000 had disappeared from his checking account.

I asked him to show me the bank statement, and a debit was reflected as going directly to the same bank. I asked him whether he was delinquent on any loans owed to the same bank. He said that he was six months late on an equity line of credit on his home which was owed to the same bank where he had his checking account.

This debit which looks and feels like a reverse bank heist, is actually legal, and it is called a set-off. A bank has a right to remove funds on deposit in an account at the same bank as a set-off against delinquent obligations owed by the depositor to the bank. This set-off right is supported by statute, common law and case law precedent. There are certain exceptions to a set-off but these exceptions are generally limited in scope to escrow accounts, also called special-purpose accounts.

Moral of the story: if you are delinquent on a car loan, mortgage loan or even a credit card to a bank where you also have a checking account, move the money in your checking account to another bank immediately!

The set-off right does not extend to deposit accounts at other banking institutions. Generally, for a bank to collect monies from a debtor who has funds in another bank’s deposit account, the bank must obtain a civil court judgment and subsequent to that, the bank must obtain an order for writ of garnishment.

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Fewer Than 10,000 Houses For Resale In Greater Miami

Greater Miami, the epicenter of the Florida housing crash, now has fewer than 10,000 single-family houses for resale following a 1.5 percent drop in inventory in the last week, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

In Miami-Dade County there are 9,998 single-family houses for resale, down from 10,154 houses on July 27 and 10,301 houses on July 20. Back in November, there were 16,554 houses for resale in Miami-Dade County during the week of Thanksgiving, according to the Condo Vultures® report produced using Florida Association of Realtors data.

"First-time home buyers and investors are buying up appropriately priced homes," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. "All things being equal, buyers are opting for single-family homes at a greater rate than condominium units and townhouses."

Of the 75,792 residences for resale in the tricounty South Florida region, single-family houses account for 39 percent, or 29,408, of the total inventory. Condominium units and townhouses account for the remaining 61 percent, or 46,384 resales, according to the report.

On a county-by-county basis, Palm Beach leads the region with the greatest number of single-family houses for resale with 10,202. Miami-Dade is second, and Broward is third with 9,208 single-family houses for resale.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC