From the June issue: Increasingly eager to sell out their luxury projects, South Florida developers are ramping up incentives to lure both brokers and buyers with a cherry on top of their condo offerings.
The sweeteners run the gamut and can include prepaid homeowners’ fees and taxes, lower deposits and high-end finishings at no additional cost. These enticements come as luxury towers across South Florida top off and developers scramble to sell out their projects in a sluggish market.
With a plethora of supply and the much reported drop in foreign buying activity, some discounting is happening, too — but incentives are the more heavily marketed option. Sales directors haven’t gone as far as offering the quirky freebies like free suits and iPads that rentals have offered in the past, but they are piling on the extras they believe will bring both buyers and brokers to their projects.
“When developers near the end of sales — the last 10 to 20 percent — you see more discounting and concessions,” said John Warsing, sales director for Aurora in Sunny Isles and Le Jardin and Pearl House in Bay Harbor Islands. By that point, developers have often paid back most of any borrowed capital. “They are eager to sell the units and close out the buildings, and it has gotten more competitive. We are all looking for the same buyers, and the pool has dwindled.” [more]