Condo Week

It’s Day 3 of “Condo Week” on the Sacramento Appraisal Blog, so let’s take a look at all condominium sales in the City of Sacramento in Downtown and Midtown over the past three years. You can see all condo sales in a previous post if you wish to see the overall context of the condo market. What do you see in the graph below?

Most of the higher condominium sales over the past three years are from the L Street Lofts in Midtown Sacramento. These lofts have quite a selling range depending on floor location, view and size of course. Between the lofts not being listed on the market between June 2008 to the end of 2009, a challenging real estate market in general, and difficulties for buyers to obtain financing in this development, there have been few loft sales as shown above. Per conversation this week with Michael Onstead of Coldwell Banker, there were many buyers lined up to purchase lofts, but financing stood in the way. With that being said, imagine the graph above with more sales at higher levels. That could change the overall look of the trend line, couldn’t it?

Right now the lofts on L Street are typically listed between $300,000 to $600,000 for the most part (that doesn’t include penthouse lofts though). If you’re local, you’ve probably seen or read stories about the L Street Lofts having gone into foreclosure. Hopefully this unique project will be able to resume their sales program soon.

As an FYI, former Sacramento Kings basketball player Kevin Martin is currently selling his penthouse loft on L Street. He paid $1,340,000 in September 2008 and it is currently listed as pending in MLS at $899,000. This is one beautiful property!!

What is your favorite condominium development in Sacramento? Why?

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook.

This week is “Condo Week” on the Sacramento Appraisal Blog, so we’ll be talking about condominiums throughout the week. Exciting stuff, right? It seems fitting to kick things off by discussing what a condominium is and how you can tell the difference between a condo and a townhouse (PUD) in the Sacramento area.

What is a condominium?

A condominium is a multiple-unit dwelling in which there is separate and distinct ownership of individual units and joint ownership of common areas. For example, in an apartment house [or condo development], the individual owners would each own their own apartments while all the owners of the separate apartments would together own the parts of the building common to all of them, such as the entrances, laundry rooms, elevators, and hallways. The building is managed by the condominium association, either directly or through a professional manager. The owners of the individual units are jointly responsible for the costs of maintaining the building and common areas, but they are individually responsible for the maintenance expenses of their particular units. (definition from Free Dictionary)

Sometimes it’s not clear if a property is a condominium or townhouse though. How do you know the difference when these types of units can actually look very similar on the outside? The terms “condo” and “townhouse” are used interchangeably quite a bit too, which complicates things (sort of like “manufactured” and “modular”). There is usually an HOA managing the condo or townhouse development, but the big difference really boils down to a condominium owner not owning the individual parcel and a townhouse owner actually owning the land on which the unit is built.

It’s still not easy to identify whether a property is a condominium or townhouse though sometimes, so let me give you a few pointers if you’re searching in the Sacramento area. These tips may or may not work in other areas.

How can you identify a condominium in comparison to a townhouse in the Sacramento area?

1) Are the units called condos or townhouses by the development? This is the first step to identify a property. I know this sounds simplistic, but most of the time units are not called “condos” unless that is what they are.

2) Is there a lot size listed in Tax Records? If there is a lot size, this often means the property is a townhouse and not a condo. However, don’t use this “proof” by itself because many times condominiums actually have a specific lot size mentioned (even though they don’t have an individual lot). Ultimately, keep in mind that Tax Records is not the authority on determining what a property is and is not.

3) Does the plat map show specific lot dimensions for the individual unit on a parcel? If so, it’s most likely a townhouse PUD and not a condominium. This is an important indicator. The owner of the condominium does not have ownership of the entire site on which the unit is built, so there is no reason to give specific dimensions on the plat map for the lot shape. If an individual parcel is identified with dimensions on the plat map for the individual lot, it’s not a condo. Click the thumbnails to view larger images.