 As a photo illustration for my New Year's greeting, I originally thought "fireworks with a modernist house" – but no such luck. What I did find is this lovely composite shot by Matt Hudson (matthudsonau) of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
But I immediately realised how little I knew about this very distinctive building and masterpiece of 20th century architecture. Worse, I didn't even know anything about its architect. Thus, a short intro: An international design competition for a new multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney was launched in 1955 and received 233 entries, representing architects from 32 countries. The criteria specified a large hall seating 3,000 and a small hall for 1,200 people, each to be designed for different uses, including full-scale operas, orchestral and choral concerts, mass meetings, lectures, ballet performances, and other presentations. The winner, announced in 1957, was Danish architect Jørn Utzon. His design was rescued by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen from a final cut of 30 rejects. Utzon visited Sydney in 1957 to help supervise the project; his office moved to Sydney in February 1963. The Government of New South Wales authorised work to begin in 1958, with Utzon directing construction. (But) the government's decision to build Utzon's design was often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns, as well as the architect's ultimate resignation. Completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened in October 1973. Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2003 for his design. The Pritzker Prize citation read: “There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city but a whole country and continent.” Have you visited the building? And if so, what is your impression and take on it? ____ Via wikipedia; much more details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House, and about every architectural site on the internet.
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Insider Guide to Real Estate Transactions in Florida, ch. 6: FORECLOSURES and SHORT SALES16/12/2021  You may want to calculate your budget before making an offer on this run-down house In chapter 6 of my “Guide to Florida Real Estate Transactions” (the series started in April, in case you missed the first chapters) we talk about the possibility of getting a deal through foreclosures or short sales. Foreclosures – also referred to as REOs – and Short Sales follow a slightly different path than offer and contract in a normal “arms-length” transaction with no duress. Both Foreclosures and Short Sales are time-consuming, often complicated and never for the faint of heart. A Short Sale is a bank-approved sale before a property goes into foreclosure, fetching a price under of the current mortgage value, thus the “short”. Contracting partner and seller is the current owner of the property, though the lender has to agree to the contract and is the factual negotiation partner. Because the bank hopes to minimize its loss, it will look for the best and highest offer as with as much time as possible and try to bid up offers. So a short sale is anything but short: a time-frame from three to seven months from submitting an offer to closing is typical. Short sale asking prices are teaser prices; selling prices normally are substantially higher. Cash offers with no contingencies are preferred, or the other way around: if the buyer doesn’t have cash in hand or at least bulletproof financing lined up and/or asks for inspection contingencies, he is wasting time. A variation, not common though, is a pre-approved short sale, where the bank has agreed to sell the property at a specific price. The pre-approval should always be obtained from the bank in writing, everything else is useless. Foreclosures happen when there is no short sale and the property gets auctioned off at a local Court of Law. This often happens when a property owner is in serious arrears with property taxes. In such case, an investor may jump in, pay off the taxes and as a result hold a tax certificate, which then can lead to ownership of the property.  I recently had a case of Hollywood home with every functional and cosmetic deficiency in the the book; to make matters much worse the seller “forgot” to tell me that her taxes were three years overdue and someone already held the certificate. Lesson: it is vital to verify all taxes are paid and current.
Foreclosure- and Short Sale-properties are usually in disrepair and may be uninhabitable due to vandalism, mold, roof damage, missing sinks, toilets, pipes, appliances etc. In such case, no lender will finance the purchase. A buyer can not expect price concessions due to necessary repairs and must deal with visible and hidden problems on his own. Savings in buying such property are often eaten up by repairs, which can not be financed. Lastly, liens, second mortgages, unpaid taxes, utility bills, homeowners or condominium dues and open judgments can significantly add to what only looked like an attractive price at the beginning. In the case of the Hollywood home above, a last-minute sale to an investor prevented the certificate sale, but resulted in a substantial amount of money the seller left on the table. At the end of the day, a Foreclosure or Short Sale may not be significantly cheaper for a user (vs. investor) than buying a property on the free market, which doesn’t come attached with massive headaches. Comments? Questions? Please contact me anytime; I'd be delighted to assist you. ____ ©2021 Tobias Kaiser. Use or reproduction only with written permission. |
 AuthorTobias Kaiser works as an independent real estate broker and consultant in Florida since 1990. Always putting his clients' interest first, he specialises in modern Florida homes and architecture, as well as net leased investments. Archives
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MODERN FLORIDA HOMES • 370 CAMINO GARDENS BLVD • BOCA RATON, FLORIDA 33432, USA
TOBIAS KAISER, MSc, CIPS • REALTOR/BROKER • MODERN ARCHITECTURE SPECIALIST KAISER ASSOC, INC • LIC FLORIDA REAL ESTATE BROKERS & CONSULTANTS MEMBER NAR, RCA, DOCOMOMO, NCMH • EMAIL • (+1) 954 834 3088 ZERO DISCRIMINATION: Kaiser Assoc. and its agents will not discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin in the sale or rental of housing or lots, in advertising the same, in the financing of housing in the provision of real estate brokerage services, in the appraisal of housing, or engage in blockbusting. Kaiser Assoc. strictly adheres to the National Association of Realtors© Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice in accordance with Federal Fair Housing Laws. “Silence is Consent...” As a multi-cultural office neither do we silently consent nor do we tolerate any type of discrimination, racism or prejudice. We want to listen and to learn what needs to be done to implement permanent change. Site design + contents ©T.C. Kaiser 2023. PUBLICATION, USE OR REPRODUCTION incl. parts ONLY WITH WRITTEN PERMISSION. |