An anonymous reader writes in about their experiences at The Parc by Intracorp. How are Intracorp’s other projects doing? Hasn’t Domaine been delayed as well?
By an anonymous contributor
I bought a place at the Parc in Belltown, signed the purchase and sale [x] months ago for my very own [xxx] sq ft of Seattle. At first I was thrilled…a load off my shoulders, brand new construction by what was sold to me as “an extremely experienced builder”…comforting to a first time home buyer like myself. At that point in time I was given mid to late June as a closing time frame for my unit on the 6th floor. Which brings me to my point/rant. Since that time, I have been given the following updates since closing:
“we are on schedule” (mid to late June)
“Oh, it looks to be early July”
“First two weeks in July”
“Late July”
“First two weeks in August” (this was given to me about 10 days ago when my agent and mortgage broker started applying the pressure…this one was “solid” according to the folks at the Parc)
Just yesterday I was told “some time in October”
And now today I was told “September”…guess they made a month’s worth of progress in one day??
There you have it. Not sure what I am trying to gain from sending this to you, but I wanted to get it out there. I understand there will be delays in new construction, but is it ridiculous to feel like I am getting jerked around? Is the complete lack of communication skills this “experienced”
builder/seller exhibiting normal?
Popularity: 12% [?]
45 responses so far ↓
1 Peckham // Jun 23, 2007 at 6:56 am
I understand there will be delays in new construction, but is it ridiculous to feel like I am getting jerked around?
No, it is not ridiculous. You are being jerked around. This is the fault of buyers who willingly bend over to take it. And builders know they will too.
When I had a house built, we had a clause in the P&S agreement that fined the builder $500/day for not meeting the completion shedule. Guess what? He finished on time, and it was well constructed.
2 Joe // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I think that comes with the territory with new construction. If your agent didn’t give you a heads up before you bought, you should fire him/her.
3 EconE // Jun 24, 2007 at 11:15 am
I think someone needs to get a bitch hat like mine and then go ballistic.
4 Foster // Jun 24, 2007 at 11:19 pm
The Parc is a disappointment. Equinox made much more sense to me. The architect (Mithun) is a much better choice than many others on offer here in Seattle. Plus, the women who work at the Equinox sales center are mad fine.
5 Dan C. // Jun 25, 2007 at 7:54 am
I agree with you Foster, the Equinox sales center is a a must-see, even if you aren’t buying a condo.
Intracorp’s wheelshoue is commercial real estate. I think they have had forays into the residential sector in the past…but they don’t have great experience at it. I think the real problem here is probably an overworked and underfunded developer. I don’t believe that Intracorp is doing the work themselves, I think they outsourced to someone.
If this person is sick of being jerked around, they should pull their offer, as too many delays are a violation of contract, usually. I would suggest a firing of the RE agent and contacting a competant RE attorney. I don’t know why people use agents for condo negotiations in the first place…what value do they really add? (Shameless plug for Redfin)
6 mhays // Jun 25, 2007 at 11:39 am
Intracorp has churned out several similar buildings. I live in their Ellington project, which I signed for in 2000 and moved into in 2001. That involved a couple weeks delay but nothing major.
Which means I live a block from Parc and see it every day. Their problem (or one problem) is a lack of cladding on the north tower. The October to September move suggests they got good news from a supplier.
Peckham, the $500 daily charge you mention is called Liquidated Damages. If things go wrong it’ll help you, but the rest of the time it simply costs you money. They simply figure out what the likelihood of paying the LDs is and for how long, and factor that into the sale price.
Although I’m moving to another developer’s project, Intracorp is a-ok with me. Someone screwed up on the cladding, but they’re still a good firm. (Screwups can involve late design, redesigns due to errors, lack of available subcontractors, factory errors, contractor communication lapses, strikes, or any number of other causes. They don’t always suggest a bad developer or a bad contractor.)
PS, if you got a 2006 price, why back out and pay a 2007 price elsewhere?
7 Dan C. // Jun 25, 2007 at 11:44 am
Why pay an insane 2006 price when you know where the market is headed? If I bought in 2006 and had an opportunity to back out NOW for minimal cost, I would do so in a heartbeat.
Just wait until Winter-Spring 2008, when Seattle’s housing prices have dropped 10-15%…then you buy.
8 Max // Jun 25, 2007 at 11:47 am
This sounds a lot like what I went through at NOMA. It’s just an awful experience.
9 Justin Bowers // Jun 25, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Intracorp hasn’t seemed to be the most inovative development companies to build here in Seattle. They seem to be the ‘wham bam thank you mam’ type. Thier mission says that, “We make it our mission to be ever responsive to the diversity of neighborhood and client (what client?) needs, delivering “Built Green” buildings with an eye toward energy savings (development costs) and environmentally sound (cheap) construction. It’s a mission that’s both legacy and goal: Extraordinary communities (as many units to sell as possible) in great locations (largest lot at lowest bid). Intracorp Seattle.”
…sounds more like a catch phrase than a mission backed by core values.
Wasn’t Intracorp the same company that went through multiple assesments at Belltown Court and also did the dizzy conversion of Arbor Place Tower?
Personally, I have a hard time making an investment on anything that is not backed by core values. Yeah, I wanna make money. Lot’s of it. But as a reward. Not a bet.
Also, to the comment above about firing the agent who didn’t inform the buyer that Intracorp was going to cause delays, did you base your prediction upon the present result? Are you saying that it’s an agents fault for not predicting Intracorps track record?
10 Dan C. // Jun 25, 2007 at 3:57 pm
If you are talking about my comment, I just meant fire an agent, save the commission and pay fees to an attorney. I don’t blame an RE agent for the Intracorp slowdown. I just don’t see what (if anything) a RE agent does during condo negotiations.
11 Justin Bowers // Jun 25, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Really? The attorney would have made a better prediction and cost less?
12 Dan C. // Jun 25, 2007 at 4:24 pm
No,no,no.
I simply meant hire an attorney to consult if delays continue to occur at the project. There is no one, except the developer, that can foresee any delays, nor should anyone be blamed.
13 Justin Bowers // Jun 25, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Dan.
Your question in reference wasn’t directed towards you, so I apologize for being defensive. I was initially referring to the 2nd from the top.
But, you bring up a valuable topic.
What would you say is the best place to find or learn about finding an attorney who handles those types of issues?
14 Dan C. // Jun 26, 2007 at 7:18 am
Well, we have all seen the press about avvo.com and it’s attorney rating system, but who knows how long that will last.
I would advise someone to consult a firm such as Foster Pepper, Cairncross & Hemplemann or Inslee Best (over in Bellevue). All those firms are very strong in all aspects of Real Estate and are experience with contractual disputes, leases, tenant rights etc.
15 mhays // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:14 am
Dan, if I believed your 10-15% reduction, I wouldn’t have bought at Gallery!
Population growth is strong, construction volumes are reasonable metro-wide, and apartments are getting a lot tighter and more expensive without much new supply. I think we can handle our current wave of Downtown projects with prices keeping steady.
16 Dan C. // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:28 am
Everyone has their own price beliefs. I don’t want to start that arguement today.
17 Bslapped // Jun 28, 2007 at 11:40 am
The problem is that it states in the contract that they have until Dec 31, 2007 until they have to notify of extensions in writing. Until then, they can continue to pull this crap. Is there any course of action to be taken?
18 Dan C. // Jun 28, 2007 at 11:50 am
It depends on what agreement the buyers signed. (I assume you sign a purchase and sale when you “reserve” a unit, and close later correct?)
Any term in a purchase and sale is subject to revision, so each person should review their contract. Older sales probably have a different date of when extensions must be submitted in writing, and Intracorp revises future contracts to reflect delays in construction.
I would consider delays of this magnitude along with poor communication to be a breach of contract and good faith effort to stay on track with project timeline, and subject to cancellation. As I said in an earlier post, ANY buyer of Real Estate should have an attorney review EVERY document they have before signing.
Should a buyer also be able to prove undue hardship caused by these delays (lease penalties, moving plans, job interruption etc.) the developer may be liable for monetary damages. Again, something that should be outlined in the P&S Agreement.
19 Future Parc Resident // Jun 29, 2007 at 9:11 am
One thing that’s missing is the fact that some residents who bought in early 2006 were told they would close in November of 2006. When We bought in May of 2006 we were told February 2007 would be our closing. Are current closing date for the 3rd floor of the South tower is July 19th. The problem is not just the builder but is also Troy and Ryan at the sales office. New construction will always have delays. It’s the poor communication that bothers many of the residents.
20 Bslapped // Jun 29, 2007 at 10:20 am
I completely agree. The communication is horrible. Kudos to the folks at the parc for making this experience as painful as possible.
21 lumenbuyer // Jun 30, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Ya know the problems mentioned by “future parc resident” above about poor communication from the sales team is totally being underplayed in the strings above. As one who bought at Lumen, also a Windemere OnSite property, the communication with the sales team was terrible leading up to closing, terrible during closing, and is completely non-existent after closing. Delays happen, but being kept in the loop makes it easier to swallow. Needless to say I’ll never use anyone associated with Windemere ever after buying at Lumen. It’s time that on site agents took SOME responsibility for something other than a paycheck, it’s painful to think about how much they make for how embaressingly little they do…..
22 tom // Jul 2, 2007 at 11:14 am
I originally looked at buying at the parc around the time of their first vip offering.. I put the 5k down on a unit and made my appt.. 2 bedroom balcony + terrace since it was on the 3rd floor.. seemed like a perfect unit at the time.. this was in dec of 2005.. I was given a rough quote at the event and told it would be mid-400s which seemed perfect.. getting to the appt a few weeks later.. I was informed the price was 515k and that there would be no financing contingencies or clauses for the 20k down they wanted. I explained to them that I wanted this in place should I be in some sort of accident and out of work for whatever reason and could not get financing.. I was told that this was not possible and it was to protect them from me backing out down the road.. I was told end of 2006 for move-in.. after repeated changes to everything I was initially told I had a bad feeling and decided to pull out on my purchase.. While at the time I felt it was the right thing to do.. I truly wish I had moved on that price back then.. I would have come out way ahead now.. but the situation is definitely different in both the market and my own financial situation which would have made these previous issues less of a problem. After seeing the delays i’m less regretful about passing on this opportunity..
23 DMG // Jul 3, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Update: Letter that was supposedly sent out last Wednesday with information pertaining to delays has yet to arrive. Headline: Windermere Onsite sales staff still lacking the necessary skills to perform basic job functions.
24 Dan C. // Jul 3, 2007 at 12:17 pm
That is bad news…
agent requirements: I agree with you on Winderemere Onsite. I am amazed at the intelligence of the people that these condo companies hire as “sales agents”.
Washington State Law has drawn up the following requirements to become a RE Estate Agent. These are strictly enforced at Condo Marketing Offices.
1. Be able to breathe
2. Be able to use a pen (crayons will work)
3. Preferably good looking
25 Site Agent // Jul 3, 2007 at 2:56 pm
OK, Enough bloggers. You guys need to get out a little more ;) I’ve worked as a condo site agent for a few years now. I’ve also been a buyer of new construction condos and single family homes. I understand how you might want to vent your frustrations on the site-agents….because they are whom you directly deal with. However, just because you might be upset that you’re not getting the precise answers you want, when you want them, is no reason to attack the intelligence of the agents. We try to get accurate answers to the buyers ASAP. The building process is a very complex one. You’ll find, especially in larger projects, there can be dozens of people that need to put their stamp of approval on any piece of information that is passed along to buyers or the public. Usually, it’s because they’re trying to deliver answers that are as accurate as possible. Do you think that it’s not frusterating for agents too? We do our best to make the process as smooth as possible. Believe me, it makes our job a hell of a lot more pleasant, when everyone is happy :)And…… Every once in awhile there are issues with the building that believe it or not are out of the sales agents grasp. Would you prefer we lied to you and told you what you want to hear just because you want answers NOW? Or would you prefer to be told accurate information when it’s available? We want to be as helpful and informative as possible. So back off!! And…. By the way…. What’s wrong with being good looking?
26 lumenbuyer // Jul 3, 2007 at 6:00 pm
well site agent you may be the exception to the rule…. delivering TIMELY and ACCURATE information is not a top priority at Lumen, as my mortgage banker was given false information which caused my mortgage to call through 3 days before closing. When my RE agent contacted the sales agent about the information, he point blank said: “It’s what I thought she wanted to hear” And screening and avoiding phone calls when the site agent fucks up but won’t admit it, not too professional either….. Let me know where you’re selling and I’ll buy it from you next time!
27 newbuyer // Jul 3, 2007 at 8:33 pm
That sucks that you had such an awful experience with someone at Lumen. The whole buying process can be so emotional and stressful even when you have a decent experience so I can’t imagine what you felt. I feel lucky to have had a great experience with an agent at Rollin Street Flats. However, I do feel that if he wouldn’t have been able to answer my questions adequately it would have really affected my decision to buy. You should always have your own RE agent to represent you so that you have someone solely on your side. Hope everything is okay now.
28 EconE // Jul 3, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I visited the Vulcan sales center…I asked them about prices…they said that prices haven’t been set. Well…looks like they failed the most important “communications” test IMO.
Not like I was going to buy something anyways.
I did like the doorknobs in the Rollins model anyways. Much nicer than the ones that they slapped on the doors in their “luxury” 2200 complex.
29 newbuyer // Jul 4, 2007 at 7:28 am
Just curious when you visited.
30 EconE // Jul 4, 2007 at 8:49 am
recently…verrrry recently. I visited other sales centers also. Carbon56 was very helpful!…I guess…The on site “clerk” even told me that he/she (gender not disclosed to protect identity of said clerk) could tell me all the ways to break my lease in order to buy. Pretty shady tactic IMO.
I wonder how many of these “site agents” worked as car salemen/women in the past. Blech.
31 newbuyer // Jul 4, 2007 at 11:30 am
that’s funny. I am really surprised that no one was able to tell you prices at Rollin. I wonder if they are in the process of making price changes (increasing or decreasing depending on sales). Lame. That would be a total turnoff. When we went our salesman was very upfront with the prices and brought out many floorplans/prices to show us. He did however begin by saying “now, don’t worry if at first you have sticker shock” and we did at first.
32 Dan C. // Jul 5, 2007 at 7:07 am
EconE,
As you probably assumed, MOST site agents are some kid fresh out of college who is being paid $8.00/hour to sit at a desk and look at MySpace all day, and given a script to answer all the really hard questions. That being said, there are some good ones who know what they are doing (Site Agent sounds like a good one)
I personally know three of them and I wouldn’t trust them to get out of a t-shirt, let alone tell me about mortgages and building techniques.
33 DMG // Jul 5, 2007 at 7:23 am
Site Agent:
“Would you prefer we lied to you and told you what you want to hear just because you want answers NOW? Or would you prefer to be told accurate information when it’s available”?
I think everyone would prefer that you COMMUNICATED to us…period. It is obvious that many people on here have had bad experiences with site agents. Coincidence? I think not. Instead of avoiding the confrontation, let it be known that you do not have the information desired. The problem is not that we are not getting the answers we want, it is that we are not getting answers period. Apparently, buyers are not getting letters promised to be sent in the mail either.
34 Site Agent #2 // Jul 6, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I am a realtor and a site agent as well and I have to admit that I find the negative feelings about site agents to be very distressing. I am not involved with any of the projects listed above, but that doesn’t really matter.
Communication is always something that the general population wants and never feels is adequate. I feel for buyers that buy into a pre-sale project and experience delays. This is not an ideal situation for anyone involved, including the developer. Money is lost on all sides when closings aren’t on time. But looking at the big picture is also imperative when you are in this type of real estate contract. Imagine how many people are involved when building these large buildings. One sub-contractor not completing work on time can result in a snowball effect that causes delays building wide. It’s unfortunate and it’s frustrating, but let’s be kind. Site agents work very hard and to say that a site agent makes great money to do nothing is so far from the truth that it’s offensive. The time management to handle anywhere from 150-250 pre-sale contracts is mind blowing and requires organization that it is clear many of you do not comprehend. Closing that many homes in the matter of a few months is possibly one of the most stressful things an agent has to do. Buying in a pre-sale development has a lot of trade offs. You benefit from the amount of equity you are building while waiting for the completion of the construction… big plus… the down side is many times the buildings are not completed on time simply due to the massive scope of the work.
It is hard to get answers from developers in many situations when it comes to delays. This is not because a developer doesn’t care about it’s buyers, but simply because they don’t have an answer or solution immediately.
Pre-sale is still a great way to purchase real estate in this city and I stand behind it entirely. It’s just important to recognize both the pros and cons of this type of purchase.
35 lumenbuyer // Jul 6, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Point well taken siteagent2. I’m sure that just as in every profession, for every stellar outstanding site agent there is another that is just horrific. I thought that Julie at the Serana was amazingly helpful and followed up with me even though I didnt buy, I was also impressed with the team at 5th and Madison as well as the team at Trio. And just as in any other profession, you always hear about the bad ones more than the good ones. My job requires me to deal with a team of 140 people across 34 different companies every day and I must say that I return every single e-mail and phone call, and if I don’t know the answer I admit so and find out. Never do I just not respond or screen phone calls so that I don’t have to answer the tough question! The same courtesy being extended to me in my home purchase would be great. Just because I don’t have a choice in the agent at a particular site doesn’t mean I should be subjected to their incompetence. I’m not doing brain surgery every day and neither are site agents, so neither of us should kid ourselves and act like we’re curing cancer or saving the world. I bought pre-sale exactly for your reasons mentioned above, fully expecting that there would be delays, screw ups, etc. Anyone that buys new construction and doesn’t expect that is a fool. But I must admit that I bought in March moved in May and now it is July and have not had a communication initiated by the site agents yet. I have gotten 2 letters from the developer, which were very thorough and answered many of the questions that I had. There is no reason that I or my RE agent should have to make 6 calls to get 1 in return.
I’ll accept your point and stop bashing site agents as a whole, and even go so far as to apologize to the good ones, if you accept my point that the team at Lumen gives the rest of you a bad name and should be dealt with accordingly. Deal?
36 Site Agent #2 // Jul 6, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Lumen Buyer, I accept your apologies to the good site agents (as I like to consider myself one of them.) I have not personally experienced what you have at Lumen so I can neither agree or disagree with your assessment of the sales staff there, but I will concede that every profession has it’s good and bad and I am sure there are many agents out there that do not handle their business professionally. I set a goal for myself that I would always handle my business in a professional and educating way. It’s important for agents to remember that many buyers are going through this process for the first time and need to have as much hand holding as possible… that is what I wanted in my first real estate purchase. Follow up is a necessity in this business.
I hope that your experience at Lumen improves as I do for the buyer at The Parc. Owning real estate is one of the best investments we can make. If we all keep that in mind and try to roll with the punches on these large new construction projects and the unfortunate headaches that tend to come with them I think we can all be a lot happier! In the end, it is still a great investment! Happy House Hunting Everyone!
37 DMG // Jul 6, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Day 10, still no communication…letter, phone, telegram, messenger pigeon…nothing.
38 EconE // Jul 6, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Site Agent’s…
From what Matt has told me before this is a website by a consumer for consumers.
You guys are on the sales side. Let the consumers bitch in peace here without feeling that it is necessary to come in and “defend” yourselves. If you communicate with your customers then more power to you. If you don’t have the answer then you should go to your superior and ask. If your superior doesn’t have the answer then he/she should go to theirs…and so on…and so on…until the person at the top who reaps the lions share of the profits has to answer for the delays. After all…shouldn’t someone in the process have a sign on their desk that says…
“The buck stops here”?
Also…quit calling a home an investment. It is a home…just that. If it is an “investment”…please…tell me…how many preconstruction condo’s are you waiting for delivery on? After all…If it is a “great investment” then you should be snapping up as many as possible?
39 Site Agent // Jul 7, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Econ E, I’m actually waiting for 2 pre-construction condos to be finished. They are indeed homes, but I definitely look at them as investments first and foremost, and I’ll snap up as many as my budget allows :) …. and by the way…. I’ve yet to meet any agents on reputable projects that make 8 bucks an hour! I certainly don’t know where you got that!!
I do work in the industry, but I am also a buyer…. So I feel entitled to be a contributer on this type of forum. Actually, being on both sides of the fence might help some people gain perspective. I too, of course, have had past homes have problems, finish late etc. You do develop some patience for that type of thing when you work in the industry and know the number of people/factors involved in a large project… and the many, many things that can happen. It’s OK for people to bitch….but I think it’s fair for agents to put their 2 cents in or to vindicate themselves….Especially, since some of the comments made here are rather vicious…. Downright Slander in some cases!!…. I understand people get heated and want to vent, but… they may not fully appreciate that their comments could really hurt someone’s career or livelihood . When people are posting agent’s names and sites on these forums, the agents have every right to defend themselves! Of course there are some agents that do screw up… We’re far from a “perfect breed,” as a whole. However, more often than not, we tend to get the brunt of buyer’s frusteration because we’re on the “front lines.” Myself and many of my co-workers are some of the most persistant, tenacious people you’ll ever meet! You have to be to get those answers from the “people at the top.”.. I don’t care how many times or how many ways you ask though… Sometimes the answers just aren’t there (yet)! Patience is virtue. I think I’ve keenly developed mine in this business ;) I’m sure there are some cases that are completely waranted and more communication should have happened between site agent and buyer etc…and I feel for those people that had bad experiences…. Unfortunately, A lot of people, not all :), only take the time to talk about their experiences on forums like this, if they’re negative….For every one disgruntled person out there, you’ll find dozens of happy, satisfied buyers…
40 EconE // Jul 7, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Site Agent who posted above me.
1. Please note…I was not the one that stated that “site agents” (should that be capitalized?) only made $8/hr…if you tab up you will be able to see that quite clearly.
2. I have said nothing slanderous about any agent nor do I have any personal beef with agents. I have only pointed out the facts with regards to my own visits to various sales centers and can easily see through marketing tactics. I understand that it must really suck to have someone like myself posting on blogs like this.
3. If people here want to complain about a lack of communication with regards to their agent then so be it. If an agent wants to come in and “vindicate” themselves as you state…fine…let them…it seems however that you are coming in and speaking for those that should be here defending themselves.
4. If you read your initial comment…once again…scroll up…it appears that you took personal offense to the people complaining regarding communications. Starting your post with “OK…enough bloggers.” and finishing it with “So…Back Off!!” is hardly going to win you any followers. If you communicate and your buyers are happy…more power to you!
Now…if you’ll excuse me…I have to go use the toilet.
Damn coffee.
41 jo // Jul 8, 2007 at 12:41 pm
site (sales) agents work for the builder. period. that is where their true loyalty lies.
they have every bit of reason to keep the builder pleased rather than the buyer. tick off the builder and the builder uses another marketing company on their next project. tick off a buyer, no biggie, there are thousands others out there.
that being said, most of the sales-site agents do sympathize with the buyer. developers do drive them insane…agents are stuck in a tough spot. i feel for them, but hey they chose this profession. plus after hearing of all the units they buy before the general public is offered them (williams marketing especially…braeburn, olive8 ect) i feel less sympathy. i was at bagley lofts and an agent there was telling me how she was able to get the cheapest unit at olive8 (both williams marketing properties). it was one of the units i wanted but thought i had lost out on due to the lottery (lottery my butt). its my guess they stay as onsite sales agents because of the ability to get first choices on the projects. you think they would use their brain and keep their mouths shut about it, but they dont.
42 DMG // Jul 8, 2007 at 3:12 pm
“I understand people get heated and want to vent, but… they may not fully appreciate that their comments could really hurt someone’s career or livelihood”
This forum provides the consumer an outlet to voice experiences, recieve feedback, and warn others. When poor job performance affects other people, then that person or company needs to be held accountable.
43 Bob // Jul 8, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I have only skimmed through the posts. But there is nothing wrong with site agents getting first dips. Think sales girls at Nordstrom. There is also nothing wrong with calling these condos an investment. Investments go up and down in value. People have made loads of money flipping homes. They can lose their butts too. It is not the job of these professionals to point out the latter. They work in sales. Ever heard of a sales rep who tells you to delay purchase and pay off your credit card bill first?
44 Cosmo Seattle // Jul 9, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I don’t quite agree with the Nordstrom analogy. It bothers me that real estate agents, and particularly site agents, have first choice of the presale units. For one thing, a $500k condo is a bit more of a commitment than an $80 set of trousers. More to the point though, not all condos are the same. One pair of trousers of a particular brand and size is the same as the next. However, each condo unit is unique in terms of view and floor level, as well as layout in some cases. I think this situation is more analogous to insider trading than to being first in line to buy a pair of on-sale trousers.
And by the way, I’m not pointing this critique at any particular agent nor at agents in general for that matter. Rather, this is a critique of the system as a whole. It is precisely forums such as this blog that enable these practices to be revealed and discussed. I agree with earlier comments that this is a consumer-oriented conversation, and there is tremendous value in having a forum to share consumer experiences. However, I also applaud agents and more recently, Troy Howard, The Parc Community Sales Manager, who enter a hostile environment to participate in the conversation.
A positive outcome from sharing consumer inside information of the sort in this blog, would be change to a more equitable system where consumers, investors and residents alike, have equal access to choose among the available units.
45 Doug // Dec 29, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Intracorp has proven to be horrible for many. I have friends who purchased condo’s in Pasadena CA from Intracorp (Delacey At Green). The great thing is the location of the building, but from that point everything plunges to the cores of hell itself. This building was so late, if it were an expecting mother they would have given it a “C” section and the child would be graduating college by now. Try almost 2 years behind schedule due to construction delays. Intracorp continually put people off w/ closing and then when Intracorp was ready to close the building they attempted to strong arm buyers and force them to close w/ pending items to be completed in the units. They threatened my friends horribly and didn’t want to back down. The sales people were great but became an absolute pain in the side (probably forced by the developer to bug buyers). I wanted to purchase a unit in Glendale CA (The 416) and was told it’d be ready in Summer of 2007. Fortunately I didn’t purchase there because I’d probably be homeless. The building is far from complete and the cost per sq. ft. in the building is ridiculous. They were also trying to sell the actual building in its entirety and I doubt the people who have been in contract (another friend of mine) even know the caper this company is trying to pull. Intracorp bites!
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