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Enso Pushes Back Move In Dates

October 24th, 2009 · Comments · By Matt

Forwarded by an Enso buyer who originally was told by end of October and now is being pushed back to end of December.

When I reached out to Vulcan for a comment on pre-sale figures they wouldn’t disclose them.

Dear [Buyer],

The Enso Team would like to thank for your commitment to making Enso your new address As an Enso homebuyer we would like to update you on the next steps to making your new home a reality.

We are proud of our recent sales progress. We have had 25 new sales since August and continue to strive for the assurance that over 51% of the homes under contract are prepared to close.

In order to allow us to achieve our desired level of firm primary pre-sales before beginning the closing process, we are extending the closing timeframe (please see attach notice from Seller). For planning purposes we want to inform you that closing dates are now expected to occur no later than December 31, 2009 and we hope to give notices to start closings in November.

If you haven’t already done your New Home Orientation please contact the Presentation Center with your desired form of contract so the building representative can make an appointment with you as soon as possible.

Feel free to call our Sales Partners at Williams Marketing, Javila Schelhorn or Emily Musselwhite at 206.682.2801 or jschelhorn@williamsmarketing.com or emusselwhite@williamsmarketing.com for any questions you may have.

Best Wishes,
The Enso Team

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  • doug
    People Enso said they will never be approved for FHA. That is because they have too many office spaces in the building.
  • lookylu
    doug, why woldn't enso qualify for fha? as i understand it from a legal perspective, vulcan has created a condo within a condo so the residential portion is separate from the office/commercial. btw, the onsite sales mgr says enso is "days away" from approval (for what its worth).
  • Chris
    They've been "days away" for a month or so now.
  • Vulcan fan
    The condo market has become the least attractive than ever before, and the deadline for the 51% Fannie Mae condo sales requirement is almost here. Is Vulcan OK with turning Enso into their 5th apartment community in South Lake Union? If that is what they are planning on doing, they should just refund the pre-sale buyers their earnest money back instead of holding on to it for unreasonable lengths of time; we cannot just wait for undetermined number of months to see something come out of the significant sum of the earnest money (a whopping 5%!). Enso's delay after delay has robbed some pre-sale buyers of their rightful First Home Buyer $8,000 Tax Credit by making it impossible to close by Nov 30. of this year. By holding onto the earnest money (for almost 3 years or more now) and no word about refunding them even though the condo is not even half sold to comply with the SM guidelines, Vulcan is on the verge of upsetting more pre-buyers who want to go purchase other homes with that money. Please, close with a lucrative deal by this month or give our money back! We will not wait until February OR December!!
  • The MD
    Vulcan Fan, correct me if i am wrong... If you've had your earnest money in a Purchase and Sale agreement in excess of two years, by law you have the right to get your earnest money back on demand if they have not or cannot deliver your final product. Is this the case with you as you stated your money has been sitting there for over three years? Or, was a portion of that three years the reservation and not the Purchase and Sale Agreement?
  • Jay
    This is just like what happened in Miami in 2007 (I know, I was there.)

    Closings get pushed out and the pre-sales evaporate at the same time, leaving the building empty. Next thing the bank or some private equity vultures step in for cents on the dollar, or it goes to auction. I guess Vulcan will be OK regardless, but you have to wonder how long Escala, Olive 8 etc can hold out.

    Resales of new condos are already at least 10% in the red, and most of the inventory isn't selling - check any 2006/2007 era condo and you'll see properties unsold for up to six months despite being below what their owners paid. With a market like that, who would buy new condos like Enso where you have no bargaining power?
  • The MD
    Ella, GREAT question! The delay has absolutely nothing to do with whether the building is ready or not. The building is indeed 100% ready for move-ins by construction standards and completion. Feel free to stop by, and they'll tour you on the entire thing. This, IMHO, has everything to do with FHA and trying to garner additional buyers in the interim.

    Also, as a side note, I agree with Olive8 Walker - Pre-sales man squat right now.
  • ella
    Thanks
  • ella
    Curious, is Vulcan's action because the cono's are not ready for occupancy or is this an effort to obtain more pre-sales to qualify for FHA?
  • condo dweller
    Enso won't become apartments like Rollins. The pre-sales #s are well past that point, it's simply now a matter of logistics before the closing(s) start.
  • olive8 walker
    sorry condo dweller, but pre-sales mean precisely JACK right now. olive8 had over 80% presold and 6 months after closing it is only 20% sold. Trainwreck??? we'll see.
  • to buy or not to buy...
    i'd tend to agree, but i think there's a subtle difference here worth debating. the agent community tells me that olive8 is "standing firm" and consequently presale buyers were not offered either a larger unit or lower pricing after the market fell out. if you went into contract 2yrs ago and then walked on your earnest money, then yes, presales mean JACK. enso however, is/has approached all of their presales that went into contract prior to the market disruption and made the above offer in order to incent them to close now.

    of course this is all 3rd hand, so... subject to the usual caveats. if you're an olive8 walker, it would be nice for you to confirm whether my depiction of olive8 is accurate. conversely, it would also be nice to hear from an enso buyer if vulcan is indeed renegotiating w/older presale buyers.
  • The MD
    ALL!!! MY APOLOGIES!!! I accidentally posted in this forum. I meant to post in the forum that previews the new penthouse unit at Lumen. That is where the HOA dues are pushing $0.78 + / square foot.
  • JimmyS
    Clearly Vulcan is doing this to reserve the option to turn Enso into apartments like they did with Rollins. That would leave Veer as their sole condo property and reduces the size of their condo headaches.
  • The MD
    They're out of their friggin' mind at over $0.78/sq. ft. for dues each month. No concierge, no gym, no car wash, no theatre, no complexities to window washing or building maintenance when compared to that of high rise condos, no high-speed elevators. This is a joke, and someone is pocketing some SERIOUS cash each month. That math simply does not add up.
  • SLU
    MD - Where are you getting your infomation from? You are wrong. There is a concierge, there is a very nice Gym and building maintanance included. $0.64/sf HOD, not $0.78.
    Rants and Raves is in a different blog...
  • bruce
    @The MD: the HOA is indeed high, but to their credit, there is a gym--a really nice one, actually. haha on the car wash. i rode their elevators and they're fast enough without popping your ears ;).

    my question is, since they're pushing back the closing dates, does that mean people won't be getting first time homebuyer's credit?
  • I'd imagine they're going to have to kick in $8k to any buyer who loses the credit based on the delay...unless the credit gets extended, which looks somewhat likely now. I would not be a happy buyer.
  • Chris
    Who is buying here and qualifying for the credit? The average unit price has to be north of $400k, and who can afford that and be under the income limits?
  • rossjordan
    For a couple, the income limit is somewhere around $170K, which is more than sufficient to qualify for a 400K loan (even in today's market).
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