I received an email from tipster Chad on Friday. He detailed an outlandish story: he was walking by the Moda Apartments on 3rd, between Bell & Battery and saw some rather large men scaling the side of the building on tall ladders, apparently without the knowledge of Moda management. They proceeded to partially dismantle at least five of the building’s balconies and throw them into their truck. When Chad asked the guys about it, they said that the Moda owed them $20,000 and they were repossessing the balconies due to lack of payment.

Call me crazy but these units are ridiculous. Who would want a 2 bedroom/1 bath unit that is 530 to 631 square feet for $1925 to $2175 per month? That’s insane.

How does Moda go from 15% of units falling through to so many falling through that they need to go rental? Was the building way more investors than actual home buyers? Or was it mainly first time home buyers who were putting 0% down?

Are there any readers who purchased there? What’s the inside scoop?

Alright, who’s going apartments next?

Well, no longer!

There are now five Moda units on the MLS. Ranging from $184,950 for #208 to $365,950 for #328. Conveniently they don’t list the square footage.

Hurry before they’re gone, again.

Update: In the comments Chris lets us know that:

I recieved an e-mail from the developer – there are 40 units for sale that were purchased by investors who could not get financing…

Does anyone know what the pricing difference on these units is between the first time they were available and now?

I also wonder what other buildings have a heavy investor presence that will have similar problems? Olive 8?

I had filled out a form several weeks ago at the Moda website indicating I was interested in some information about the place.

To my shock, THE CC: FIELD IN THE MESSAGE EXPOSED ALL 1086 NAMES AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES FROM THE LIST.

Mike speculates how much this list might be worth. I know several agents and marketing firms rep read this blog, how much are qualified leads worth? I know I was tempted to e-mail everyone and let them know about urbnlivn :).

Update: Moda has learned to use BCC and has apologized:

We apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused by the email sent from Moda Condominiums last Friday, October 6th, which inadvertently published your email address to the other recipients of the email.

Sold out Hosted on Zooomr

If you’re still interested they’ll put you on a waiting list because the project isn’t going to finish until mid 2008 and people are likely to bail out. Be forewarned that the waiting list for some unit types are several hundred people long.

Here’s a look at the finishes in their three kitchen models. Unfortunately the lighting in their sales office was very low.

Moda kitchen Hosted on Zooomr

Moda kitchen Hosted on Zooomr

Moda kitchen Hosted on Zooomr

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Small appliances and laminate cupboards was our take away. But hey, if I owned a place on Lake Washington or Lake Sammamish and needed a downtown home during the week I’d consider buying here.

Officially, sales began at 11 AM this morning for the 251 units, though several hundred people were given advanced purchase opportunities. By noon this afternoon, a good majority of the homes were sold, leaving only the sub-400 sq ft alley facing studios & one bedrooms available. Those units are priced up to mid-$200,000s.

And I thought the new construction bubble had burst :). But it get worse, closet doors are not included, no parking spaces for some, laminate flooring.

Moda condominium will be having its priority purchase event for pre-registered home buyers between September 13th thru September 22nd from 11AM to 6:00PM.

During the event, home buyers will have a chance to tour three full-sized, furnished units in the sales center, located at 314 Bell Street, Seattle, WA between Third and Fourth Avenue.

Park two of GMC’s biggest Sierra pickups next to each other. That’s a lot of truck, but a small condominium — at least by Seattle standards.

But a local developer is betting Seattle urbanites are primed to carve out their own two-truck chunks of Belltown. The moda condos, set to break ground in October, promise “New York-style living,” with units as small as 296 square feet that start at $149,950.

Wow, look at how small it is: