$539000 1 Bed, 2 year HOA paid, $7,500 toward closing [Craigslist]
$625000 Condo for sale in Mission Bay [Craigslist]

14 thoughts on “QuickLinks: A Couple Of Arterra Contract Holders Seeking Assignment”
  1. A few things jump out at me with this:
    – Normally standard offers will include a financing contingency. Did these people not have one? I assume they probably weren’t working with an agent, who would’ve made sure to include such a thing. But still, how is it in the builder’s interest to lock people into a deal they can’t afford? They get to keep a piddly amount of earnest money, but they’d probably make more by keeping the unit available.
    – Is it possible that these people can’t get financing anymore because the units aren’t appraising out given the current market? That’s possible–the price persqft at Arterra is fairly high.

  2. “I assume they probably weren’t working with an agent, who would’ve made sure to include such a thing [financing contingency].”
    Wrongo. I’ve bid on properties where my agent advised me to make an offer with no contingencies.

  3. Buyers are given 30 days to remove the contingency (eg, if they can’t secure financing, etc). Since these folks bought fairly early in the process (ie, more than 30 days before closing), they took a risk.
    I believe this happened to folks who bought units at other new developments, such as The Infinity, during the construction phase.

  4. @ Ellen,
    Bingo. Buyers are given a 30-day contingency, so that they can be pre-approved by a lender. Some people bought so far in advance, however, that the underwriters had to re-approve the loan (pre-approval is only good for a few months) — and now the lending standards have changed significantly, so they can’t get the loan any more.

  5. So what will happen if they can’t sell it? Breach of contract? That sounds better than a mortgage default. Shouldn’t the building just keep the deposit and resell it? Or maybe that is what the sellers are trying to avoid losing?

  6. It is interesting to me that these buyers are posting these units on Craiglist as contract assignment is not allowed at Arterra. the developer is not allowing this.

  7. If they can’t find somebody (some sucker) to assign their contract to, they just eat their deposit, maximum 3% of purchase price. That’s the loss they are trying to avoid, which would be much smaller than the loss they would suffer by closing in any event.

  8. “I assume they probably weren’t working with an agent, who would’ve made sure to include such a thing [financing contingency].”
    I agree with others, this statement is false. My friends who just moved into ORH did not have a financing contingency, and they had a RE agent. FWIW, they bought about 16 months before closing.

  9. “It is interesting to me that these buyers are posting these units on Craiglist as contract assignment is not allowed at Arterra. the developer is not allowing this.”
    I see this happening everywhere. So what if people try sell their contract? Will the builder flag it for removal on Craigslist? or sue? or just plain block the transaction?
    I’m assuming that all builders have bigger fish to fry

  10. ex SF-er: “I assume they probably weren’t working with an agent, who would’ve made sure to include such a thing [financing contingency].
    I agree with others, this statement is false. My friends who just moved into ORH did not have a financing contingency, and they had a RE agent. FWIW, they bought about 16 months before closing.”
    Oh, where to begin. Yes so you had friends who didn’t have a finance contingency at ORH, but they did have an agent representing them and I am guessing the closing went off w/o a hitch. All that says is that your (very lucky) friends hired an agent with little market knowledge. A clueless agent? Gee, what a surprise.
    Folks, just because you have retained a Realtor to represent you, doesn’t mean they know anything other than how to get 70 questions right on the licensing test (out of 100). That’s a C-.
    Best,
    M.R.

  11. I was just at the sales office, and they told us that they had contacted the posters and ordered them to take them down. The Arterra does NOT allow this.
    One more reason why I can’t imagine buying new construction that much in advance.

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