Iowa Realty COO Disagrees With Recent Ad
Is the picture painted by Iowa Realty’s recent ad accurate? Not according to Iowa Realty Commercial COO Kevin Crowley. Here’s his quote from the Des Moines Register in an article discussing uses for Central Campus (School building). Full article is here.
Remember, if you are one that thinks the housing market is in trouble you need to have a talk with Iowa Realty……..
According to Crowley:
Crowley said that although Central Campus’ location poses parking and other challenges, it is at a perfect “main street” intersection with great views.
“Twelve months ago, or 18 months ago, that would be one of the most attractive loft projects in the city, and it’s still a great location for a loft project, but unfortunately that market’s saturated right now,” Crowley said.
He was commenting on a recent appraisal of Central Campus that was $7,000,000 lower than the Des Moines Public Schools thought it would be. Here’s what the appraisers had to say.
As for a condo project, “there is now a surplus of units in the marketplace” that could keep demand soft “for the next three to five years, if not longer,” the appraisers concluded. The building’s construction is “such that it will have an economic life much longer than the typical building of the same construction class,” the report said.
Crowley basically agrees with the appraisal assessment and says that 18-24 months ago would have been a good time to convert this building to lofts, but now now. That seems quite a bit different from the “rock-solid steady,” “best time to buy a house in years” message that Iowa Realty is also sending out.
So my question is which message is accurate, and which is a distortion? Is the executive of the company telling the truth and the ad is a distortion? Or is the other way around? Is this executive distorting a “rock-solid steady” market and making things look worse than they actually are?
The ad did say if you want to know how the market is really doing you should look to the leader, and should look to Iowa Realty. Now, thanks to Mr. Crowley, we have.
Trina Braafhart Says:
Watch Channel 13 tonight at 6:00 pm for more on this story. A reporter from that station just stopped by to visit me (no filming this time - thank goodness!) and we chatted about this very subject. It will be interesting to follow this story and let’s see what angle the news media will take on it.
I personally do think we have plenty of units to choose from right now. For now. It will take some time to get caught up, it will take some time to change the attitudes on living downtown, but a change in coming and it is for the best. I don’t know if sales are “rock solid steady” right now, but I do know that this is a slow time of year for moving. Many people do not want to move with the winter months and holiday months approaching. More then 50% of the leasing for the Kirkwood happened between April and July - which is completely normal. Let’s keep time of year in perspective along with the fact that many of these projects are just now reaching completion. Let’s give them a chance before we start panicking that nothing will sell and our downtown will become a “ghost town”. It will not happen over night, but I think we are fine, rentals are moving along at a “steady” pace - with all factors being considered.
Posted on October 17th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Josh Says:
FOR THE RECORD I am not putting this stuff out there to discourage people from buying or moving. If folks are looking to buy I think they should be well informed, armed with as much information as possible.
I’ve used this as an example of how people can twist things to make them look different than they actually are.
Also the rental market and the sales market are two totally different markets. If you want to rent I suggest you move quickly……
Posted on October 17th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
#1 Hater Says:
Its a good time, no a bad time, no wait—–Rock-Solid Steady!!!
Iowa Realty Marketing Plan for week.
Sunday Paper - Great Rock Solid Steady time to buy. If you think its a bad time to buy you haven’t talked to Iowa Realty.
Tues Paper- The Downtown Market isn’t to hot and is going to take years to turn around.
Thats one heck of a turn around in just a couple days.
How far can we bend the numbers before the market looks in your favor?
Why not just tell the truth?
#1 HATER
Posted on October 18th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Trina Braafhart Says:
Maybe we “can’t handle the truth!” (hee hee just kidding)
Hey Josh, you are the very largest advocate (besides me) (well, me and Tina Johnson) for our downtown. I understand you are not trying to be discouraging, that is #1 Hater’s job and we don’t want to take any lime light away from him. I think you are after the truth and I appreciate that. I hate false advertising and I admire companies that are brave and are honest in their product and what it has to offer. I admire your site along with others who are trying to make a difficult decision on moving to downtown, if is very helpful and full of great information.
For those who are trying to make a that decision, who do not want to rush into anything, who want some time to look around, weigh out their options and see what this market really does…..why not rent? ;–)
(little shameless self promotion is ok every once in awhile, right?)
Posted on October 18th, 2007 at 8:45 am