Plaza Resort & Spa is undoubtedly one of only few really classy condo-hotels in the area. The resort started the conversion rather late and the developers sold 2/3 of the units when the sales came to a halt. However, they have paid for $70 million renovation, plus they did not transfer the Association from the developers to the owners, and this is convenient for the developers, as their forte is the hotel operation, and having full control of the property is beneficial for them.

Instead of running monthly meetings and deal with all sorts of weird wannabes, they have a 3-member board, meet once a year to sign off the budget, and run their well oiled operation.

This is an expensive property and units were at over $810 per sq ft when they were running the sales, and this is the highest number per sq. ft. in Daytona Beach area, that we have seen. No wonder that when times are tough, there are a lot of distressed sales in the property.

Right now 54 unit for sale showing on MLS. If I understand it correctly, the unsold developer's units are not listed, and, actually, are not offered for sale. Prices, that used to be from about $139K for a city view small studio with no balcony and to high $300s and even $400s are now mostly start from the $50s and $60s and go to modest under $200K, while the most expensive unit for sale there is for $459K.

I see that there are agents who have the vaguest idea about condo-hotels, and who are eagerly list what they do not understand. I once called the agent to ask whether the assessment had been paid, and the agent was very surprised, she did not know about the assessment. It is common when agents do not know what view is from a particular unit. Luckily, I know the layout of the proeprty and can figure it with no problem. The funniest was when the agent never heard the word condo-hotel.

The mess that this creates is easy to see. Two agents place units side-by-side and price them at $44,900 and $45K. My client offers full price cash on one of them. The y submit to the Lender only to find out that the Lender has a much better idea of the value, and wants $62K. The low $44,900 was, however, the first price, that the agent came up with. How they managed to justify it is beyond me.

Why I play this game, when I know that the prices are crazy low? Because I still managed to get an REO there for my client for less than $50K. Now we are waiting to see what would happen with the second $45K unit, as my client offered the same full price cash deal.

While the condo-hotel market in Daytona is dead, Plaza Resort is very active. Only our office works with several offers on units there. Of course, this is a smart move to buy in Plaza, as these units were sold 3 years ago in February 2006 for about $300K a piece.

With the overall market going much more active these days, the lowest priced units in Plaza will be gone soon, and I will not be surprised to see these people double their money by the end of this year.

If you are looking for a terrific condo-hotel unit, which has a potential to earn you good return on the resale, let me know. There is still time for that.