BankUnited blacklists 191 condo projects

[Dale Smalley]

BankUnited blacklists 191 condo projects

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/02/11/daily22.html

Interested buyers looking for mortgages to buy units in Miami's Opera Tower, Everglades on the Bay or Four Ambassadors shouldn't bother approaching BankUnited. The Miami-based bank has included them on a list of 191 condo projects it won't write loans for.

The Business Journal obtained a list of "non-permissible" projects used internally at BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) and updated as of Jan. 14. Most of the forbidden properties were in Miami and were added at the last update. It wasn't clear who at the bank wrote the list, but the author stated a reason for almost every project declared off-limits.

Declining market value was the biggest culprit, followed by high investor concentration -- as much as 70 percent in one case. BankUnited also cited numerous foreclosures, delinquent homeowners association dues, structural-based litigation and the bank's existing exposure in the buildings.
...

 

[moh malekpour]

Even buyers with good credit can't get a mortgage for a condo that has an uncertain value, said Lewis Goodkin, president of Miami-based Goodkin Research. He said because sales have been so slow and 35 percent to 40 percent of buyers could pull out of contracts in some buildings, no one knows the real value of these condos. And, if lenders don't know the value, he said, they can't set a loan-to-value ratio with any certainty

"The banks want to see what prices they are selling at," Goodkin said. "They want to see sales that adjust prices downward. Once they establish the price per square foot, then they'll start lending again at 80 percent of the value."

How about if you got an order from this bank or another for one of those condos. What would you do? The bank says that no one knows the real value of those condos. What say you?

 

[Mike Boyd]

Good question, Moh. I would go ahead with the assignment as the mortgage broker/banker could place the loan with a lender that has NOT blacklisted those projects. However, Bankunited has valid reasons for rejecting those projects and that is information the appraiser should find in their research and disclose in the report. That is part of the appraisal process, hearsay is NOT.

 

[Dale Smalley]

The list is absurd. Some of the projects are still under construction. I know what they are worth but BU has never hired me. And have not seen any review business in over six months. But there are deals here. Just put a bid in on one that sold in 06 in the mid $400's then flipped in the $600's now after the foreclosure in the low 200's with lots of incentives.

Here is a national list from another source
http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/images/news_photos/47126/WAMU.pdf