Condos Swith Back to Rentals

MSNBC reports:

In March, Russell Patterson bought a one-bedroom unit in the apartment-to-condominium conversion complex Oxford Place at Tampa Palms.

He chose the development because the units were priced right, he said, and he thought it would become a sought-after place for young professionals. He planned to rent it out and sell for a profit when the conversion was complete.

Now, the developer has decided to turn the units it hasn't sold - about 180 - back into apartments. The rents on those units are less than the $995 a month Patterson needs to charge to pay his mortgage and homeowner's association fees. Even more frustrating, he said, his contract forbids him to sell his unit before the developer sells all of its own.

"I'm stuck, and this complex is not what I was sold," Patterson said. "If I had known part of it would stay an apartment complex, I wouldn't have bought here."

Square footage is square footage.It will be used one way or the other.When condos costs more per day than hotel rooms you've got wonder.