Buy A Condo, Get A Beemer
In yesterday's article, I mentioned the slowdown in the real estate market. The Washington Post published the following item in the article "Developer Hopes to Get Mileage from BMW Offer" (reproduced in its entirety):
"Forget about free plasma TVs, gift cards or upgraded cabinets. What about that free BMW Z4 Roadster that just popped up in ads for a new Fairfax County condo?Go here to see the ad for yourself.
"'Ask how to receive a FREE BMW Z4 Roadster or 325i,*' says the ad in newspapers and on the Web for Legato Corner, a six-building complex being built near Fair Oaks Mall by Texas developer Fairfield Residential LLC.
"Builders are using more incentives in a softening market, but a car is a rarity. It's 'definitely different, and much more eye-catching than just saying 'no condo fees for a year,"' said Tim Liu of condo guide DClofts.com.
"But hold your horsepower. Developers of the 202-unit complex aren't actually giving away the $38,000-and-up sports car or its $32,000-and-up four-door cousin. Buyers of two- or three-bedroom units get a free two-year car lease, according to a sales representative who said she was not authorized to comment publicly. Two-bedrooms start at $356,900 and three-bedrooms at $408,900, according to the complex's Web site.
"While that's not quite the same as getting a Beamer, it's nothing to be sniffed at. BMWs lease for around $400 a month for 30 or 36 months, with a $2,500 down payment plus taxes and tags, said Alberto Zamorano, a salesman at VOB BMW in Rockville.
"No word on whether Legato Corner's sales have gone into overdrive. Sales staff members deferred questions to marketing company McWilliams/Ballard, which did not return calls seeking comment."
I guess it boils down to this: spend money you don't have to get a free lease on a car you can't afford.
posted by Always On Watch @ 4/26/2006 07:38:00 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
The advertising is a little deceptive but I wish we were offered the free use of a B&W sports car for two years when we bought our new place. And in Somers, $408,000 doesn't buy you much. In fact, I don't think I've seen anything in this area for under 450,000.
no thanks - beemers clash with my personality. i'm more of a vintage mercedes kind of gal. if i had my druthers anyway.
VaRoooooooom!!
What a deal! I wish I had the financial acumen it takes to finance a two-year car lease over thirty years....
-FJ
You don't have a yard with a condo. Dealbreaker.
I only lease what I need, but have no desire to buy...
-FJ
B&W?
Naah. Too ostentatious.
Gimme a Peugeot 206 GTI anytime.
I wonder if anybody is falling for this "free" Beemer?
Why don't they ever give away Bradley Fighting Vehicles with these offers?
...or an SSBN?
-FJ
"They better sweeten the pot. Anyway, if you aren't paying cash for the condo the capital appreciation is going to crawl over the next couple decades and the car will be long gone."
No shit...we put half down and hope to make double mortgage payments.
Duck,
I wonder what the stats are on the interest-only crowd?
Duck,
I don't know if you read the WaPo on a regular basis, though you've occasionally mentioned an article therein from time to time. Recently, there was one on the damage which speculation in the real-estate market is already causing. The article focused on the people angle as opposed to a wider damage to the area's economy. But I suspect that the damage is already having consequences.
Duck,
Of course, the problem is that many people DON'T stay within their means. Furthermore, the soaring price of oil has drastically cut into that means.
For decades now, the average American hasn't been saving money. Yes, it's hard to do--our saving capability has nearly come to a complete halt because of my husband's brain surgery and resulting disability. But before that, we put away nearly 1/2 of what we made.
As to speculation, it's not just in real estate but in the stock market as well. Most have been lucky in the latter (not me--boo hoo!), but I "feel" a crash coming. Samwich knows better than I, of course, when it comes to investing.
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