Down the street from me is a rather beautiful set of condominia, one of which has just popped up on the market: 7 Park Ave #1. Asking price: $1.1 million.
It’s a very nicely done and very spacious unit, but it also seems like a lot of money for the neighborhood, and in particular a lot of money for something with aluminum siding and no yard. Plus, the Zestimate is only $620k. Even given that the Zestimate can be wildly inaccurate, I became curious: What was the previous sales price?
Zillow usually has the sales history, but didn’t in this case, so I looked it up on Mass Land Records. It turns out it was sold in 2002 by Lalo Development LLC to Gorka Brabo for $1.00. Yes, one dollar. Sounds like that’s a token transfer from a business to the person who owns the business. (Based on this page from city-data.com I’m guessing the Brabo family owns Lalo Development).
There’s nothing wrong with buying something for a dollar, especially if it’s just a title transfer from a company you own to your personal property. But it sure makes it harder to figure out what the original cost was, and that makes it hard for me to guess whether $1.1M is in line with the money put into the place.
Another weird detail: Brabo is also listed as the sales agent for the unit. Does that mean he’ll take a realtor’s commission as well? That would be pretty brilliant.
Anyway, Zillow guesses the property is worth just over half the asking price. Anyone care to hazard guesses about the eventual sale price, the amount of time it will spend on the market, and what you’d be willing to pay for a Davis Square loft-style condo?
Secretly Ironic 
Maybe they’re going for the people who are shopping for 1 million+? 🙂
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Well, yes. But is someone willing to pay $1.1M for a condo in Davis Square? I doubt the market will support that price, especially since several units at the Tannery Brook Row lofts are still available, and available for well under $1M.
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