People so often say its a buyer’s market without really understanding what that actually means. You really need to understand that the buying and selling of real estate follows the same rules as a stock market. When there is a ton of unsold inventory it is because that inventory is overpriced. As soon as the particular house or condo falls to its appropriate Market Price, it sells, period end of story.

The Sincere Building on East 4th is a perfect example to this rule. These expansive corner suites with high ceilings, huge windows and larger than life columns are a conversion of Victor Sincere’s early 20th century Real Estate Building. The luxury condo building sits on the corner of the hottest district in Cleveland, East 4th, home to Michael Symon’s Lola, House of Blues and Corner Alley. The building is zoned residential and commercial so it is an investor’s dream and with only two units to a floor, each over 1700 square feet, its a very unique and seemingly desirable space.

With all of this going for the Sincere Building, however, it was still subject to Market Price. The one thing these condos lack is covered attached parking. A few years back during a booming downtown condo market, this was being overlooked and prices for these condos were anywhere from $300k-$325k. With the drop in potential buyers, along with increasing barriers to getting loans for condos that came with 2009 and 2010, these very desirable spaces started to need to compete with other very desirable spaces WITH covered attached parking. The lack of parking started to stand out like an elephant in the room and those that tried to sell in the $300ks, $280s even $250ks just watched their condos sit un-bought.

To a skeptic, it would appear that because of the Bad Market, these condos could no longer sell. To a trained real estate professional, however, it was obvious that these condos had simply not reached market price. It took a couple units being sold by sellers desperate to sell to drop them into the low $200ks. As soon as this happened, like magic, the seller received multiple offers. Just like that, a new price had been set and the market made sense again.

I am confident that the lucky buyers who can seize opportunities such as these are positioning themselves in a great spot. We will see a upward trends in the market over the next few years and those who have confidence to buy unique properties at or below market now will watch their value increase exponentially as inventory decreases and buyers increase.

For now, they get to enjoy a spectacular space!