Preparing for the Platinum Condominium Auction

September 15, 2007

As many of you already know, the Platinum Condominium auction will be held this Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 7pm. 20 of the developer’s unsold condo units will be auctioned with 8 of them being sold absolute to the highest bidder regardless of price. The auction will be held at the Miami Biscayne Marriott located at 1633 N Bayshore Drive.

Today, I attended the open house at Platinum Condominium to take another look at the building, and specifically the units that will be auctioned. For those of you unaware, the 20 condo units up for auction have been organized into the following three groups. The 8 absolute units are underlined.

Group A

• Unit 1602 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 1,042 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Unit 1802 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 1,042 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Unit 2002 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 1,042 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Unit 2102 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 1,042 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Unit 1705 – 2 bedroom/2 bath – 1,142 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $432
• Unit 1905 – 2 bedroom/2 bath – 1,142 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $432
• Unit 1806 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 988 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Unit PH-2206 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 988 total square feet (11-foot ceilings) – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $357
• Loft-107 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath – 1,117 total square feet (17-foot ceilings) – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $394

Group B

• Unit 1001 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,639 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $589
• Unit 1101 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,639 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $589
• Unit 1201 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,639 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $589
• Unit 1607 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,766 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $594
• Unit 1907 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,766 total square feet – approx. monthly maintnenace fee: $594
• Unit 2007 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,766 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $594
• Unit 2107 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,766 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $594

Group C

• Unit 301 – 3 bedroom/3 bath – 2,254 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $729
• Unit 501 – 3 bedroom/3 bath – 1,975 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $729
• Unit 707 – 2 bedroom + den/2 bath – 1,766 total square feet – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $594
• Loft 103 – 1 bedroom/2 bath – 1,406 total square feet (27-foot ceilings) – approx. monthly maintenance fee: $551

The auction house may or may not start the auction with Group A. They may take a vote to see which group participants in the auction would like to see auctioned first. Once the first group is selected, bidding will begin and the highest bidder will select his/her preferred unit from within that group. If the unit is not an absolute unit then the developer will have an opportunity to decide whether or not he would like accept that bid. If the developer declines the offer, then the bidder can select a different unit from within that group or sit down and select nothing. If the developer accepts the offer, then the unit is scratched from the list and bidding will start again. The process will be repeated until all units within that group have either been auctioned or the bidding fails to reach an acceptable price by the developer for the remaining units.

Group B, in my opinion, has the best units and should be auctioned at the highest prices. Many would think that Group C would be auctioned highest because it has the only 3 bedroom units available. The views from these 3 bedroom units though are horrible. However, Group C has Loft 103 which is my favorite unit in the entire building. It is truly an amazing loft with its 27-foot ceilings. It doesn’t have much of a view but who cares. The auction participants who haven’t toured this unit will likely hold very little value in it because it is only a one bedroom. It’s a great sleeper pick.

Loft 107, in Group A, pales in comparison to Loft 103. It has 17-foot ceilings and the layout is just decent. There’s a reason why it’s an absolute unit. I definitely prefer the 02 line over the 06 line in Group A but Penthouse 2206 was nice because of the additional 2 feet in ceiling height. The 2 bedroom/2 baths in Group A should go highest, followed by the 02 line units and finally the 06 line units. Loft 107 likely will go somewhere in the middle.

There’s definitely a big difference in the 01 line and 07 line condos found in Group B. Not only does the 01 line have much better views but the layout is much better as well. The living room space in the 07 line was lacking to say the least. It was more like one big kitchen/dining room.

Every unit in the building comes with only one parking space. Each additional parking space will cost you $20,000. There is also an option to buy a storage space that is 23 feet x 38 feet for $5,000.

If you intend to bid at the auction, you will need to present a cashier’s check or certified funds in the amount of $10,000 made payable to Pardo & Gainsburg, LLP Trust on the day of the auction. All winning bids will be required to pay the balance of 10% of the total contract price on the day of the auction in the form of a personal or business check. A buyer’s premium of 10% will be added to the final bid price and included in the total contract price. Make sure you take the buyer’s premium into account when bidding. The balance of the purchase price is due at closing on or before Monday, October 22, 2007.

Additional Information
Pet Policy: Two pets allowed, not to weigh in excess of 50 pounds each
Rental Policy: Minimum of 6 months
Maintenance Fee Includes: Building insurance, water, sewer, garbage, 24-hour manned security, basic cable TV and use of the common areas and amenities

Click on the following link if you’d like to view a bunch of pictures and video footage of Platinum Condominium that I shot on May 31, 2007.

Contact me if you’d like me to register you or if you have any questions regarding the auction. I will be attending the auction and look forward to seeing many of you there. Good luck!