01/08/09

• Home

• The Magazine

• Archives

• Webcasts

• Advertising

• Job Board

• New York

• Subscribe

Just bring a toothbrush and move in

Latitude on the River is betting decorator-furnished condos appeal to young executives.

Selling fully furnished condos isn't a new idea, but the concept may soften the landing for some developers scrambling to lure reluctant buyers.

Latitude on the River, the luxury mixed-use community in Miami's Brickell West, is selling its model units fully furnished and finished by Boston-based interior designer Karen Muse. There are four distinctly designed model residences in the 452-unit residential tower.

"The market has changed. We get a lot of first-time homebuyers — young executives that have just finished college and have absolutely no idea how to decorate a home," says Adolfo Malave, sales director for Latitude on the River, developed by Boston-based E.A. Fish Associates and designed by Miami's Arquitectonica.

"We've discovered if we furnish our units with a modern, eclectic look, young executives will go for it," he continued. "Fully furnished condos just makes their lives easier. All they have to do is move in with their toothbrush in hand, and there is room for them to personalize the units to fit their style."

Not everyone agrees with Malave.

Keith Jacobson, a partner in Bishopscourt Realty, a New York City-based real estate development company, views fully furnished luxury apartments for turnkey buyers as a gimmick. With fully furnished units, the seller hopes to convince the buyer he is getting a "deal," he argues, but buyers know better.

"A buyer spending $3 million on a luxury condo will be looking to create an environment suited to his or her own sense of style, based on furniture they already own, or a new vision of theirs or their decorator," Jacobson says. "Few will pay a premium to have a developer make those choices."

Melissa Galt, an interior designer in Atlanta, disagrees. It's not a gimmick, she insists, but a sales tool that works. Buyers of high-end condos often have multiple residences, and furnished units make their lives easier.

"Buyers of fully furnished condos can avoid the work and additional investment of hiring a design professional and simply purchase turnkey, so they can show up with a suitcase and move in," Galt reasons. "It isn't about a place being personal to them, but instead about the signature look of the designer and architect, and the cachet that brings."

Monique Pieron, a top agent at Chicago-based Rubloff who sells millions of dollars worth of luxury real estate each year, is down the middle with her assessment. She doesn't see fully furnished condos as a gimmick, but she doesn't see it as a must-do sales strategy either.

"One selling technique developers sometimes use is to offer a 42-inch-or-larger flat-screen TV as a perk," Pieron said. "Overall, most buyers will respond better to true financial discounts, including a year of paid assessments or taxes. [They] will always more strongly influence a sale."

Despite the debate over fully furnished condos, Malave says the response from buyers has been positive. Latitude also gives buyers an option to furnish the units independently, he notes, and will even undertake the task of furnishing the unit according to the buyer's defined style.

"This is not a major trend in Miami yet," Malave says. "But you know our market. If you cater to the young professionals, it will become a trend."