One of Nassau's popular real estate developments in the west is ending the year strong with a 20 percent increase in sales. Although The Balmoral is ending 2012 strong, its President Jason Kinsale admitted to Guardian Business the market was flat until the decision was made to introduce in-house financing to buyers. "One thing that we saw in 2012 is that buyers were not going into the banks and getting financing and that was hurting us to be honest. We were trying to find all-cash buyers and as you know there aren't many of them out there. The market was flat for us until we introduced in-house financing," he shared. Since introducing in-house financing, Kinsale confirmed that he has completed seven deals within the last three weeks.
Interested buyers must pay a 10 percent deposit upfront, pay nine percent interest and will then be able to move into their new home. Last week, Matt Sweeting, sales and marketing associate for Bahama Islands Realty, expressed his confidence that "lease-to-own" programs for home ownership will play a major role in the future of the local real estate market. This has led him to team up with a local mortgage broker, Ethan Quant, president and CEO of Progressive Consumer Services. "This is where buyers have the ability to lease a property for a period of time. By doing this, we think we are giving a lot more local buyers the ability to afford real estate in our market when lending institutions are becoming a lot more restricted in their practices.
It's a great option for sellers and buyers," he shared. "For sellers, it opens up their property to a wider market, a market where someone may have the 10 percent down payment but they may have not the stamp tax in their savings which the banks requires. For buyers, it gives them the ability to occupy the property immediately." Kinsale also pointed out that the success of The Balmoral, located on Sanford Drive, could be credited to the introduction of new products such as the two-bedroom Aristo condos and its latest offering, a 1,700-square-foot rooftop terrace townhouse.
"We have been successful with our two-bedroom Aristo condo which is priced at $289,000. We only have one of those left now, which is good news. We are introducing another new product, a 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom rooftop terrace product that's a townhome, overlooking Baha Mar, the ocean and Atlantis, so that's been selling for us as well. Those two buildings have really made a big impact on our progress here," he said. He revealed that adding the Aristo condos to its product listing was a great move as these homes are nearly sold out. The $88 million development will now be offering two- and three-bedroom townhomes with rooftop terraces starting at $495,000.
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