At First Glance
This weekend I visited La Terraza with my mom and sister. There was this whole plan going in about how I am NOT related to them and we have a normal ‘client/agent’ relationship so as not to detract from anyone’s credibility or seriousness of purchasing. Unfortunately, that plan rapidly deteriorated when I called her ‘Mom’ and then my sister and I started discussing how the stairs in one of the units looked just like the ones in the house when we lived on the farm. I’m feeling like it probably wouldn’t have been that successful anyway since my mother and I are notorious for looking and sounding alike and my sister and I have really similar mannerisms.
Regardless of that little snafu, the overall experience was quite positive. La Terraza sits about half a mile south and about a block west of the Biltmore Fashion Park. It’s a great area. The apartment complex was built in 1997 and they are being sold for the most part ‘as-is’. Because my parents want to use this as a rental property, we toured the three 2 bedroom floor plans. We liked the B1 unit the best. It is 1095 square feet, has two bedrooms and two bathrooms all on the same level, and an attached single car garage. It starts at $288,000. La Terraza is not as nicely appointed as the Montage condos are (no granite counters or flat-top range and everything inside is 6 years older) but to me it definitely makes up for this in the garage and location. It seems to me that if someone was well-enough off to rent a condo near The Biltmore, they will most likely have a nice enough car to keep in a garage. The other two floor plans were interesting as well. The largest is over 1400 square feet and has a loft in addition to the two bedrooms. It also has two one car garages (one on each side of the unit). I can see how this floor plan would be ideal for a high-powered couple who works downtown. They have the master bedroom for themselves, a guest bedroom, the loft to use as an office and a garage for each of their cars. This unit starts at $380,000.
I am still gathering details about the complex, but it seems like it at least has the potential to be a smart purchase. There are apparently some of the units that will be sold with leases still in place for up to a year from now. Depending on what they are currently paying in rent, this might be a very low-hassle option. One of the incentives currently being offered is that Montecito will pay the Home Owner’s Association fees (around $200 per month) for the first year if the buyer uses a preferred lender and closes within 25 days. I believe this was created to offset the lower rent the current tenants are paying. Once the first year is up, everyone will need to renegotiate rents to include the HOA fees.
For now I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will get a decent appointment time on sales day. There are only 28 of the unit we like in the complex.
Contact me if you’re interested in La Terraza too!