The other day I was showing some condos in Minnetonka, had walked up the back steps to find the lock box to a few units and found two railings stacked. I guess there are a more than just three condos for sale at Cloud Nine Sky Flats. Took awhile to find the necessary keys but leads one to belief of why so many units for sale. Nothing new just welcome to another building with its share of foreclosed condos.
Most of the condos are priced between $89k and $150K according to the MLS. I expected each unit to be a mess with plenty of repairs, after all a few years ago these condos where selling for well into the $200k.
To my surprise the 5 units viewed, none required much of anything besides some paint and drywall mud to plug a few holes. These are not bad units.
A little history
Cloud Nine Sky Flats started out a few years back as an unused corporate building then reworked into residential condominiums along Highway 169 in Minnetonka. Close to restaurants, shopping and some of the best entertainment venues in the southwest metro. Also a stones throw away from Lake Minnetonka and downtown Minneapolis.
Whats Included in Cloud Nine Sky Flats
Alright, get to the nuts and bolts. The building has some fine amenities.
A little bit about the units: Each unit comes with 10 foot ceilings with floor to ceiling windows. The look is more modern, industrialized with colored concrete floors and exposed concrete columns.
The floor plans are open consisting of 1 and 2 bedroom units, with ample living and media areas. Bedrooms also have have glass walls and walk-in closets. Bathrooms come complete with double sink, separate tiled shower and tub. The kitchen includes stainless steel counter tops and upgraded appliances. Ground level terrace units are also available.
Not bad for around a $100k in the Twin Cities. If you don’t live in one, you could probably even cash flow the units as a rental.
Search For Cloud Nine Sky Flat Condos For Sale
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Its so hard to say when to get in and buy one of these bargins, can they fall more ? It seems quite likely they can.
I pulled some quick stats from other condos in the area. There are 90 active condos on the MLS in Minnetonka, 14 are listed in Cloud Nine Sky Flats and not one is over $135k… actually I take that back there is one active listing over $900k because it is a custom penthouse where 2 units where combined.
I also pulled some 1 bed/1 bath condos because that’s what most of the ones are in Cloud Nine Sky Flats and there are 25 active condos and the closest in year built are Wyldewood Condo units over by Carlson Parkway and 394. They range in price from $292k-$648k and offer less square footage.
What makes these so attractive is they where converted into condo units in 2005 and to be honest I thought these units where going to be trashed, but to my surprise they were not.
Hard to say if they will keep falling in price, if more REO properties become available in Cloud Nine, there’s no doubt that prices might continue to slide. If interest rates continue to creep up, you might pay more over the long run than purchased now.
It’s all the role of the dice.
One of the major problems in a foreclosure-infested building like Cloud 9 is the non-payment of association dues. I would venture a guess that half of the building units is in default in payments of dues. Thus, the association might not be able to continue providing such basic services as electricity to the elevators. To see how that works out for the remaining owners, refer to the condo plague of Miami. In order to preserve vital services the few responsible owners left in essence double up on their monthly maintenance fees, so that the building can (literally) keep the elevators going and the garage lights on.
LC
True… associations can/will foreclose on a condo or townhome unit if the associations dues are not being paid. So if an owner/investor got into one of these units with an ARM/option/interest only loan, a rate increase would certainly be a lot for one somebody with a bedroom to handle. Association dues on these condos hover around $400 a month.
I also talked to Gittleman Management which runs the association for Cloud 9 Sky Flats about the investor occupied units. Currently per the condo declarations non-owner occupied units can only add up to the 20% of overall condo units. Now with this being said, the building has reached its allotment for investor units. There is also a list of about 20 deep to get on for investors. So good luck at this point buying one to rent out unless you want to hang around for a few years.
Also hard to say how many others have/or will be foreclosed upon. Couldn’t get that out
Thanks for sharing information about these condos – If I decide to relocate to Twin Cities to be closer to my family, it’s great to have a resource that discusses the local market.
Hmmmm… I’ve been looking at this condo since last week, trying to dig up dirt on why they are going cheap. Are they mostly foreclosures? or short sale? The taxes are way up, too…even more expensive than Edina (1600 for the unit I like). Why is that? Glad I found this page!
@ambientlight
most are foreclosures as in bank owned. there are still more coming on the market. there seems to be a lot of interest because I have been out back out there for the past 4 weeks straight and pending sales in the MLS where floating around 8 last time I checked.
depends on the unit/complex for taxes, which building in Edina are you comparing it to?
“Hard to say if they will keep falling in price, if more REO properties become available in Cloud Nine, there’s no doubt that prices might continue to slide. If interest rates continue to creep up, you might pay more over the long run than purchased now.”
I agree with this.
I just saw one of these condos listed in MLS. At under $80,000 it seemed like a great deal.
Until I saw that association fees were almost $400 per month!
My wife and I bought one that closed in September. My realitor emailed me last month and said that most of the units have sold thru. Unbelievable value. As for the association fees, you get what you pay for.
My wife and I looked at them when they were completed but did not move on them.
I have a small house in S. MN but the up keep and sheer labor involved in yard, garden, snow removal, repairs etc etc is getting too much for me to handle physically and mentally.
Can you give me updates on life style and neighbors living there?
Whats it like?
Do they deliver groceries? Is the Garage warm and clean? Is the heat comfortable? How is the kitchen and the view? How about sound, can you hear the neighbors? Is it clean etc.?
Is it also a good place to entertain friends? Is there a great room that can be used?
Thank you in advance
@AJ association dues are about par for high rise condos in the Twin Cities
@Dan Great questions. The garage is a two story parking lot with the ground floor the main area, it is not heated. If you wanted groceries delivered I suppose you could order from a delivery service like “simon delivers” although it might go by a different name these days. I have seen their trucks driving around but can’t quite remember the name.
The higher up, the better the views… Mostly of the suburbs. Some units have small awning windows when opened can catch the noise of Highway 169. When I’ve been in and out, the noise has been minimal and the building is clean.
As Jason points out, it’s a unheated garage. I’m not aware of a meeting room, but I’m only there on weekends and even then, it’s only once or twice a month. The owners tend to be younger, but I’m 58 and I don’t think I’m the oldest person there, either.
*IF* you’re looking for condos that tend to be targeted at older consumers, there are some in Edina on France Avenue, York (there are a lot of condos on York) which is very close to France and on Edinborough Way. Many of these will have the heated garages and meeting rooms.
There are properties to be had – just depends what you’re looking for.
I didn’t realize that the association fees included everything like heat, electricty, cable, internet.. etc. That actually makes it not such a bad deal after all.
Chris, it does not include your electric or internet. HS internet is $39 a month. Because we’re not here all the time, the electric is $35/mo… obviously that’s really low and not realistic for someone living here fulltime. I’m up here tonight because I have a 630Am flight tomorrow.
I’ve seen ads which indicated differently, but ofcourse I can see electricity and internet being seperate as not everyone needs Internet, and electricity flucuates heavily.