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Haverhill
Buy a condo, get a new car; Developer uses ploy to break slow market
Published: May 8, 2007
HAVERHILL - Attracting potential condominium buyers downtown can require hefty bait - such as a new car.
Dr. Mark Messinger, a chiropractor with an office downtown on Washington Street, converted the upper floors of his building into six condominiums, three of which he is still trying to sell during what he described as a sluggish market.
To get buyers interested, Messinger is launching a marketing ploy - offering a free, new $15,000 Chevrolet Cobalt to the first person to buy a condo.
"The hard part is just getting people to come down and see it," Messinger said. "The units pretty much sell themselves" once a potential buyer takes a tour, he said.
The number of condominiums and apartments in downtown Haverhill that are newly built, under construction or proposed has reached about 850, and a sluggish real estate market is making selling condominiums a little more difficult, Messinger said.
William Pillsbury, the city's economic development director who is working with the mayor to revitalize downtown, said condo sales are slow but the downtown renaissance is still in full swing.
"It's not a bust by any means," Pillsbury said of Haverhill's downtown resurgence, which depends on condo sales to supply area residents who can frequent restaurants and shops.
Condominium sales statewide fell 3.7 percent during the first three months of the year compared with the same time period in 2006, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of regional real estate data and other financial information. The median price for condos fell 3.3 percent, from $274,000 to $265,000, the report said.
"It has slowed, just as the whole market in general has slowed," Pillsbury said of condo sales downtown. "I would applaud (Messinger) in being creative and bring some folks down there."
Messinger's condos have two bedrooms, hardwood floors, granite countertops and a parking space. They sell for $308,900. The building, at 89-93 Washington St., is called Messinger Hope Building.
John Holloran, a Realtor with McKeon, Corcoran Real Estate in Haverhill, is selling Messinger's condos. His company also is selling condos nearby in the seven-story, 53-unit condominium building called Riverside Place.
Holloran said condos are selling, but with added competition comes added marketing ideas.
Dr. Mark Messinger, a chiropractor with an office downtown on Washington Street, converted the upper floors of his building into six condominiums, three of which he is still trying to sell during what he described as a sluggish market.
To get buyers interested, Messinger is launching a marketing ploy - offering a free, new $15,000 Chevrolet Cobalt to the first person to buy a condo.
"The hard part is just getting people to come down and see it," Messinger said. "The units pretty much sell themselves" once a potential buyer takes a tour, he said.
The number of condominiums and apartments in downtown Haverhill that are newly built, under construction or proposed has reached about 850, and a sluggish real estate market is making selling condominiums a little more difficult, Messinger said.
William Pillsbury, the city's economic development director who is working with the mayor to revitalize downtown, said condo sales are slow but the downtown renaissance is still in full swing.
"It's not a bust by any means," Pillsbury said of Haverhill's downtown resurgence, which depends on condo sales to supply area residents who can frequent restaurants and shops.
Condominium sales statewide fell 3.7 percent during the first three months of the year compared with the same time period in 2006, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of regional real estate data and other financial information. The median price for condos fell 3.3 percent, from $274,000 to $265,000, the report said.
"It has slowed, just as the whole market in general has slowed," Pillsbury said of condo sales downtown. "I would applaud (Messinger) in being creative and bring some folks down there."
Messinger's condos have two bedrooms, hardwood floors, granite countertops and a parking space. They sell for $308,900. The building, at 89-93 Washington St., is called Messinger Hope Building.
John Holloran, a Realtor with McKeon, Corcoran Real Estate in Haverhill, is selling Messinger's condos. His company also is selling condos nearby in the seven-story, 53-unit condominium building called Riverside Place.
Holloran said condos are selling, but with added competition comes added marketing ideas.
"It's not like a desperation move; it's a sales marketing move to get people in there," Holloran said. "We're just trying to sweeten the pot."
The free car gimmick has been used before locally.
Methuen City Councilor Joseph Leone last year offered a free, two-year lease on a 2007 Ford Escape for buying one of the houses he was building in a small subdivision in Amesbury called Country Club Village.
PG1 BOX
Condo dive
* 3.7 percent drop in sales across Massachusetts during the first three months of 2007, compared with the same period last year.
* The median price fell 3.3 percent, from $274,000 to $265,000 per condo, the report said.
Source: The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of regional real estate data
