Company Overview

As originally printed in Miami Monthly Magazine ...
 

Adam Cappel wants real estate buyers to have all the right facts and figures

STORY AND PHOTO BY BLAKE ROBERTS

To Adam Cappel, information and numbers matter. And as president of CondoReports.com, he has access to lots of both.

Web entrepreneur and former commercial real estate financier Adam Cappel hopes to profit from the current troubled real estate market where others haven't yet been able to - by providing customers with information.

With a new twist on the real estate information business, Cappel recently launched CondoReports.com, an innovative website with information on nearly 2,000 condominium and townhome projects in Miami-Dade County.

"I don't know of any other place you can go, on the Internet or otherwise, where you can see so much information on condo communities in Miami-Dade County," says Cappel. In addition to the more standard information available on some other sites, the website includes details on recent market activity, charts of pricing trends and sales activity over the past five years for every residential building it covers - all free of charge.

So how does he plan on making money for all his work? In addition to the free information, Cappel is targeting buyers, sellers, real estate professionals, and institutional users for upgraded CondoReports with much more detailed information and analysis, including foreclosure and bank-owned units. "I think there's a wide spectrum of people that need this information and we've heard that sentiment echoed from our clients - ranging from owners to real estate agents to lenders and investors. They love our CondoReports because they provide information that would otherwise be nearly impossible to gather in simple, easy to use reports, saving them time and protecting their money," says Cappel.

At first glace, the extent of information may even seem like a bit much. "Admittedly, I'm one of those people that likes to research very thoroughly when I make a major financial decision," says Cappel. "And that's what I'm trying to do with CondoReports - empower people with all the information they need to make major financial decisions in their lives or for their employers. And remember - not all of my clients are looking for the same information - lenders and unit owners may be looking for very different things, but both need the best information regardless of their role in the market."

Asked about all the recent press on the vulture buyers circling the Miami condo market Cappel responded, "They are actually quite good for the market. It might be hard to see in the short term because they are buying at such low prices relative to current retail prices, but these deep pocketed investors will help increase the health and viability of the buildings they purchase in - as well as the market in general. I just hope they buy their CondoReports before they put any money down," he jokes.

In truth, Cappel admits he's targeting bulk buyers with his institutional products. "We have a report that can tell you nearly every existing project in Miami Dade County that has a block of 20 units or more - and there are a lot more than you think." Others have thrown around figures in the dozens, but Cappel claims the number to be well over 100.

Cappel moved to Miami in March of 2005 - peak time for the residential real estate boom, with new projects sprouting out of the ground seemingly everywhere. "I was amazed with so much about Miami - everything from the lifestyle to the people to the real estate market. When I first moved here I heard all these stories about people making hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on condos - it seemed like a modern-day gold rush."

A former resident of The Grand Flamingo on South Beach, Cappel had to vacate his unit when his lease was up and a buyer for his apartment emerged. When the buyer told him that he was employed as a delivery car driver and he planned on making more money flipping half-million-dollar condos in one year than he ever could 'working for the man,' Cappel realized that the party was almost over.

"At that point, I knew it couldn't be long before the market came crashing down. The guy didn't know anything about that unit; he didn't even know whether the unit came with parking. It just got too crazy."

And sure enough, today that unit is back on the market for just under $300,000 - less than half of what that buyer paid in 2006. "That's the nature of the market we're in," notes Cappel, "and it's important for buyers to have all the facts before they invest their hardearned money."