Well, a reader of my blog recently engaged me in an excellent discussion of high-rise condos under development here in Sacramento. There are two of these under development, Sactowers and Aura Condos.

According to the reader, a one bedroom in Sactowers costs approximately $400,000, and he was able to secure one with a $10,000 refundable deposit. He’s expecting rent to be about $2,000, and HOA runs $650 per month. Units cannot be sold for two years following date of posession. On Aura apparently the sales event has not yet happened.

Naturally the reader is upside-down by a fair amount, and how fair depends on what assumptions you use for rent and vacancies.

I’m sure the reader would appreciate comments. As for me, I’m fond of more conservative investments where there’s cash flow up front (or just a small, manageable amount of negative cash flow). To date Wikipedia defines Alligator only as a reptile, but the real estate definition is a property that gobbles up all your cash. That may or may not be so bad depending on how much cash you have to feed it, how fat the alligator gets, and what the market for alligator meat turns out to be.

Alligators are risky, though. Cows can be milked for cash today.

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