European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Promises promises. And complaints w Hen people believe they be been victimized by unscrupulous Florida land developers they often seek out the division of Florida land sales an condominiums in the Bureau of land sales registration. The Type of complaints have to do with an impression people have that they be overpaid said John Hopkins a real estate development specialist for nine years. They also complain that the company is behind schedule on the completion of  it is impossible to resolve complaints about pricing said James Mullins chief of the regulatory Bureau. There s no regulation on setting the Price muffins said. It s up to the buyer to determine the Price. The american system being what it is the government has t gotten into pricing. It s an open  a problem. Hopkins said. Is that most purchasers of Florida land buy without seeing the property. They hear a sales pitch get carried away with the Fervour of the moment Don t read the . Housing and Urban development properly report and then sign on the dotted line. Hopkins said serve remembers stationed overseas Are particularly vulnerable. You know and i know we can go to a Community find a vacant Tot and buy it Lor less than what the Developer wants Hopkins said. In the military they re paying a Price Lor the convenience of buying. Yes they can pay substantially More than ii they visited the property. Ii they  it. They would probably buy a lot trom someone else. But that lakes a lot of  Moil a Opl Don t make the Effort Hopkins said. Then when they eventually visit the property find out its appraised value and discover there s Little resale Market they complain. They think the Price paid is the Market value Hopkins said. Generally Market value is a traction of what people paid. What they Are comparing is Florida land to land where they came from. The company is Selling in an out-o1-slate Market to people who Haven t seen the property and in Advance of completion of  Mullins said Many pricing complaints Are about lots sold by developers with big marketing and development costs and lots sold by salespeople who stretch the letter of the Law. Most salesmen use charts to demonstrate the value of the land telling customers that in 1955. A Quarter acre site sold Lor $495. Today that land Sells for $11.000 and the company says it plans to increase the Price several times in he near future. They re not supposed to use Price increases As a suggestion the land will increase to that value Mullins said. That s a no no. It s not Legallo make reference to Price raises to suggest value. You la find 99 percent of the time the buyer never checks tha Trug Market value. Especially Given this category of lot. Developers have to build in their carrying costs. The real value is generally below what the Developer is asking. You re never going to Slop salespeople from hyping things Mullins said. They go right to the Edge. A certain percentage will do  other complaints concern the allure of developers to live up to promises. Thy comp Aln the company is behind schedule on the completion of  Hopkins said. All the companies Are serious land developers. They intend to develop the land. But they Don t always do it  most developers Promise roads water and sewer systems and recreational facilities. When these Don to materialize on schedule which happens regularly Mullins is Hamstrung. Keep in mind that in the contract ii gives the Developer a Choice he said. Ii says they have to make the improvements or in lieu of this they la refund your Money. That s the companies option. It s not much of a solution there often is no Money for immediate refunds so disgruntled purchasers get put on waiting lists Mullins said. A lot of older companies have put up corporate Bonds to ensure compliance he said. They re Only As Good As the  Mullins said people can avoid problems by investigating the Market before buying. I would Tell anyone if you can t see it touch it smell it walk on it Don t buy ii. Sight unseen makes no sense to me. You re inviting  Florida officials said that of the three major land developers Selling to service members the most non performance complaints concern general development corp. Gds conceded that As of dec. 31, 1984, ii was More than two years behind in promised improvements Tor 28.493 of 250.000 Home Sltes. The it 30,000 Home Sltes Are in 19 sections of five communities. About 20 percent of the landowners asked Lor a refund but since Money is not available gds has them on a waiting list. Cal Landau gds assistant vice president for environmental planning and programs.  unexpected environmental and weather problems forced the delays. I Don t think there s Ever a time when we plan not to do what we intend to do Landau sold. We have a certain amount of development we plan for every year. We have other delays due to unforeseen difficulties. Our track record is Good. I do not know of any reason where we have arbitrarily not developed. But we have a body of customers who know we have delivered or can  before Tim own i $11.000 la tin a High acre it of Proitte at $400. Page Viii the stars and stripes wednesday. November 20, 1985 s photo t � alien Cowan you buy. Help is but a 22-cent stamp away for overseas serve remembers thinking of buying land in the United  . Department of housing and Urban development has free brochures on thoughts to consider before buying. So does inform a tax exempt organization that monitors sates and marketing practices of land developers. Dellona corp., one of the three major developers Selling in Europe has a brochure telling prospective buyers How to protect themselves when buying land. And the Rolda division of land sales and condominiums encourages prospective buyers to write for information on various land developers registered to do business in the Sunshine slate. To get the guides or Lor mors information write Hud 451 seventh St. . Washington. Do. 20410 request before buying land. Get the facts and buying lots from  inform 381 Park ave. South new York . 10016 request the insider s guide to owning land in subdivisions and promised lands subdivisions in Rolda s  buyer safeguards Deltona corp. 3250 . Third ave. Miami Fla. 33129 request How to be on Sale ground when you  James Mullins Chloel Florida Bureau of land sales registration division of Florida land sales and condominiums 725 s. Bron Guob is. Tallahassee Fla. 32301