UPDATED, Dec. 21, 10:30 a.m.: Real estate brokerage firm Engel & Völkers offered leased cars to customers who reserved a unit last weekend at one of at least a dozen condominium developments in South Florida.
The Boca Raton Resort and Club is hosted an event last weekend showcasing condos and offering buyers a leased car. Engel & Völkers developed the promotion with Quantum Marketing Group.
Participants in the event, entitled Car Homes Boca Raton, included developers of five condos in Fort Lauderdale: Auberge Beach Residences & Spa, Gale Boutique Hotel and Residences, Ocean Resort Residences, Paramount Residences, and Riva.
Participating developers also are marketing five condo projects in Miami-Dade County: Aventura Park Square, Armani/Casa in Sunny Isles Beach, Canvas in Miami, Paramount World Center in Miami and Parque Towers in Sunny Isles Beach.
The developer of Tower 155 in Boca Raton also participated in the promotional event.
The make and model of the leased car varied with the condo price. Gary Hochman, who runs Quantum Marketing, told the Sun-Sentinel possibilities included a leased BMW, Cadillac or Corvette.
“This is just an extra tool to get the deal done,” Hochman told the Sun-Sentinel.
Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based real estate consultant, told the newspaper the car giveaways suggest the new condo market is softer than most people would suspect: “If they didn’t need to do it, they wouldn’t do it.” [Sun-Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the car program was a developer initiative rather than a broker initiative from Engel & Völkers.