Flip This House--The Art Van Way  2-27-15

My old friend (he used to call me that) Art Van is most assuredly the WORST house flipper of all time. You will recall the saying "It takes money to make money?" It also takes money to lose money if you are Art. He purchased his penthouse at the Excelsior in Boca Raton in 2004 for $4,688,754.00 He spent another fortune in upgrades. Mr. Slick then sold the condo nine years later for a whopping $3,470,000.00!!! Ouch. Buy high, sell low, that's the secret! Then my old buddy took the money from THAT sale...plus a bunch of the profits from that cheap furniture he sells in the Detroit area and rolled it into a penthouse at Boca Beach Club Penthouse Phase I.  Purchase price? $5,861,500. I can almost hear the place depreciating already. The astute reader realizes by now that my old buddy Art LOSES about a million dollars a year on his homes! When one factors in utilities, maintenance, furnishings, redecorating, condo fees, taxes, household help, real estate agent commissions, etc. the net loss is much higher of course. His offspring all receive $250,000 a year from an irrevocable trust fund, otherwise my suggestion to them would be to put Pops in a nice trailer park before he manages to squander their entire inheritance. To return to home page, click here.