Virtual Condo No Better Than the Real Thing

Remember Zack Preble, who tried to sell equity in his new condominium online by the square inch unit? Now he would like you to buy the property the old-fashioned way. Well, sort of.

Preble's closing on a pre-bust Miami condo is less than a week away, and with no hope of affording its $285,000 mortgage, he is fast running out of options. So Preble's trying to sell the condo via reverse auction at www.condofiasco.com, with the unit's listing price dropping every couple of seconds until someone clicks the big yellow "Buy Me" button.

We first brought you Preble's story back in October, when the Miami-based internet marketing manager (employed by Foreclosure.com, in something of an ironic twist) came up with an unconventional strategy to try to dig his way out of a real estate investment gone wrong.

In 2004 Preble paid $355,000 for a pre-construction Miami condo, $70,000 of which was a deposit, only to see real estate prices in the area plummet.

In hopes of financing his impending $285,000 mortgage Preble set up www.condofiasco.com, attempting to sell square inch "units" of the condo online to interested investors.

Unfortunately, not many people are eager to place a bet on Florida real estate these days. In almost eight months, Preble ended up selling only 25 units, raising a grand total of $887.50 in cash.

Preble says that if no buyer emerges before the price reaches the $285,000 mark, he's planning to walk away from the property -- losing not only his $70,000 deposit, but what he estimates to be $20,000 in fees and commissions.

As for the owners of those 25 units? They're out their investment, too. Maybe the site should be renamed www.condoapocalypse.com.

Liz Gunnison