firstly – saying that TIC’s are riskier than Condos seems like a knee jerk reaction among Realtors. What about the NUMEROUS exceptions to that supposed rule. take for example all new condo buildings that sold between 2004 and 2008… ie, the Palms at 555 4th, 140 S. Van Ness, the Beacon, etc. Many bought with 0% to 10% down. Now they are getting hit with massive amounts of Short Sales and REO’s…. AND unpaid HOA dues.

Meanwhile with TIC’s 20% to 25% down has always been pretty standard. I don’t know where to find stats, but I’d guess defaults on TIC units are well below defaults on Condos. So which is riskier????? Could SOMA turn into Miami with empty buildings and no one paying HOA dues? I hear even the Brannan has a lot of late HOA payers and they were built in 2000. Fat chance of something like that happening in a TIC building with much more equity.

TIC’s with shared group loans tend to have even higher equity. So if an owner can’t pay the bills, chances are the other owners would be happy to take over the defaulter’s unit just to get at the equity. But of course the defaulter will have a far easier time selling since they have equity to play with to get it done.

i’m also seeing a growing theme where agents i read on places like Trulia that TIC lenders could go away. Give me a break. When they can charge 1 to 2 points more in interest, with 20% to 25% down as standard on a unit that is priced 20% below a comparable condo, where defaults are almost certainly far less than condos – which would you rather loan on???? When there’s money to be made, there will be capital available.

lastly, I’m a condo owner. I’m involved in my HOA board and find shared ownership to be a hassle. Why do people think only TIC’s have “shared ownership” problems???? Also, banks are now refusing to let owners in my building re-finance unless or until we meet newly created criteria. So much for owning our own units – it’s obvious the bank owns them. Overall the other idea that many agents spout about TIC’s being “shared ownership” in a way that Condos are not is also largely bunk IMHO.

Yes, there are advantages to owning a Condo. Unfortunately it seems to biggest one is that you don’t have to deal with the bad rap and mis-information that TIC’s have – deserved or not – so Condos are and will be easier to sell unless or until Agents and the public become better educated.

Given my long comment I’ll just briefly touch on your stats – which I again thank you for. The more recent data chart is extra flawed because there are even fewer TIC sales happening now…. and there seems to me to be an obvious trend towards super-remodeled TIC units. So the few that are selling are luxury which has caused the premium to contract in your chart – but not in reality. In my opinion TIC’s are much cheaper today than 2 years ago vs. condos – again, many are not selling at all – if they did it would be at extremely low prices. And those that are selling are pimped out and therefore “premium” priced.

Thanks again for all of the charts and stats. I did find them very useful.