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Sorry, I don't know how to get the newspaper article posted to the forums.
If someone will email me, that knows how to do it, i'll email it to you so you can post it.
If you have been mad at some of the dealers before, you will be real p---ed when you read this article!
Where is this builder going to get 54 SMART CARS?
EMAIL ---UFOFORTOM@AOL.COM
Developer of Algodones subdivision is offering a free Smart Car with purchase
By Story By Jane Mahoney For the Journal
Builder Frank Larrabee wants his clients to know just how smart they are to build a custom home at Terra at Algodones. As part of a summer/fall promotion, the longtime builder is putting his money where his mouth is by parking a new fuel-thrifty Smart Car in the driveway of each new home sold. He will not give an exact number of how many he plans to throw in as standard with the purchase of a home.
That's a new car, by the way, and one paid for by the developer/builder and brokers, each willing to forego a piece of their profit to move homes in today's slow real estate market.
"Another smart reason to live at Terra at Algodones," said Larrabee, figuring out his promotional strategy even while surveying the first bright yellow Smart Car parked next to the adobe entryway of a model home that marks the Algodones subdivision's second phase.
Larrabee, it seems, has an "in" with an out-of-state Smart Car dealer (he'd rather not divulge the location) from whom he can obtain the hot little cars that some folks sign on to a waiting list of a year or more to purchase.
"Forty-eight miles per gallon," he said. "That's what we averaged driving it back here." (The smartcar.usa Web site states that the vehicle is designed to achieve 33 city/41 highway mpg according to 2008 EPA standards, though the Albuquerque dealership says customers report better mileage than that.)
The itty bitty car will offer fuel savings to offset the longer commute distances to Albuquerque from Terra at Algodones, said Larrabee. The development, along the eastern edge of Interstate 25 at Algodones, is about 15 minutes north of the I-25 and San Mateo intersection and 25 minutes in the opposite direction to the southern edge of Santa Fe, Larrabee says.
For folks already considering building a new home at Placitas, Algodones is just another five miles down the road, said Larrabee's real estate broker Lynn Martinez. The new Rail Runner station at Bernalillo is about a five-minute drive, she added.
"It's closer than you think," said Larrabee, "and no bridges to cross."
The Frank Larrabee family — his two sons and wife are also in the business — turned its sights to Algodones several years ago when land prices started soaring at Corrales and Placitas, according to Larrabee. The first phase of Terra at Algodones quickly filled with 16 custom family homes, and the second phase is now under way.
Terra, which is Italian for the "earth," eventually will feature 38 homes on 54 acres. Home sites are three-quarter-acre or larger, all with views of the mountains and mesas. The streets are named for the sun, moon and stars, with the model located at 5 Via Stella (Star Street ) just east off the Algodones exit No. 248.
Designed by Francisco Larrabee, the 3,127-square-foot contemporary Southwestern model home features a great room with curved architectural tresses and a room-length adobe banco that abuts a kiva fireplace. The home is listed at $558,800, and open from 1-5 p.m. Fridays through Mondays or by appointment, 263-6369.
The Smart Car is simply one reflection of the family's attention to what they call the "new" Southwestern community, a philosophy with a decidedly green bent. While the new homes are on spacious lots, homeowners are encouraged to retain natural vegetation outside the courtyard walls. The extensive woodwork within the homes is created with new-growth lumber rather than old timbers. Natural lighting and shady portals are part of the design features.
The Terra at Algodones community backs up to San Felipe Pueblo land, ensuring open space and frequent visitation by two herds of wild horses. The Larrabees have set aside two acres at the development's edge with plans to create a small wildlife refuge with a watering pond.
An irrigation lateral through the property provides running water part of the year, and a ditch bank system accessible to walkers and horse riders. There's already a community park and playground constructed under a cluster of trees.
Buyers can build to suit at prices of $138 per square foot and up, a sum (minus the land) that includes many amenities such as custom cabinetry, adobe courtyard walls, vigas, corbels, latillas, plank ceilings and extensive tile work. The lot prices are $135,000. The community's roads are paved and utilities are underground. Homes have individual wells.
With a commitment to the original families who built at Terra before the housing market's slowdown, Larrabee sees the Smart Car promotion as a way to spark interest in the development without devaluing the existing homes.
"It's value added," he says of the teeny car.
" Larrabee, it seems, has an "in" with an out-of-state Smart Car dealer (he'd rather not divulge the location) from whom he can obtain the hot little cars that some folks sign on to a waiting list of a year or more to purchase."
Orphans. He's getting 38 orphans from one or more out of state dealers. He made a better deal than an individual could, and repeated 38 times. With some dealers reporting 20% orphan rate, and some buyers saying they can just walk into a dealer and drive off with an orphan, it's not impossible. Smart USA has nothing to do with that process; once a car's orphaned, the dealer gets to do whatever it wants. Even 38 times.
From Zip Realty's website:
July 11, 2008
Buy a house, get a Smart Car. Go Green!
With oil prices setting a new record high of $147 per barrel and water shortages looming, how can home sellers differentiate themselves in this challenging environment?
One seller in Lafayette, CA is selling their newly constructed, energy-efficient home with an added bonus. In addition to its energy efficient appliances and walking distance to town, this home comes with a Smart Car Passion Cabriolet. That’s right - for the asking price of $1.099M, you get an energy efficient house AND a 45MPG Smart Car convertible. See the house.
If you are thinking of moving to this upscale community and would like to reduce your carbon footprint, maybe this is the home for you. With estimated waits of up to 20 months for a new Smart Car in some areas, this could be a great way to kill two birds with one stone…
Went by the dealer the other day and inquired about this. They couldn't really say where they were coming from but since both of the sales associates are also waiting for their reservations, they weren't too thrilled with it either. Seems to me that with a little bit of database manipulation, smart would be able to satisfy reservation holders much faster if they reallocated "orphan" vehicles to people with matching orders. Really can't be that hard.
I wonder if the smarts they are giving away with the house purchase are not from Penske/Mercedes - but from the ZAP dealer who had gray-imported bunches of smarts a couple of years ago. They would be readily available to anyone with cash. Most of the smart owners here with 450's have ZAP imported cars I think.
We just to clear up some questions on this because a lot of people are wondering what went on. First, the car is a pure with no air conditioning. The builder was only able to buy one car from the dealer in Chandler because we (Albuquerque) could not offer him an orphan. We sell orphans by specific car to people looking for an exact match. If you read the article, every home buyer is not guaranteed a smart. It would be nearly impossible to collect 38 orphans no matter how many "ins" one has. We only sell to individuals and have not sold a car for someone to "give away" with a purchase. The dealer in Chandler has told me that they won't sell any more cars into our market for this purpose. We just want people to know that all of our orphans are going to people that come in and look at the cars and get to know our staff.
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