Then get permanent financing based on the equity in the building, pay off the construction loan, buy out the developer and have a cash flowing, appreciating investment forever - 3 blocks from the beach.Of course you need to make sure all the numbers work but I own a building one block from the beach on the west coast and I rent apartments for astronomical sums in minutes to great tenants and as for appreciation - again great.

In an attempt to avoid the situation where you have the last seller(s) thinking they're on TV holding out for an astronomically high asking price, what would be the best approach?

I DID NOT pursue the property as I found out it is in a floodplain which would require an astronomical amount of insurance to protect my investment.  

We're based in Santa Cruz, by the way, where housing prices are astronomical.

I live in the outskirts of LA county where prices aren't astronomical ($160/sqft). 

When they write you a policy with $350,000 in coverage, they know that the odds of you ever using that much are astronomically in their favor.And how much equity do you have?

I wanted to get some opinions on buy/hold/rent with a condo.Let me set it up:  CT is really turning into a renters market, so much that the going rents are astronomical...and people are paying it.  

Also, closing costs in NYC are astronomical. 

The utilities for one building were astronomical last winter, and will be watched closely this year.After a year of out-of-state investing, I am finally getting a picture of how my properties are performing.

just looking some try to estimate a few things would it be just a few higher like 500 or are the old ones astronomically higher like $1000 or more?