Business: Big Switch to Condos and Co-Ops

A man's home is his apartment (if he can afford it)

When Vicki Lefever, 29, a pregnant Santa Monica housewife, went to her mailbox last Dec. 12, she found a disturbing notice. It informed her that her building was being converted into a condominium, and that she and her policeman husband could either buy their apartment, a two-bedroom flat renting at $395 a month, for $95,000 within 30 days—or move out. She was so upset that her blood pressure soared to 160 over 100, and she went into labor, giving birth prematurely that night to 6-lb. 3-oz. Eliot. "My doctor says the...

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