"We're close to all our buyers. Everybody knows the market has gone down," Cantor says. "The majority of these people want to go forward. They just want a better price."

Local brokers are watching to see whether Cantor's approach will work to reduce the statewide condo surplus any better than, say, bulk sales, which are being attempted in Miami. Lately it appears there are more foreclosures and lawsuits involving condo contracts than completed sales around the Sunshine State.

John Stone, a veteran multifamily investment broker with Clearwater-based Colliers Arnold, says only six bulk-condo transactions have been completed in the Tampa Bay market over the past two years. "The lender's primary goal is to liquidate these troubled assets for the highest price," he says.

Cantor shares that same goal, along with trying to maintain his solid reputation as a longtime developer. "I always try to do things right," he says, "and I don't give up."