ILoveSoFla.com » Investment Real Estate

Miami Real Estate: Prices on the Rise

jenniferwollmann — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:49:20 +0000

Miami and Phoenix are seeing a rise in asking prices, based on a Trulia Price Monitor Report. There are still a lot of good buys out there, but many buyers are frustrated when a new property comes on the market and goes under contract almost immediately. Decreasing inventory and aggressive pricing by listing agents, mean you have to act fast if you are serious about making a purchase. If the property is priced right, don’t try to negotiate it down too much, if at all. I listed two properties last week that both had multiple offers within the first two days. The first property had all offers at asking price and we went to a multiple offer situation where we asked for highest and best. Total time on market was 6 days.

The second property had several offers on the second day. One agent had his buyer offer slightly over asking and put down 10% as an initial deposit, upon acceptance. The seller accepted his offer. Two days later, a higher offer came in from a buyer who was desperate because she had just lost out on a short sale and needs to move fast.

If you are a buyer, be ready to put your best offer forward early on. If you are a seller and get multiple offers, don’t second guess your pricing or hold out for something even better. The reality is that you get the most activity on a listing when it first goes on the market. The longer you wait, the less you are likely to get.

Miami Real Estate: Believe Warren Buffet

jenniferwollmann — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:53:44 +0000

I listed a rental in Cutler Bay last week and had over 150 phone calls! I had three offers the first day, even though there wasn’t single picture listed yet, the yard was over grown and the house had not been cleaned out from previous tenant. If you are an investor, buy more properties. The demand for rental housing is huge, which is probably another reason why Warren Buffet said he’d buy a couple hundred thousand single family homes!

Miami Real Estate: Sales Are Up and Inventory is Down

jenniferwollmann — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:54:45 +0000

Home prices in Florida are up according to Florida Association of Realtors January Housing report. The same holds true for the Miami real estate market. Inventories have been decreasing steadily, as can be seen in the graph below.

Decreasing inventories & increasing pending sales

Miami Real Estate Is Moving!!!

jenniferwollmann — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:18:04 +0000

Still doubt the Miami real estate market is rebounding? EWM’s Coral Gables/South Miami office did over $21,000,000 in sales this week. We had 12 new listings and 21 sales. Inventory is decreasing and buyers are still out there in droves.

Miami Real Estate: The Market Continues to Improve

jenniferwollmann — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:17:08 +0000

Still don’t think it is time to get into the real estate market? Our Coral Gables EWM office had another phenomenal week, posting over $14 million in sales. We only took five new listings yet had 23 properties go under contract. Although prices are bouncing along the bottom, as inventories decrease we expect to start seeing prices start to head up. These increases will be neighborhood and building specific.

What Do Elizabeth Taylor, Christies, The Pearl Islands, and EWM Have in Common?

jenniferwollmann — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:23:57 +0000

Okay, this blog is one of those “six degrees of separation” instances.

Elizabeth Taylor was given La Peregrina Pearl, which was found in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. Christies will be auctioning off her collection this week in New York.

EWM is Christies exclusive affiliate in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. EWM is the listing agent of second largest island in the Pearl Islands, San Jose Island.

San Jose Island, Panama: How Big Is 11,000 Acres?

San Jose Island, Pearl Islands, Panama

Over 57 beaches on the island

Investors Taking Advantage of Strong Rental Market

jenniferwollmann — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:50:49 +0000

Over the last several months I have written about different signs, see blog links below, that the real estate market is changing. Today’s Miami Herald article, Rents rise as overseas buyers invest, talks about some of the reasons why.

More Proof Miami-Dade’s Housing Market is Turning Around

Investors Are Taking A Bite Out Of Inventory

Miami Real Estate – Commercial Construction Also Picking Up

Miami Real Estate: More Signs the Market is Improving

Miami Real Estate: The Market is Changing

San Jose Island, Panama: How Big is 11,000 Acres?

jenniferwollmann — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:58:08 +0000

San Jose Island, Panama For Sale

Okay, I have already posted that it is twice the size of Key West, but maybe that is still hard to put into perspective. So, I will compare it in size to other famous islands. Using AskNumbers.com conversion table, I came up with the following:

Cayman Brac: 14 square miles =8,960 acres

Little Cayman: 10 square miles = 6,400 acres

St. Barts: 10 square miles = 6,400 acres

Virgin Gorda: 8 square miles = 5,120 acres

Basically, 11,000 acres is big enough for you to build your own town, or two!

Miami Real Estate: The Market is Changing

jenniferwollmann — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:29:09 +0000

If this week’s sales vs listings in just one of EWM’s offices is any indication, the market is changing. Our Coral Gables office had 37 residential sales versus 10 new listings and 27 leases vs 8 new rentals. Our total for this week, which include the sale of a commercial property was almost $35,000,000. This market change doesn’t mean that prices are going up yet, but it does mean we are clearing our inventory. We are seeing an increase in rental rates, however, as more people decide to rent and the inventory decreases.

If you need to sell, now is the time to do it since inventory is decreasing and there is demand. Remember to price it right, however, since pricing is everything in this market. If you don’t need to sell, but want to take advantage of the current market, use it to move up, downsize, while you rent out your current home. Alternatively, stay in your home and buy a rental property.

If you are planning to buy, now is definitely the time to buy due to a combination of low interest rates and low prices. If you don’t buy soon, you may find yourself priced out of the market or with even more limited choices.

Student Housing Popular With Investors

jenniferwollmann — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:39:06 +0000

An article in CoStar regarding student housing, reinforced what I already know. Student housing is a good investment and not all student housing is created equal. As a parent with two students in college, and a third student one year away, I spend a lot of money on housing. My first experience was when we arrived in Gainesville four years ago. We found that student housing is big business and extremely competitive in terms of rental rates. For less than $600 a month, my son had his own room and bathroom in a fully furnished apartment in a student complex. It was secure, had tons of amenities and activities geared around the college student. Even though he wasn’t living in the dorms, I feel like he still had a dorm-like experience.

Our second son is attending college in Fort Meyers and though he is living in the dorms, there is a student housing complex nearby identical to the one my son in Gainesville lived in. It is expected to be completely rented out in the next couple of months because the university just bought up a large multi-family complex close to their campus to convert into off campus dorms. In terms of investments, it is no wonder student housing is popular. Remember, the closer to campus, the higher the premium.