Category: Selling

Strategies to maximize your sales price and market trends

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Commercial Real Estate Selling Small Business

Travel Adventures Start in South Florida

Traveling: Antigua Casona Hotel in Cusco Peru

One of my favorite things about living in South Florida is how easy it is to travel anywhere from here. Miami International Airport (MIA) is one of the busiest airports in the country with over 80 airlines serving 150+ places around the world. We also have the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach airports, so plenty of airlines and airfares to choose from.

This year, my family was invited to a wedding in Lima, Peru. What an amazing country! They truly understand the meaning of customer service. Miami’s hospitality industry can definitely learn something from the Peruvians.

After the wedding, we took a side trip to Cusco and stayed at this amazing hotel, the Antigua Casona. From a real estate perspective, it was incredibly interesting as the owners rebuilt a falling down house into this intimate, boutique hotel. That in and of itself is enough for an entire blog post, but I’ll save that portion for another day.

What I found so compelling about this hotel was how they managed to integrate the local artwork,

the theme of the area (Incan architecture), the weather and altitude (almost 15,000 feet above sea level, which is rough on Miamians) and the food into an overall incredible experience.

Leaving the hotel at 5:00 a.m. for a Machu Picchu trek? No worries they have a picnic breakfast ready for you. Being affected by the altitude? Again, no worries, every night they bring a thermos with hot water and a local mint tea to help with the effects. In the morning, they have a coca tea to help. A little chilly? Every evening with the tea service, they place covered hot water bottles under the covers on each side of the bed.

The customer service and the attention to detail, anticipating what the client might want or need was beyond anything I have experienced in my travels and made me wonder, do I go far enough in providing that experience to my real estate customers? Does my company? If not, how can we do better?

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Buying Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Luxury Real Estate Selling

South Florida’s Hot Housing Market Will Help Commercial Real Estate

New Restaurants from Groot Hospitality Coming to Coconut Grove
New Restaurants from Groot Hospitality Coming to Coconut Grove

You can’t open a newspaper these days without reading about another company that is either relocating or expanding in South Florida. From hedge funds and private equity firms to tech companies, Florida’s business friendly environment is luring people to move here. The Miami-Dade housing market has surged, with total home sales up 16.2% year-over-year in October. Miami single-family luxury home sales transactions over $1,000,000 increased a whopping 122.1% year-over-year in October.

What does this increase in the housing market mean to commercial real estate? Although the virus has had an effect on hotels, restaurants, offices, and other businesses, which in turn bodes poorly for the real estate these businesses occupy, the number of people relocating here will eventually translate into increased demand for commercial real estate. I currently have investors looking for second generation restaurant space, which, amazingly enough, is not as easy to find as news headlines suggest.

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Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Selling Small Business South Miami

Record US Retail Sales

Retail in South Miami

According to economist Ted C. Jones, US retail sales and the demand for goods resulted in the freight rates for 20 foot containers from Shanghai to the US to increase approximately 125% in the past 12 months.

Another economist, Elliott Eisenberg PhD, also states that retail sales are terrific and that though we are buying goods online and curbside during the pandemic, it shows that consumer consumption has recovered.

What does that mean for commercial real estate in general and retail space specifically? I think there is a lot of pent up demand for going out, mingling with people, touching, feeling and trying on what people want to buy. With all of the people moving to South Florida, I think retail is going to rebound and will do so quickly. The products and services may change, but people still want an experience when they shop. At least I do!

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Buying Florida Life Investment Real Estate Selling

Fearless Friday

So, now that you know about 832 Granada Groves Ct., let me introduce you to 401 A Street in Saint Augustine Beach. This is the experience where I identified my fear, labeled it completely irrational, found the help I needed to get through it, and purchased this investment property. As you will see, the jump from Granada Groves to A Street was long. I hope you don’t take as long as I did. I am here to tell you if you do, you will miss out on a ton of great opportunities.

So, after Granada Groves Ct., my husband and I stopped actively looking for investment properties. We weren’t ready, the market was too hot, we couldn’t afford it, all of the excuses. Whatever. We finally got back into the discussion in 2014 and decided we would combine our investment property with a second home idea, so we started looking in St. Augustine Beach.

After we lost several properties in a competitive market, a friend of ours told us that she had biked by one that they were getting ready to put the sign on. I called the listing agent, asked her to FaceTime me so I could walk through the house, and we put an offer on it, $1,000 over asking, not subject to financing, sight unseen. Wait, what? Was I setting my self up to scare myself out of another deal? Absolutely not. We knew the market well, had run the numbers, had a pre-approval, had a good size deposit, reserves etc. I knew exactly where the house was, it was newer construction so less maintenance and we were feeling good. Our offer was accepted, I drove up for the inspections, had the “this feels right feeling”.

The house was only a couple of years old, so it sailed through inspections, my friend already had friends who wanted to rent it, things were moving along. Right before the end of the inspection period, the what if’s creeped in and I started to lose sleep. My husband tried telling me everything was fine, we were prepared, it was going to work out, he was rational. Still, I am the one who does the family finances, so I told myself if it didn’t work out, it would all be my fault that we were bankrupt and homeless (see a theme here?). Anyway, we made it through the inspection period, but now my fear kicked in full steam, wild-horse stampede mode. What if it doesn’t appraise? We won’t get the mortgage (not true)! We will have to pay all cash thereby draining all of our savings (also not true)! Those of you who know me, know that I am fiscally conservative, I am a Questioner (read The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin), I research and prepare. Yet I, almost always calm, cool and collected, was losing sleep over a purchase the felt right. I was barely functional due to lack of sleep. I backed into someone’s really nice car and that is what made me get a grip. After exchanging insurance cards with a really nice and understanding gentleman, I picked up the phone, called a great friend and relative who I knew could help me. The conversation went like this: Me “Hi. I need to ask you a question and your answer has to be ‘Yes'”. Him “Okay. What is the question?” Me “The question doesn’t matter, your answer just has to be ‘Yes'”. Him TOTAL SILENCE, but I could hear him thinking, “She’s lost her mind. How am I going to say yes when I don’t know the question” so Me “Do you trust me” Him “yes” Me “Would I ever ask you to do something that was illegal, unethical, or that would hurt you, your family or anyone” Him “No” Me “So if I ask you a question can your answer be yes” This time he didn’t even hesitate “Yes”. Me “Thank you. Good-bye”. I didn’t even ask him the question. I just knew that he had my back. I went home, slept soundly, and we closed on the house, which appraised OVER our offer.

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Selling

Fearless Friday

In last week’s post, I said I was going to share with you my “Aha” moment when I realized I was self sabotaging a real estate deal. However, as I sat down to write this, I realized I had to go back to 2011 and the first deal I actually did sabotage.

832 Granada Groves Ct., in Coral Gables was a cute little Old Spanish with three bedrooms, 1 bath, an updated kitchen, beautiful wood floors and an absolutely adorable back yard. As I walked through the house, it just felt so right. Have you ever had that feeling when you just know something is right for you? Well this was it.

832 Granada Grove Court, Coral Gables, FL

We had survived the Great Recession, had done our numbers, had discussed purchasing investment real estate etc. I had been a Realtor for years, I knew the market, blah, blah, blah. It was a fairly competitive market, but I was the first one to see it, made an offer, got the contract executed, made it through inspections, and then, during the inspection period, I balked. I let a little fear and doubt creep in and the negative “what if’s” started: “What if the termite damage they found was bigger than we think”, “What if the house doesn’t rent for several months”, “What if we end up bankrupt and homeless”? Seriously?! Yes! All of these crazy-not-realistic-at-all questions popped into my head and my answers weren’t even rational! Long story short, I convinced my husband and myself that we were making a big mistake, that we couldn’t afford the risk (we totally could’ve), and we backed out of the deal. It closed for $242,000 in September of 2011. It sold in March 2018 for $430,000. Ouch!

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Commercial Real Estate Coral Gables Neighborhood News Selling Small Business

Small Businesses Expand During Covid-19

Aria Rose Instagram Wall
Aria Rose Boutique 305 Palermo, Coral Gables

Yes, you heard that correctly…some small businesses are expanding during the pandemic. Aria Rose Boutique in Coral Gables is just one example. Owned and curated by Lauren Patao, this boutique started out in a bedroom, grew to a small store front and, in the middle of a pandemic, expanded to it’s beautiful new location. I think Lauren’s positive attitude, clear vision, friendly disposition, customer service, and the gratitude she exudes in everything she does, as well as her sense of easy, comfortable style, accounts for her success.

Aria Rose Instagram Wall

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Buying Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Selling

From Distraction to Traction

Yesterday, during Beth Azor’s Rockstar Book Club, we discussed the book ‘Indistractable‘, by Nir Eyal. In it, Eyal discusses the difference between external triggers (think social media, e-mail notifications, knock on the door by a colleague) and internal triggers (such as boredom, stress or fear) and how these triggers can lead us to either traction or distraction. The former moves us forward toward achieving our goals and the latter leads us away from them.

If we focus on the negative side of anything, we are vulnerable to distraction and, chances are, our outcomes will be negative. Many authors have discussed how we are hardwired to see things from a negative perspective. It is what has allowed us to survive and evolve. However, we can change the way we think about our triggers by identifying them, and coming up with several methods of dealing with the triggers. One of my favorites, was the identity pact. Here, you change the wording from a negative context (I can’t eat meat, I am not an athlete, I have to exercise) to a positive one (I am a vegetarian/vegan, I am athletic/active, I exercise). By doing so, you will define yourself or the situation positively vs negatively and that will change your mindset. Saying “Remember to” vs “Don’t Forget To” is similar.

This is not a new concept, but especially now, during a worldwide pandemic and when negative news and behaviors bombard us, I find it is worth remembering and practicing. What does this have to do with real estate? If your goal is to invest in real estate, open a business or expand or pivot a current one, avoiding the distractions and focusing on your goal will ensure that you can say, “I am a real estate investor/business owner”.

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Buying Commercial Real Estate Freebies Investment Real Estate Selling

Commercial Real Estate in South Florida Just Got Easier to Find

Search for commercial real estate
South Florida Commercial Real Estate Search
Miami Commercial Real Estate
South Florida Commercial Real Estate Search

Commercial real estate is different from residential real estate in so many ways, starting with finding it! Residential real estate has local MLS, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, residential real estate company websites, and plenty of social media posts, pictures, and video.

Commercial real estate has always been a bit more elusive. Investors either relied on their network/word of mouth, commercial agent, or driving neighborhoods and knocking on doors. Commercial agents who didn’t have properties that met their investors’ criteria also relied on their network/word of mouth, driving neighborhoods and knocking on doors.

With the advent of the internet and rise of social media, real estate investors have become more efficient in their search for property and millennials are driving the demand for more information and data. As a result, there is a lot of money being spent on gathering commercial property data and developing new, on-line methods of marketing, some of which can be very expensive.

MIAMI Commercial, the commercial division of MIAMI Realtors, saw the need to provide both agents and the public with a transparent way of searching for commercial and investment property and, in September 2019, launched The South Florida Commercial MLS.

This platform takes all properties, excluding residential which are already on public platforms, that are listed in MIAMI Realtors MLS and allows the public to search for free, without registering or providing any contact information. It is intuitive and the searching public can choose to search in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, a variety of currencies, or in square feet or square meters.

The numbers relating to the public site for November are as follows:

  • 4,064 listings
  • 3,039 users
  • 2,068 new users
  • 25,087 page views

Argentina, Venezuela and China were the top four countries outside of the U.S that searched the site and the top three U.S. States outside of Florida were California, Texas, and North Carolina.

Searching for commercial property in South Florida? Your search just got a bit easier.

Categories
Buying Coconut Grove Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Selling South Miami

Commercial Real Estate: Renovate, Re-purpose or Rebuild?

Renovation is nothing new to investors who look for value-add properties. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint, new fixtures, or an exterior update are all that is needed for a new owner to be able to boost rents.

Renovated Office Building on Red Road in South Miami, FL

I have read several articles lately about re-purposing buildings, and there is a great example of one in Coconut Grove. Touzette studios designed a mixed use office and retail building out of a parking garage.

Previous parking garage being repurposed to office – Mary Street, Coconut Grove, FL

The Shoppes at Sunset Place and Cocowalk are a combination of all three.

Construction of new office space at CocoWalk – Coconut Grove, FL

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Selling

MIAMI Realtors and FIABCI Arabic Countries Sign Collaboration Agreement

MIAMI Realtors with FIABCI World President Walid Moussa

MIAMI Realtors with FIABCI World President Walid Moussa

Today, several MIAMI Realtor Board members were present for the visit of Walid Moussa, who is FIABCI Arabic Countries President and FIABCI World President Elect.  The MIAMI Association of REALTORS signed an international collaboration agreement with FIABCI Arabic Countries to promote Miami as a place to do business and create opportunities to work together to sell properties in South Florida.

At a time when commercial real estate investors from around the world are showing an interest in Miami, these agreements help create the relationships required to get deals done.