It’s that time of year again…Art season in South Florida. After visiting the South Miami Art Festival, stop by one of the great local restaurants in South Miami. Blu has great pizzas and salads, Town Kitchen and Bar has great calamari, salads, sandwiches and mixed menu, and Cafe Pastis has mussels, quiches, and an extensive French menu.
The National Association of Realtors reported a 21.2 percent increase in pending home sales for the month of September. This is the 8th consecutive monthly gain so, what does that mean in terms of the real estate market? The answer, as always, is it depends on the location. The NAR number is a national number so it takes in the number of pending sales across the country. There are some areas of the country, such as the Northeast, that had a decrease in pending sales from August to September.
On a national basis, the increase in pending home sales bodes well for the housing market since most pending sales result in closed sales within 1 – 4 months. If you are currently trying to buy or sell real estate, you need to look at what all the numbers are doing in the location where you are buying or selling. In addition to looking at pending and closed sales; look at the inventory; price per square foot of listings, pending and recently closed sales; and the number of short sales and foreclosures in each category. All of these numbers will give you a good picture of what is going on in your market and will guide you in your offers if you are a buyer and your pricing if you are a seller.
If you are selling your property and you owe more on your mortgage than the property is worth, you will have to do a short sale. The following documents are going to be the minimum required by your lender to determine whether they will approve a short sale.
The short sale process takes a long time, so in addition to having all of the above-mentioned paperwork you will need to have patience. EWM Title has a lot of experience doing short sales and has created a short sale package to assist you.
A Community Foundation of Pinecrest art exhibit and fundraiser is scheduled for November 7 at Pinecrest Gardens. Please click on the invitation for details and ticket information. Proceeds will go for improvements at Pinecrest Gardens.
The updated kitchen isn’t the only thing this 2 bedroom 2 bath condo has going for it. It is two blocks to the beach, walking distance to shopping and restaurants, has ocean and city views, a ton of closet space, on public transportation route, and internet, cable, hot water and air conditioning are all included in the maintenance. The building has a marina, gym, pool, and sauna.
The Community Foundation of Pinecrest is sponsoring Garden Pop, a fine art exhibit and sale in Pinecrest Gardens, November 7-25. Original works from the following artists will be available: Andy Warhol, Rupert Jasen Smith, Tom Wesselmann, Joan Miro, Gene Davis, Jasper Johns, Jime Dine, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Romero Britto, Donald Sultan, Erika King, Eileen Seitz and Purvis Young.
I thought this banner was a creative way for the EPA’s Energy Star program to tie in Halloween with ways to decrease the amount of energy we waste every year through products that remain on standby.
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market looked like after the third quarter. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
Coral Gables
Key Biscayne
Miami Beach
Palmetto Bay
Pinecrest
South Miami
An Evening in Tuscany, featuring concert pianist Francesco Attesti and German mezzo-soprano Annika Kaschenz, is coming to the St. Louis Church in Pinecrest on Tuesday, October 6th. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Miami Sundown as a benefit concert to end polio, this classical concert promises to be an evening filled with beautiful classical music.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knqf-VGZYcY[/youtube]
I love seeing the Doggie Bus on its route home. !