Tag: buying real estate

Categories
Buying

Miami Real Estate: More Signs Market Is Improving

Technology jobs tend to be higher paying jobs and according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, three of the ten cities leading the nation in tech jobs are in Florida. Miami ranked seventh, Jacksonville ranked fourth and Tampa ranked 8th. High paying jobs + buyer’s market + high affordability index = real estate sales. The challenge for these three cities will be providing the skilled workers required for these jobs because although the tech jobs are increasing, if the companies providing the jobs can’t find employees in-state, the will hire them from elsewhere. That will still improve our real estate market, but won’t help lower our unemployment rate.

Categories
Buying Investment Real Estate Selling

Mortgage Interest Deduction: Should It Be Phased Out?

Well disappointingly, but not suprisingly, the Congressional “Super Committee” failed to come up with a plan to reduce the Federal deficit.

The fact that the deficit needs to be reduced and there were no new proposals on the table of how to go about doing so, got me to thinking about some of the original recommendations from the Simpson-Bowles plan. One of their recommendations was to eliminate certain mortgage interest rate deductions, namely on second homes, equity lines of credit, and mortgages over $500,000.

Costco addressed the phasing out the mortgage interest deduction completely in their November edition of The Costco Connection.

If it were phased out completely would that change your plans to buy? Would it speed up your plans to sell? What if only the Simpson-Bowles recommendation were implemented? Would that change your plans to buy or sell?

Categories
Buying Market Summary

More Construction…Signs Of An Improving Market

Ponce/Davis Lot Under Construction
 
Here is another construction site on Ponce de Leon East of U.S 1 close to 88 Street.   I blogged about another site that has just been cleared and is being prepared for a new home.

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

The new building is not limited to the affluent Ponce/Davis area either.  Drive around just about any where and you will see signs of new construction.  Real estate prices have plunged and buyers who can’t find what they are looking for, or builders trying to meet new demand, have gotten back into the market.  Another sign the real estate market is starting to turn.

Categories
Buying Neighborhood News South Miami

Buying Real Estate in Miami? You Need A Realtor.

I received two phone calls from buyers last week.  They were calling me on a sign in front of a South Miami townhouse I have listed for sale.  Both of them wanted to see it, neither was working with a Realtor.  I explained to them that the townhouse was under contract but that I would be happy to show it.  One of them wanted to see it.  When I asked her how she found it, she said “driving around”.  After I showed it to her, she said it was exactly what she had been looking for, too bad it was under contract and could I let her know if the deal fell through.  I told her I would be happy to and asked her if she wanted me to help her find a home.  She said no, she would rather continue to drive around and use her Trulia app.

The second buyer was also a “drive by”.  He said he had been looking in the area for over a year (!) and still hadn’t found anything.  I tried to explain to him that by driving around, he is missing opportunities and will probably always be late to the good deals.  The South Miami townhouse had seven offers on it in the first week.  I told him Realtors have applications on their phones that notify them as soon as a property comes on the market, which allows their buyers to get a jump start on seeing and presenting offers.  He said he would rather keep driving around….  Now these “buyers” may just be habitual real estate shoppers who just like to drive around and look at real estate.  If you are a serious buyer, you really need to be working with a Realtor.  In addition to being notified as soon as a property that meets your criteria comes on the market, you will be saving a lot of time and gas!

Categories
Buying

Your Realtor Works Hard to Schedule Appointments: Please Be Punctual

Be Considerate, Be On Time

I know some of us Realtors make what we do seem so easy that a monkey can do it, but believe it or not we go to a lot of work just to arrange showings.  When you want to go see homes it takes coordinating various schedules (the listing agent, selling agent, and seller) in order to set up a time that is convenient for you, the buyer.  Today I went to show one of my listings.  The buyer’s agent had requested that I show it at 12:30 and we had confirmed she was on time at 11:30.  I got to the house a little early to turn on lights and make sure everything was in order so it would be shown in it’s best light.  By 12:50 the buyers still hadn’t arrived, so I called the agent.  There was no answer so I left a message saying that Iwas leaving.  I started turning off lights and locking up the house.  When I was walking out the door at 1:00, I got a call saying they were running late (Really?!) and could I wait until 1:30.  Since I had a home inspection down the street at 2, I told her I could but that I had to leave by 1:45.  They got to the house “on-time” and as the buyers were walking around the house, their agent was on the phone scrambling to salvage the rest of the showings.  When another agent responded that he would not wait for them, they were more than 45 minutes late for his showing, the buyers looked at their agent and said, “Well, I guess some people just aren’t interested in making money”.  Again, REALLY?!  Sitting around waiting for people has never made anybody any money….. and this was for a rental!

Categories
Buying Market Summary Selling

Investors Taking Advantage of Strong Rental Market

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

Categories
Market Summary

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

Preparing For Construction On Ponce De Leon

Categories
Market Summary

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

Preparing For Construction On Ponce De Leon

Categories
Buying

Buying A House? Get Prequalified For A Mortgage

Are you ready to get off the fence and jump into the real estate market? Good for you…there is still a decent, though starting to dwindle inventory, and interest rates are still at historic lows.

There is a lot of competition out there, especially from cash buyers, so be prepared befor you start looking at houses. Get prequalified for a mortgage. It is pretty easy to do. To get a really good idea of how much property you can comfortably afford, provide your mortgage broker with copies of your last two years 1040s and W2s, recent payslips, and bank statements.

Categories
Buying Investment Real Estate Market Summary Selling

Miami Real Estate: The Market is Changing

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.