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Marina Blue Condo News

June 28, 2010 by Lucas Lechuga
In the video below, we discuss two recent sales that took place last week at Marina Blue.  We also mention a Marina Blue website that we'll be launching later this week.  It's about 90 percent of the way done.  Expect four other building websites within the next 2-3 months.

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You are right I am one of the owners who bought at the highest in Marina Blue . Of course I also have the best unit in the building ,it is penthouse 5109 and I payed 600$ a sq foot. for it in 2006. I made a mistake by not buying when they were selling so low, I would have cut my loss but still I beleive it is the only building in downtown that has the best views from almost every unit and the best swimming pools and common areas of any other new construction. After all when ever… Read more »

Mark

I certainly do not understand what all the buzzis about hyping Marina Blue. Anyone who knows anybody who lives there or has been to the building knows it is a big rental property nowadays, with all the common areas trashed by the tenants and current residents. Nice project, but totally destroyed. There is also a serious problem in the parking ramp. I have to disagree with Annamaria…People do not live in a view and as fas as location goes, Marina Blue is far from being ideal. If people can afford the luxury of time, though, I am totally on her… Read more »

mishka

Nice website. What are the other 4 buildings on the works? will you eventually do a website for all the new buildings? Congratulations to MCI on their success. Looks like your website is now growing globally popular. I have been to Marina Blue a few times and I did not see the place was trashed by renters as suggested by someone. It looks just like the pictures shown on the website. I very much like the building and the location. I feel bad that Annamaria paid $600/sf in 2006. A friend of mine did the same in 2007. But that… Read more »

Renter Tom

mishka said: “A friend of mine did the same in 2007. But that is life. As she said, in a few years, she will gain back all the paper loss of her unit and maybe more.”

– Boy did I need a laugh this afternoon. Thanks! Who know, “maybe more”!!! hahahahaha

It’s hard to believe that some are still drinking the kool aid. Figure your payments since 2006. Make sure you include condo dues, taxes and insurance, etc. Now come up with any appreciation rate you like starting today, go out “a few years” and tell me when you will be making the money on this deal.

why bother

hilton, maybe some people bought to live such as annmarie. Your website encourages people to walk away from their mortgages. So there is a conflict of interest in your statements here.
If annmarie can afford the payments and she is not interested in selling anytime soon, why should you bother? I am more bullish than Mishka that I will go ahead and predict that in 5-10 years, she will make up all her paper losses and not in 15 or 20 years.

Joe

why bother — Ann Marie clearly stated that she’s renting out the unit, not living in it. Do you actually read anything here or does reading fall under your “why bother” mentality?

why bother

Joe, you are correct. I missed that.

why bother

If that is the case, annmarie must be seriously subsidizing her renter and losing a lot of money every month especially at $600/sf purchase price. At that kind of price, even if she bought all cash, she might be losing some.
But if you saw the video where the Nigerian paid $300+/sf, assuming one can buy all cash at those levels, you can make positive cash flow at Marina Blue and many other buildings.

computer consultant

wow half the people do not pay their mortgage

Also according to case shiller NYC and Miami are the only 2 cities where prices fell in april.

Joe

why bother said: “If that is the case, annmarie must be seriously subsidizing her renter and losing a lot of money every month especially at $600/sf purchase price. At that kind of price, even if she bought all cash, she might be losing some.”

— That was my thought exactly. Frankly, I don’t see how she’s not losing money, unless she lucked into a very wealthy (and not very savvy) tenant.

JL

The average mark-to-market loan-to-value ratios in Miami are 150 percent according to Fitch Ratings as reported in bizjournal. I guess Mercedes leasings aren’t doing too well lately… The link below is a summary of a Fitch Ratings report that was also summarized by the Herald in computer consultant’s link, although the bizjournal link below specifically breaks out some numbers for Miami. ——— http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2010/06/28/daily7.html Fitch: Oil spills into bad FL mortgages Fitch cited high delinquency rates and a significant percentage of homeowners who owe more than their home is worth. Half of all securitized non-agency mortgage loans in Florida 60 days… Read more »

George

Annamaria’s unit 5109 was rented on 5/13 for $5000 per the recent rentals page

JL

Just found the direct link to the Fitch ratings Press Release http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100628006019&newsLang=en ——— I’m genuinely suprised by this. If I’m reading this correctly, then 50% of all Prime FL loans (ie. over $417,000 = non-agency = above conforming Fannie/Freddie limits?) are 60 days+ delinquent??? I wish somebody would break down the % of $417K+ loans that are more than 6 months late. ie. We all know there are tons of active foreclosures in the pipeline in the middle-high ends of the market, but the important calculation is finding the % of mortgage holders that are so late in payments that… Read more »

Dave

No you are not reading that (admittedly over complex) sentence correctly. Here is the sentence in question:

“Half of all securitized non-agency mortgage loans in Florida 60 days or more delinquent, and nearly 40 percent of all Florida borrowers owe more than 150 percent of the value of their homes, the release said.”

It does not say half of the loans ARE 60 days delinquent. What it is trying to say is that of the people who are delinquent, half of them owe more than 150% of the value of their homes.

JL

Dave, read the direct Fitch Biz Wire release http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100628006019&newsLang=en “A recently completed study by Fitch shows half of all securitized non-agency mortgage loans in Florida are 60 days or more delinquent. Also among the study’s more notable findings…” ———– Unless there’s a tremendous typo, that’s like saying: Knock on every door in Venetian Islands or in Murano Grande, if the person has a mortgage, there is a 50% chance they have not paid their mortgage in the previous 2 months+ Most of the data that comes out about national housing or bulk deals in Hialeah are not very relevant to… Read more »

JL

One factor that matters is the data is about securitized loans,

I believe securitized loans represent the vast bulk of loans that were made in the past 8 years but I can see some arguments that could be made that non-securitized loans (ie local bank loans held by the local bank) might be better performing… but then again, a lot of local banks made a lot of bad loans so maybe adding in non-securitized data would not change things much.

mishka

Lucas, this is similar to your stories about Walmart and Publix. It is about Met3 coming together with wholefoods: Scaled-down Met 3 downtown project revived By Yudislaidy Fernandez After putting downtown retail and residential project Met 3 on hold, MDM Development Group is reviving and retooling the project with plans to begin construction first quarter 2011. The development group moves forward with a scaled-down version that seeks to meet two downtown needs: a supermarket and more parking. Met 3’s first phase is to encompass a 40,000-square-foot supermarket and 2,000-space garage, said Tim Weller, MDM vice president. Instead of a condominium,… Read more »

mishka

another interesting news from Miami Today Newspaper: Condo glut turns the corner in a growing new urban lifestyle By Michael Lewis Commentary It should have been obvious five years ago that we were vastly overbuilding condos in Miami’s core. Nobody listened to repeated warnings — hate to say I told you so, but I told you so ad nauseam — that tens of thousands of high-priced condos rising at once was far too many, regardless of the economic boom we were enjoying. Now, slowly coming out of deep and painful recession, let me again issue a warning about all those… Read more »

Joe

The article in #20 has no coherent logic. First he laments that the condos weren’t built for locals, and then he claims that a few grocery stores will spur even more young people — i.e., people who generally have lower salaries — to move downtown. How the author adds all of that up and decides downtown r.e. will be booming soon is a mystery. Without an influx of good jobs, just how exactly are all of these young people going to afford luxury housing in the first place, let alone be able to bid so highly for condos as to… Read more »

BillP

“Representing both the buyer and the seller”. In my state, it is called dual agency. Your service to the buyer is a bit dubious, given that he paid a record amount and full asking price for his unit. Maybe someone from out of the country does not understand the nuances.

Joe

Just to be clear, while I’m still bearish on Miami r.e., my post above wasn’t meant to be entirely bearish. I’m just saying that if there *is* a downtown r.e. boom in the near future, I don’t see it being driven by locals, let alone *young* locals. It’s amazing to me how Miami just came out of one of the biggest r.e. crashes in history, but a lot of the so-called experts and analysts still aren’t paying any attention to fundamentals. As I said above, without a huge influx of good jobs, how are Miami locals suddenly going to be… Read more »

JL

If the Fitch Ratings report is correct, I think these last 6 months will prove to be a dead cat bounce. People need to focus on that and not about supermarket openings.

why bother

Joe, Yes, it it a miracle. But it is happening. Mimai is not a major city with high paying jobs. The only explanation is that Miami has Worldwide fan following. They are lifting it up. As long as the Miami Mystique exists, there are enough willing people to buy and sustain this city. Regarding your Q as to how these young people are able to afford these luxury condos, it is very simple; Owner subsidy, Doubling up with roommates. Don’t underestimate 2 people (either roommates or a couple) making the average lowly salary of 36K a year each can easily… Read more »

Makes Me Think

Joe, he mentioned investors and other speculators were able to buy at lower prices due to the bust. That in turn allow younger crowd to afford renting these condos from the people who bought. i thought he made it clear.

Makes Me Think

i believe a lot of people are deliberately falling behind on their mtg pmt to negotiate a modification of their loan. Banks won’t talk to you unless you are close to foreclosure.
i’ve heard of people getting int rates in the 2% range.

Joe

why bother, Makes Me Think — Did you guys actually read the article? The writer seems to be saying that today’s young renters will be tomorrow’s young BUYERS. The writer jumps from A to B based wholly on speculation. If young people need to rent — often with an owner subsidy — today, at the alleged bottom of the market, then how the hell will young people be able to BUY units in future years when prices are RISING? The article makes no sense. It’s just blatant r.e. cheerleading without any consideration for basic fundamentals.

JL

Going delinquent on a loan hoping for a loan mod isn’t that popular of a strategy amongst able paying owners. You don’t risk your credit at a slim to none chance on something you are able to pay. Something really ominous and Florida-specific is going on with this 50% delinquency.

Makes Me Think

joe, you make no sense and you never do. maybe you need to read the article more than once. just because young people can’t afford to buy today doesn’t mean they won’t be able to buy 4 years from now.

Drew

Significant new condo law goes into effect today.
Now condo assns will be able to collect rent directly from tenants for those units in which owners are delinquent on maintenance fees.

gables

The article is great news. IF we can make it work, this will certainly help provide stability in the condo buildings and reduce the risk of buying into the market. I have avoided a few buildings strictly because of the HOA concerns-this may now change. Unfortunately, it will create some new problems for renters who will get pulled into the battle between owners, banks and HOA over who gets what. I rent because it is supposed to be hassle free-this may change all of that. I think if the state introduces some clarity of the law with some guidelines answering… Read more »

Drew

gaables- Right. It could create some interesting conflicts and is likely to make landlord/tenant disputes much more common and more heated since the tenant is now thrown in the middle of condo fee disputes. I suspect it could have a serious affect on occupancy rates as well. Now many landlords who have not been paying fees and collecting rent from tenants (there must be hundreds, if not more) will have no incentive to lease a unit if they know that rents will be going to the assn directly, in an amount correlating to the scope of the delinquency, the condo… Read more »

Gixxer 1000

You guys are really funny. You actually think an owner would rather put a tenant out and receive no money if he could no longer avoid paying his HOA fees??? You own a 1 bedroom condo and carrying cost are $2000 a month but you can only get $1500 in rent. So you try to skip out on you HOA fees to the tune of $500 so you break even. So then they institute this law and go to your renter and tell them they need to hand over 3 months of their rent to the HOA to pay the… Read more »

gables

The plural “you guys” is not correct, since only two comments made on this topic, and i didn’t say what you stated. BUT, it is probably a good assumption that a landlord not paying HOA dues will not be a condo owner for long. my guess is at that point he will not be paying much, if any, mortgage as well. just waiting for somebody to act on the property-HOA or bank. my limited experience in this arena with friends has shown these landlords just play the game to their benefit as long as possible. partial payments on the mortgage… Read more »

Gixxer 1000

Joe, The article specifically addressed your issue. “Will the young people be able to afford Brickell and downtown as this transformation raises the property values in condos that today are a glut on the market? In other words, will the core’s future success eventually prove its undoing again? That’s a real but quite distant concern.” This obviously is an issue, but its a long term issue. Essentially because of price declines, bulk buyers, etc., the rents of these condos have dropped to a point where young professionals can afford them. As a result the occupancy downtown is growing rapidly. All… Read more »

Gixxer 1000

Interview with Principal from the Miami WorldCenter developers from about 9 months ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwrrOiO2deY&feature=PlayList&p=4891B866F9A346BC&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1 There are three parts but this is just part 1. Notice at about 1:37 where he promotes the fact that he lives in Brickell and works in Park West. I can tell you that being a student accepted to Columbia during my visits with current students you can tell that downtown Miami is starting to get a Manhattan like vibe. I interviewed with Carlisle Development a couple of weeks ago and the owner is a 31 year old young professional that graduated from Columbia in the… Read more »

JL

Why is World Center being mentioned? Isn’t that vaporware or has something changed recently?

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/04/miami_world_center_front_man_m.php

Gixxer 1000

gables, “my comment to you gixxer, is that once these owners reach delinquency levels on HOA and mortgages, they really do not act the way you described-financially responsible to pay off their debts. if they cannot pay off their debts with a current rent paying tenant, the property is just in a holding pattern to foreclosure, waiting for bank action.” I agree this is this is the case in some situations. But I also believe that in some situations some people were only losing a certain amount each month but were still able to maintain. Then when they realized that… Read more »

ANGEL

Why Bother #6 & #9— The pillar of reading comprehension… reading is fundamental.

gables

gixxer, on the surface the law should be friendly to tenants-but unintented consequences abound. HOA really cant give the tenant the boot-so they are safe in that respect. even locking out tenants from amenities is dubious legally. its the banks that can move you out of the house-and the law doesnt address that issue. but now the law directly pulls the tenant into the thick of things-who and what amount should their “rent” check be distributed? the idea was noble at least. your comments on owners paying part of the mortgage vs HOA still has problems on the ground. the… Read more »

Joe

Makes Me Think said: “joe, you make no sense and you never do. maybe you need to read the article more than once. just because young people can’t afford to buy today doesn’t mean they won’t be able to buy 4 years from now.”

— Um, please explain. Absent an influx of good jobs, how will young Miami residents be able to afford condos in 4 years that young residents can’t afford today? That’s a simple question that should Make You Think.

Joe

Gixxer #36 — I saw the disclaimer in the article above, but the article is still a bunch of nonsense. The article’s entire premise is that there’s going to be a new condo boom downtown because of all the young people moving in and buying units. The one-paragraph disclaimer saying, “But, gee, it’s possible young people won’t be able to afford these condos after all” basically renders the entire article/premise moot.

I’m glad more people are living downtown, but no one here has explained how downtown will go from a huge rental colony to a young homeowner’s paradise.

Drew

Many unit owners have never paid a dime in condo fees and as a result have huge liens for SEVERAL thousand dollars that have accrued for a few years…in which it may take a year’s worth of tenant rent to balance that owner’s account. So, what’s the point of renting it out any further. All monies will be going to the association for a long time. # 39: “I was under the impression that this new law was supposed to give piece of mind to the tenants so that if they pay the portion to the HOA they can’t be… Read more »

why bother

Joe-“young homeowner’s paradise”

Joe, in 10 years, the 20 and 30 something youngsters renting these places will turn 30s and 40s. They would be the ones buying these. It wont be young anymore, but they will all be homeowners unless they are all truth twisting Angels or the Goebbels which I don’t think is the case.

Angel

Why Bother # 45— That post makes no sense. People in their 30’s and early 40’s are recently married or just starting a family and they want a single fmaily home in the burbs. They do not want to live in downtown. Downtown is no place to raise a family. I look at all my neighbors and all of them are young single professionals such as myself. Few are married and none have kids. We all live in downtown because we like the downtown vibe, bars, clubs etc. As people get older, get married and decide to have kids they… Read more »

Drew

Angel
Thanks for making the above point. All very true, and often not taken into consideration by the housing bulls here. Most Miami condo residents view it as a temporary status. Its transitional, representing a phase of one’s life, with no plans to stay there longer than 5-10 years, albeit a better chance of returning to condos when retired/empty nesters. As you mention, its not conducive to raising children. Of course, you only have to spend $20-25k a year and send your kids to Gulliver or Ransom in order to avoid public schools downtown.

why bother

What a great piece of news! Home sales in S. Fla. buck trend Pending home sales in South Florida have held up, despite the expiration of the federal tax credit, which left national sales plunging. By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA [email protected] Thanks to the ongoing appetite of international and cash buyers, South Florida’s real estate market was shielded from a national drop-off in sales. Because those buyers were not eligible for a tax credit, their desire for real estate didn’t taper off after the benefit expired at the end of April, like it did for others who rushed to get in on… Read more »

Drew
Makes Me Think

“But, gee, it’s possible young people won’t be able to afford these condos after all” basically renders the entire article/premise moot. joe anything is possible. just because something is possible doesn’t make his argument moot. let’s just imagine Grixx and his girlfriend moves to Miami. Grixx attends UM while he works part time and his fiancee finds a job somewhere close by. Let’s assume they are able to rent one of those condos but only barely. After a few years Grixx graduates and find a full time job in his field of study and his fiancee advances in her profession.… Read more »

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