Miami Condo Market Highlighted on "Today Show"

There are many great opportunities if you have the cash or financing.

Still a long way to go, market will improve once labour market recovers and that will take at least a few years.

“Marquis nears 50% cut” (From MIAMITODAY March 18 edition)………Developer and bank have moved a long way in order to move the inventory…..”Marquis is to hold an open house for brokers Friday and Saturday and opens sales to the
public April 9.”

I will say it again. For the Brickell/Downtown/Park West/Pace Park corridor. The bottom in prices is in.

BTW – Regarding the post from this Christine in a post yesterday who said that she had purchased at Everglades Condo the criticism was a bit rough. First of all she said that she (an attorney i believe) and her husband had done their homework and due diligence. You beat her up pretty good saying she should cancel because Everglades is in “Distress”. Well Duh – isn’t every building down here in distress including Infinity (in receivership), Wind (foreclosure). Met One (forced to bulk sales), Axis, 900 Biscayne (bulk sales), Marina Blue(still with original flippers in units and bulk sales)… Read more »

Kramer,
what is your opinion about Marquis?

Christina,

Get out of Everglades. It is a dump and in foreclosure.
I am sorry Kramer if you cant live like me in these buildings.
However, I am an investor and have toured every single building.
Everglades is a dump!

Carlos,
condoreports.com says that Everglades is healthier than 60% of condos in Miami, while Isola – arguably the ugliest condo in Miami and the one you recommended – is in the bottom 5% of the sickest ones.
You’ve got a funny way of doing business )

Christina,
I wouldn’t pay much attention to carlos. If you made your homework, congrats. Looks like fantastic building in fantastic location.

Euroman – Marquis first rate first class building in every aspect. Swiss Luxury mentions that they are dealing. If the highway next door doesn’t bother you and you are an end user this building will bounce back price wise at a much faster rate than most. Carlos – Your a fraud and a liar to boot. As Euroman mentioned above you recommended Isola (hehe) to a poster (which i have also toured). Your credibility is shot right there. Strike One. Everglades is not in foreclosure. Strike two on your credibility in this forum and rates a 8 in quality and… Read more »

Euroman, I do not like Isola at all, but as far as your large budget goes 250 sqft demanding high floors, 2 parking spaces, water views, that is what you can afford. You should do better research: everglades is in foreclosure and the building is not even finished yet! They have just run out of money. You are not even here: if you take the buildings in Miami from what they look from outside or the pictures posted in websites, you are in for big trouble. As I have said and many other posters, this is just sound advice: I… Read more »

carlos,
LOL,
don’t argue with me, argue with condoreports.com.

Kramer,
thanks, appreciate it.

Marquis is an excellent building in an awful area. Location is number one when it comes to real estate. If u enjoy living next to the highway and share the streets with hobos then it’s great. It is a fantastic building in a bad location. Kramer, if u read the posts you’ll see why isola was mentioned. People who want huge apartments with waterviews in high floors and extra storage and do not have a large budget have to compromise at something. I have no interested in Isola at all. I was offered a Ph 2 bd with direct waterviews… Read more »

Carlos,

You must be referring to PH-15 at Isola. It was listed for $197,010 in January and spent 6 days on the market before going under contract. The appliances were missing and had obvious mold in the washer/dryer closet. Guess the sales price. $260,000!!! It was a nice unit but definitely not worth $260,000.

The area around marquis, ten museum, etc is sketchy right now. but remember it is across the street from what will become a major bayside park in an urban area. and it is next door to a beautiful performing arts center. been there many times and it is absolutely wonderful. this location and those four towers in a row will become extremely valuable in due time. it may take 5 plus years, but it will happen. i am in the market for a livable place today, and dont have the extra cash to sink into a multiyear investment. but if… Read more »

Carlos, I’m certainly no Miami expert, but wasn’t South Beach also a hoboland not that far ago? Maybe it wasn’t, but that’s what I have read somewhere. Then money poured in, neighbourhood was transformed, and people said: “Man , I wish I bought property there when everything was still dirt cheap”. And that’s why I’m looking at the Edgewater/ Downtown area. Overtown is being slowly depopulated by gentrification (population collapsed 75% from its peak to 2000, according to Wikipedia, and is probably even lower today), and may well seize to exist as what you think it is soon enough. Well,… Read more »

Kramer:

Your post (#3, above): nicely done.

Fair, balanced and well thought out.

scriv

Euroman, Pay no attention to Miami locals. It will take out-of-towners to rebuild/re-invent Miami. It was Northerners that created Miami Beach and Northerners who re-built the hoboland of 1980s SouthBeach. Read the book, Miami Babylon for more details. The locals have no clue what assets they have, how to value them, what the long term potential of these properties are. I agree with Gables, Biscayne/Performing Arts center area and many other downtown areas will be unrecognizable (for the better) in 5-10 years and locals will wonder why they didn’t see it coming. Bullish on downtown because the $/ft gap is… Read more »

“Everglades is not in foreclosure” Bank of America filed for foreclosure on the building but the developer immediately declared bankruptcy to avoid/delay foreclosure. Still in court now so you are technically correct, they are not in foreclosure. If the bank gets the building back, who knows what course of action they’ll take. They could firesale the units, or just sit on them for years, or dump them on the rental market to bring in some cash flow. Even if the developer wins control of the building, there is no telling what course of action they’ll take once B of A… Read more »

Let me share some thoughts why some of the locals do not like Miami because I spoke to some of them. They were not born in Miami but moved there for different reasons like health issues, warmer climate, business, retirement and live there now. They all recognize that it is a very beautiful city. They recognize that they can afford more(from the point of real estate) instead of living in NY or CA. All of people I spoke to were from NY, Boston, San Franscisco, LA. Most of them are upper middle class. Here are their reasons of being negative… Read more »

Euroman: Either you love Miami or hate it. Visiting Miami for a week will rarely leave you with a bad impression. Actually trying to get stuff done and observing the corruption first hand takes a few months and it breaks people. I associate with a lot of newly transferred executives and the majority of them (especially who live in the general city area, not in Davie) cannot believe how difficult it is to live in this city. In general there are awesome deals out there that will appreciate in a few years time. But will the county and city have… Read more »

South Beacher,
Lara,
very interesting, many thanks.
I guess many great cities are also infuriating on many levels. But Miami seems to drive many Miamians crazy in a very particular way. Miami Herald comments section seethes with rage, predictions of doom, etc. A lot of folks appear relishing city’s troubles.
Maybe the hatred is just a result of unrequited love, who knows. ) ?

Lara,
do you have any info as to why Quantum North’s HOAs are higher than Quantum South’s (70c vs 55c/sq ft?) ?
At least that’s what condoreports.com says.

Euroman, I’ve noticed something similar and here is my take. Miami and South Florida in general has a huge problem with education. They’re behind the national average and WAY behind large metro areas. As a result you have a large portion of the population (roughly 80%) who are uneducated and work low skill jobs. As we were discussing before its a city of have and have-nots. Here is some old salary information from the US Census: 2000 Income: $53,574 (average), $37,509 (median) 2001 Income: $50,261 (average), $35,241 (median) 2002 Income: $53,361 (average), $36,809 (median) 2003 Income: $51,924 (average), $36,089 (median)… Read more »

I’m amazed that a comment condemning a certain building or neighborhood results in hasty generalizations that such commenter “hates Miami” or is “miserable in Miami.” Its possible to be opinionated about these things but still enjoy the city and have no intention of leaving. One guy loves South Beach and hates Midtown. Or vice versa. Who cares? Its just an opinion based on personal preference. Personally I’m at the stage in my life that condo living doesn’t make any sense to me or my family that’s why I live in Pinecrest. I’ve lived in condos on the Beach, Gables and… Read more »

Lara Nicely said. Miami is great and bad for the reasons you have mentioned. However, if you come from Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago or any other main developed and professional city, you cant take Miami much more than a second home city. Miami would probably be the best place to live should the city provide opportunities for offices and companies to move down here and offer job positions for people with higher income and educational level. Right now it is a city filled with poor illiterate immigrants who have nothing to offer to the city and take advantage of federal… Read more »

Guys, Here is my 2 cents as a person who recently bought a condo in Miami in brickell area as my perm home and plans to live in the condo long term. I see your points and yes people either love it or hate it. I want to love it, although I see allot of negatives too. Living in a condo in Miami, is allot different from living in my last house in a nice clean suburb in the mid-central state that I came from. Miami is ALOT better then 15 years ago, and I know it will be ALOT… Read more »

Drew, I know for myself I wasn’t talking about people being negative about Miami because of this blog. And I got the impression that since Euroman mentioned the comments section of the Miami Herald neither was he. I ask questions on other forums where people just talk about Miami in general and I’d I guess that 80% of the people in those forums, newspapers article responses, etc. speak at though they absolutely hate Miami. Sort of like when I posted that 20% of people in Miami-Dade have a college degree (which is very low) people quickly shot it down that… Read more »

Gixxer 1000, You said: So then you have the upper middle class people from out of state that Lara is referring to. They move here because it’s affordable as compared to there original city (NY, LA, Boston, etc.). But when they get here there is no real middle class that they’re used to. Instead of they’re neighbor being a college graduate instead they’re someone who is actually living beyond their means. So while they’re in the same neighborhood with similar cars, etc. they are actually very different. This speaks both to the intellectualism and flashy ways. So you see a… Read more »

Gixxer 1000,
ah, the frustrations of a deeply materialistic city!
Agreed.

Drew,
yours “the idiots are usually the rudest too” is priceless.
Could be very revealing.

Euroman, RE: your question about which lines at the Lexi face downtown fom the other thread. I posted this there, but it seems this is where people are posting now so I’ll repost it in case you missed it. “02 (faces SE) and 12 (faces SW) are corner units with warp around balconies that face downtown. 01 (faces NE) and 11 (faces NW) are in the same line but 01 will only have a downtown view if you are on the wraparound part. I’ve got an 02.” BTW, regarding this convo of whether you love or have Miami…..count me in… Read more »

Edit: Meant to say “hate” in my last post. Typo.

Lol – Well then you can’t say that “Miamians” are fearful, negative, shallow, materialistic, etc. if indeed none of us (most) are from some other place to begin with. Didn’t we bring those traits with us?

There used to be a poster in here with the handle La La that often commented that the appeal for her in living in Miami (Brickell) was in watching a “young” city evolve. And for me also. That is the appeal. Imagine living in New York City or Boston or Chicago 100 or more years ago when they were just starting to emerge as a great American city. Were they not a rough and tumble Boss Tweed hodgepodge of different cultures and similarities and differences of opinion. In Miami the great Condo meltdown only makes our story that much more… Read more »

The only three issues I have with Miami area are: (1) Very poor/slow service (pervasive), (2) Bad drivers, and (3) Dishonest people in real estate. You just have to learn to live with it and learn to honk on occasion….I don’t think I ever honked at another driver in 10 years until I moved here! Although I try to do it politely even if they are meandering around a six lane road talking on the cell phone like they are driving in a parking lot. Oh well. Looks like there is a double dip in housing prices??? Or more accurately,… Read more »

Renter Tom,
leaving aside the fact that “double dip” may be just a figment of your imagination,
what price would you suggest I look for if the Marquis drops its prices?

DJ,
thank you,
I guess I’ll be on a lookout for 01 and 02 lines.
I did go to Google Street to “drive” through your neighbourhood, and it felt almost like I was in the Keys. )

Kramer, That’s part of the reason why I want to study real estate development and work in Miami. Think of the impact and change that can happen over the next 15 years. It seems a lot more interesting than simply constantly renovating what’s already there. Short term plans include: Downtown Convention/Conference center of the Americas Redevelopment of Bicentennial Park Completing Baywalk and Riverwalk Implementing Waterborne trasportation Enhancing Brickell avenue streetscape Redevelopment of Flagler street Connecting and promoting parks and open spaces Making city more pedestrian friendly Promoting more public transit (expand metromover, implement streetcars and trollys) Improving inland connections to… Read more »

What do you guys think of Brickell on the River North tower? I am considering uying a 2/2 for $330,000.

Renter Tom, I’m curious. What measure are you using to track a double dip. The percent rise or fall for market is usually tracked by the median sales price? What do you expect this measures to fall to? I’m trying to get an understanding of what your thinking is. For example in February you posted the article that predicted the 30% drop by Sept 30th specifically for Miami. Here are the Median home prices for 2010: Jan $199,700 Feb $199,925 Mar $199,497 (so far) A 30% drop (actually it was 29.2%) would put Septembers median sales price somewhere around $140k.… Read more »

I wanted to clarify one more point. For the median to go down your not actually only concerned about the houses below the median. You’re actually only concerned with the houses JUST below the median. So for example if you are selling 10 houses a month, the only houses that will affect the median are the 5 and 6 house sold each month. Example: 10 houses: $50k, $80k, $90k, $180k, $190k, $210, $250k, $400k, $1m, $20m Here the median sales price would be $200k (the average of the two middle numbers $190 and $210). If you started selling all the… Read more »

Gixxer 1000 – Based on your posts, I have to say, you’re gonna make a helluva bureaucrat when you land your city planner job…perfect fit for Miami, a lot of talk. Then if that doesn’t work out you could become a marine biologist and assist George Costanza. LOL

Gixxer 1000,
when Renter Tom says there is a “double dip”, objective reality doesn’t matter all that much, if at all.
After “double dip” there will be “triple”, “quadruple” and other “dips”, statistics be damned.
You coming with all these numbers from real life – things otherwise known as “facts” – how rude…

Gixxer 1000,
you wrote:

“Also to be specific, this information is for all homes in Miami-Dade. Downtown condos don’t have to follow the same pattern. So when you say double dip are you talking Miami condos or all of Miami?”

From what I could gather so far, Renter Tom is talking only about the condos that people on this blog actually want to buy.
No matter what the price is – it’s going down.

Renter Tom, Actually I put a lot of information (sales number, stats, etc) behind my opinion so I doubt I’d be a bureaucrat. Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve actually ever disagreed with you and seen you refer to facts in an argument outside of maybe quoting the opinion of someone else as fact. But when Sept 30th gets here and median sales prices isn’t 30% lower, I’m sure your answer will be very bureaucratic. From what I read when you first came here you were concerned about inventory, supply, price per square foot, etc. It’s what… Read more »

Rentertom – Hey hey hey. Don’t be raggin on my buddy George Costanza. Anyway he always wanted to be a city planner or an architect. Remember the kid he mentored right after Susan died : ).

C O S T A N Z A A R C H I T E C T S M I A M I

completed projects in Miami:

Capital Lofts
Science Meuseum at Museum park
Art Museum at Museum park
Bayview Market
Loft III
Paramount Beach
Miami Center

gixxer, dont come to miami. you will not last. you have a strong desire to use logic and facts to conduct your business. it does not work that way down here. and it will drive you crazy. you think you can beat the system if you play by the rules-but the system will eat you alive. trust me. been there done that. only come down here to do business if you are willing to operate by a very very flexible set of rules. this allows the bad people to get out of jams they dont like-to the detriment of those… Read more »

Gixxer,

If nothing works out, you can always become a hand model. After all, everyone is a model in Miami.

Gixxer 1000,
looks like some people are trying to shut you up by claiming that Miami is an alternate universe where neither common sense, nor simple math apply.
That’s how people are trying to argue when they have no valid arguments.
Funny stuff.
I guess you have won this one.