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I think someone mentioned this last month, but Lucas should include estimated HOA fees applicable to each of these units. To me, HOA fees and association solvency are just as important as the sales price in determining a good deal or not.
Looking strictly at psf, these don’t seem to be such great deals. If these are the best from April, I’d hate to see the worst.
Yes, these don’t look like such great deals. If I remember correctly, I think there were much better deals the last couple months.
It would be interesting to see the number of closed sales for that month and see how that compared to previous months.
Lucas, I know we always seem to be asking for more. Please don’t get the wrong impression. We appreciate all the information you share.
I have to go with the flow…….and agree that these are NOT great deals at all.There are many other better deals available on the MLS.What is this an indication of??? Prices going up??or offshore buyers thinking ..there getting a good deal.No matter what it is LUCAS is working his A^*@ off to bring everyone as much info. as possible.And I APPRECIATE it VERY MUCH..THANK YOU LUCAS.
That emerald unit is pretty nice looking, but good god…..$1,474/month in maintenance and $1380/month in property taxes. WTF! Carrying costs are nearly $3,000/month before even factoring in the cost of the unit. I think the only way that place could be considered a good deal is if you got it for free.
Please Angel, can you tell me what kind of a deal you got on your 1 bedroom? If you’d rather not provide specifics, can you at least tell me if you paid under $2K.
Also, any negotiating tips would be helpful.
Kindest regards sir.
Thanks for the info Lucas. I don’t understand why your readers complain that you don’t provide the HOA or other info, when it’s in the MLS entry and HOAs are moving targets. Thanks for taking the time to assemble the info and write this blog, which I view as a public service.
Renter Tom, Ram:
This is off topic, but I happened to be reading the comments from this post last Oct 08:
http://www.miamicondoinvestments.com/2008/10/08/the-sub-100k-brickell-condo-hits-the-market/#more-384
Ram made the following comment:
“For a financed deal, the numbers for an investor would be:
Annual Revenue: +$14,400 (Rent @ $1,200/month)
Real Estate Taxes: -$2,000 ($100,000 @ 2%)
Tax Credit: +$600 (R.E. Tax Deduction of $2,000 assuming a 30% Tax Bracket)
HOA: -$5,400 ($450/month)
Annual Mortgage Payments: -$4,769 (30% down = $70k mortgage @ 5.5% for 30 years).
Mortgage Interest Deduction: +$1,245 (Annual interest of $4,149 & assuming a 30% Tax Bracket).
Depreciation Credit: +$1,463 ($100k for 20.5 years & assuming a 30% Tax Bracket)
NET: $10,308 (or 34.4% on the $30,000 down payment).”
Renter Tom who seems to be pretty knowledgeable said the following:
“RAM – You are looking at cash flow. From a wealth accumulation standpoint and assuming you do not hold this asset until you die, you should not include the “Depreciation Credit” as an expense since it will be recaptured when sold so it is just a temporary thing. Moreover, the entire purchase price can not be the basis for this depreciation since the purchase price includes items that can not be depreciated such as land which reasonably would be 15%-25% of the purchase price (all condos have X% undivided interest in the common areas which includes an interest in the land). So, the return on a cash flow basis is an inflated return until the asset is sold. Other than that nuance, good analysis and good job.”
I agree with Renter Tom’s criticism, but I’m wondering if he missed something or if I’m mistaken. In Ram’s numbers above, he subtracts interest and taxes from rental income as he should, but then adds back tax and mortgage interest “deductions.” I don’t think it works that way. When you subtract interest and taxes from rental income, isn’t that the deduction? Adding back your tax bracket percentage of those amounts is essentially deducting them twice. I believe RAM was thinking of how owner occupiers can deduct interest and taxes from their taxable income. But he was giving an example of a rental property. Anyway, I was surprised Renter Tom didn’t catch what I thought was a big error in analysis, but maybe I’m wrong. Look forward to your thoughts.
Angelinfo #5
I am paying well under 2k. Shoot me your email and i will give you more details.
The Emerald unit at $192/sq ft is a good deal but the HOA and taxes are killer. I can see why renting is a much better deal.
I would also love to see the HOA’s for each building. They are usually set for 12 months, so they don’t move around that often. Special assessments are the unexpected daggers.
I wonder if the high HOA fees at Emerald are the result of too many foreclosures not paying their fees. All the other units must make up for the difference.
Another thing to remember about HOA fees. Many buildings will keep monthly dues low to entice foolish buyers with a low monthly fee. However, that same building will do a special assessment each December (a few thousand $$$ per unit) to make up the difference. Happens all the time, but you rarely find out until you already have bought.
Can’t the buyer of the Emerald unit challenge their property taxes since clearly in today’s market, the value of the property is not the assessed value…this can be verified based on comps in the market. This will bring the taxes down.
Also….the main reason why HOA is so high is because of the high number of delinquencies in the building. Once the economy and real estate market begin to stablize, won’t these HOA rates go down to a more normalized level?
Therefore…he/she will only be paying high taxes and HOA for the first year at the most.
MarkyMark, from what I’ve heard, you can appeal your unit’s assessed value to try and bring taxes down, but the city doesn’t wanna lose all that income so it’s hard to get. Complete bullshit, and bordering on criminal if you ask me.
There will me MANY more deals out there. Just look at the latest foreclosure stats
HMMMMM BUY A HUGE TOWNHOUSE IN LEE COUNTY FOR 85 K OR BUY A SHOE BOX IN MIAMI FOR 200 ISH
MARKY MIAMI MARKET IS DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS, YOU WILL SEE A MILLION ARTICLES ABOUT THE ECONOMY AND HOW THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER AND BROKERS WILL KEEP BS ING YOU LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO JUST WAIT 2 YEARS AND PICK THRU THE WRECKAGE
I’d take a shoe box in Miami over living in Lee County.
NO MORE SHOE BOXES ………BUT AS AN INVESTMENT U CAN BE SURE THE RESALE VALUE OF THAT TOWNHOUSE WILL INCREASE WHILE THE MIAMI CONDOS WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT WILL DECREASE
Response to #17. Drew be careful there. You know that I am investing in Lee county. Lee county is a big territory. You have to know it. I do not know what townhouse you are buying but on certain areas in Lee county it is not a good price now. Get familiar with the area.
drew299,
Go to Lehigh Acres in Lee county, there you’ll find even cheaper homes.
But beware of your neighborship, you might get killed !
It will be hard to reduce the HOA’s because they are playing catch up. The reserves are probably really low and these 2-3 year old buildings will need some heavy maintenance work in a few years.
drew299,
In Lee county you should only invest in property with direct saltwater access
(canal or waterfront) !
But I think, this is beyond your budget.
Interesting article about the fate of Onyx.
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/05/11/daily7.html
Wow…..sucks for all those people that closed in Onyx at ~400/sq. foot.
My email is [email protected]
Thanks angel!
IF I DID NOT KILLED IN NYC OR MIAMI I AM NOT TO WORRIED ABOUT LEE COUNTY
I DONT LIKE PROPERTY DIRECTLY ON THE WATER…….SORRY …..WE HAD THAT IN THE HAMPTONS AND TOO MANY BUGS AND DAMAGE……..
I KNOW THAT OFFENDS FLORIDIANS OR PEOPLE THATAT MOVED TO FLORIDA / LIKE MOST OF YOU
YOUR RIGHT LEE COUNTY VERY DANGEROUS, I WILL STAY IN DADE WHERE ITS SAFE
Well if you’ve got such a hard on for Lee County, why are you posting here?
If the banks that take over these buildings cannot sell more units they need to convert them to full rental buildings. The people that did close need to be compensated for buying a building that is not a condominium.
wild bill
who’s going to compensate them? the developer? propably not even if they did have an obligation to do so (which i doubt). the banks? why would they be on the hook?
Onyx on the Bay units face foreclosure.
Condo Vultures CEO Peter Zalewski said Onyx has not received much interest from bulk buyers because it doesn’t have enough available units to be managed efficiently in bulk. Plus, it’s in the Edgewater area just north of downtown Miami, in a condo market that has not matured. Zalewski said distressed units in Onyx should sell for $100 to $125 a square foot.
Hat tip to the Ace he’s prediction of $125.00 was uncanny!
Why, because Peter Zalewski made an unsubstantiated comment in an article? Granted I’m playing devils advocate here, but that’s hardly enough to proclaim Ace the Miami condo nostradamus.
Holy Canoli
The collapse has begun. Look at Lucas CONDO DEALS page. Brand new Brickell avenue apartments for $140 something per sq foot at “AVENUE at Brickell”. Then two more new listings at another new building – ” Wind” for around $150. per sq foot. Looks like Gables will be moving downtown pretty soon. These are two bedroom apts in the core. With 1800 Club having two more at $180. per sq feet I dont know how you can call Emerald at $200. per sq feet a “best deal”.
A couple of comments.
In re to Lee County. I disagree with a previous opinion that one can invest there only on salt water canal properties. I would not invest in war zones and probably in a lot of areas of Lehigh acres, not in some areas of Ft.Myers but in other areas it is possible and actually can be very attractive. Salt water canal properties if it is a good deal have potential of most appreciation in the future but it is a speculative investment.as of now because they do not cashflow.
In re to Onyx the article is pretty interesting. I heard the developer has 29 units for sale and the last time they wanted to sell them for $250/sq.ft. Iwas told that the developer was offered $175/sq.ft and refused.
As I have said before – as prices come down to unthinkable numbers fear prevents people from being able to pull the trigger. The price starts to become allmost irrelevant as the “Hot Potato” is the HOA and inflated property taxes and trying to determine if your fellow neighbors have the financial ability to keep up their maintenance fee every month or will you be soon liable for their portion in a few months or in the case is the developer have the ability too upkeep the building. Who is going to be left holding that “Hot Potato” is the real question. BTW – in the case of a bank foreclosure on any unit the Florida legislature just ended without a “fix” for their sweetheart law which limits their exposure on a forclosed unit to no more than 6 months or 1% – so that if that unit re-sold in a timely manner the other owners have to pony up.
Lara,
who are the end users of those real estate deals in Lee County?
My understanding is that there are not many industries there and a whole bunch of empty homes. When you buy a foreclosed house and rent it out what kind of tennant are you finding? What is the potiential for growth in that area with the larg amount of over supply and relatively small amount of industry/jobs?
More speculators getting crushed. The fun is getting started. The fact that lara is even talking about “appreciation” indicates the bottom is nowhere near.
There are not enough humans in Miami to occupy all this real estate at full employment. What does this tell you about rental prices at 10% unemployment.
The value of a property is based on the amount of income you can extract from rent (dropping) minus expenses such as HOA and special assessments (skyrocketing) and taxes (slowly falling over the next 3-6 years).
LOL! Look out below!
The net rental building to open (infinity?) will really collapse rental prices. When is this wonder opening up lucas?
Response to #34.
There are a lot of people who retire there. I agree there are not a lot of jobs. I personally do not have tenants there because I wholesale my properties. All my buyers are investors. Also the population there is pretty big. There is an international airport in Ft.Myers. There is some old money there as well because there are areas with multimil.dollar mansions but there are poor areas as well. I know that rents in simple 3bd/2 bth houses(pretty nice) are around $850/month. People invest cash and rent. Prices there are so attractive if you know what you are doing and can negotiate a bit that people have a bit of positive cash flow and the peices can easily double there in the future. My estimate in about 3 years. You buy now for about 40c/1 dollar all foreclosures. and
Prices are about 1/fifth from what they were in 2005-2006. As always you have to know what you are doing.
next
BMW M3, You misunderstood me. I specify that if you rely only on appreciation it is wrong and it a speculative investment. You have to rely on cashflow. You always invest though where you have a potential of appreciation from your own point of view
BMW,
Infinity has been open for a while now. The first closing took place on November 21, 2008.
Well, what’s the next rental building to open now that everglades is open?
LARA…your posts are very interesting.I am also interested in Ft. Myers /Cape Coral area.(that is Lee County I assume) There are a LOT of amazing looking deals over there.I’m seeing beautiful 1800 sq. ft. ++ on 80×125 ++ lots on canals with docks for 200K.Thats for a move in condition home.Much less for a fixer upper.What do you think??? Your input would be appreciated. Thank you
Kramer,
You are quoting the price of 1800 Biscayne Plaza. Not 1800 CLUB. There is no unit in the 1800 club for that price per sf.
jcrimes,
The same day you posted that post on Biscayne Times, I was thinking to myself, is there anyway I can get this paper shipped to NY. It is a great paper like you said.
Anyone know how Jade Beach and Jade Ocean in Sunny Isles Beach are doing w.r.t. closings??? They seem awfully dark at night. Just the other night there was ONE unit with a light on in Jade Beach (usually there are 3-5) and from the ground I could tell it was a bare bulb, not a light fixture hence that “decorator ready” unit is still waiting for the decorator! Jade Ocean is worse, albeit it was more recently completed….expensive pads competing with Trump Towers and Turnberry Ocean Colony.
Closing rates for Jade Beach and Jade Ocean would be interesting to know……
There are quite a few units at 1800 CLUB in the $180 a sq. ft. price range BTW.
AJ
AJ you are wrong. Look on Luca CONDO DEALS page. Under 1800 CLUB at 1800 N Bayshore Drive two (2) units #915 and 1915 are listed at $180. per sq ft for about 30 days now. And no it is not confused with the other 1800 Biscayne Plaza on Biscayne Blvd.
Lucas
Any chance soon for a more recent closing update?
Hey friends long time no see.
So check this out…last summer was 25k in credit card debt with 7 k in savings.
This May I am 5k in credit card debt with 1k in savings.
Been working 13 hours a day to get totally out of debt so no time to troll this blog as much as I would like.
I know some of you here make 25k in a month so that is a joke to you, but for the illegal immigrant income I am making while putting myself through college I am pretty impressed and wanted to share it with you.
Hope to be debt free by October.
Not sure how a unit that costs $300,000 and has monthly carry costs of nearly $3,000 (11% annual cost of carry) w/o a mortgage comes out being a “good” deal. Maybe I live on a different plane, where renting a similar unit at $1,700 per month somehow makes *less* sense. But still…
I’m becoming more convinced that the problem with Miami condos is not so much the price per square foot, but more the cost of ownership. We can argue ad nauseum whether the “bottom” will come at $190 psf, $125 psf, $95 psf, etc… With maintenance fees and taxes so out of whack, the price paid on the unit is irrelevant–anything above $0.00 psf becomes too much!
I’m not sure what the way out of this mess is. Lower taxes help, although I have a hard time believing that a cash-strapped local government will find a place in its heart to offer tax relief. The obvious alternative becomes reducing maintenance fees, which would have to be done by cutting amenities and services. Will some of these buildings still hold appeal, however, with drastically reduced services when they were pitched as offering a resort lifestyle?
As an aside, I’d like to congratulate Lucas for his work on this blog. The real estate market is one where information is not always readily accessible, and you not only present it, but provide clear, easy to use data. Kudos!
Well Christopher…..if that is a real post, more power to ya! Debt is slavery man, slavery. Only borrow money when it makes sense since there is very little “good debt” out there…. Best wishes! Next you’ll need to build up your wealth so you have a solid “go to hell fund” where you just don’t really care about what others think…..and to be your own boss! It is the only way to live! 🙂
Did anyone else see Meredith Whitney on CNBC today??? Quote regarding the govt stress test leaks:
“I couldn’t believe how poorly the information was leaked, how effectively people say it was leaked, if it was any other company leaking that information there would be SEC investigations all over the place.”
—- ahhhh, socialism.
2pence – Hard to cut out insurance which is a biggie (without it there can be no resales too)…and of course 24 hour valet service because of the idiotic parking design requires it!
Oh, one more thing…..despite the artificially low interest rates for long term mortgages, in the mid to long run, the fed govt will be soaking up a huge chunk of the available credit…competing against individual and business credit needs driving up rates and hence causing existing homes/condos to have to sell at a lower price in order to be affordable with incomes like in the past. Existing home prices will lag inflation going forward, it won’t be nearly as good of a storage of wealth or a good “forced savings” vehicle.
The consequences of the federal deficits will be severe and long lasting…. see quote (on its way to a revised $2T!):
“The new estimate predicted a deficit of $1.84 trillion, or 12.9 percent of gross domestic product, for the fiscal year ending September 30. It updated the White House’s February forecast of a $1.75 trillion deficit, or 12.3 percent of GDP.”
– it is all a credit bubble shell game people with the responsible people having to bear the heaviest of the burden! Time for a little revolution…..
So Lucas, when did Epic start closing? What percent closed are they?
The epic rentals should take some air out of the high end. I get excited when I hear about all this investor activity. More and more properties going from just sitting empty to on the rental market further depressing prices. Woo hoo!
Renter tom, GDP is a sham. 100% of most peoples income is dependent on the government. I think the government is printing double what they claim. The entire metro New York an metro Detroit area is directly on government welfare. Add in miami and la and San fran on fannie mae government welfare….etc etc
Response to post #42.
MK, in order for me to answer I have to know if you buy for yourself or as an investment property. If it is for yourself then It could be a great deal. As an investment property it is not a good deal because if you are going to finance it it will have negative cashflow every month since rents in the area do not support that price. also when you say waterfront I have to know what area. and also there are 4 types of waterfronts in the area.
Christopher,
congradulations on your progress on reducing your debt but you need to slow down and start puting more money in savings. You are at risk, $1,000 is not going to help you much if an emergency should arise or if an opportunity comes along. I don’t know why some people are so obsessed with living debt free when they don’t have enough for savings. Credit companies are reducing credit lines so even if you pay down your credit lines you are likely to see your credit limit reduced to a few hundred over outstanding balance.
You should build your cash reserves before you reduce your debt further.
Question,
did any of these miami codo developers ask for or recieve tax apatement from the city of miami for these properties? I am asking because in some urban cities in the N.E. (Jersey City, NJ). The developers often seek and recieve 15-20 year tax abatement on newely developed condos. That is a major benefit in attracting buyers from across the river in manhattan. I wonder why that hasn’t been done to a larger extent in miami to fill those empty condos. I know it works in JC, NJ.
Does anyone have a thought on this?
makes me think,
that line of reasoning works when you have competing local markets for residents and construction. miami does not have the same competition-all the same state and within the same county, with a few competing municipalities. much different than the dynamics between new jersey and new york, manhattan and the boroughs versus the jersey side of the river. under the table deals may be struck here, but the government has slightly less incentive to play this game, since they know you have no choice but to build in miami.
makes me think – Depends on the interest rate on those credit cards! Borrowing money isn’t bad as long as you have the assets to back it up! I only use debt when it is cheap and makes sense….it is merely a tool and not used to fund a lifestyle……priceless. 🙂
Some of these areas were undeveloped and were blighted before the developers came in.
The abatement is used to attract residents to a less desired area. These deals are worked out before any construction takes place. Even now I bet if the city announced a 10 year tax abatement in some of these districts you would get a lot of people off the sidelines. imagine if you can get the taxes reduced from $400/mo to $165/mo. Many people would be willing to step in and fill up those empty condo which in turn woud help stabilize the HOAs and reduce fees, resulting in more attractive project to future buyers. Many people are convinced (wright or wrong) that housing prices will rebound in the next 5 years so they think they can sell by then and pocket a tidy profit
I am not sure why that is not being considered to fill up those empty buildings. This would be a win/win for everyone.
definately, credit should be used as a tool. I personally use credit only for business reasons and only when it makes sense. I bought a house years ago and the bank gave me a credit card with 30K credit line with a 6% interest rate for the life of the loan (30years). I sold the home 4 years ago and I still have that credit card with the same 6% rate (unsecured). On many of my other lines they have refuced the the lines and raised the rates drastically. I’m keeping my cash and paying just a little over the minimum in this credit environment. In Cristophers case though he only has $1,000 in savings, that is dangerously low. He is one unexpected expense away from a financial disaster. He needs to build up his savings before he start reducing his debt any further.
Not only did developers get tax credits they also recieved incentives from the govt for creating jobs, the materials used, and many other intangibles that save the developer millions of dollars off the costs in building.
The money must be drying up on Related as I watch the services at 500 Brickell slowly succumbing to the Financial realities in the market, from the continual breakdown of the garbage system, the fall-off in common area cleaning, the replacement of dangerous and broken glass doorways, and the accumulation of Garbage from the now Hialeah renters who are moving in and just like in their old neighborhoods feel they can heave garbage over the balcony side rather than dispose of properly as the garbage is piling up and now I fel my view is of a garbage dump rather than of downtown-Word of advise understand who is responsible for what services in the condo units you buy and what “services” they are providing for your monthly maintenence fee as I will not pay any assessments and or extra HOA fees when the developer doesnt do the basics…Just another big dream big scheme brought to us by another Sofla development company…
IIW,
that is exactly why many real estate experts will tell you never buy a condo. When the economy is doing well and prices are appreciating with everyone paying their dues, they look like sound investments. When the economy isn’t doing as well and prices aren’t apprecianting and people aren’t paying their dues, they become the ghettos of tomorrow. These stories are only the begining if rent continues to drop and the barrier of entry is equavilent to those of Overton or liberty city. I am just waiting to hear about the buildings being overtaken by section 8 renters and 6 people living in 2 bedroom apts. At least in those projects you find in the ghetto they have solid concrete walls between apartments. It is sad, it only takes a few bad apples to ruin a whole building.
Hialeah renters!? lol
There goes the neighborhood!
Oh man! If this stuff is true it is over for 500 brickell. LOL! Hahahahahaha!
infinity is a another kahuna that will sink prices in that neighborhood. I see undeveloped land (perhaps couryard or such) in front of the bldg that as such looks completely empty. And mind you this one is one of the tallest out there.$100/sq ft prices are given as economy reaches up to bite upper echelons as as well govt sector that has to retrench and cut due to budget doldrums. A dynamic that has yet to play out.
after jorhe does BAP clowns go bankarotta? curious observers ask.
Stuff is true, should I upload some of the pictures from my balcony and the upclose pics I tried to take-needless to say of course got the Miami runaround as the perverbial “NOT MY YOB” was what I got when I physically took a rep. from the management company (Atlantic Pacific) to see and what i found especially funny was that the garbage was less than 15 feet from their window-they of course blamed related and of course related blamed Atlantic-and to further add insult related company said and I quote” we clean all the time but we do not have the resources to handle the cleaning of all the areas of the building” and as this owner who has been here since day one: I am concerned they dont have the resources for mirrors in the parking garage which is a major collission waiting to happen, as well cant replace the paint after a major flood nearly three months ago, not replace glass doors that have been broken for 4 months now, fix the pod security system so we residents dont have to call for access to ammenities, and most importantly do something about the noise as is this chinese drywall or did they take a sheet and slice it in half as its rediculous…and the list goes on and on ….so who wants to buy a condo in the related buildings…Just wait until the lawsuits begin-I think I may just get my law degree as it will take the same time to do all the dilligence so as to suit all those who thought they were building a city-what they built was the framework for a repair network of the Latin builders assoc. for many years to come and the lawyers oh my god the lawyers dont make me go here as would never have considered but now why not with foreclosures at rediculous levels, who else is gonna make money….I think that Ponzi, Politics and Miami Condos are one in the same-different names yet all a bunch of crooks…I am goin back to law school-1-800-University of Miami Law…GO CANES!!!!
IIW,
Great info… but please avoid massive run-on sentences. My high school English teacher would jump out the window after reading that post.
IIW,
Thank you for the update on 500 Brickell, I was going to make an offer on a unit that I liked. Not anymore….
I was considering renting at 500 brickell (low on my list) but now that is a nonstarter
I know it is important to have an emergency fund with 6 mos of expenses.
Here is how I look at it though… Right now every dollar I make is going out the window to pay down debt. Basically I can’t use my paycheck to build wealth because it is accounted before before I ever cashed it. I am sick of living that way.
I did have 12,000 in savings at one point, but I reduced it to 1,000 and used it to pay debt.
The logic is that once all those credit cards are gone, I will be able to use all that money that is going to the credit cards to quickly build the savings account back up to what it was.
With the interest on the savings account being much lower then the interest I am paying to the cards it makes sense to get that high interest debt gone, and then use the would be interest payments to rebuild the savings once I am debt free.
All I know is the journey from being financially insolvent to being financially healthy is one of the best feelings I have ever had. It makes these 14 hour shifts, and 70 hour weeks fun.
dj its called a thread, it got people to comment , on a subject, instead of the usual catfight between aj and you other cats……….
lara and who ever else, i believe i just read that cape coral is one of the fastest growing cities
in the nation…..and so is lee county, (not sure current rating)
i didn’t know i could only discuss the 20 buildings which no one is buying for another year here in mia,
i am an investor, so if theres deals in lee county, broward, st.lucie, i realy dont care
i know theres know other place in the world you can get a cuban sandwich……….
caramba
bmw, we got rid of dinkens years ago, people in ny actualy work , unlike detroit and well miami……….
thats why you see millions of people getting in and out of subways , cabs, cars, even walking all over the place, its an amazing concept…..called employment, and then -when they purchase condos, they can usualy pay the mortgage……now this concept may be difficult for many to grasp, …….
oh news flash news flash obama administration is pla ning on a bold new iniative, they will tax soda!!!!!
all soda drinkers be warned/
tip of the day buy ford stock at 4.85 !!!!!!!!!!
drew, I was fucking with you. Try not take the internet so seriously.
Should have said “try not to take.”
Here you go drew: http://htmlgiant.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/internet-serious-business.jpg
i dont even remember what i wrote i was so tired from the stock market,
we are livening up this site , it was getting a little boring with all the catfighting now theres new blood on here……
anybody see the retail sales report today or (april) largest amount of new foreclosures yet…
2 of the main indicators of our economy our jobs/ retail buying and housing so this is major negative news
the media will sugarcoat it and give us more first time home buyer stories…………
all of a sudden i keep seing articles on don peebles major miami developer, ???
since when ?? i know he has a big hotel on the beach but since when is he such a big developer?????
oil/gas prices heading up …..
Drew299, In my opinion the govt. needs to tax the hell out of sugar/cornstarch and salt.
I swear, I stopped going out to casual dining rest. a few years ago because the food is too salty for me to eat. I can’t believe how much salt and sugar people eat then we wonder why there are soo many people with diabetes and hypertension. i’m glad we are finally putting attention on that. On another note, i was a bit surprised by the foreclosure numbers released today. I guess I was beginging to buy into all the talk of housing bottom of the last couple of weeks. I should have known better because as i stated before the banks weren’t taking back properties and unemployment has gotten worse not better. I guess there will be plenty of opportunities to buy at lower prices.
mmt, miami has a year and a half -2years to the bottom and theres no v recovery, so if you want a place to live for a long time, your target should be in 12 months……-24 months
but the longer you wait , you may lose a % of the better product to the early birds…
the best buildings in the best locations will hold up better, the other stuff will be 40 % lower
just dont believe the hype / miami is its own market ………
as far as sin taxes go, the people that drink soda and eat burgers will still do it, they will just pay more and usualy these are middle to lower income people who obama claims he wants to help but in the end he will only make things worse 4 them
well if they want to continue feeding their kids super sweet ice tea (have you had ice tea in the south?) then tax the hell out of them and send the proceeds to Medicare to help pay for their diabetes supplies in the future. We can’ t continue to encourage bad habbits.
Bad news from the market-bad news from our nations chain restaurants. Bad news on the job front, the market showing a foolish Bull Market. More and more bad news is all the media needs so to and I agree, sugarcoat the reality to say that South Florida sales jumped 75%, and that mortgage rates are at an all time low. Just try to get that rate, or to refi- when you dont have a job, I mean lets get real, the only one bit of good news is that the State of Florida will and of course for a few points “Loan” you the tax rebate that you will be getting from the Obama stimulous package if you qualify, so that you can use it in your down payment, to buy that first home so that is what is pushing 75% sales-which is the boottom of the bottom anyway, as what can you buy for $8k…but again still better than renting!!
Christopher,
a few personal finance methods i have found useful… check out mint.com and look up the 60% budget.
shwin
Any NEW Condo deals Lucas??
Lara-
I am interested in what you know about the Lee County area, as I am interested in making an investment in the Fort Myers Area. In particular I like the gateway communities. Let me know your thoughts. Could we link up via email? If so, you can reach me at [email protected].
Thanks!
LOL 1807 in 1800 murder club just rented for 1800 bucks. Aj was wrong again! LOL.
Miami condos
Can someone in this room help us with any information about Chinese Drywalls? We purchased a aprtment pre-construction at Everglades On Bay in downtown Miami and are supposed to close in the next 30 days. How can we tell if our building has the Chinese drywall. What do we look for? My husband tells me that when the building was under construction he would visit the job site just to watch whenever he was in town. On more than one occasion when he was there he noticed on the job site large tractor trailer size cargo containers with Chinese writing or inscripption on the outside of these containers. He swears he saw them on at three different occasions. He did not see the inside contents so I say they may be copper or other materials. We dont know where to turn. The devceloper is not helppful. Any suggestions appreciate you. Gracias.
Blackened copper on the air handler, electrical outlets, and refrigerator coils. I suspect every developer that installed high sulfur drywall will declare bankruptcy. Nobody is going to get money from a Chinese manufacturer. The only solution is to sue the Roach Coach guy who fed the workers who installed this product. He’s the one responsible.
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/ENVIRONMENT/COMMUNITY/indoor-air/casedefinition.html#coppercorrosion
As far as I know…..Everglades on the bay was using Chinese drywall.That could be the reason for the containers.But don’t worry….MANY MANY other projects used the same Drywall material…..so your NOT alone.( sorry to be so comforting) its reality.
I agree with Wild Bill, who would an buyer sue for something as expensive as replacing all the drywall and repairing things damaged by sulfur? You can sue whoever you want, but there is no money at the end of that rainbow…
1800 Murder Club? lol
The top line on the cover of the June 2009 Money magazine says “Renting: The New American Dream”. They are a bit late to the renting party, but better late then never I suppose.
– Take that AJ! hahahaha
– Renter Tom really enjoys renting his beautiful, new luxury direct ocean front condo….
When Epic and Marquis open up they are going to blow the lid off the competition. I expect 900 Biscayne rents to drop quite a bit by next year.
I can’t confirm this just yet, but was told the new St. Regis Bal Harbour project developer just went BK or something like that……does anyone have any info on this????????????
New hotel in Miami. Do we really need it?
http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/090514/story3.shtml
“When Epic and Marquis open up they are going to blow the lid off the competition. ”
What’s going on with Epic? They started closings a while ago.. No?
“My Personal Credit Crisis ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/magazine/17foreclosure-t.html?pagewanted=1&em
Interesting article from New York Times economics reporter Edmund L. Andrews about how he and his wife managed to run up tons of mortgage and credit card debt …
The last paragraphs are pretty insightful. Eight months delinquent on the mortgage and Chase Bank is too backed up to talk to him.
I’m told that Epic Residences has one full time resident. Other owners are not using the units. Miami smells like sulfur.
The reason the HOA fees in the Emerald building are so high (Price per sf is among the highest in Miami) is not because of the high amount of default by owners, but because there are less than 150 units in the building. Still have to pay a concierge, valet, building upkeep and maintenance, costs all of which are being spread by a smaller number of owners. I happen to be renting here starting this month and the owner of my 1/1 is paying over 2.25 times what I am paying in rent.
The condo bubble has burst. I feel bad for the people who bought in 06 and plunked down 20% of their cold hard cash just to buy the place. Unarguably nice, but the rental prices demanded by the market are severely disproportionate to the amount of expenses of owning.
Ive been wanting to buy an emerald 01 unit (corner 1594 sft)…there have been some good deals for these units but the HOA fees are really high however I found out taxes will go down big time so thats a plus…I just wanted to make sure this will be a good investment and there will be no surprises regarding the HOA fees thanks to the high number of delinquencies in the building…Is this a good building? is the association doing a good job?
Am I crazy if I want to wait and see if I can get one of those units for 300k?
Thanks!