Furnished 1 Bedroom Condo at 500 Brickell with a Great Return!
Here is a unit that is perfect for a value-conscious investor looking to purchase a condo in Brickell. It is a beautifully remodeled 1 bedroom/1 bathroom condo at 500 Brickell with dark, wide-plank hardwood floors throughout, window treatments, light fixtures and a custom kitchen backsplash. The 738 square foot unit has stainless steel appliances, a stacked washer/dryer, two closets and a south-facing balcony which spans the entire length of the condo. The bathroom features a Jacuzzi tub and separate glass-enclosed shower. The unit is being sold fully furnished and already has a tenant in place until September 24, 2013. The tenant is paying $2,200 per month. The condo association fees are $494 per month. The current owner paid $2,607 in property taxes in 2012 which included a $25,000 Homestead exemption but it is important to note that the property taxes for a new buyer will be based on the newly assessed value determined by the city and whether the new buyer qualifies for any exemptions. Best of all, the asking price is just $349,000. If you find a better return on a condo in Brickell, then jump on it.
500 Brickell is walking distance to the shops, restaurants and bars at Mary Brickell Village and just a few short blocks from the upcoming $1.05B mixed-use development known as Brickell Citycentre. The fabulous amenities at 500 Brickell include: two swimming pools (one is a rooftop pool facing Biscayne Bay) two club rooms, a fitness center, 12-person theater, steam room, sauna, concierge and 24-hour valet parking. The development also has ground-floor retail which includes a number of popular restaurants and bars.
If you or someone you know has an interest in purchasing this fully furnished condo at 500 Brickell, please give me a call at 786-247-6332 or email me at [email protected]. Feel free to contact me with any questions as well.
Best Luxury 3 Bedroom Condo Deal in Brickell
“Luxury” is a word that is oftentimes used carelessly without any regard for its true, intended meaning. When it comes to Brickell, only a handful of condo developments deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as that descriptor. In my opinion, Santa Maria is at the top of that list followed closely by Four Seasons Residences. Despite being built in 1993, Bristol Tower is a second Ugo Colombo development that would make the short list of luxury residential buildings in Brickell. It has stood the test of time and remains one of Brickell’s most distinguished condo developments. Colombo’s work is synonymous with the word “quality”. Along with Bristol Tower, he has developed such masterpieces as Santa Maria, Epic Residences and Hotel and Grovenor House. All four buildings today look just as flawless as they did the day they were completed.
That being said, luxury three bedroom condos in Brickell are in very short supply. Very few are available at the aforementioned Brickell condo developments and most are priced above $2M. There is one listing, however, that is stunning and has stuck out in my mind as being an incredible deal. It is a spacious 3 bedroom plus den, 4.5 bath residence which has 2,825 interior square feet, a large wrap-around balcony offering majestic bay and city views, a laundry room with Miele appliances, white Porcelanato floors in the living areas, wide-plank hardwood floors in the bedrooms and a white Italian kitchen with rare Quartzite green countertops as well as kitchen appliances by Miele and Sub-Zero. The condo, unit 3302, is located on the 33rd floor, just two floors below the penthouse.
The best part of this elegantly appointed three bedroom condo at Bristol Tower is its price. The sellers are asking just $1,749,000, or $619 per square foot. For comparison sake, unit 2702 at Bristol Tower sold for $1.61M, or $570 per square foot, this past December. That was a complete gut-job though and requires at least $100 per square foot to make it comparable. Obviously, unit 3302 also has a better view being that it is located six floors higher than unit 2702. Additional evidence to support my assertion that unit 3302 is a great value can be found in a second recent sale at Bristol Tower which closed on October 29, 2012. Unit 3005, a smaller three bedroom floor plan, sold for $606 per square foot. It is important to note, however, that the 05 line at Bristol Tower faces southwest and has only a slight water view. It is predominantly a city view with a sliver of water. Also, all of the bathrooms in that unit are original whereas all of the bathrooms in unit 3302 have been upgraded. After adjusting for water view and upgrades, it becomes obvious that unit 3302 is a great deal even at full asking price. My prediction is that this one will be under contract by month’s end.
The Best 2 Bedroom Condo in Brickell for Under $800K
Update: This condo received three offers this past week and is now pending sale.
I know value when I see it and I recently saw it when I had the opportunity to show a stunning tower suite condo at Villa Regina. In my opinion, it represents the best 2 bedroom condo in Brickell that money can buy for under $800K. The spacious floor plan has 1,895 interior square feet, 400 square feet of balcony and soaring 11-foot ceilings. Every inch of this condo has been tastefully remodeled including both bathrooms and kitchen. The split floor plan has 24×24 marble flooring in the living room, wide-plank wood flooring in the master bedroom and bath, a private balcony off the master bedroom, front-loading washer and dryer, induction cooktop, recessed lighting throughout the condo and a very large walk-in closet off the master bedroom. It also offers an amazing view of Biscayne Bay. The best time to tour this condo though is around 6:10pm as the sun is setting. Pure beauty! The asking price is $799,000, or $422 per square foot, without the furniture. The owners, however, are open to selling the furniture separately. I highly recommend that because the furniture compliments the unit incredibly well.
This unit is located on the second highest floor in the building. At Villa Regina, the ordering of the floors is as follows, from the lowest to highest: Penthouse 1, Penthouse 2, Tower Suite 1, Tower Suite 2. This 2 bedroom condo is located on the Tower Suite 1 level.
I want to note that this is not my listing and am in no way affiliated with the office which has it listed. I also haven’t received any type of fee from the listing agent for promoting this condo. I just truly feel that the property represents a great value and whoever buys it will love coming home to it each day. That actually describes this property perfectly – it doesn’t feel like a condo; it feels like a home. Obviously, my hope is to represent the person(s) who buy this residence so please contact me if you have any questions or if you would like to schedule an appointment to see this unit in person. I also have a video which I can forward to you via email. You can reach me on my cell at 786-247-6332 or email at [email protected].
myBrickell Tops-off According to Schedule
Almost nothing in Miami goes according to schedule. That is why I was pleasantly surprised to learn that myBrickell topped-off earlier this month. Far before the first shovel even broke ground, Related Group projected that top-off would occur in February 2013. Letters were mailed to contract holders last week on February 1st to announce the good news. Closings had been projected to start in September of this year. I guess we will see if Related Group is able to meet that deadline as well.
For those unfamiliar with the development, myBrickell is a 28-story, pre-construction condo development in Brickell with 192 total units. It has been sold out for quite some time.
Case Study: Determining the Value-added for Having High Ceilings
A high ceiling is a feature which is typically associated with a penthouse. It can be difficult in these situations, however, to ascertain the value that is attributed solely to having higher ceilings. This is because a penthouse typically also has other value-added features such as one or more of the following:
- an upgraded master bathroom
- an upgraded kitchen
- the best view in the building
- an unusually large floor plan in relation to other floor plans in the building
- additional parking spaces
Most importantly, a penthouse is rare and therefore commands a higher premium than the rest of the floor plans in the building that are in greater supply.
What if, however, we could hold all else constant in order to better determine the added value that is associated with having high ceilings? In this regard, Icon Brickell presents itself as an interesting case study. The penthouses at Icon Brickell do NOT have higher ceilings than the rest of the units. However, certain floors do have higher ceilings. In Tower 1 of Icon Brickell, floors 14, 15, 22, 28 and 41 have 16-foot ceilings. In Tower 2, floors 14, 15, 22 and 41 have 16-foot ceilings. The rest of the floors, including the penthouse levels, have 9-foot ceilings. As a result, it is very possible, and highly likely, that a unit located on the 41st floor will sell at a premium to a comparable unit that is located on the 42nd floor. Furthermore, the situation also presents the possibility that a unit located on the 41st floor will sell at a higher price per square foot than one located on the penthouse level.
Due to the lack of resales, there is no evidence to validate my assumption but I think we can all agree that a high ceiling is a feature that should indeed command a premium. Of course, there are going to be those who would argue that they would never pay a premium for having higher ceilings due to the higher energy costs that would be associated but, then again, those are the type of people who likely wouldn’t pay a premium for just about anything. I’m not here to provide everyone with an all-knowing answer as to what that premium should be. The answer will be provided to us by way of our free market economy. However, it makes for an interesting story to follow.
Which would you rather have, a penthouse located on the 57th floor with a 9-foot ceiling or a unit located on the 41st floor with a 16-foot ceiling?
Brickell Condo Market Expected to Remain Strong Throughout 2013 and 2014
As of late, little has been said about the fact that myBrickell and 1100 Millecento are completely out of inventory. With the exception of two very large penthouses, the same goes for BrickellHouse. Take a moment to digest that piece of news. Of the 948 combined units that these three developments represent, only two remain available. That speaks volumes about the strength of this real estate market in Miami. 192 units at myBrickell are scheduled for delivery towards the end of this year and the balance of condos from the two other developments are not expected until the end of 2014. In the meantime, demand remains high so existing condo inventory should continue to dwindle. There isn’t much help on the way in near term either. We know that there will be a residential aspect to the highly anticipated Brickell Citicentre, which is currently under construction, but no sales information has been released as of yet. Regardless, completion of those condominiums would not be expected until 2015 at the earliest. We also know that Related Group recently purchased the Infinity II site located at 1300 S Miami Avenue. It is highly likely that sales for condominiums in that project will be announced sometime during the first half of this year. The site is approved for a 65-story tower with 556 total units so don’t expect those units to be delivered any earlier than mid-2015 unless the project is massively scaled back. Lastly, there has also been mention of Panorama Tower and Villa Magna but both projects will be rather massive so inventory in either wouldn’t be expected until late-2015. In summary, I think it is relatively safe to say that, barring any global economic meltdown, prices for condominiums in Brickell should enjoy a steady rise throughout 2013 and 2014 given the lack of inventory that will exist over the course of that time period.
By the way, the two remaining penthouses at BrickellHouse are priced at $2,396,000 for 3,500 interior square feet and $5,200,000 for 7,500 interior square feet. No matter how you slice it, sub-$700 per square foot for a penthouse in a building of this caliber is an amazing deal.
Brickell Condos and Neighborhood Guide
We have officially launched our revised and updated Brickell condos page. It went live earlier this week but a few minor kinks had to be worked out before I wanted to make the announcement. Around 90% of our business comes from non-locals so, first and foremost, I wanted to create a page which catered to those who are unfamiliar with the area. Our new neighborhood page is loaded with fresh content. I included a brief description, geographic and demographic information, as well as a short history lesson about Brickell. It also has a video/picture slideshow which contains over 150 pictures of the neighborhood. A Yelp widget was included as well to give people a sense for the quality of restaurants and other types of businesses throughout Brickell.
Towards the middle of the page, we have highlighted the five most recent resident reviews for condo buildings in Brickell. We hope that people who currently reside or have resided in one or more of the buildings in the neighborhood will share their experience and assessment with those looking for an unbiased opinion when shopping for a new condo in Brickell.
For those who are used to the old version of the page and wish to skip to the Brickell condos section, click on the “jump to Brickell condos” link found at the top of the page. We have, however, modified the way this section is organized. Now, not only can you get a quick glance at the inventory counts for each building but you can also see how many short sales and REOs are currently available for sale on the MLS. As you will see, a majority of the condo buildings in Brickell do not have any short sales or REOs on the market for sale. In fact, excluding the three pre-construction condo developments, two-thirds of them (20/30) do not have any distressed sales at all. That is pretty remarkable given how bad things were just a few years ago.
Perhaps the greatest new addition to the Brickell condos page is the statistics box in the upper right-hand corner just above the video. Towards the middle of each month, we will begin posting various neighborhood statistics calculated using sales figures as of the last day from the previous month. The reason why we wait a few weeks is because real estate agents tend to forget to change the status of a property from pending to sold in the MLS after it closes. Only sales figures for condo developments in Brickell that are found on the page will be incorporated. Think of it as a mini Brickell Condo Index. Expect the first update to be released around the middle of September.
Considering my day-to-day responsibilities as a real estate agent and the amount of time I already put into the website, my hope is to roll out a new neighborhood page every 2-3 months. I would appreciate any feedback that you might have so that these neighborhood pages will continue to evolve and get better with time.
100 Montaditos Brickell Location Coming Soon
This past February, 100 Montaditos opened its first location in the United States. It chose Midtown Miami as the spot in which to introduce itself to America. The restaurant, known for its tapa-sized bread roll sandwiches, has since opened five other locations – all in South Florida – including one at the base of 50 Biscayne Vizcayne in Downtown Miami. It now looks to expand once again by opening a seventh location – this time in Brickell – at the former site of Deli Lane. Admittedly, I have not had the chance to try 100 Montaditos for myself but I have heard great things and I’m sure its success speaks for itself.
1100 Millecento, BrickellHouse and myBrickell on the Brink of Selling Out
I realize that I run the risk of sounding like your typical salesman, but it must be said – “This market is hot!”. Over the past nine months in Brickell, three pre-construction condo developments – 1100 Millecento, BrickellHouse and myBrickell – were launched. I was made aware yesterday afternoon that only 20 units remain available for sale amongst these three developments combined! That represents 2.1% of their combined 948 total units. Only two units remain at 1100 Millecento, 8 at BrickellHouse and 10 at myBrickell. The first two projects haven’t even broken grounded yet. If that’s not hot then I don’t know what is. Before anyone starts to chime in with bubble talk, we need to keep in mind that all three pre-construction developments require a very large portion of the purchase price to be paid long before closing. In the case of 1100 Millecento the buyer will have already paid 50% of the purchase price by closing. BrickellHouse and myBrickell are virtually immune from default risk with the buyer required to pay 70% and 80% of the purchase price, respectively, by closing. Like I said – This market is hot!
View all Brickell condos
