It is so refreshing to find Miami Beach condo owners that listen and trust our expertise. When you think of the alternative, it makes no sense, let me explain. If you hire a Realtor for their expertise and knowledge and their experience with current market trends, why would you not listen to basic recommendations? When you pay a professional, no matter the field, isn’t it important for you to follow instructions and do as they say, since they are supposed to be “experts”?.
We are in a down real estate market, it’s not rocket science, so selling your Miami Beach home or condo will take more than just running some comps and putting on the Multiple Listing Service. Some do it yourselfers are realizing that every day knowledge and expertise is key when it comes to selling a property today. From pricing, staging and preparing a property for showings, professional photography, to on-line and off-line marketing …. it can get tricky, and you may find that every little bit of help counts.
Showing condition is key
When we list an older condo for sale, the first thing we recommend is that the residence is presented in its best possible condition. We do a lot of estate sales where some of the places may be far from updated and may not even come close to measuring up to their competition, and that’s where we put our foot down and request certain things from our clients. (Let me add that this applies to every price range, from a $100,000 North Miami Beach Condo to a $3,000,000 Fisher Island Condo).
Think about it, there are tons of condos for sale right now, doesn’t it make sense that you show the best side of your property without distractions and without turning off potential buyers? I can say this over and over again until I’m blue in the face.
Please keep this in mind – you may have only one opportunity to impress, don’t blow it! Here are some before and after photos of a condo that demonstrates exactly what I’m talking about. By cleaning up the place and putting away personal belongings and clutter, this seller increased the chances of selling their condo. You want to encourage people to buy your place instead of scaring them away.
It’s our job to market the property and get people to actually see it, but without your help and cooperation, it can be extremely difficult. Don’t think about it twice, clean it up and declutter it, we’ll take care of the rest.
I am beyond excited that Miami is hosting Super Bowl. I confess that it’s not so much because of the actual game, but because of all the parties and celebrity sightings. It’s not unusual to spot a celeb any given day in Miami, but now it seems that everywhere you look, there’s someone you think you should know.
It’s like playing celebrity trivia with real life subjects. I just got this photo from a friend’s blackberry,
The conversation went as follows: Was he in Backstreet boys? …. I know it was one of the boy bands…. let’s Google him ….. ahhh! It’s 98 Degrees!
Then I received this other photo with the following excerpt – how about the cast of “The Hills” (this one makes me feel inadequate, now I have to go watch some MTV).
So here’s my request – send me photos from this weekend to include in this post. Miamisms, celebrities, sports figures, whatever! Let’s have some fun documenting the energy in Miami. I will keep you anonymous if you want, or give you full credit with links back to your site/twitter/facebook….whatever you want.
Shouldn’t be so tough – Eva Longoria was spotted at The Eden Roc, Emeril is in town to support The Saints, J Lo and Snoop Dog have also been spotted in South Beach, and let’s not forget P Diddy and Jamie Foxx. Plus, you will now have an excuse to actually pull out your camera and take that photo without feeling that star struck pressure … just tell them it’s for Miamism.com.
New Celebrity Sightings
@MikeLaMonica just shared this photo on Twitter (although he though it may not be worthy since Gloria Estefan is a local) – a friend sent it to him. THANKS MIKE!
And here’s Wyclef Jean with his sexy on – the person that took this is becoming my favorite celebrity spy …. may even have to bring her on the Miamism payroll. (wink)
More photos from the cast of The Hills in their hotel Suite in South Beach
And of course High Five Superbowl sent in by a reader (I’m so glad or I could have missed it)
Panoramic photo of Sun Life stadium before Super Bowl by @Specker
Behind the Scenes on Super Bowl Sunday: Here’s CBS’ pregame/postgame #SB44 field set. #49ers by the official San Francisco 49ers Twitter @SF_49ers
Taylor Lautner y Rob Lowe juntos en el Super Bowl de Miami. Sólo BROMANCE!!! by @JonathanBlum
(TRANSLATION: Taylor Lautner and Rob Lowe together at the Super Bowl in Miami. Just Bromance!!!)
Usher holds it down at Bud Bowl event in South Beach hosted by Jamie Foxx. 2/6/10 by Full Circle New York @fcny
Drew Brees arriving at the stadium today for the Super Bowl by @FJayHall
Pretty damn epic Super Bowl photo, Drew Brees and Drew Brees’ kid
Of course Miami is privileged to be the host of Super Bowl XLIV, but seriously, what better place is there? We have the weather, the parties, the style and let’s not leave out the “swagger” (oh sorry, that belong to THE U). So here’s an absolutely stunning capture of Joe-Robbie Stadium, Pro-Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Lankshark Stadium, Sun Life Stadium (phewww….hopefully there won’t be another name change from here to Sunday), from Chris Acuña, aka Sienar on Flickr.
The photo was taken on October 25th, 2009 – Miami Dolphins Vs. New Orleans Saints and ironically enough, maybe Chris knew that the Saints would be at the Super Bowl because he notes on the photo:
This is where the 2010 Superbowl will be hosted.
talk about ….another Miamism !!
Enjoy Super Bowl weekend everyone! And please make sure you check out Chris’ website www.MangosandPeaches.com
** Here at Miamism we love to post your Miami Photos. If you have a shot you want to share please join the Miamism Group at Flickr.com – or you can e-mail the photos directly to us at info@miamism.com *
This is a Miami Real Estate Market Report for January 2010 – Good overall feeling for this year. Although many expect a collapse, you can see an obvious decrease in inventory and increase in sales which can only mean good news. If you study areas with a large number of pending contracts, the majority of those contracts are short sales which take a while to close. (Hoping to see some new laws soon to limit the response time from banks on these).
Distressed inventory in all of these areas is decreasing and sellers are gaining confidence. It doesn’t hurt that most are pricing their properties correctly and those are the ones that sell quickly. Sellers need to be realistic and base their prices on closed sales, not imaginary numbers born from emotional attachment to their homes.
All of the numbers are a good reflection for 2010 – let’s just wait and see.
There are currently 21 Bay Harbor Island Homes for sale:
Highest priced listings is for $4,950,000 (10200 W Broadview Drive – listed since December of 2008 for $5,200,000)
Lowest priced listing is $499,000 (9970 E. Bay Harbor Drive – Villa – listed since Feb. 07 – starting price of $659,000)
Pending Sales (properties under contract):3 (1 of them a short sale at 1288 NE 101 Street)
Closed sales in January: 0
Please note that there were only 6 Bay Harbor Island home sales in 2009 ranging from $570,000 to $3,400,000. Four of those sales were above $1M which is sort of good news for the Bay Harbor Island Luxury Home Market (I say sort of because there were only 2 sales the whole year in 2008, which means the sales are improving). There is some new construction in the areas and interesting things happening with the community, this may encourage people to actually want to pay the price to live in the area with the lowest crime rate per capita in South Florida.
Highest priced listing is $4,990,000 (for 7,000 square foot “master peace” **thinking listing agent meant “master piece” – with 100 feet of water frontage – being sold as a short sale).
Lowest priced listing is $279,000 for the home located at 9133 Froude Ave (short sale in “surdside” –wishing agent would proof read their remarks)
Pending Sales (properties under contract): 6 (4 of these short sales, one a bank owned property)
Closed sales in January: 1
The Surfside home sold in January was located at 9381 Abbott Avenue – a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom, 1,566 square foot home listed for $369,000 and selling for $340,000. This house had been originally listed for $389,000 in September 2009.
As for 2009 – There were a total of 44 surfside homes sold the whole year, compared to only 32 in 2008. Slow recovery, but recovery nevertheless. Things are looking up in Surfside with less distressed home inventory.
There are currently 135 Surfside Condos for sale:
Highest priced listing: $2,500,000 a 3/3 at Azure Condo unit 707
Lowest priced listing: $64,900 a studio at Seaside Terrace Condo
Pending Sales (properties under contract):28 (15 of these are short sales which historically take some time to close)
Closed sales in January: 7
The 7 Surfside condo sales in January were the following:
9499 Collins Ave #502 – Spiaggia Condo – listed at $440,000 and selling for $440,000 (short sale)
8777 Collins Ave #1006 – Champlain Towers South – listed at $329,000 and selling for $230,500
9511 Collins Ave #808 – 9500 Oceans Condo – listed for $265,000 and selling for $260,000
9499 Collins Ave #606 – Spiaggia Condo – listed at $225,000 and selling for $240,000 (foreclosure)
9499 Collins Ave #1011 – Spiaggia Condo – listed for $215,000 and selling for $210,000 (short sale)
8816 Collins Ave #206 – Atlantic Rose Condo – listed for $158,700 and selling for $150,000 (foreclosure)
9595 Collins Ave #N104 – Solimar Condo – listed for $139,000 and selling for $122,500
Most of the condo sales in Surfside have been distressed sales – something to pay attention to if you are buying – check the building’s financial statements and make sure their condo maintenance fees are being covered and if they have reserves. Spiaggia is slowly getting rid of its distressed condos which should be a relief for the residents (although price range has been seriously affected).
There were 76 Surfside condo sales in 2009 ranging from $130,000 to $1,500,000 as compared to only 47 sales in 2008. The surfside condo market reflects the surfside home market which is a good sign for the area.
There are currently 132 Fisher Island Condos for sale:
Highest priced listing: $30,000,000 for an exclusive Oceanside 5/5.5 home with artwork and all!
Lowest priced listing: $190,000 for a studio at Marina Village
Pending Sales: 8 (3 of these are short sales)
Closed sales in January: 1
The one single Fisher Island condo sale in the month of January was for the residence at Oceanside at Fisher Island Condo, unit 7241 – a 3 bedroom / 3 bathroom / 1 half-bath, 3,140 square feet listed for $3,100,000 and selling for $2,100,000 (A one million dollar reduction … OUCH!)
There were 32 Fisher Island Condo sales in 2008 ranging in price between $700,000 and $5,457,000 compared to 25 sales in 2008.
There are currently 1418 Aventura condos for sale:
Highest priced listing: $5,300,000 for a 4/6 at Porto Vita
Lowest priced listing: $53,900 for a 1/1 at Point East Condos (a 55+ community)
Pending sales: 296
Closed sales in January: 60
Aventura is moving! – with progressively less inventory, more pending sales and more closings – The highest closed sale in January was at Hamptons South, 20201 E Country Club Drive #2409 -3 bedroom/3.5 bathroom unit for $1,000,000 and the lowest was for $62,000 for a 1 bedroom / 1.5 bathroom residence at Biscayne Lake Garden.
There were a total of 1020 Aventura Condos sold in 2009 ranging in price between $50,000 and $2,950,000 (we always say that there is something for everyone in Aventura) – as compared to 824 sales in 2008 – obvious change for the better and expect this to keep improving in 2010.
– a friend sent it to him. THANKS MIKE!
More photos from the cast of The Hills in their hotel Suite in South Beach
Of course Miami is privileged to be the host of Super Bowl XLIV, but seriously, what better place is there? We have the weather, the parties, the style and let’s not leave out the “swagger” (oh sorry, that belong to THE U). So here’s an absolutely stunning capture of 
