Community News

Miami Home Values Threatened – Show Up Tonight!

November 3rd, 2008 Categories: Community News, Random Thoughts

We do NOT need more housing developments being built in Miami-Dade.  We have plenty of housing in place already.  Lots of it sitting vacant and unsold, so why build more?

Show up tonight and let your voice be heard. The following is re-printed in it’s entirety with permission from www.cleanwater.org.  Please visit the Hold the Line campaign online for more information.

Is Miami-Dade Selling Out????

YOUR VOICE is needed at these important meetings. It’s time to tell Miami-Dade officials that our economy, our environment, and our community can’t afford to keep bailing out private land developers!

November 3, 2008, 6:30 P.M. West Kendall Community Council (11)

Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School Auditorium

15735 SW 144 Street

Did you know…

Ø Miami-Dade reports 59,798 pre-foreclosures between January and September 2008?[1][1]

Ø More than 14.2% of existing housing units in the county are vacant?[2][2]

Ø Since 1994 the county has lost 27% of active farmlands? [3][3]

Ø Miami residents waste more than 50 hours in traffic delays each year?[4][4]

Ø Florida has just beat out California for the highest home foreclosures in the nation?[5][5]

Lennar’s Parklands project would:

v Add 6,941 homes to the surplus of homes on the market in Miami-Dade.

v Use nearly 1 million gallons of water per day.

v Be built in a FEMA flood zone.

v Develop 961 acres of Miami-Dade’s remaining agricultural lands.

v Increase the population by an estimated 18,232 residents.

v Pave open space within 2 miles of Everglades National Park.

v Offer less than 10% of its units for affordable housing.

v Have insufficient density to support mass transit.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: 3 Comments »

Blog Action Day 08 – Poverty

October 15th, 2008 Categories: Community News

In an effort to bring attention to a widespread problem, I am participating in Blog Action Day 08 – Poverty.

Poverty is not just in far-off lands. We have poverty right here at home in the U.S. and right here at home in Miami. Sometimes as I drop my children off at school, I wonder how many of those kids went to bed hungry the night before? It doesn’t seem right that anyone should go hungry. Not here in one of the richest countries in the world, and not anywhere, as there is enough food to feed everyone.

Let’s discuss. Let’s promote. Let’s educate. Let’s eradicate.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Property Tax Appeal Deadline Is Today

September 17th, 2008 Categories: Community News, Random Thoughts, Real Estate Chatter

Today is the deadline for submitting an application to Dade County to contest the 2008 market value of your property.  If you haven’t yet done so, today is your last chance! It can take up to a year or possibly longer for your case to be heard, so don’t worry if you’re not prepared yet.  Just get the form turned in today.  You’ll have plenty of time later to gather your supporting documents.

It costs $15 to file the application.  Here is a link to the form.  Here are the filing locations:

Stephen P. Clark Center (VAB Main Office)
111 N.W. 1st Street, Suite 1720, Miami, Florida 33128-1981

· South Dade Government Center
10710 S.W. 211th Street, Room 207, Miami, Florida (Sept. 11 & 12 & Sept. 15 – 17 Only)

· North Dade Justice Center
15555 Biscayne Blvd., Room 100, Miami, Florida (Sept. 11 & 12 & Sept. 15 – 17 Only)

I’ll follow up with another post to provide more info about getting ready for an appeal, but for now, get the application in!

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Miami Real Estate Blog Hacked

April 20th, 2008 Categories: Community News

Last Sunday The Blog That Ate Miami, along with several other Real Estate Tomato blogs, was hacked into. The entire site went down. Visitors to the Redland Palmetto Bay real estate blogsite would have been presented with an error page upon entry.

Although the site is up now, it is not back to normal. For instance, I can’t insert pictures into my posts. It’s been a week and Jim Cronin and his staff at the Tomato have worked tirelessly to restore not only my site, but all the others affected. My sincere thanks go out to Jim, Jason and others at the Tomato who have worked tirelessly after the attack.

I would also like to extend my apologies to the readers of my blog. Those of you who come to The Blog That Ate Miami to get your Miami real estate news may have wondered what was going on. Now you know. I’m still here and will continue to provide pertinent real estate information to the Miami real estate market. At the same time, the blog will be tweaked until it’s back to normal. Thanks to all for your understanding and patience.

It’s good to be back!

Spoken by | Discussion: 11 Comments »

The Blog That Ate Miamis Last Post

April 1st, 2008 Categories: Community News

It saddens me to tell my now-nine loyal readers that I won’t be writing any more. I’ve just gotten too busy to deal with a silly blog. All you agents who wondered why anyone would even waste their time blogging were right. I can’t keep up with a blog, work and family too.

Where will you find out where the best milkshakes in the Redland can be found? Who’s going to keep you posted on livestock running amok through the streets (OK it was one horse on one street)? And worse, who’s going to keep you posted on real estate stuff every once in a while? I’m not sure, but it won’t be me.

For those of you getting your knickers in a bunch, don’t. Look at the date. My Little One is planning lots of pranks today. I figured I’d join her. =)

Spoken by | Discussion: No Comments »

Miami Bank Owned Properties On The Rise

March 29th, 2008 Categories: Community News, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Kendall, Market Trends, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Southwest Dade

As you can probably tell by my absence, I have continued to be busy both in the Redland and Miami in general. I prefer to use the word swamped. Something about being so close to the Everglades. =)

The last time I posted was 3 weeks ago. I know, I know, posting twice a month to a real estate blog is not really doing anyone any favors. I am working on being more consistent, but the bottom line is, if it’s a choice between working or posting to my blog, the work wins (although the truth is, if it were left to whim, the blog would win, but a girl’s got to set some priorities, right?).

So what’s been keeping me so busy? I’ve still got my Sellers and Buyers (yes they are capitalized on contracts and on my blog) and now I am running full steam ahead with bank owned property listings. Bank owned properties (or REO’s which stands for Real Estate Owned – a term used by banks to refer to their housing inventory) are homes which the bank has foreclosed on and now find themselves in the unsavory spot of having to do something with…namely get rid of them and not lose their shirts in the process.

In Miami and throughout the nation, many, many adjustable mortgage loans have been “adjusting” and in the process folks are finding themselves in mortgages they can no longer afford. They default on the loan and the bank starts the foreclosure proceeding. If the homeowner can’t keep up (or chooses not to) keep up with the payments they will be foreclosed on. By the time banks foreclose on properties most homeowners have vacated the home. But sometimes they haven’t (or have unsuspecting tenants in there) and then eviction proceedings start. Once the property is empty, the bank can concentrate on getting it sold.

We’ve been seeing lots of corporate and bank owned real estate listings on the MLS since last year but lately the volume is growing by leaps and bounds.

Something else we’ve been noticing is that the banks are pricing aggressively. Simply put, they price it cheap so it will sell NOW. Many factors are involved in the pricing of properties for a regular sale. It’s not any different for foreclosed properties. With the banks knowing that there are other banks out there pricing low to sell, they have no choice but to do the same. And please don’t think that this is happening only in blighted areas, or areas with a huge inventory of new construction bought by investors who haven’t been able to flip them. The very same thing is happening in luxury markets and established neighborhoods such as Coral Gables, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and others. It’s happening to varying degrees in just about every neighborhood.

So what does this mean to you? Well, that depends. If you are a Seller, it means you better be very motivated to sell. This is no time to be “testing the waters” to see if your custom home will sell at that price you have set in your head. It won’t. Speak to a knowledgeable real estate agent and get the truth about your competition. If there are bank owned homes in the area and you really don’t need to sell your home now, don’t put it on the market. You will only be competing with banks who have no emotional attachment to a property. Their only goal is to sell it, and most times, sell it in 30 days or less. The best way to do that is for them to price it below other similar homes. And they do.

And if you are a home Buyer, oh lucky you! Have I got great news for you. This is one of the best times to be a Buyer in Miami. Corporate and Bank owned homes can be found in just about every price range of homes you have been looking at, whether a small condo for the college kid to the executive with a growing family looking for an estate home in Palmetto Bay. The deals are out there. What sort of deals? Well, let me tell you about only 3 of the ones I’ve seen in the last month that made my heart go pitter-patter:

**The first one that made me flip was a 3/2 house in the Redland sitting on just over a true acre (which is 43,560 SF, not the acre wannabe known as a Builder’s Acre which only has 30,000 SF) with a 30′ x 40′ greenhouse with full workings inside, as well as a separate 20′ x 30′ poured concrete pad that was about 12 inches thick (did you know concrete price is determined by the thickness they pour? Twelve inches is about 3 times more than the cheapest out there), sprinklers throughout the acre, fully fenced and the piece-de-resistance that made me go ga-ga… a 30′ x 40′ half-grotto/half-paradise gardens which had been carved into the limestone beneath. I could see that whoever had carved this out had done so lovingly and with a definite goal in mind: to create something of beauty that would offer tranquility and the ability to get away from the rush of the everyday right in their own backyard. Steps had been carved in the stone leading to lower levels. Paths were carved which took you around the resulting project. Planters carved out of rock were filled with palms, still healthy yet waiting for someone to come and enjoy them again. There was a carved bench where I could picture sitting and enjoying the Koi which were surely planned for the lowest level carved out of the rock. One of the people I showed this home to suggested filling this “hole” in with dirt and I secretly cringed inside. It was blasphemy to me. Someone had spent a considerable amount of time, effort and probably money creating this. I could see the vision. All this was offered at a price of $250,000. An acre in the Redland without a home on it, presently sells for anywhere from $180,000 to $220,000, depending on the location. this home is located more in the higher range. So you were basically getting the home and everything else for about 30 grand. It sold in 12 days. Yes, even in this market.

**I saw a 2/2 townhome in Homestead which had originally sold for $205,000 two years ago on the market for $105,000. Most regular sellers are trying to get $160K for theirs thinking that taking a hit for $45,000 is a big deal (and it is) and along comes a bank and puts one on the market so far below theirs that they are forced to just wait ’til the bank-owned one sells and hope that another one doesn’t pop up. Good luck.

**Yesterday I saw a gorgeous estate home in Palmetto Bay sitting on a lot of over 15,000 SF. The home itself has over 3400 SF of living space, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a desirable hidden 2-car garage, a swimming pool and hurricane shutters. The inside is a bit dated with original dark wood kitchen that would more than likely be renovated by new owners, but right now is usable. The home is listed in the low $400’s in a neighborhood where other homes are listed between $600,000 – $899,000. Momma didn’t raise no fool. I know a bargain when I see one. This home is a steal, even with the small repairs it needs.

I could go on and on, but I need to take my Buyer to South Beach to look at some condos (hi Emily!) If you need help with finding foreclosures in Miami, the Redland, Palmetto Bay, Homestead or just Dade county in general, please contact me. I see them all the time and am happy to keep an eye out for you. =)

Spoken by Chris Hotz | Discussion: No Comments »

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