Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time, a Seller was able to price their property and chances were that the lender would match the sale price on the appraisal. This was occurring because appreciation was happening faster than transactions were being closed on. Not anymore! Today, appraisers are under great scrutiny and closely regulated. In today’s market, Sellers need to be realistic about market value and list their property accordingly.
 

If a Seller wants to close on the sale of their property, they must understand that loans are made based on appraised value. If a property doesn’t appraise for the sale price, it’s likely that the Seller will have to consider selling for appraised value. If the Seller disagrees, the Buyer may cancel the purchase contract and move on. Sellers need to know that the industry, in an attempt to maintain uniformity for all appraisals, has set rigid standards and mandates that specific information about the subject property and its comparables be collected and used when appraising. 

Sellers have an emotional attachment to their property. They sometimes see value that is not really there or have unrealistic expectations of what their net proceeds should be. Too often, I am told by the Seller; ‘I can’t sell for that; I owe more on my mortgage and I have to cover the commission.’ The outcome of this usually ends up costing the Seller. The market value rules no matter how leveraged a property is.

The listing agent knows best and uses the latest technology and data to come up with the approximate opinion of value. The agent may adjust the price up or down depending on the Sellers expectations. If the Seller is motivated, one would adjust down and up if the Seller has time to test the market.

A realistically priced property should sell in 30 to 90 days. When selling a property, time is of the essence. The sooner a property is sold the less it cost the Seller. Once a Seller has made the decision to sell, they must consider the monthly cost of keeping the property and calculate the consequence of a lengthy selling period. Maintenance, taxes and depreciation are some of the forces working against the Seller’s bottom line.

The first two weeks are vital to this process. During this time the Seller’s agent will be gathering the information needed to determine if the sale price needs to be adjusted up or down. The number of showings and feedback received from the prospect Buyers will give the Seller’s Agent the data he or she needs to suggest the appropriate adjustment to the sale price. It is very important that the Seller and the Seller’s Agent work closely together on this. Sometime between the fourth and sixth, the Seller’s Agent should reanalyze the subject property area and re-evaluate any further adjustment to the marketing or sale price of the property. Some of the factors which the agent will look for in the new analysis are new listings and closed sales in the area, which may have changed the playing field since the property was originally listed.

In the real estate business, many agents say ‘the first offer is always the best offer.’ When an offer is received, the Seller should carefully consider it and try to work closely with the buyer in order to work out any disagreement there may be from either party. This may very well be the best opportunity and may be the last for a while.

Brickell under Construction

Everywhere you look it seems Miami is under construction. In the long term this is all great for those who can tolerate the detours and the noise. Miami is still a great real estate opportunity and improving its looks and infrastructure can only make it better. Construction projects are currently going on all around town.

By all estimates, Brickell continues to be one of Miami’s most desirable areas. And, with all the improvements, Brickell promises to be better than ever. The major over hall is estimated to last another year, possibly a year and a half.

The Brickell area has seen its ups and downs. In the eighties Brickell boomed due to foreign investor who bought anything with a door on it. Condo sales were out of control. But, like all good things, it came to an end and the 90’s saw condo prices plummet.

Again, history repeats; in 2005 the number of available condo units for sale in the Brickell area had peaked. Shortly thereafter, the real estate market tanked and values were once again affected. Nevertheless, Miami is resilient and has always overcome adversity.

Today, the available condo inventories in the Brickell area are down and there is talk of the first pre-construction project in 5 years. This project will possibly go on sale as soon as the end of this year or the beginning of next.

Seville Sub - Little Hidden Secret

A  Little Hidden Secret

Miami Dade County is notorious for the multitude of Municipalities within its’ boundaries. For example, Miami, Coral Gables, South Miami, West Miami, to mention just a few.  Some of these Municipalities are nationally and even internationally known by people who travel to South Florida.

What many don’t know is that within many of these municipalities, there are sections with characteristics of their own. ‘The Roads’ for example, is an area within the City of Miami. It is called ‘The Roads’ by the locals because of the numerous ‘Road’ designations of streets within the area. Shenandoah, Silver Bluff, etc, are a few others popular sections with the locals.  

I recently listed a property in the Shenandoah and took a closer look. Many of the homes in this area were built as early as the 20’s. New owners moving into the area are renovating these magnificent homes.