Sandpiper Villas Venetian Isles

PRICE: $154,900  **CLOSED SALE**

Description | This one bedroom apartment is nestled in one of the most desirable areas of Miami -  on the Venetian Islands between downtown Miami and Miami Beach. The Sandpiper Villas is beautifully maintained, financially stable, and the community was recently upgraded. If you’re looking for a hidden waterfront property in Miami Beach, then look no further. Call or email us today to view this amazing condo on the Venetian Isles  -305.673.5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Address | 1120 Venetian Wy #1D, Miami Beach -  map it

Property Type | Coop
Year Built | 1949
Living Area | 664 SF or 62 m2
Bedrooms | 1
Bathrooms | 1
Waterfront | Y

Download a full description (PDF):

1120-venetian-way #1d (Right click the link and choose “Save link as”)

Community Real Estate Workshop

Is the American dream of owning a home turning into a nightmare?  Be proactive, educate yourself to protect yourself, a boutique real estate firm offers free community educational courses.

“Miami Angel Properties” provides a way to educate the community on common real estate issues, trends, and guidance.

Miami, FL, October 28, 2009 – During the last 5 years, many Americans saw their dream come true of owning their own home.  Qualifying for a mortgage, choosing your dream home, and celebrating with a house warming was easier than purchasing a new car.  For many families today, the thought of keeping up with mortgage payments, decreasing home values, or just purchasing a home has become a nightmare.  A boutique real estate firm, Miami Angel Properties LLC, is devoted to helping families sleep better with a series of weekly ‘open office workshops’ to educate the community on real estate today, including: short sale procedures, buying a foreclosure, real estate auctions, property taxes and investing for the future. 

Ross Milroy, real estate broker and owner of Miami Angel Properties has over twenty years of diversified real estate experience ranging from asset management, hotel development, franchising, financing, residential and commercial real estate consulting.  With a team of diverse and experienced associates, Ross Milroy’s goal is to “offer our clients an experienced group of real estate practitioners that provides the most comprehensive real estate representation to the public”.  Through his real estate blog on www.miamiangelproperties.com, Ross Milroy shares his real estate insights with the local and international community with quarterly sales reports, finance and tax information, and other pertinent information. 

Conveniently located in Miami’s Design District off 36^th Street on NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Angel Properties has an ‘open door policy’ welcoming the public to educate themselves on vital real estate concerns.  Beginning Monday, November 9^th from 6.30 -7.30 pm, and every Monday thereafter, Miami Angel Properties will be a hosting a free Community Real Estate Workshop for the public.  The first course will be a general real estate lecture focusing on the current supply and demand in the Miami Real Estate market and how individuals can choose to be proactive and positive.  Miami Angel Properties’ Community Real Estate Workshop will strive to educate the public on a weekly basis with a goal to work together to turn the American dream into a reality. 

Miami Angel Properties LLC, Community Real Estate Workshop

3620 NE 2^nd Avenue, Miami Design District, FL 33139

A community service providing real estate education to help protect the American Dream.  Classes start promptly at 6:30pm and include a lecture, written material and are approximately 30 minutes of lectures followed with an open discussion.  Refreshments are available and classes are free to the public.  RSVP at info@miamiangelproperties.com or call 305.673.5300.

Monday, November 9, 2009, 6.30 -7.30pm “Current State of the Miami Real Estate Market”

Monday, November 16, 2009, 6.30 -7.30pm “Short Sale Basics for Buyers and Sellers”

Monday, November 23, 2009, 6.30 -7.30pm “Buying a Foreclosure, when is it a good deal?”

Monday, November 30, 2009, 6.30 -7.30pm “Investing in today’s Market”

The Collins Condo North Beach

PRICE: $235,000 **CLOSED SALE $210,000**

Description | The Collins Condominium is located in the up and coming North Beach area,  adjacent the new Canyon Ranch Miami Beach. This building was fully renovated and converted in 2004. The building has minimal rental conditions and allows both short and long-term rentals, which offers investors much sought after flexibility. This unit has a balcony that faces north and east to the ocean, ceramic tile floors, hurricane impact windows, a separate laundry room, as well as double sinks in the bathroom. Call or email us today to view this Island  -305.673.5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Address | 6917 Collins Ave #1208, Miami Beach -  map it

Property Type | Condominium
Year Built | 2004
Living Area | 806 SF or  75 m2
Bedrooms | 1
Bathrooms | 1
Waterfront | Y

Download a full description (PDF):

6917 Collins Ave U1208 (Right click the link and choose “Save link as”)

Opera Tower Miami

RENT: $1,900 p/month *RENTED $1,800*

Description | This large 2 bedroom 2 bathroom features a huge wraparound balcony with sweeping view of the bay and downtown Miami from the 44th floor. Split floor plan, stainless steel appliances, and granite kitchen counters are just a few of the upgrades. Call or email us today to view this amazing condo  -305.673.5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Address | 1750 N Bayshore Dr, Unit 4414, Miami  -  map it

Property Type | Condominium
Year Built | 2007
Living Area | 1,100 SF or 103 m2
Bedrooms | 2
Bathrooms | 2
Waterfront | N

Download a full description (PDF):

1750-n-bayshore-u4414 (Right click the link and choose “Save link as”)

Miami Builds Momentum

In the past few months, there have been several positive indications that investors are increasingly confident and willing to pull the trigger on Miami real estate. Last month, there were two major transactions involving the sale of the historic 105-room Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach, as well as the $78 million sale of  a 10-acres oceanfront development deal on Key Biscayne.

The vacant art deco Leslie Hotel, located at 1244 Ocean Drive in South Beach, finally sold to local hotel group Ocean Hotels Development Corp., headed by Juan D’Onofrio, principal of Alquimia Hospitality Group. The sellers, Leslie Beach Associates LLC, which according to Miami-Dade Public Records was owned by One Liberty Properties, Inc. [NYSE: OLP], a real estate investment trust based in Great Neck, New York.

According to public records, Leslie Beach Associates LLC, was recently released from an outstanding lis pendens notice filed by the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser, as well as a dispute with South Beach Luxury Hotels LLC. The sellers acquired the hotel in September 2005 for a purchase price of $9.1 million, and sold the hotel for $8.05 million or $421 per square foot. The Leslie, designed by architect Albert Anis and built in 1937, is a fine example of classic Deco in Miami Beach. Other examples of Anis’s work include the Clevelander Hotel and Waldorf Towers Hotel, which are both located on Ocean Drive as well.

Another significant transaction to occur in recent weeks was the sale of  a 6,466 square foot penthouse in the W Hotel South Beach to Chris Rokos, a British hedge fund manager. According to public records, Rokos paid $8,169,000 for the penthouse, complete with 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a private pool and three outdoor terraces. The sale of this condo-hotel unit at $1,263 per square foot is the second most expensive condo deal of the year in Miami Beach.

According to public records, the first closing recorded at the W South Beach was in June, and since, there have been a total of 35 closed sales, including the most recent to Rokos. To date, units have sold to a variety of international buyers, financiers and sports stars, including the likes of football stars Alessandro Nesta of soccer club AC Milan, Tomasso Rocchi of soccer club Lazio, and Ronnie Brown, running back of the Miami Dolphins.

Are you looking for a Miami or Miami Beach property at a deep discount? Are you looking for a discounted short sale or bank owned property? Ross Milroy of Miami Angel Properties, LLC may be reached at 305-673-5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Copyright © Miami Angel Properties, LLC

Miami Real Estate – September 2009

Summary - September 2009

For the month of September 2009, the Miami real estate market experienced a modest increase in closed sales, which was mostly due to the sale of single family homes. While the median price for single family homes  increased slightly from $173,000 to $178,000, the median prices for condominiums and townhomes remained flat at $135,000.

The demand for “affordable” primary residences and investment properties remains strong. New foreclosure listings routinely command multiple offers and many achieve sales prices over and above the original listing price. We are encouraged this month to have experienced a decrease in the overall number of distressed sales in the condo market, which is also direcly correlated to the shrinking number of REO properties available.

Cash deals in the affordable price range continue to dominate the condo sales, with conventional financing either completely absent or limited to the usual suspects or condo projects. In Miami Beach, for example, the overwhelming majority of closed sales this past month, or 85 percent, were closed all cash. Additionally, as owner’s are increasingly pricing their units to market, the overall number of short sales and foreclosure or REO sales decreased as well.

In the Brickell / Miami Downtown District, we experienced a significant increase in the number of closed sales from 58 units sold in August 2009, to 83 units in September 2009.  The condo project the Club at Brickell Bay continues to lead the pack with 9 distressed units changing hands last month. Equally as impressive in the Brickell area was the number of deals closed with conventional financing, which was over 20 percent of all units sold.

As reported last month, buyers appear to be having more success closing on short sales, with the number of closed short sales now close to 75 percent of all distressed sales. Although any short sale will test your patience to new levels, if you are willing to work through the thousands of short sales in the market, there are a number of attractive properties being bypassed by the foreclosure stampede.

September’s Featured Sales:

1200 Brickell Bay Dr, Unit 2701, Miami

The Club at Brickell Bay, a condominium project located in downtown Miami, has seen it’s fair share of distressed sales this year. According to the MLS records, 60 units have sold this year, of which 44 units were foreclosures and 9 units were short sales. In February 2009, the sale of unit 2414 for a price of $100,000 set the floor for one bedroom units, and then in July 2009, the sale of unit 2209 set the floor for two bedroom units. Unit 2701, which sold in September 2009, sold for a price of $215,000. This unit is comparable in size and condition to unit 2209, and even if one factors in a premium for the higher floor, corner and direct view of the bay, I think that the buyer of unit 2209 was the early bird catching the worm.

 1400 W 28th St, Miami Beach – Sunset Islands

This Mediterranean waterfront estate with over 9,900 square feet of living area and an asking price of $15.9 million, was sold last month for $9.5 million in an all cash deal. According to public records, the seller, Michael R Kelly Trust of Kelly Capital in San Diego, sold this estate home in the Sunset Isles to Rex Real Estate LLC, owned by New York lawyer and real estate investor, Steven C. Witkoff. This property was originally placed on the market in July 2008 and had no price reductions.

 

 Are you looking for a Miami or Miami Beach property at a deep discount? Are you looking for a discounted short sale or bank owned property? Ross Milroy of Miami Angel Properties, LLC may be reached at 305-673-5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Copyright © Miami Angel Properties, LLC

* The data used to generate this chart/data is gathered from the Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”) and the Miami Dade Clerk of the Courts. The data in the MLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This data is for September 2009 for single family homes, unless otherwise indicated as condominiums/townhomes. The prices are the actual sales prices of all single family or condos/townhomes that closed during the month of September 2009 and are published in the MLS as of the date of this post.

Mortgage Meltdown

Mortgage Meltdown by The Daily Business Review

Foreclosed homeowners may still have debt to pay

October 23, 2009

By: Paola Iuspa-Abbott

Jeff Baum is at the forefront of a real estate industry trend that is sure to cause more pain for homeowners who thought they had left their troubles behind. 

Baum, a principal with Green Circle Capital Group in Boca Raton, brokers the sale of nonperforming residential debt between lenders and investors.  Those investors buy the debt with the intention of collecting from the former homeowners. 

“I’ve made quite a bit of my living over the last two, three years selling deficiency balance paper,” said Baum,

 A deficiency balance is the portion of the mortgage loan that wasn’t covered by the sale of the home. That debt becomes an unsecured note similar to other consumer debt such as credit cards. 

 Hedge funds, servicing companies and collection agencies pay cents on the dollar for the unsecured debt. Their collection efforts mean more problems for former homeowners who failed to pay off their mortgages after a short sale or a foreclosure during the 2-year-long residential real estate crisis. 

Investors will likely be more aggressive than lenders in going after the debt “to get a more advantageous rate of return than the larger institution would be willing to put the effort in,” said Baum, who formerly worked in SunTrust Bank’s residential mortgage-backed securities unit.

Mortgage holders or the debt buyers have up to five years from the time the loan goes into default to sue to collect the debt. 

The practice has its critics within the lending industry. Miami-based Republic Federal Bank doesn’t sell deficiency debt, said Jim Angleton, the bank’s senior vice president. But Angleton predicts other lenders will seize the opportunity. 

“As the market declines, it is going to be more in vogue: institutions trying to sell the debt and debt collectors trying to create another niche for themselves,” he said. “Those [debt collectors] are not even bottom feeders, they are subterranean feeders. They are in the Dracula mode of blood sucking.” 

Republic doesn’t go after borrowers for deficiencies unless they have other assets that can be tapped into, Angleton said. In about 25 percent of the cases, the bank goes to court to get deficiency judgments, he said.

COLLECTION CRISIS

Real estate attorney Daniel Kaskel said many people who lost their homes may face a collection crisis. 

Last month, one of his clients closed on a short sale that generated enough money to cover most of the first mortgage of about $245,000. But proceeds of the sale weren’t enough to pay off a second mortgage of about $174,000, said Kaskel, with Sachs Sax Caplan in Boca Raton.

Chase, which held the second mortgage, agreed to release its lien from the property for the sale to close, but it held the borrower responsible for the deficiency, according to Chase’s letter to Kaskel’s client. 

If Chase sells that deficiency debt to a debt collector, the former homeowner can expect to have to come up with the money plus interest. 

“I make my clients aware of this [threat,]” Kaskel said. “In some situations, they would rather do the short sale, move on and worry about any deficiency when they get a phone call from a debt collector.” Daniel Kaskel

If his client hadn’t done the short sale, the house would have been lost to foreclosure and the client would have ended up owing the balance on the first and second mortgage, he said.

“In a short sale, at least the seller has some control over it,” said Kaskel, who negotiates with lenders on behalf of doctors, lawyers and other professionals that make more than $300,000 a year. 

His clients worry about being pursued by debt collectors because many have other assets that could be targeted to satisfy a deficiency, he said. 

“These are not [economic] hardship cases,” he said. “These are people who do not want to remain in a situation where it will take eight years of paying the mortgage for their homes to be worth what the mortgage is worth,” he said.

DEFICIENCY JUDGMENTS

After winning a foreclosure action, a lender has up to five years to ask a judge to declare a deficiency judgment. The judgment amount is the difference between the loan and the market value of the home on the day it sold at a foreclosure auction. 

Once they are awarded the judgment, lenders can sell it to debt collectors, said Miami attorney Lewis Cohen, a partner with Cohen & Bobota. Many of his clients are banks. 

“A bank usually would walk away from the debt rather than throw more money to collect something that is uncollectable,” he said. “So, why not sell it for 25 cents on the dollar?” 

Judgments are good for 20 years, and while people may be broke now, their financial situations could improve in the next two decades, said Richard Zaretsky, a West Palm Beach foreclosure defense lawyer. The dormant debt may come back to haunt them, he said. 

Judgment holders, like collection agencies, can force people into court yearly to disclose their finances, said Zaretsky. 

Attorney Thomas Willis, with Shuster & Saben in Miami, says the problem will increase over the years. 

“Can you imagine, as people’s finances are beginning to improve – boom! – they get hit with a collection action for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “You are going see a lot of people having to declare bankruptcy.” 

Since the only way to deal with a deficiency judgment is to pay the debt holder or declare bankruptcy, that’s already happening, according to Miami bankruptcy attorney Joel Tabas, with Tabas Freedman Soloff Miller & Brown. 

“A lot of people are filing bankruptcy to get out of the deficiency obligation,” he said. 

The best way distressed sellers can protect themselves is to negotiate a reduction in the deficiency balance or persuade lenders to waive their rights to collect deficiencies. 

Miami real estate broker Ross Milroy recently brokered a short sale in which Bank of America demanded the seller sign a note for $25,000 to cover a loan deficiency. 

The seller, who owned a condo in the Grandview Palace in North Bay Village, showed the lender that he was unemployed and disclosed his limited financial resources. 

“So they waived the $25,000 note, and we proceeded to close,” said Milroy, managing broker of Miami Angel Properties. 

Willis, with Shuster & Saben, said sellers need to be aggressive with banks. 

“Your bargaining position is much better if you pro-actively try and resolve the situation now rather than waiting later down the road,” he said.

INFLEXIBLE LENDERS

Some lenders won’t bend, said Davie real estate broker Patty Da Silva. Recently, a client found a buyer for a home for about $181,000. The property had a mortgage for nearly $500,000. The lender approved the sale but held the seller liable for the outstanding balance, said Da Silva, owner of Green Realty Properties. 

Her client could be subject to a judgment, she said.

Baum said many people, including attorneys, are not aware of the sellers’ rights and obligations. A homeowner that walks away from a property is still responsible for the debt, he said. 

“A lot of times, I run into individuals who let their properties go into foreclosure or did a short sale and they think they are released from their obligations,” he said. “But they are not.”

Brickell on the River Foreclosure

PRICE: $299,900 **CLOSED SALE $330,000**

Description | This large corner unit located in Brickell with views of the bay and as far as South Beach is offered at a steal.  With marble floors, crown moldings and the perfect location, this unit is an investor’s dream.   Brickell on the River is one of the premiere downtown condo projects that was developed during the past few years. To view the opportunity in the Brickell district, call or email us -305.673.5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Address | 31 SE 5 St., Unit 3202, Miami  -  map it

Property Type | Condominium
Year Built | 2006
Living Area | 1,110 SF or 103 m2
Bedrooms | 2
Bathrooms | 2
Waterfront | Y

Download a full description (PDF):

31 SE 5 Street Unit 3202 (Right click the link and choose “Save link as”)

REO Attrition Warfare

Def. Attrition Warfare – Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which one side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse. The war will usually be won by the side with greater resources and superior numbers.

Def. REO Attrition Warfare - A banking strategy in which the bank attempts to wear down the enemy/buyers to a point of collapse/bidding. The war is always won by the side with greater resources, superior numbers, and ability to manipulate the market by starving the enemy/buyers of a material/affordable REO properties.

So how many of you can relate to this? A bit extreme you’re thinking, well, perhaps not. What about the missing shadow inventory consisting of tens of thousands of foreclosures and the ongoing extend and pretend practices of the major banking institutions?

If you looked at Countrywide’s nationwide total inventory of REO’s on the market one year ago, it totaled approximately 21,500 properties. As of October 7, 2009, that number is now approximately 6,000. Then think about the increase in the number of foreclosures in 2009 over 2008, and the fact that the recent 3rd qtr 2009 was the worst three months of all time.

So far this attrition warfare in foreclosure appears to be working like a charm. Starve them of properties and they will bid themselves into defeat. Then there is the opposite extreme, just plain good old greed.  Consider the bank owned, one bedroom, 826 SF condo in the Cosmopolitan located in the prestigious South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach, with an asking price of $410,000 or $496 per square foot. Good luck with that listing!

Bottom line. As long as the government is providing the banks with free TARP funds, they will continue to hold back REO properties. At this rate, we will be dealing with short sales and foreclosures over the next decade!

Are you looking for a Miami or Miami Beach property at a deep discount? Are you looking for a discounted short sale or bank owned property? Ross Milroy of Miami Angel Properties, LLC may be reached at 305-673-5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Copyright © Miami Angel Properties, LLC

Investor Confidence Increases in Miami Real Estate

In recent weeks there have been two high profile transactions in the Miami real estate community. In my opinion, these two sales represent both a positive psychological shift as well as boost of investor confidence in the Miami real estate market.

The Sonesta Beach Hotel on Key Biscayne, which was the first major resort hotel to be constructed on Miami’s prestigious Key Biscayne community in 1969, was sold to Argentine investors. According to local sources, Consultatio S.A., a publicly traded company based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, purchased one of the largest remaining develop-able oceanfront sites on Key Biscayne, which consists of the 40-year Sonesta hotel and 10 acres of land, for $78 million.

The Argentine developer was attracted by the opportunity to redevelop the site located at 350 Ocean Drive. In 2005, a local group including Edgardo Defortuna, purchased the Sonesta Key Biscayne property and then closed it down a year later. A couple of years later they secured the necessary approval from the city to build a 165 unit condominium as well as the permit to demolish the hotel. Unfortunately, due to the major cooling off in the housing market the project never got off the ground.

In 2008, the Key Biscayne market experienced several sales of luxury oceanfront condominiums as high as $1,500 per square foot in the Ritz Carlton, Grand Bay or Ocean Tower projects. Clearly, Consultatio S.A. was quick to recognize the opportunity to redevelop this site over the next few years and take advantage of the price of oceanfront real estate that this prestigious island off of downtown Miami commands.

In other news this week, the historic 105-room Raleigh Hotel in South Beach traded to local hotel investment company Brilla Group and AJ Capital Partners, for approximately $30 million. The all cash deal closed this week and has yet to be recorded in the Miami Dade County records.

The seller of the Raleigh Hotel, Andre Balazs and his investment group, acquired the art deco masterpiece designed by Murray Dixon, for $25.2 million in 2002. With occupancy rates and the average daily room rates suffering in the area, the fact that this property traded at $285,000 per room is a huge boost of confidence in the Miami hotel and Miami Beach market. According to local sources, the original asking price of the hotel was $40 million and it had been on the market for over a year.

Are you looking for a Miami or Miami Beach property at a deep discount? Are you looking for a discounted short sale or bank owned property? Ross Milroy of Miami Angel Properties, LLC may be reached at 305-673-5300 or info@miamiangelproperties.com.

Copyright © Miami Angel Properties, LLC

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