Tag Archives: South Beach Condos

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1330 West Avenue – The Waverly

Should You Call 1330 West Ave Miami Beach Home?

Miami Beach is a world-renowned destination for travelers, vacationers, those retiring and those just looking for an amazing place to call home. While the area offers a tremendous range of condo properties that you might choose, 1330 West Ave in Miami Beach just might be the most tempting option on offer. What should you know about this address? Why might this be the ultimate place to call home?

What’s At 1330 West Ave Miami Beach?

At this address, you’ll find the Waverly, a beautiful wave-shaped building that offers a great location and some of the utmost in luxury living within the area. Combining Feng Shui and the best in modern architecture, these dual towers provide owners with an exceptional experience.

Amenities on Offer

One of the most important considerations when investing in real estate in Miami Beach is the range of amenities on offer at the property. At the Waverly, you’ll find a tremendous number of amenities designed to make life simpler and more enjoyable in pretty much any way conceivable. At 1330 West Ave Miami Beach, you’ll find a many amenities including 24-hour security to ensure privacy, safety and peace of mind.

The Waverly also offers valet service and covered parking, but the Feng Shui lobby and common areas will likely be the first things that really catch your attention. The bay-front swimming pool is simply stunning, and the social gathering room offers plenty of space and an attached kitchen for owners’ use. Of course, there’s much more to enjoy at 1330 West Ave in Miami Beach, including a sauna and steam room, tennis courts, a full fitness center and a volleyball court. The billiard room is a great place to relax, but if you need to conduct business, the property also offers a full business center as well.

A Look at the Residences

The residences at 1330 West Ave in Miami Beach are just as breathtaking as the rest of the property. The units range from one to three bedrooms, while you’ll enjoy stunning views out over the bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. Each unit also offers a private balcony, spacious luxury bathrooms, fully outfitted kitchens with the best of modern appliances and walk-in closets in the master bedroom.

As you can see, there is much to enjoy if you choose to call the Waverly home.

 

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Tips for Buying South of Fifth Condos

Tips for Buying South of Fifth Condos

When it comes to cultural diversity and high-end luxury, few other areas compare to SoFi, or South of Fifth in South Beach, Miami. It’s a playground year round, whether you want to soak up the sun on the sandy beaches, take a cruise out into Biscayne Bay or enjoy the incredible shopping and dining opportunities that abound here. If you’re interested in calling SoFi home, you’ll need to know a few things about buying South of Fifth Condos.

Why Condos?

Why should you consider buying a condo in SoFi? Actually, there are myriad reasons. One of those is that condos are the most widely available type of real estate in the area, though there are single-family homes on offer. However, condo living offers some significant advantages over other options, including the fact that you don’t have to worry about property upkeep, get to enjoy stunning grounds and a wide range of amenities can be found with pretty much any property.

Know Your Options

When it comes to buying South of Fifth condos, you’ll find an incredible diversity of options available on the market. You’ll find older, established properties, but you’ll also find some of the newest and most innovative developments available. Whether you want a low-rise condo property or a view from the clouds, there’s a place to call home waiting for you here.

You will need to decide what side of the island you want to call home – the Atlantic, the Intracoastal Waterway or Biscayne Bay. Ocean and Intracoastal views are more widely available than views of the bay, simply because there’s more real estate available, but you will find quite a few condos out there that overlook the bay if that’s your preference.

You’ll also want to determine just how luxurious you want to go with your condo. You’ll find any level of luxury you can imagine available, from a comfortable home for retirees to ultra high-end living in some of the world’s most elegant properties.

Perhaps the best way to ensure that you find the perfect South of Fifth Condos from which to choose is to work with a real estate agent who knows the ins and outs of the area. With the right realtor on your side, you’ll be able to narrow down your choices easily, and might just find that locating the perfect home is not as hard as you thought.

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Is Owning a South Beach Miami Condo Right for You?

Is Owning a South Beach Miami Condo Right for You?

Are you in the market for luxury real estate? If so, you won’t find much out there more luxurious than what is on offer in the South Beach, Miami condo market. Is owning one of these properties right for your needs? Condo living offers immense convenience, and the South Beach, Miami area is full of options to explore in the realms of shopping, dining, relaxation, entertainment and culture. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone is a good fit for condo life.

Luxury Living and a Room with a View

One of the first things you’ll find about South Beach, Miami condo life is that it really does live up to the stereotype. In fact, South Beach condos help define the phrase “luxury real estate”. From high-end imported stone to rich woods, luxury appliances and groundbreaking designs, you’ll find that South Beach condo properties give you the ultimate in luxury living. On top of that, you’ll discover that having a “room with a view” is almost a cliché here – properties offer panoramic views of both the azure Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Intracoastal Waterway.

It’s All at Your Doorstep

Another thing you’ll notice immediately about living in a South Beach, Miami condo is the immense number of things to see and do that lie right outside your door. South Beach is relatively small in size, but don’t let that fool you. There are thousands of options to explore here, whether you want to see the world through food, explore the Art Deco architecture, head to the beautiful white sand beach for some sunbathing or shop the finest stores and boutiques.

Your Options Are Not Equal

Of course, not all South Beach, Miami condo properties are the same, and you will have to ensure that you know what options are available. You’ll find new luxury properties, as well as older, established condominiums on offer. You’ll find properties that overlook Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway. You’ll also find condos available in a variety of different flavors, from comfortable, cozy properties to ultra-luxury homes on offer.

Determining which South Beach, Miami condo property is right for you can be tough. Working with a skilled realtor who knows the area intimately is an excellent option to help you sort your choices and find the perfect place to call home, whether you’re looking for a fulltime home or a new place to stay on vacation.

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3 Factors to Consider When Buying Condos in South Beach

3 Factors to Consider When Buying Condos in South Beach

For anyone looking to purchase a home in Miami, condos in South Beach make excellent options. Condos hold their value, offer a luxurious place to call home and can put you in a prime location to enjoy the beach, the pristine waters of the Atlantic, and the incredible atmosphere of South Beach, Miami. Of course, there are several key factors in your decision, and understanding these is vital to making the best choice in properties.

Factor #1 – Location

Everyone has heard the real estate mantra, “location, location, location”. However, that is far from cliché – the location of the properties you’re considering is a vital factor. When buying in Miami, condos in South Beach need to be vetted based on their location to ensure that you have access to the amenities you want. For instance, you might prefer a condo in SoFi if you love Art Deco architecture. You might prefer a unit on the edge of Biscayne Bay, or the east coast of the island for stunning water views. If you own a yacht, you might prefer a unit on the Intracoastal Waterway for access to docks.

Factor #2 – Property Amenities

When buying in Miami, condos in South Beach should also be vetted based on the amenities they offer on property. You’ll find an incredible number of possible amenities, including swimming pools on site, conference centers, restaurants, covered parking, private elevator access to your unit, daycare facilities on property, beach access, boat slips and docks provided to owners and more. Of course, you’ll find that the more amenities a property offers, the higher the price of ownership will be.

Factor #3 – The Unit Itself

More than the location or the amenities on property, you’ll want to consider the units for sale. When buying in Miami, condos in South Beach should be sorted by the age of the unit, whether any upgrades have been done, as well as the floor plan and square footage. Do you want a corner unit? Would you prefer a flow-through unit? How many balconies do you want? How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need? Will the unit be a vacation home, or do you plan to move to South Beach permanently?

Each of the areas mentioned above is important in your buying decision. Take your time and make sure that you’re getting the best possible condo to call home.

Questions ? We’re happy to help !

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South Beach condo prices per sqft

South Beach Condo prices per sqft

Since price is of course the most important factor when buying or selling real estate I just ran some market stats for the past 12 months (Feb 2011-Feb 2012) for condo sales in 3 different areas:

South Beach (other than South of Fifth)

South of Fifth

Downtown Miami (“greater downtown area”)

The charts below show you the average sold price per sqft for a sampling of different South Beach condo buildingswell as the min / max sold price per sqft. Since the charts show you the minimum / maximum and average price per sqft that was actually paid in the past 12 months, this is a solid guideline of how much you should be paying / receiving when buying or selling a condo in any of these buildings. Of course there are many factors that will impact the price / value of any unit within the buildings, such as location in the building, views, finishes, etc.

South Beach condo sales prices

 

As you can see both Mirador Towers have been selling in the low $200′s p. sqft, Floridian and Waverly are hovering right around the mid $300 p. sqft mark and the Decoplage, due it’s location at the end of Lincoln Road and right on the Ocean, commanding slightly more than $400 per sqft.

There are many more buildings in South Beach, however these are some of the most popular and should give you a good indication of the general high rise condo market in South Beach.

 

South Beach condo minimum price per sqft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the price ranges per sqft in each of the buildings are quite large, resulting from the vast differences between units in each buildings. “Prime” views & finishes do command a premium while not so desirable lines in the buildings might sell at a discount. While there are very few distressed condos in these buildings, the few that have been there also tend to be on the lower end of the price and desirability spectrum.

Interested in buying or selling a condo in any of these buildings ?

Talk to Tom (305) 482-1688 or fill out below contact form and I will get back to you asap !

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How to sell your South Beach condo faster and get more money for it

If you are planning on selling your south beach condo, chances are you would like to sell it as fast as possible and for the most money possible.

The easiest way to succeed in doing so it by pricing your property right from the get go. Most sellers seem to think that overpricing is a good strategy as they will then be able to negotiate and still get the money the want or money. Unfortunately the days where this strategy worked are long gone and buyers that blindly overpay for properties have gone extinct.

So how would pricing your South Beach condo right at or below market value yield you more money ?

Check out below table. As you can see, properties that sold within 30 days of being listed, sold for an average of 101.35% of the list price. Yes, you are reading this correctly. These are south beach condos that are actually selling for more than the list price (read this article for more detailed explanation on this phenomenon)

Once you get past the 30 day mark, the sales price to list price ratio drops to somewhere in the 93-94% range and it further declines to 90% after 120 days.

South Beach condos days on market

Source: South Florida MLS

If you are planning on selling your south beach condo, chances are you would like to sell it as fast as possible and for the most money possible.

The easiest way to succeed in doing so it by pricing your property right from the get go. Most sellers seem to think that overpricing is a good strategy as they will then be able to negotiate and still get the money the want or money. Unfortunately the days where this strategy worked are long gone and buyers that blindly overpay for properties have gone extinct.

So how would pricing your South Beach condo right at or below market value yield you more money ?

Check out below table. As you can see, properties that sold within 30 days of being listed, sold for an average of 101.35% of the list price. Yes, you are reading this correctly. These are south beach condos that are actually selling for more than the list price (read this article for more detailed explanation on this phenomenon)

Once you get past the 30 day mark, the sales price to list price ratio drops to somewhere in the 93-94% range and it further declines to 90% after 120 days.

 

If you wonder why this is happening, it’s actually pretty simple.

When you list your South Beach condo for sale, it gets the most exposure within the first 1-2 weeks of being entered in the MLS. If it’s priced right, all agents working the area will present it to they buyers and urge them to make an offer quickly since the property is priced well and will most likely move quickly.  They will also advise them to make an offer at or above list price since that’s what the property is worth and there is no chance of winning the bid in a multiple offer situation if you are coming in with a lowball offer.

Let’s look at the other scenario. Your property started out as priced above market. Most agents will skip it and show properties that are priced right first. It sits on the market for months, most likely going through several price reductions in an effort to attract an offer.

When you finally get somebody to take notice, they will look at the history and see that the property started out as being priced too high and has been reduced several times our several months.To real estate agents in South Beach, this will give the impression that you are probably not a very motivated seller, therefore they will not be presenting your property to as many  buyers as they could, however if they do happen to find an interested buyer, the buyer will likely think that you as the seller are probably desperate by now and will therefore be more open to lower offers.

Either way you are doing yourself a disservice by getting less exposure, thus attracting less offers and lower offers. I know it’s not what a seller likes to hear, but if you are serious about selling your South Beach condo, anything but pricing it right at market price would be foolish. And you if are not serious about selling it, why would you list it anyway. After all it’s a waste of everybody’s time and we all know (or at least firmly believe) that you will get more money for your South Beach condo if you can wait a few year before selling it.

Now is not the time to hope for a miracle when selling your South Beach condo, however if you are serious and realistic about pricing, you will sell it. For more money. And quickly too !

To sell your South Beach condo with us just get a free valuation of your property, please fill in the form below

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Miami Beach condos – a buyers market or is it ?

I’m sure that you would agree with the general consensus that the real estate market for Miami Beach condos is currently (and has been for a while) a buyer’s market, right ?

Well, you might want to re-think this notion. While the general parameters defining a buyer’s market (supply > demand) are definitely there, most of the Miami Beach condos that are actually selling these days are distressed properties like short sales and foreclosures (bank owned properties). As you can see from the research we did a few months ago, most of the condos selling in Miami Beach these days are in the below $150k price range, which means that most of these miami beach condos were distressed sales.

When it comes to getting a great deal on a distressed Miami Beach condo, keep in mind that the rules of the game change drastically.

a) you are not dealing with a “live person” as a seller, but more likely with an employee at a bank of loan servicing company, who neither knows the property, nor cares about anybody’s intentions, motivation, etc, but
rather just looks at hard, cold numbers to determine the price they will accept.

b) sometimes the prices that a lender will accept are based on appraisals or opinions of value that might be off. This can work in your favor or against you.

c) You want a deal, don’t you ? Of course you do. Unfortunately it’s not only you, but you and everybody else.
That actually means that when it comes to the best deals out there, it is a seller’s market.
Well priced bank owned South Beach condos more often than not will receive multiple offers within a matter of days and end up selling above list price. Short sales on the other hand, will generally sell somewhere close to market value, with the list price having no bearing whatsoever on the price the lender will accept for the unit.

What does that mean for me as a buyer ?

Since most bank owned South Beach condos sell for close to list price or even above list price and receive multiple offers it is important to put your best offer in immediately. If seen it happen countless times that somebody lost a good deal, because the got too greedy and demanded an unrealistic price. Now I know that seeing is believing, so here’s chart showing some South Beach condos that sold last month with the list price, selling price and closing date. These Miami Beach condos were all bank owned.

South Beach bank owned condos sold Dec 2010

Bank owned condos sold 12/2010

If the list price is not a good indication of the sales price, how do I know how much to offer ?

This is where your real estate agent comes into play. He or she should be able to conduct a comparable market analysis showing the recent comparable sales and giving you a recommendation on the offer price that offers the best balance between having the best shot at obtaining the South Beach condo you like and not overpaying for it.

I don’t trust my agent’s opinion…

Well, in that case there’s only one solution. Find an agent that you do trust or start making offers on your own. I honestly don’t see why anybody would want to work with a real estate agent if they do not trust their judgement and the information they can obtain for them. After all, that’s the reason you decided to hire a professional realtor to begin with, isn’t it ?

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Map of South Beach condo buildings

South Beach condo buildingsWe just added a new map of South Beach condo buildings to the site. If you click on any you will get to see it’s name as well as a link that leads you to all South Beach condos that are currently available for sale within the building.
Hopefully you find this feature useful as we are planning to add more maps for buildings in different areas and as an addition to our area guide

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South Beach condos – sales by price range

If you’ve seen my post on the July 2010 condo stats, you know that in July of 2010 there were 78 condos sold in South Beach.

Below graph will show you the distribution by price range:

Sales by price range

…and here’s a look at the average price per sqft that is achieved in each of these price ranges:

Average sales per sqft on South Beach Condos July 2010

If you are wondering what to do with this information, well, really nothing, I just like running numbers for the sake of running numbers.

Ok, seriously, you can of course use these numbers as a guideline if you are a buyer of seller of a miami beach condo or more specifically a south beach condo, however please do use them as a guideline only as there are still major fluctuations within each price range, e.g. even though the avg. price per sqft in the 1MM+ range was almost $800, the lowest sales price per sqft in this range was $497 and the highest was $1288.

Any realtor with a market knowledge of South Beach will be able to help you determine the right selling price (or purchase price) for your Miami Beach condo.

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Top 9 transactions account for almost 50% of sales volume in South Beach

Lately I’ve seen large fluctuations in the average price per sqft on the sales of South Beach condos. Since there aren’t any major price changes (in either direction) happening these days, I started to dig a little deeper and found that the reason is generally simply that there is one (or a handful) of large transactions that have a major impact on the average price per sqft.

For example, in June a penthouse at the Setai sold for $15,000,000 or just over $2400 per sqft. This one sale accounted for almost 20% of the whole transaction volume of sales in the month of June (~77 mio. worth of South Beach condos changed hands that month) and thus had a major impact on all the averages.

To further illustrate this point let’s look at the month of July 2010.

There were 78 sales made in July, with 9 condos selling for $1 mio. or more. As you can see from the following graph, these 9 condo sales account for almost 50 % of the total transaction volume for the month of July. Do you think that this would affect the numbers in a major way ?

South beach condos sales volume July 2010

If  you’re wondering why I’m pointing this out, just think about all the statistics you read about the real estate market and whether they are affected by similar issues. In other words, don’t trust any statistics without knowing all the details.

So after all of this, what do you think is happening in the South Beach condo market ? Is it stabilizing, improving or still declining ?