Miami Beach luxury condos located on 24th street through 60th street encompass some of the best buildings on Miami Beach which are some of the most popular real estate in Miami Beach real estate market. This neighborhood is a prime neighborhood because it’s a quick cab ride to all of the action in South Beach but in a neighborhood where a more quiet environment is preferred. This is often referred to as Mid Beach and a stretch of this area is called Millionaire’s Row.

If you are thinking about purchasing a Miami Beach luxury condos in this neighborhood, a few of the most important things to think about are:

1. Is the building and the unit oceanfront, canal or street side? For instance the canal properties have amazing evening views from the western part of the buildings but the walk to the beach around the oceanfront buildings can present a small walking challenge if you are not into walking a few blocks to the beach. This will also determine the price of the unit.

2. On the other hand the oceanfront buildings have oceanfront amenities and ocean views during the day but at night, the views may not be so exciting.

3. There are also a few older buildings in this neighborhood that have had ongoing and ongoing maintenance and assessment issues. It’s really important to know what you are buying and you should definetly purchase in a building that is ran well.

The buildings located on 24th street through 60th street are built with high end, high quality finishes but also the buildings’ amenities can be pretty spectacular and if you are looking at purchasing oceanfront property in Miami Beach and want to explore areas north of South Beach, be sure to put the Millionaire’s row neighborhood on your priority list. Just be sure to do due all of the diligence when researching this mid beach area because although a prime Miami Beach neighborhood, there are pros and cons just like any buying experience.

Below is the List of A Few of My Favorite Miami Beach Luxury Condos 24th Street through 60th Street:

5600 Collins Condos

6000 Indian Creek

Bath Club

Blue Diamond

Capobella

Caribbean Condo Miami Beach

Fontainebleau Two Tressor

Fontainebleau Three Sorrento

Green Diamond

Mei Miami Beach

Mosaic Miami Beach

Terra Beachside Villas

Copyright © By Jamey Prezzi 2012 * All Rights Reserved* Miami Beach Luxury Condos

Many times when we start working with a new buyers who are in a Miami real estate search for condos or homes there is a little confusion about who is responsible for paying commissions.

Depending on where you are from, there are different regulations and rules on how your real estate agent’s brokerage gets paid and most naturally when you have someone working for you, it’s important to know how they get paid.

Generally speaking in our area, buyers and sellers have their own agent. If a seller wants to sell a Miami Beach property and hire a real estate agent they will list the property for sale in our local MLS database. The commission structure and how it is paid, is initially negotiated between the seller and his listing agent on the listing agreement and it’s also listed in our MLS.

Typically both the buyer and seller brokerage commissions are paid by the seller’s side. However, sometimes a buyer may have to pay for commission and these cases could include:

-Distressed properties where the seller cannot pay.
-Listings where the commissions are a little lower than what the buyer’s agent wants to work for on a transaction.
-For Sale By Owners
-and more…

It’s super important to understand these scenarios in advance and know if there could be scenarios where you as a buyer could be responsible for paying your agent’s brokerage commissions or not.

Copyright © By Jamey Prezzi 2012 * All Rights Reserved* In Your Miami Real Estate Search, Do You Know Who Pays Commissions?

If you are thinking about purchasing Miami Beach real estate, interested in buying a condo and need a parking space; just know that parking is not a “given”. Parking in Miami Beach is a luxury and an extra parking space (if available) can cost an extra $10,000 plus depending on the building. In fact there are a few parking spaces listed on the MLS for sale and they start from $10,000 to 19,900. I have seen them higher than this too.

Most Important to Know About Miami Beach Real Estate & Parking:

• In most of the high rise luxury buildings the units come with 1 parking space. (Yes even the three bedrooms, 1 space).
• The number of bedrooms does not determine the amount of parking spaces.
• Always ask for the parking space number in the sales contract.
• Find out if the parking is deeded or assigned. Deeded parking means that the space #123 comes with your unit #3604. Assigned means just that “assigned”. You are authorized to use parking space #123 but it’s not a part of your unit, rather it’s a part of the building. Some buildings don’t have enough parking (100 parking spaces) for every unit (120 units) but most Miami Beach residents are not here full time, so the way the buildings manage the parking is to use the assigned method to assign first come first serve to full time residents and then they grant special parking privileges for out of town residents on an as needed basis…….. again each building and their rules/regulations are different. Always check.
• If the term “valet” is used, always ask exactly the rules and regulations for this service. For instance you may hear the owner’s agent say, “1 deeded parking space plus valet”, what you need to ask next is how the building manages the valet. It may be free for you the resident but not your guests. You may be able to park a second car using valet, maybe not. It all depends on the rules of the condo association.
• Can a guest or different car use your parking space? Most buildings don’t allow this.

I think that’s a pretty good summary for now. What’s important to take away is that Miami Beach real estate is unique all the way down to the parking situation. So be sure to triple check and make sure that you are covered in a sales transaction.

Copyright © By Jamey Prezzi 2011 *Miami Beach Real Estate Tips for Buying Parking Issues

Once you make an offer on a Miami Beach luxury condo, one of the addenda that your agent will probably add to the contract is the condominium association addenda. (If they don’t, I would definitely ask for it.)

One of the most important pieces of the addenda requests the following items from the seller:

• A Current Copy of the Declaration of Condominium, Articles of Incorporation & Bylaws
• The Rules of the Association
• A Copy of the Most Recent Year-End Financial Information
• Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Document

**Before I go on with this I need to say. I am not an attorney, every contract is different so be sure to ask your professional for advice on your specific case.

Generally speaking with our buyers and based on the contracts that I use for our buyers, after they receive these documents, they have a certain time to review the documents and then if they don’t agree or like something within the documents, they can cancel the contract….. as long as they are still within the cancellation period based on the contract time frames.

In this process two things always amaze me:

1. Buyers who don’t read the documents in full.

2. Seller’s agents sending over half of the materials requested.

a little back story….I love my seller’s agents and we do a great deal of business together. Although I mostly work with buyers and renters, we do work with sellers from time to time so I know the process. One of the first things a seller’s agent should do when taking a listing is to request from the seller the most common requested buyer documentation and keep it on file. Some are better at this than others. If the documents are (excuse my French) half-ass, it’s important to get the correct and most up to date documents directly from the building (rather than the seller’s old file cabinet). It’s important for everyone’s sake that these documents are accurate and up to date.

I think one of the main reasons that I am relentless about this issue is because prior to working as a real estate agent over eight years ago and two terms as a board member on our condo association’s board; my husband and I bought a lemon of a property. In addition to the “lemon issues”, there were rental restrictions and financial issues that we weren’t aware of within the building or weren’t told otherwise during the sales process. A lot of this could have been avoided had we had better buyer representation during the sales transaction and had we known better the red flags to pay attention to. So now, I am a big buyer’s advocate in regards to this part of the sale process and I really want our buyers to understand what they are buying into.

Buyers who don’t read the documents

It’s not your agent’s job to read and interpret the condo docs and if they are doing this…… #1 they are crazy and #2 it’s a big liability for them.

If our buyers are not comfortable reading and understanding this documentation, we recommend our buyers to hire a local real estate attorney to guide them through this process. For the small amount of money that it costs, an attorney can be super helpful in helping you to understand these very important documents & YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THEM.

What if the building doesn’t allow rentals for the first two years? The only way to know how the building is being operated is to read the documents and ask the important questions.

So what are “half of the materials” I am talking about?

Some buildings are just not good at sending out year end financial documentation to the owners. So when I request it for our buyers on the condo addenda, some sellers just send…..well, a budget.

***Folks!! Budgets are not the same thing as a year end financial information. A budget, is just that a budget. Do you always follow your budget? I bet not and buildings don’t either. Things happen during the year and you need to know what is REALLY going on in the building financially, not what budget they used. So if you are sent a budget, request a year end financial document that is the most up to date. Usually this is prepared by an accountant service.

So in the end be sure to get all of the important documents that were requested on the sales contract and be sure to read and understand them.

Copyright © By Jamey Prezzi 2011 * All Rights Reserved* Buying a Miami Beach Luxury Condo? What Buyers Need to Know About the Condo Association Addenda

One of the first most important things to know when buying a condo in Miami Beach is the issue of property taxes and how it will affect you.

Although there are many factors to consider in the property tax issue, the two most confusing are (1) how the exact same two properties can have two completely different tax bills (2) how this applies to a new buyer in the new market place.

These examples below are very "general" to show you what you should know in advance and I always advise buyers to seek the advice of a tax professional and/or attorney for their own specific situation. I am neither of those two.

On (1)...

Let's assume we have two properties that are exactly the same and they are located beside each other. We also have two property owners who have exactly the same property tax exemptions but they purchased at two different times one in 1970 and the other in 2005.

One Miami Beach condo owner purchased his property in 1970 for $50,000. So his property taxes are based partly on this $50,000 purchase price.

The second Miami Beach condo owner purchased the same exact property next door in 2005 (during the boom). This property during that time was most likely worth more maybe even 3 times the amount of the 1970's home, so let's assume that the property was purchased at $150,000. So his property taxes will be based partly on this $150,000 purchase price.

Although these two properties are exactly the same in every single detail and the property owners are exactly the same, they were purchased at two different times in the market place thus two different market values thus two different property tax amounts.

This difference for a buyer in today's market can be huge.

On (2)...

Now let's take the same scenario above. Let's assume that you are a Miami Beach condo buyer and are purchasing a property in today's market. Until the property is reassessed based on your purchase, you will be responsible for paying the taxes based on the amount of the current property owner's bill.

So if you are purchasing a property by the person who bought in 1970, it is pretty safe to assume that until you are reassessed based on your own purchase, your tax bill is going to be a little less than the person who bought at the top of the market in 2005.

Moreover if the property is worth more now, it is also safe to assume that the tax bill will be more per year. If the property is worth less hopefully the bill will be less per year.

**One biggie that most buyers never think about is the financing issue in regards to property taxes. The lender has no idea what the property tax bill will be in the future so if you need financing, you will need to qualify for the financing based on the current owner's property tax bill.

and the conclusion is....

There are many important things to know when buying a condo in Miami Beach but don't forget about the property taxes and how they affect you on a yearly or monthly basis in terms of payment. Never use the current owner's tax bill as an indicator of what your bill will be because this is most likely not reflective of your current situation or the updated market.

This is one big reason why I stress over and over again the importance of buyers who need financing to speak to a lending professional PRIOR TO LOOKING at properties.

They need to figure out what is the monthly payment based on different tax scenarios because this can be the difference of whether or not you can afford (or want to afford) the monthly payment and if a lender will approve you for the purchase.

There are services out there that can assist you with your property tax issues and questions. As always I advise my clients to seek the advice of a tax professional and/or an attorney.

To learn more go directly to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser office

It would be our pleasure to help you with buying or selling a Miami Beach Luxury Home or Condo. Jamey & Ognjen Prezzi are Miami Beach Luxury Home & Condo specialists and we welcome the opportunity to help you buy or sell in Miami Beach Real Estate.

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Call us today: 305-793-8965
Email me: jameyprezzi at gmail.com

Copyright © By Jamey Prezzi 2010 * All Rights Reserved* Things to know when buying a condo in Miami Beach