Janie Coffey, GRI - Miami Real Estate

If you drive along Old Cutler in Coral Gables, starting around the Cocoplum circle heading South, you see quite a few communities tucked away on either side of Old Cutler.  Did you ever wonder what each one was?  Here is a map which will help you make sense of those hidden enclaves.  You will also see just how far south Coral Gables winds it's way down the Bay, many do not know quite how far South the southern border of Coral Gables is!

Here is the Map to help you visualize where they are:

 

 

View Coral Gables Luxury Communities in a larger map

Miami has many more historic homes and districts than many people are aware of.  Although first claimed by Spain in 1566, Miami first started to develop into a settled area in the 1800s by Henry Flagler and friends Julia Tuttle and William Brickell.  Most historic areas hug the coast for obvious reasons (prior to Flagler's railroad, the only way to reach Miami was by boat). 

Miami really saw prosperity and growth in the early 1900s as developers Merrick, Collins and Curtis built such communities as Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Miami Springs.  Dual disasters of a bursting real estate bubble followed by the great Hurricane of 1926 all but halted new development for many years until nearly the end of the Second World War.  By then, such great architects such as Walter De Garmo had long stopped designing homes, but many designs have stayed with us throughout the years.  

Many historic homes in Miami have recognizable features; Mediterranean, Moorish or Adobe designs; use of such unique building materials as coral rock, decorative (whole and broken) tile work and mosaics and Pecky Cypress Dade County Pine; arches, porticoes and arcades and more.  Since most of these homes were built before air conditioning, many have been retrofitted to accommodate central AC.  One thing you won't find are the hall closets most Northerners are used to (no need!)

The oldest existing house in Miami still situated in it's original position is located in Barnacle State Park, it was built in 1891.

Very few homes built before 1900 still exist, but one is currently for sale at 6801 Maynda St in Coral Gables.  Dating back to 1899, it is Coral Gables's oldest private home. 

If you love Historic Homes as much as we do, we are sure you will find something to tickle your fancy in Miami!

PS: Our sister company (Papillon ReDevelopment) is a Florida State Licensed and Insured General Contractor which specializes in historic renovations and additions, ask us for details and photos of our work!

 

Top Miami Neighborhoods where you can find historic homes for sale are:

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Gables

Coconut Grove

Miami Beach

Miami Shores

Morningside

Bay Point

Miami Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a Map of the Areas where you are most likely to find historic homes in Miami

 

View Miami's Historic Districts and Communities in a larger map

Dear Short Sale Listing Agent,

I've been showing, or trying to show a lot of your listings recently and have a few suggestions that might improve your business, your reputation and your actual ability to SELL and CLOSE your listings. I'm sure you "just weren't thinking", or "just too busy", or just didn't know", but here are some things you shouldnt' do if you want to actually preserve any of the above (business, reputation and closed sales):

1) Don't use your comment section intended to highlight the property features to potential buyers with a load of legal B.S. and disclaimers about the short sale. The comments (or remarks) section is to SELL your listings to buyers, you know, tell them about how great the property is?! Entice them to see it! We know you have certain things you need to tell us about the short sale, that is what BROKER remarks are for. 9 out of 10 of you have decided that marketing and selling your listings isn't really important at all, just covering your big butt!

2) Don't forget to actually take a picture of the PROPERTY! Hmm, with nearly 30,000 single family listings in South Florida, many at very competitive prices, which do you think buyers are going to select to go see? Yes! The ones that give them an idea of what the property actually looks like! Most buyers will never even look at a listing with no pictures. Did you ever consider that it is your JOB to sell the home? To SAVE your CLIENT from foreclosure? Or did you just list 100 short sales, throw them on the wall and hope a few might stick and disregard all the others (as they slip into foreclosure with no idea why - maybe you just told them"it's a tough market out there" to cover your professional negligence)?

3) Don't hire a 3rd party negotiator who doesn't know what they are doing. If you don't feel comfortable negotiating short sales yourself (or feel that you "need to be out there doing what I do best, selling homes" - and you clearly are not in the category with #1 and #2 above) make sure who ever you hire KNOWS what they are doing and is not so overwhelmed with files that they can't handle the processing in a timely manner. Oh, and don't expect MY buyer to PAY for YOUR negotiator. If you don't want to do it, you pay for it, get the seller or the bank to pay for it, but not MY Buyer!

4) Don't neglect your 3rd party processor, the seller or the selling agent. Just because there is a contract being negotiated does NOT mean you can dump YOUR job on your negotiator, the selling agent or anyone else. You still need to be involved and informed of the deal from start to finish. Don't push off duties to others. If your only job were to get listings, then you'd be a business development agent, but you are a real estate agent (or BROKER) and you are to be actively involved and informed the whole time, you are getting paid to be so!

5) Don't be so far removed from your seller that they rent the house out and never bother to tell you. It isn't pretty for selling agents with buying clients to walk into an occupied home using a lock-box combo that YOU put on the MLS only to find the home FULL of people and you sound surprised when notified of this as the selling agent stands in front of the home with shocked buyers. How often do you even speak with your sellers? ohhh I know, you "just didn't know".....

6) Don't list the home at 25% (or plug in a number) below what you know to be an APPROVED sale price. Has this ever worked for you? If the lender has agreed to take $X, maybe even several months ago, what ever makes you think that they are now going to take considerably LESS and how do you think a buyer is ever going to agree to go UP 25+% from list price?

7) Don't keep the property in ACTIVE status if you are no longer showing it. If you have an offer (or several) that you submitted to the lender(s) then put it in BACK-UP or CONTINGENT. Why are you wasting everyone's time?

8) Don't forget to keep the selling agent and the seller up to date. Yes.... we know this is a LONG process, and you are SOOO busy, but if you might actually keep us updated on a weekly, or even bi-weekly status, we'll all feel much calmer and are much more likely not to get a trigger finger and drop out of the deal. Buyers are especially nervous as time goes by and if we aren't keeping them up to date, who is to blame them when they are waiting in short sale purgatory, not knowing if they are going to go to heaven or hell for months on end?

9) Don't for goodness sake, advertise a commission that you KNOW is a LIE. I don't mean adverting a customary commission, we know that needs to be approved by the lender, but I mean a HIGHER than customary commission and then add the little disclaimer "commission must be approved by lender". Well, unless you are a miracle worker, I have rarely (actually never) seen a bank approved higher than customary percentages. If you can do that, great, then get that done up front and advertise that it is, but don't use the bait and switch game. If you are that devious from the get go, I'm basically not going to trust a word you say... ever.

10) Don't treat everyone like second class citizens. Just because this is a short sale, it does not mean that you can treat the seller, the buyer or the selling agent with any less respect, professionalism and attention than you would one of your "regular" sales.

If you don't like short sale listings, don't take them, if you don't have the patience for short sale deals, don't take them, if you don't have the patience with short sale sellers, don't take them. These deals often require more heart, more time, more attention and more business acumen than the regular sales your are out there listing and selling. If you don't like them, just don't take them. Refer them to someone who does and can!

I hope Mr. and Mrs. Short Sale Listing Agent that I haven't offended you too much. I hope that you might actually see a thing or two differently and change your errant ways. I really might WANT to help you sell YOUR Listing, and my BUYER might really WANT to buy your listing, but if you don't do your job, don't treat us with respect and professional courtesy we might just go to one of the other 30,000 listings in South Florida instead, you ain't the only game in town. I also feel so sorry, so very sorry for your poor seller who ends up foreclosed on because you "just didn't have time" or "just didn't know"!

Sincerely,

Ms. Short Sale Selling Agent and friends

PS, if you were wondering if this letter is to YOU? If you have any question if it is, then YES it is!


8p4du2rafy

Coconut Grove Active Listings -240 (similar to last month)
68 are "luxury listings" (ie over $1,500,000) -  (similar to last month)
35 are short sales (similar to last month)
5 are foreclosures (similar to last month)
Median List Price - $867,500 (same as last month)

Coconut Grove Pending Sales - 31 (similar to last month)
3 are "luxury listings" (up from last month)
15 are short sales (up from last month)
3 are foreclosures (down from last month)

Coconut Grove Closed Sales - 9 (similar to last month)
0 were "luxury listings"
1 was a short sale
3 were foreclsoures
Average List Price - $614,000
Average Sold Price - $533,000
List price to Sold Price Ratio - 87%
Higest Closed Listing - $1,055,000
Lowest Closed Listing - $465,000

What does this mean to you?

If you have a listing in the luxury market, there is stiff competition with over 1/4 of all listings in Coconut Grove in the top 10% of Miami-Dades' pricing ("luxury listings"), Listings in the upper price point are selling at a much slower rate than the lower price points and there are 4 years of inventory on the market (a sellers market is closer to 6 months). In order to be a viable listing, the price must be correct and the marketing top notch. Without both, listings are having a slow time moving.

If you are on the hunt for a "bargain", they are out there, but they go quickly. Most foreclosures sell quickly and close to, or above list price. In order to have the best chance of snatching one of these deals up, work with an experienced Coconut Grove Broker who is comfortable with foreclosures (like me, hint hint ;-). They will advise you as soon as a new property comes on the market or drops in price to be within your price range. They will also knows the special ins and outs of purchasing foreclosures.

Check back next month for the Coconut Grove August month in review!

Visit past Market Reports (scroll down once you click the link to see all)

Customized Monthly Market Reports delivered right to your email!

 

 

Bookmark with me your favorite listings on

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Free HOME VALUATION!

Free MLS Search!

Call Janie at 786-252-4970!!

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Coral Gables Active Listings - 468 (same as last month)
195 are "luxury listings" (ie over $1,500,000) (same as last month)
34 are short sales (same as last month)
2 are foreclosures (fewer than last month)
Median List Price - $1,199,000 (same as last month)

Coral Gables Pending Sales - 95 (same as last month)
11 are "luxury listings" (same as last month)
30 are short sales (same as last month)
19 are foreclosures (same as last month)

Coral Gables Closed Sales - 25 (same as last month)
6 were "luxury listings" (same as last month)
3 were short sales (same as last month)
3 were foreclsoures (same as last month)
Average List Price - $1,005,000
Average Sold Price - $892,000
List price to Sold Price Ratio - 90%

Higest Closed Listing - $2,550,000

Lowest Closed Listing - $215,000 (a short sale)

What does this mean to you?

If you have a listing in the luxury market, there is stiff competition with over 1/3 (almost 1/2!) of all listings in Coral Gables in the top 10% of Miami-Dades' pricing ("luxury listings"). Listings in the upper price point are selling at a much slower rate than the lower price points and there are 3 years of inventory on the market (a sellers market is closer to 6 months). In order to be a viable listing, the price must be correct and the marketing top notch. Without both, listings are having a slow time moving. The GOOD sign is that properties are really moving, the inventory is down and the sales are up, so seller, things are looking up!

If you are on the hunt for a "bargain", they are out there, but they go quickly. Most foreclosures sell quickly and close to, or above list price. In order to have the best chance of snatching one of these deals up, work with an experienced Coral Gables Broker who is comfortable with foreclosures (like me, hint hint ;-). They will advise you as soon as a new property comes on the market or drops in price to be within your price range. They will also knows the special ins and outs of purchasing foreclosures. Properties are going faster than before, especially the well priced ones, now is the time to look before the market completely turns. Look at the market reports from earlier this year and you will see the trend in sales....

Check back next month for the Coral Gables September month in review!

Visit past Market Reports (scroll down once you click the link to see all)

Customized Monthly Market Reports delivered right to your email!

 

 

Bookmark with me your favorite listings on

FREE Customized Monthly Market Reports delivered right to your email!

Free HOME VALUATION!

Free MLS Search!

Call Janie at 786-252-4970!!

Want more news? Subscribe in a reader!