Nayla Benitez, P.A.

This post is for all those individuals frustrated at the fact that it seems almost impossible to purchase a condo in Brickell now that the prices are affordable.

One of the biggest let-downs has been buyers finding a great condo getting all excited about putting in an offer only to find out that their bank will not finance their purchase due to the defaults in the building. It is almost impossible to find a building in Brickell that does not have defaults, foreclosures or short-sales. This leaves many individuals that have good credit, that have a good down payment out in the cold and only gives the opportunity to those that have cash!!! Unfortunate I think.

500 Brickell has been approved for financing and many are taking advantage, after all the price may not be as low as a foreclosure but they are lower than they originally were during pre-construction. However keep in mind that even though it is FHA approved the developer is still requiring 20 percent down.

Prices for 1/1 starting at 194,500 and 2/2 at $245,900.

I think they are worth looking at ....at least if you have your heart set on a brand new unit with the Brickell address.

Now this is a true story, I was on my way to show a property this morning and as I pulled up to the house I hesitated for a moment because there was a moving truck and the listing agent did not tell me there were people moving out today. I parked and asked my clients to give me a moment as I checked to see what was going on....I knocked and a lady opened the door, I identified myself and told her I was coming to show the property and she said "oh yes come in no problem". So I got my clients and went into the house, it was apparent they were moving -the only problem is that they were taking EVERYTHING with them right down to the kitchen cabinets. It was just such a bad impression for my clients and I was shocked that they just kept doing their thing without a care in the world. I was unsure what to do as I believe these were the tenats not the owners- so I contacted the listing agent who could not believe what I was telling him and said he was going over to the house. Not really sure what happened at the end of the day.

Needless to say I left with my clients but it was the second house that I had showed that week that was completely gutted of appliances and everything else. It is truly sad to see these new homes in these conditions. In speaking with a couple of people regarding this issue I have gotten very mixed responses. There are those that say well the homeowner lost his/her home, it is just a way of getting something back and others believe these people are committing a crime and should be penalized for it. What's your take on it?

It is estimated that 60% of taxable property in the U.S. are over assessed, in Florida the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) is the entity that determines the assessed value of your property based on information from the Assessor's appraisers.

Today property values have dropped across the board, this means that the information that this office has in regards to property's assessed value is incorrect which translates into incorrect taxes. In order to make sure you are paying the correct amount of taxes you will need to do some research. There are a number of things you need to do in order to file an appeal to get your property re-assessed and get your taxes reduced. You can find the appeal form and all in the information needed by visiting:

http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/dadecoc/VAB.asp

I can't stress how important it is to get this done ON TIME, it can mean the difference between paying a couple of hundreds may thousands of dollars extra taxes without having to. Deadlines varies depending on the county you live in but it is usually 25 days from the day you receive the "Notice of Proposed Property Taxes"- which is usually mailed out in August.

Realtors--tell this to your clients and remind them come August- they will be so thankful for the money you will save them.

Home Buyers--write this down in your calendar the day you buy your house forgetting to Appeal your property assessment value can save you lots of money.

I think there is a misconception on Foreclosures, working foreclosures is not an easy job you must educate your buyer so when he/she finds a foreclosure they like they don't loose it because of putting unrealistic offers.

I have noticed specially in the last couple of months that when a really good foreclosure comes out- and I will limit this to the Brickell area- there will be multiple offers on the unit and if the unit is located in one of the higher end buildings the unit will sell for more than asking price.

So how would you answer the question of how negotiable is a foreclosure? Well it depends on a number of factors such as time unit has been on the market, location, condition of the unit and how many other similar units are in foreclosure in the same building..... to name a few. It's important for people to understand that foreclosure properties are priced to sell and a bank will consider the best and highest offer always. I always tell my clients, here are the comparables -if the unit is well priced than give your best number and don't get upset if you get out-bid big another buyer whom offered $5000 more....don't loose out- if it's worth full price than offer full price or somebody else will. Granted this does not apply to every situation but so far in Brickell it's hapening more often than not.

You would think they were by the conversations I sometimes have with investors coming from other countries to buy a condo in the Brickell area. There is just such a misconception out there regarding the condo market in Brickell. Having been actively working the foreclosure market in the area I can tell you that yes prices have dropped dramatically -specially with foreclosures. Yes, there are great deals out there, I actually sold a 1 bedroom condo for $114K a couple of months back. Granted the building had numerous foreclosures and the Association was running almost with no reserves, yet this was the same unit that back in 2005 was sold for over $275K. So is this an amazing deal? Yes I think so.....so then why would investors think that it would be possible to buy a similar unit for $50K???? Can someone please help me out here--I can't understand it.

After a long explanation of how banks price property to sell in foreclosure the buyer still insist on making an offer for 50% of what the bank is listing the property for....amazing!! Well it obviously ended in the buyer not getting this or any other condo and myself very politely telling him I was not going to be able to find him anything in Brickell that met his criteria.

I think is truly important to educate your buyer's and provide them with all the information they need to make reasonable offers. If the buyer refuses to listen and you truly believe he is making a serious mistake sometimes it's just better to part ways because in the long run you will be frustrated and the buyer will think you did not help in the purchase of the property because you were not a good Realtor!

Trust me just let them go....