Thomas Druck

Some of are hesitant to make any decision without knowing all the details. If you happen to be one of those people, I definitely understand where you are coming from, because I'm one of them too.

Sometimes this behavior doesn't work in our favor though.

How does this apply to the real estate market ?

I sell condos in Miami Beach and specifically South Beach, so I can only speak for this market, but unlike the general mindset that all real estate markets are currently buyer's markets, there one big exception, that most people overlook.

Since we definitely are in a buyer's market, everybody is looking to get a best deal possible. Of course the better the deals get, the more scarce they get and the more sought after they are, thus creating a mini seller's market for these exceptionally good deals. It has become very common for well price Miami Beach condos to sell above list price, after several buyers engage over a bidding war for them.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about every condo in Miami Beach, nor am I talking about the majority of them, but only a very small segment of the market.

Since this small segment seems to be what most buyer's currently looking to acquire a Miami Beach condo seem to be looking for, lots of potential buyer's end up leaving empty handed.

Often that happens because people are worried about pulling the trigger and submitting an offer on the condo they seem to like and find to be a good deal. This hesitation often comes from a fear of the unknown. What if there is a big lien on the property ? What if it needs a lot of repairs ? What if....what if....what if.... ?

Unfortunately there is generally not enough time to cross all your t's and dot all your i's as all the really good deals will be long gone before you and / or your real estate agent have gathered all the details, so here's my suggestion to you:

MAKE YOUR OFFER ASAP !

By doing so, you drastically decrease your risk of being left out and missing all the good deals.

But what if there's a problem with the property ?

Here's the important lesson in this post: In Florida, you are legally entitled to cancel your purchase offer on a condo for up to 3 days after you have received the declaration of condominium (and some other documents) without any ramifications to you.

(I will post an actual paragraph out of one of the addenda on the purchase contract at the end of this post for those of you that want to know all the details) .

Once you've made your offer, you then have plenty of time to do all your research (or preferable have your real estate agent do it for you) and if you find anything that you dislike, you simply retract your offer, no harm done, as long as it's within 3 days of receipt of all necessary paperwork. Since most sellers will never actually supply you with a declaration of condominium until an offer is accepted and signed by both parties, you generally have a lot more than 3 days to conduct your research and see if you want to stick with your offer or not.

So what's the moral of the story ? If in doubt, make your offer ! There's always time to clarify some details afterwards.

Here's what the actual paragraph on the contract reads like:

"THIS AGREEMENT IS VOIDABLE BY BUYER BY DELIVERING WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE BUYER’S INTENTION TO CANCELWITHIN 3 DAYS, EXCLUDING SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS, AND LEGAL HOLIDAYS, AFTER THE DATE OF EXECUTION OF THIS AGREEMENT BY THE BUYER AND RECEIPT BY BUYER OF A CURRENT COPY OF THE DECLARATION OF CONDOMINIUM, ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION, BYLAWS AND RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION, AND A COPY OF THE MOST RECENT YEAR-END FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS DOCUMENT IF SO REQUESTED IN WRITING. ANY PURPORTED WAIVER OF THESE VOIDABILITY RIGHTS SHALL BE OF NO EFFECT. BUYER MAY EXTEND THE TIME FOR CLOSING FOR A PERIOD OF NOT MORE THAN 3 DAYS, EXCLUDING SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS, AND LEGAL HOLIDAYS, AFTER THE BUYER RECEIVES THE DECLARATION, ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION, BYLAWS AND RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION, AND A COPY OF THE MOST RECENT YEAR-END FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS DOCUMENT IF REQUESTED IN WRITING. BUYER’S RIGHT TO VOID THIS AGREEMENT SHALL TERMINATE AT CLOSING."

Please note that this is only valid in Florida, so if you are in a different state, please check with a local real estate agent / attorney.

If you are interested in more information like this, you can follow my blog at http://www.SouthBeachcondoAgent.com/blog

A little addition to my last post about short sales vs foreclosures

I want to give you more details on what is required from the seller's side when trying to conduct a short sale transaction.

As indicated in the previous post, there needs to be a reason (i.e. "hardship") that caused your situation to change in a manner that no longer allows you to pay your mortgage. Examples for hardship situations are loss of employment, loss of an income earner in the family, etc.

On top of that you need to be able to document your financial situation. I have put together a package of forms that I require all sellers in short sale situations require to fill out before listing any of their miami beach condos. If you are interested in more details, you can see the short sale forms here

Here's a little post about conducting a short sale from a seller's perspective.

Owners of distressed South Beach condos ask me all the time why they should be conducting short sales instead of just letting their troubled asset (or should we call it liability) go into foreclosure ?

First of all, I want to make it very clear, that I am in no way trying to encourage people from walking away from an "investment gone bad" even though they can afford to keep paying their mortgage. As a matter of fact, I believe that people simply changing their mind about owning Miami Beach condos and thus walking away, are a large contributor to the current real estate downturn.

Assuming you are somebody that is in legitimate trouble and really can not afford to keep paying your mortgage on your Miami Beach condo, a short sale is an definitely worth some consideration.

Yes there are other options (e.g. forbearance, loan modifications, etc.) however I am only talking about the difference between short sales and foreclosures.

Simply put, both options have negative impact on your credit rating, etc., however short sales tend to have a much less negative impact than foreclosures.

Click here for a chart, showing the ramifications of a foreclosure vs a short sale (provided by CDPE).

As you can see, a short sale is what I call the "lesser evil", therefore if you are experiencing some kind of hardship and are thinking of just walking away from your Miami Beach condo, please consider all your options and if you decide that foreclosure is the only one, talk to a qualified Realtor about the possibility of short selling your unit.

Please keep checking my blog for further details on what you need to know about short selling your Miami Beach condo.

You can contact me through my website www.SouthBeachCondoAgent.com

I wanted to add one thought to yesterday's blog about short sales.

Even though it seems like there are a lot of negative factors that need to be considered when getting into a short sale transaction, I do believe that they might be your BEST OPTION when trying to score a great deal on a South Beach condo.

You might think I'm out of my mind to tell you this, after stating that the short sale process is generally long, requires a lot of patience and after all is said and done, there is no guarantee that your offer will actually go through.

Well, while that is all true, there is one big advantage in that truth. Many buyers (as well as their agents), do not want to deal with short sales for these exact reasons. That means that there are plenty of potentially great deals out there, that few people are considering. NO or LITTLE COMPETITION is your big advantage here. Something that can't be said for well priced foreclosures.

If you need a place to start your search your Miami Beach condos, you can use the property search on my website.