Zoila Perez-Chanquet - Miami Real Estate

It has gotten very difficult to find a condo approved for financing in the Downtown Miami area. It's even more time consuming, due to the fact that many listing agents type in Conventional under the terms, but knowing the market I know that is not correct. Once you take your time to call the listing agent and ask "are they financing in the bldg" they all say "no", or, I don't have a clue. So what is the sense of writing Conv under terms? Why not write Other and then we all know it's cash! As a listing agent, I always make sure that I speak to the association and get all the facts before listing the property in the MLS system. I don't want other people, agents or buyers, wasting their time nor mine.

I have several buyers that are approved for conventional financing and are looking for a condo in the Downtown Miami area, unfortunately none are cash! Many of these condos are Fannie Mae approved but even if they are, what good is it? They are upside down in the association or are over the guidelines on rental units. I know that Fannie Mae will be easing up on the guidelines in the next month, but make it worthwhile, don't tease us. There is so much supply out here in Downtown Miami at such great deals that many home-buyers want to take advantage, purchase a unit and become owner occupied which will help us all. Why not give them all a chance.....

My tip for home-buyers wanting to purchase a condo unit, make sure that you are using a knowledgeable agent that knows the market, that you are interested in. Make sure they know where to do their research, interview them, ask them questions, if they don't know an answer make sure they tell you "I will find out and get back to you" and of course, make sure they do get back to you with an answer! It's plain and simple, just as a Realtor wants to make sure that their customers are qualified and ready to purchase the home-buyer also should want to know if the Realtor is qualified and ready to find them the right property at the right terms. Do not waste our time nor should we waste yours.

Oops! It happened again. Yesterday I was checking my Facebook page and saw a comment that one of my friends made, she wrote "I'm out, house hunting". I immediately called her to see what was going on. For the last year, she has been updating her house getting it ready to list and I was going to represent her, so I thought. Like a good agent, I emailed her the last closed sales in the area, gave her some pointers on what to update to make the house more appealing to buyers, imagine, everything a good agent does for her customers. So, I was surprised when I saw this comment! When I reached her, she said that a handy man came by her place and when she mentioned she was selling, he referred her to an agent that had a buyer. Then she explained that the buyer did not work out and the next day she had 32 Realtors looking at her place! She never came right out and said that she had listed the property, so I told her a few things about real estate and by the tone of my voice I am sure she realized that I was not a happy camper. Of course, I kept my cool and spoke about other things that were happening in my life, like a show that I had just attended. I told her that if I found a property that might be of interest to her that I would let her know, but by the sound of her voice, I know that she is working with the other agent. When I checked our MLS, the property was on pending status.

I know this is common, and I can't understand why? They don't seem to understand the importance of our jobs. They remind me of flies, that they land where ever there is a spot. I was very upset, at first, and it reminded me of the many realtors that have been in this business for many years and all the things they go through. It's a tough business, we do a lot for our customers, but many don't see it that way. Many buyers seem to believe that we are tour guides, until we give them the "Buyers Brokers Agreement", and from this experience, I guess we need to have the listing agreement signed way ahead of time!

Good Luck to All.

In these tough times, I hear more and more of homeowners loosing their credit. I am astounded when I hear them say that they just don't care about loosing their credit and the explanation is that everyone is going through it, so what......

People don't seem to understand the importance of having good credit. I know many are flustered with their situation but they are not thinking of future consequences. Many have decided to foreclose on their homes rather than do a short sale or modification and many are filing bankruptcies. Even if this situation is common and happening in many households, the credit rating system will not change. Bad debt will show on your credit report for seven years, foreclosures might show for a longer period of time. Bad debt will not be erased until then. Landlords do check credit reports and fico scores, in order to rent their properties. I know many people who have lost their credit, in fact, I have gone out with them and it's amazing to hear that they don't have any cash nor credit cards. I had someone say "I don't even have access to a dollar".

I, myself, have struggled but I have always tried to keep my credit, when a crisis arises, Ihave my credit to back me up. I can't imagine being without it. Now, my husband wants to open a small business, we are applying for an express loan through the Small Business Administration and guess what they check, they base the loan on your fico score. No score, no loan!

It's so important for people to be educated on the importance of keeping their credit in good standing. I wish more would study the consequences before rushing and loosing it. Please be wise, there are many websites that can assist with credit problems. I have learned a lot from these websites and I was able to clear my credit and be proud of it!

Yesterday I showed my new listing,"a good sale", to several buyers and "what a pleasant day it was"! After running around for months placing offers on foreclosures this was a welcomed change of pace. Don't get me wrong, foreclosures are great if your offer is the lucky one to get accepted.

In my area, Miami, a foreclosed home comes on the market, you rush to show it, place the offer and then you hear that you are competing with 20 other offers. Your buyer feels fustrated because his offers are no longer below asking price, he has bumped up his strategy by offering $10k above asking price with a hefty 20% down payment and it's still not enough! What else can you do? As I thought about this market this morning, I realized that the buyers that were left out when the boom because they were not able to afford a property are still in the same predicament. Everyone is rushing to purchase a deal, yes they are out there but if you are looking to purchase a property in good condition, so is everyone else.

I don't mean to discourage those out there looking for such deals, but the reality is that it's not as easy as it sounds. If you are in the market to purchase and are fully qualified your best bet is to look for good sales, unfortunately, there are not many out there but if you come across one in your price range grab it! I feel confident that my "good listing" will sell soon as buyers are tired of running around. I am anxiously waiting for the day the market turns around and business will be conducted in a normal manner. Hooray for Good Sales, bring them on!!!!

http://www.zmiamirealestate.com

It seems that the property tax issues in Miami-Dade County is never ending. Final property rolls released on July 3rd showed a dip of 9.5 percent countywide. Across Miami-Dade, the downturn erased $23 billion in real-estate value, pushing the county's overall value down to $222 billion, according to the county property appraisers office. So now what? Well, according to Channel 10 news, the Mayor proposed raising property taxes to residents but many opposed. The next budget proposal, 5% pay cut to all 30-40,000 Miami-Dade County employees accross the board including police and fire. The Police Union head, Mr. John Rivera from the Police Benevolent Association, stated in his interview that if we look at county commissions meetings we would realize how much money they spend "as if they are printing money themselves" were his words and I believe it!

Now, what happened to all the money they collected during the real estate peak? Why didn't they budget properly for a rainy day? Remember that the residents of Miami-Dade which have investment properties their property taxes sore through the roof due to their properties not being protected by the Save Our Homes Act. Now what, as usual we all have to suffer the consequences. If this proposal goes through which will be discussed on Wednesday, July 15th, it will affect all of us in Miami-Dade not only the employees. I am sure that this will be an ongoing issue, next step cutting personnel. This is just my two cents, I am sure many of us feel the same....