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Archive for the ‘Distressed Properties’ Category


Buying a Miami Foreclosure Condo

July 29th, 2010 · View Comments
Bank Owned

Word is out that Miami is for sale, so every buyer I work with nowadays is looking for a "great deal". However, these deals are becoming harder and harder to find because more buyers are chasing them with every passing month. The best of these deals are Miami foreclosure condos as banks are looking to sell these properties quickly at or slightly below current market prices. Buying a foreclosure condo is not easy. There a few things that you need to know before you begin the process:

Cash is King

These are all cash transactions -- no financing. Due to the difficulty in closing loans in many condo buildings, banks have a strong preference to choose an all cash offer. I've bid on several properties where the bank chose an all cash offer over a higher offer that involved financing. With the majority of property buyers in Miami being international, there are no shortage of all cash offers.

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Posted in Distressed Properties | View Comments


New Fannie Mae Rules Will Help Miami Condo Prices

January 8th, 2010 · View Comments

Wow, that's all I can say! Fannie Mae just released a bulletin detailing a new Special Approval Designation for Florida Condominium Projects. As a result, you can now get financing in many condo buildings where cheap units were previously only available to all cash buyers.

Many existing condominium projects were previously made ineligible for Fannie Mae loans as a result of increasing delinquencies and foreclosures. As a result, prices fell precipitously in those buildings as the universe of potential buyers was drastically reduced. To illustrate, in a building like the Club at Brickell Bay in Downtown Miami / Brickell you could purchase a 1br unit for between $120,000 and $145,000, but it had to be an all cash transaction. On the flip side, to purchase a similar unit in one of the new buildings by the Related Group, you would have to pay almost double the price, but you would be able to get a loan. The quality of the Related Group's buildings is slightly better, but it doesn't justify paying two times the price. The difference is the financing.

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Posted in Distressed Properties, Downtown Miami / Brickell, Financing, Miami Beach | View Comments


Miami Foreclosure Sales: What You Should Know

December 14th, 2009 · View Comments
Miami Foreclosure Sales

It's no surprise that every client that I work with is interested in getting a great deal on a property.  A fair amount of them are only interested in looking at bank owned properties, figuring that is where they can get the best deal.  Recently, bidding wars have been breaking out for bank owned properties as a result of high demand and low list prices.

In order to capitalize on the demand for attractively priced properties, real estate "flippers" have returned to Miami albeit in a slightly different form. Flippers purchase properties at the daily foreclosure sales held by the Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Courts and then list them for resale on the open market.  In buildings where there have been a lot of foreclosures such as the Club at Brickell Bay (1200 Brickell Bay Drive), there are several units currently attempting to be flipped by these auction investors.  This trend has not gone unnoticed by the mainstream media.  The Wall Street Journal just published an article entitled "House Flipping Makes a Comeback" on the subject.

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Posted in Distressed Properties, Downtown Miami / Brickell, Miami Beach | View Comments


A Condo Buyers Guide to Short Sales

July 27th, 2009 · View Comments
Short Sale

When talking with my clients about the condo market in Miami, one of the questions that constantly comes up is "What is a Short Sale?".  With the majority of attractively priced condo listings in Miami being short sales, it is important for a buyer to understand what a short sale is and the typical process involved in purchasing one.

In a short sale, the property owner is behind on their mortgage payment and wants to sell the property in an effort to avoid foreclosure, but can’t find a buyer willing to pay enough money for the property to cover the remaining principal on the mortgage.  The property owner then asks their lender if it is willing to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage.  Because the property owner needs the lender's approval before agreeing to the sales price, short sales can take months to complete as lenders try to figure out how big of a loss they are willing to take.  In some cases, even after months of analysis, a lender may decide it doesn’t want to do one at all.

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Bank Owned (“REO”) vs Short Sale: The Facts

July 16th, 2009 · View Comments
Bank Owned

Nowadays, many buyers are interested in purchasing "distressed" properties hoping to get a great deal.  My definition of a "distressed" property is a property where the owner has fallen behind on their payments to either their mortgage company or the homeowners association and a lien has been filed with the courts, initiating foreclosure proceedings.

Of the properties available on the market, short sales are those that are in the earliest stage of distress or "pre-foreclosure".  In a short sale, the property owner is behind on their mortgage payment and wants to sell the property, but can't find a buyer willing to pay enough money for the property to cover the remaining principal on the mortgage.  The property owner then asks their lender if it is willing to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage.Short sales can take months to complete as lenders try to figure out how big of a loss they are willing to take.  In some cases, even after months of analysis, a lender may decide it doesn't want to do one at all.

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Posted in Distressed Properties, Stats and Trends | View Comments