Miami Real Estate Blog

Dave Rosenmarkle wrote a blog this morning that inspired me (Home Inspections: Necessary Landmines).  So here it is.

Who regulates building inspection companies?  There are a lot of fly-by-night inspectors that we have to be aware of because they can ruin a deal.   One horrible experience happened a while ago with such a company, will call them INSPECTHIS and I am glad that I can laugh about it now.  We were the listing agents for a CBS house on a concrete slab.  INSPECTHIS found that the house had subterranean termites and went ahead to tell the buyer that she should be very concerned about the structural integrity of the house.  I don't like to intervene with inspectors because you become the "bad one", but I asked "Why should they be concerned about the structure if it is a concrete house?".  INSPECTHIS went on to say.... listen to this, that subterranean termites EAT CONCRETE!!!

I almost did a flip backwards!!  Without being rude or condescending, I looked at the buyer and asked that they get a termite company to do a real inspection and to ask if that was correct.  Both INSPECTHIS and the buyer were so mad.  Thank God they called a termite company and verified that subterranean termites do not eat concrete and that there was no structural damage to the house.

If I would not have been present during that statement, the deal would have fallen apart.  The most ironic thing is that this inspector ended up costing this buyer so much money.  They had to hire a termite company as well as a structural engineer, and it was all out of the buyer's pocket.  The saddest part is that INSPECTHIS represents a huge law firm here in Miami, when they have law suits about bad builders.  INSPECTHIS is the EXPERT!!!  Our industry is truly surrounded by savages.

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

Something happened to my husband today that I need to share. (He should be writing this, but oh well). He received a phone call at the office from someone looking for an ex-real estate agent from our office and he decided to try to help the gentleman. To make a long story short, this gentleman wants to sell 2 commercial properties valued at approx. $3 million each.

Rick immediately found the number of the ex-agent who left the industry to move to California to tell him that his customer had called, and wanted to know if he still had a valid RE license in Florida so they could share the profits.

This agent, who by the way was instrumental in our real estate career change, was in total shock. He could not believe that Rick would go out of his way to show solidarity and share a commission when he would have never even found out about the transaction.

We have learned to give credit where credit is due. This is not a business to get greedy and there is plenty to go around. Share the wealth! It will come back to you in ways that you least expect.

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

Overview of the single family market in Miami Shores, FL:

• Currently on the market:  174
• Currently under contract:  22
• Closed in the last 90 days:  33
• Lowest price Listed:  $302,900
• Highest Price Listed:  $3,995,000

Overview of the condo market in Miami Shores, FL:

• Currently on the market:  33
• Currently under contract:  14
• Closed in the last 90 days:  3
• Lowest price Listed:  $139,500
• Highest Price Listed:  $699,000

Visit http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

In Miami Shores, agents even ask about him and are disappointed when he is not there. Once in Aventura, I was scolded by an agent for having a child with me (at the time 6 months old, asleep in a stroller), in my own vacant listing!

He’s in school now, but sometimes comes with me to my showings, just because he likes to be with mom. I’ve learned not to be uncomfortable and to call him my assistant or “Realtor in Training”. How do you feel about kids in listings?

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

In a seller’s market it is not even necessary to hold Brokers Opens because houses sell so quickly (at least here in Miami they do- having a house listed for a month would be considered “stale”).  But in a buyer's market it all changes.  Not only do we hold Brokers Opens, but we go out of our way to invite all the other listings in the near vicinity to join us.  We have found that the more houses that are open near by, the more traffic you will ultimately get.

Here’s what we do.  We create a list of homes for sale in a 2-4 block radius and call every real estate agent selling and ask to join us on a particular day at a particular time. (We even invite FSBO's which really shocks them because we are trying to help without pushing the listing). We draft up a fax and e-mail flyer to include each home, name and contact information of agent, Brokerage Company and if they are serving any food.  We then send these e-mails to all the brokers and managers around town to forward to their Realtors.  We also fax the flyer to all the local companies.  Sometimes we even coordinate the food and serve different courses in each home, including desserts and coffee.  With this strategy we had approximately 40 agents visit our last Brokers Open in Miami Beach.

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

Dena Stevens wrote a blog a few days ago asking : Has anyone had any success on any level on Craigslist?

Looking at the response from that post, I decided to include all of our rental listings on Craigslist. Within 1 hour of posting, I received a call from a real estate customer wanting to rent one of the units at full price. Amazing!! Thank you Dena,

Ines

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

My husband and I were successful in other professional careers before devoting ourselves full-time to Miami real estate…….and have never looked back.

 I am an architect and specialize in residential real estate.  I have so much fun dissecting homes and seeing their true potential and enjoy helping people visualize change.  My husband is an accountant and does commercial real estate because he loves numbers and is a true numbers guy.  We learn so much on a daily basis and never thought creativity would pay off so much in this business.  When we first joined the Realtor community it wasn’t comfortable.  Experienced and established agents were many times unpleasant and difficult to deal with.  It felt like we were in the Twilight Zone where things were taken out of context and people were right down irrational.  But we were able to overcome all these frustrations because we promised each other that we would always be nice. Plain and simple, NICE.  Helping other agents succeed and putting out our fresh and innovative ideas is a “monster concept” because competition is always so fierce.  Our reputation follows us and even though some might still regard us as “naïve”, we feel good at the end of the day and LOVE what we do.  Ines

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

I just joined Active Rain last week and cannot begin to tell you how surprised and relieved I am that there are Miami Realtors out there that are smart, that have great things to contribute and at the same time are helpful.  I really look forward to reading not only great blogs, but great comments as well.

Now to the dirty stuff at hand.  My husband and I found ourselves on the ugly and bad side of an offer this past week.  We showed another agent's listing to a customer of ours and he decided to make a low ball offer. 

It wasn't just low, but really offensively low.  As much as we pulled comps and explained the price and did all we could do, it was our job to write up and present the ridiculous offer.  You can imagine that the seller did not even bother countering, but the seller's agent did not even bother to call us.  Our buyer, after a couple of days, decided to place another offer on the same property and get closer to reality. 

Again, we did not get an answer from the agent's seller but this time the agent's assistant, after the second offer had expired, tells us that the relocation company does not even look at offers unless all disclosures are signed....HMMMMMMMMMM!! 

By this time we are thinking...."Does this mean the offers were not even presented?"  The agent did not even tell us that there were additional disclosures to be signed.  Now I will have to contact the agent and the agent's broker and try to figure out what happened.  

Many of you have put it so beautifully, this deal could end up working, and our buyer is ready to go, but there is no communication and very little cooperation from the seller's agent and the deal may never happen because of it.   In addition to being in a changing market, we also have to deal with difficult agents that put road blocks everywhere we go. So frustrating! 

Ines

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

This is a topic that needs discussion and would appreciate anyone's opinion or experience.

I was holding an open house for one of our listings in Miami Shores yesterday, and a really rude lady came in with her husband.  When I said hello she just kept walking and did not even acknowledge my presence.  I was talking to another visitor so I did not pay much attention, but watched them closely.  When they were on the way out I asked if they had any questions and to please take a couple of minutes to sign in.  The woman did not even raise her head, never made eye contact and did not say a single word, just rushed out of the house.  Talk about lack of manners!

I understand some people don't want to give their personal information, but a simple "No Thanks" would be enough.  Would it be too rude to post a sign outside the door that says "If not nice, please don't come in"???  It is so surprising to me what a simple smile and thank you can do.   Any suggestions?

Ines

Miami Shores Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/ www.miamism.com

This is a quick article I wrote for our blog at http://miamishoresrealestate.blogspot.com/

We felt the need to clear up a common misinterpretation for everyone who follows Real Estate trends. We are being bombarded by the Media on a daily basis that home sales are dropping. What does this really mean???

This doesn't really mean that prices are dropping. What it means is that less homes are selling. There is so much inventory (so many homes for sale), that buyers have a lot more to choose from and leverage to negotiate, but at the same time, there are fewer buyers.

More inventory, and fewer buyers means less sales. This means that when selling your home, you NEED TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK. You will need an agent, or a team of agents that market more aggressively, that have strong selling and negotiating skills, and that give 100% of themselves all the time, not just weekends, or just part of the week. Before you do yourself a disservice, please make sure the agent you are working with knows the area, and knows what they are doing.

If you choose to sell your house yourself and place a "FOR SALE BY OWNER" sign on your property, be ready to spend a lot of money on marketing in local newspapers, local publications, magazines and different websites as well. But also be ready to show your property with very short notice and usually at inconvenient times. Don't expect the sign in the front of the property, to sell your home.

Ines

Miami Shores FL Real Estate, http://www.yourpropertypros.com/    www.miamism.com