Miami Real Estate Blog

May you always find your TUNE Caleb!

According to Forbes.com, Fisher Island FL(33109) and Alpine N.J. (907620) tied for first place in their list of 500 most expensive zip codes in the U.S.

"Fisher Island, a man-made body of land named after developer Carl Fisher, is just as luxe.  It teems with large waterfront mansions and boasts an impressive country club.  It boasts a median income of $200,000 and residents including mutual fund manager Martin Zweig and Vector Group Chief Bennett Le Bow".

It really does not surprise me that such an exclusive community would surpass New Jersey's celebrity haven.  Fisher Island is an exclusive community that has not been affected by the down real estate market as other areas around the nation.  The following graphs will show you an upward trend in prices since 2005, although the time on the market has increased (from an average of 95 days in 2005 to 135 in 2006 and 199 in 2007), sales are still strong.

I am a bit biased when it comes to Fisher Island, because it's an amazing place with total privacy and you feel like you are in a different world.  Take a look at www.FisherIslandDrive.com to get an idea of a typical listing.

Geesh!! it took me a while to get here!  Sorry for the long and drawn out explanations, but I HAD to give you some history before I got to the good stuff.

Just in case you missed them, here are the 2 previous articles:

• Real Estate Branding - Rick and Ines Style
• Real Estate Branding - Rick and Ines Style .....continued

So Miamism was born after I had already started playing with colors - orange, grey and white will be carried to everything we do - from website, to business cards, brochures......and more.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of how we chose the name and how Rick and I banged heads for a couple of months trying to figure out something that was fun, that was different and that would set us apart.  Miamism goes beyond real estate, it goes into the core of why we love Miami and why others moving here should too.

We picked 7 or 8 images for the header of our site that were typical Miami images or "miamisms".  Then to launch our site we produced this postcard.

The idea with this postcard was to create curiosity, we wanted people to wonder what miamism.com was about and go into the blogsite.  We started off with 4,000 of these postcards going out to our immediate market.  A marketing guru in the area approached us and told us it was genius.  People would either ask what this was about, would go into our site or would not care....either way, it would create conversation.  (And isn't conversation what blogging is about?....everything was coming into place).

We also created magnets which we give to friends and customers for their cars (2" X 10") - they are modest and easy to attach.  We also created static clings (those plastic things that cling to windows) to give to restaurants every time we would write a review.  They look exactly like the logo above.

Here's our business cards:

Then Rick had the amazing idea of "MIAMISM FRIDAYS!" (and here you thought Rick was a figment of my imagination). How about taking pictures and videos of things that make Miami unique.  We could post them on Fridays and also ask our readers to submit Miamisms of their own (to this date, we have only received one......but hope this will change).

The whole lesson behind finding a brand that you like is that ideas flow like crazy and thinking outside the box becomes so natural.  Here are other ideas we are developing as we speak:

• t-shirts for kids (when we sponsor sports and Little League)
• We already have a cafepress store
• miamism riders for our real estate signs
• miamism videos and interviews to include on our blogsite
• miamism contests in nearby schools
• Vinyl name for our boat

Like every concept though, things need to be tested out with the consumer and you should be able to receive feedback and make necessary adjustments.  In order to separate the "Miami" and the "ism", we used different colors.  9 out of 10 people ask us on a regular basis what "SM" stands for.   Our next step will be to change the miamism logo to one color....it's a minor tweak, but one we need to do.

So there you have it - our journey through the world of real estate branding and marketing with what has worked and what has not.  To sum it up, you will need to find a creative graphic designer, one that is open to producing different choices for you.  Find colors and fonts you are comfortable with.  Make sure the quality of the product is there, it will represent you.  Make sure you apply your branding to everything you do.  Soon you will see the rewards, and it feels great.

We are very open to ideas and would also like to know what you have done that is unique.  So what do you think?

Recently we had a customer (who I'll call Mr. Loyal), that was outraged from a letter he received in the mail.  I decided to tell you about it because it may make you rethink some of your marketing strategies. (Especially when it comes to "expired listing letters").

We had listed Mr. Loyal's home because he wanted to move, but after seeing the other homes available in his price range, had a change of heart and decided to cancel the listing.  Somehow in Miami, when you cancel a listing, it eventually will show up in the MLS as expired.  (Don't ask.....one of those glitches they have not fixed).

Mr. Loyal received a number of letters from Realtors requesting his business and offering all kinds of free CMA's and no-obligation promises (the typical expired letters that a lot of Realtors use).  One of these letters stuck out and hit a nerve.  He called me immediately upon opening it to tell me that he was outraged that someone would go out of their way to offend him like that!  How could someone question the ability of his Realtors without even knowing the circumstances!  Questioning his Realtors' performance was like questioning his own judgment! 

All I could say was "OUCH!!!  That guy certainly burned a bridge". 

It gets better..... Mr. Loyal shares the letter with me and not only is it a Realtor in my same brokerage company, but a Realtor in my own office.  I must admit that although it IS business and we do send notes to expired listing owners, I was a bit shocked, especially because I always thought this guy was a gentleman.

Here's what the letter read that offended Mr. Loyal:

"Dear Neighbor,

Three weeks back when your property failed to sell and expired on the Multiple Listing Service, I wrote to you.  Your previous Realtor's good intention does not excuse poor results, nor are there any rewards for good intentions!....."

The whole point I am trying to make is that you need  to be careful about what you write when prospecting for real estate business.  There are many ways to go about it without having to put down other Realtors and without being offensive to your colleagues. 

You will be judged by the way you treat others, always keep that in mind......and if that isn't enough, think of what the other Realtor may think of you if they ever get their hands on that letter.  We are competing with each other, but we may also end up doing business together.

In PART I of Real Estate Branding - Rick and Ines Style, I told you how our real estate branding efforts started and gave you some examples of what we were producing.  I explained how being consistent was key to our marketing success.  Now I'd like to tell you about change.

I can't explain if it's instinct, or just luck, but after a couple of agents started utilizing our colors and we no longer stood out from the rest, I knew it was time to change.  I also have to admit that the white type on the black background was not always easy to read and resulted in a lot of "bolding" in our ads which made me feel like I was screaming.  SIMILAR TO WHAT JEFF TURNER SAYS ABOUT WRITING EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS.......DON'T DO IT!!

Our next step was to retake our photo because everyone was saying I did not look like our picture.  We hired Roy Llera, our awesome family photographer and headed to the beach for some family shots (thinking we could also take the business picture at the same time).  And for all of you using your picture for marketing and business cards, please make sure you have a professional photographer take it...don't have your best friend take the picture, people can tell and their impression of you will not be good.

The photo we finally chose is this one - I wanted our marketing to be white, but not boring. 

We hired a graphic designer who did these cards for us; he thought the grey would soften the black.  I can tell you that the moment I held these cards in my hand, I did not like them and started thinking on how to change them.  He also tweaked our logo which I liked....but what was missing??

I think the important lesson here is to trust your feelings.  If you don't like it, change it.  If you feel uncomfortable and can't put your finger on it, don't be afraid to ask for opinions.

I still wanted white but orange kept popping up in my mind.  We did a brochure where I decided to test the orange and drop the black (so much for consistency). And we got such great results and compliments from everywhere that I knew I was up to something.  I guess marketing is also about trying something new.

That's when Miamism was born - I was invited to Project Blogger and had been thinking of a clever name for our new outside blog and BAM!

Lesson here is that a hint of color can make a difference and can pull it all together.  Think of where you live, where you sell.  Think of the colors associated with that place.  Is it the sunlight that makes it special, the ocean, the mountains?  Think of your personality and what color defines you.  Orange is me.....my favorite color; I can't believe it took this long to get here.  Wait until you see what's next.

What we are doing now is innovative, it's different and it is fun........this is getting a bit long, so I'll finish on another post.

I wrote a post a while back called Investors that leave a sour taste in your mouth.  There I told you about the manipulating tactics of one particular investor we had dealt with who wanted us to draft a fraudulent offer.  Take a look at the comment thread because it is hilarious. 

Once we scared the tail out of Jake the snake and told him he was aking us to commit mortgage fraud, which is a Felony, I really thought he would be out of our lives forever.....better than "SNAKE OFF".  But no, to my disappointment, Jake is back.  The purpose of sharing the following e-mail thread is purely for entertainment reasons.  Enjoy!

Let me set the scene - we just listed a property in Miami Shores that is a fixer upper.  The sellers agreed to price it way under comparable sales to reflect the work it needs - its location is one of the best in the area with a newer roof, a/c and electrical - it needs cosmetic work.  It will hit the MLS on Monday and as of yesterday it is on our website, on Real Estate Shows, v-flyer and Craigslist.

What do we need to do for this guy to get out of our hair forever??? 

As Realtors we need to become incredible marketing experts not only of our properties but of ourselves as well.  When marketing yourselves and your business you must think of branding and the many aspects within the "branding scope" of marketing. Diane Aurit wrote a great article about branding and how different big and small real estate companies are with regards to marketing.  The big companies are usually "firm-centric" and concentrate on marketing their brand, not each individual agent.  There are some newer models of real estate companies that encourage agent branding and called "agent-centric".

Thanks to Diane, I decided to write an article describing our branding efforts and the thought process behind our marketing with the hopes that other agents that don't know how to go about it will take a leap.  I want to first disclose that I am by no means a marketing expert but have found this aspect of the business fun and creative.  Our marketing has progressed through the years and it has always been recognized and commended, even by local Realtors.

When we first got into real estate, all the local Miami and Miami Shores Realtors had the same boring card with a white background (some red because of the brokerage they were with) and a stiff studio photograph.  Being an architect, I decided that our marketing needed to be different and needed to stand out from the rest.  This is  the level of detail it involved:

• picking a font (it would have to be architectural and simple to represent me)
• background color (black was architectural, modern and elegant....and no one was using it)
• photograph  (professional outdoor shot - more natural)
• Pick a team name ("the garcias" was not working for me since I use my maiden name.  Everyone knew us as Ines and Rick.....how simple was that!  It turned into Rick and Ines because it sounded better, according to our oldest son).
• design a team logo
• website with all the elements mentioned

Here are some examples of our first marketing efforts.  It is always important to listen to the consumer and make subtle changes as you go, whether it's the use of a photo or your marketing message.......listening is the key.

You will need to identify what's important to you - in our case our photo and RICK AND INES became our brand and by keeping the rest of the elements consistent, the consumer was able to pick us out from the crowd.  We would get interesting comments including someone telling us, "there were 10 different Realtor ads in the Chamber of Commerce this month and we were able to pick yours out before even looking because it was black". 

We later developed a RICK & INES LOGO and included it in our marketing.

Other marketing efforts included having 2 different cards (since we are a team), the front would be the same for both and the back would have our different contact information.

We did fun pieces like this one (Warhol inspired) with an odd size - this one created a lot of buzz for us.  All the legally required real estate information was on the back of the postcard.

It's important to recognize what makes you different than the rest and work from there.  Niche marketing is always a plus - do you work with equestrian properties, farms, land, historic properties.  If you can't narrow it down, think of what makes you different than the rest.  Make sure what you produce is not forgettable.  Be creative!  Don't be afraid to be different.

We decided to make changes when others started using our colors and when people told us that we looked different than our picture, but we've always had transitions and kept something the same so that the consumer would not be totally lost and so our marketing efforts would not go out the window.  We continue to "freshen up" our marketing efforts without short circuiting the consumer and we love when they notice a change and call us on it.  Just today a customer told us that we needed to change our picture again.......hmmmm.

......stay tuned for Miamism branding efforts (a work in progress).

Hi Paris,

After so many trips to Miami, I was so glad to hear that you are finally considering buying a property here.   There are so many places I know you will like, but I will narrow it down to three until I can get a feel for what you are really looking for.  By the way, I know how frightening it must have been to be next to Kid Rock and Tommy Lee when they started fighting last Sunday at the VMA's.  I'm sure it is not the first time you've seen that, glad you were not in the middle.

Here are the specs you sent me in your last e-mail:

• looking to purchase a single family home (will consider a posh penthouse)
• 4 Bedroom/2 baths at least
• 4,000 sf or greater
• Gated Community or enough land to create a zone of privacy
• needs decent access to airport as she travels a lot
• Must have a pool
• Cash buyer, no limits! 

Thank you for the pictures of your new Beverly Hills home, it will definitely make it easier to narrow down the choices.

With those in mind, I narrowed the areas down to Star Island, SoFi and Fisher Island.  Your choice will depend on privacy and ease of commute, but all three are definitely HOT!

Let's start with Star Island - as you may know, this is the place for celebrities.  If you want privacy, this is it!  It has easy access to the airport and SoBe, but there's only one down side - there is only one house available there that is worth your while.  It belongs to someone whose name I can't mention but I can give you a hint.  His name begins with SHHHHHH  and it ends with AQ!  Any Miami Heat fan would know who this guy is.  It may be a little bigger than what you are looking for with 8 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, 3 half baths and 19,440 square feet of living space.  Take a look at this LINK for the MLS information and here are some pictures.  The price tag is $32million, a bit more than your Beverly Hills crib, but I'm sure that's not an issue. (There is a great room next to the Master Bedroom that would make an amazing shoe room).

.....and just in case you have any doubts, here's a picture I took from our boat a couple of months ago.

SoFi is the area in South Beach that is South of fifth street - It's close enough to the action, but Paparazzi are rampant.  My favorite building in SoFi is The Continuum because of its location.  It's in the Southern most tip on the ocean with amazing views of the Atlantic as well as the Intracoastal.  This Continuum Residence has 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and 1 half-bath with 4378 square feet of living area.  It has a private keyed elevator and the views will say it all (and of course it's a full amenity building, I would not send you anything less, with spa, gym, restaurant......etc.).  Take a look at The MLS LINK with more photos (It's listed at $7.3 million).

Lastly - if you want privacy and exclusivity, Fisher Island is where it's at!  You can only access it by ferry, airplane or helicopter and once inside you will feel like you are in a different world - no paparazzi and total privacy.  The down side is having to catch the ferry in and out of the island, but it only takes about 15 minutes (it's not a big deal).  This particular listing is ours and although the decor needs a little updating, it's nothing your interior designer couldn't handle and the wrap around terrace on the ocean will take your breath away.  It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 1 half bath with 3,140 square feet of living space and over 1500 square feet of covered terraces.  Take a look at the listing's website at www.FisherIslandDrive.com, and here's a real estate show of Fisher Island to give you an idea of what it is like.  The price tag is $4.2 million, not bad for a private get-away!

Give me some feedback on these properties when you have a chance and we will continue the search for the perfect PARIS HILTON MIAMI HOME!

We went to show one of our listings today to a buyer not working with a Realtor.  Of course our goal is primarily to sell them that house, but it is also to gain that buyer as a customer.  This buyer is different - she has done her homework, she knows the inventory, the price per square foot, the recent sales and how long properties have been on the market.

When we asked why she is not working with a Realtor, her answer was that she thought she would have a negotiating advantage if a second Realtor was not involved.

We all have ways to respond to unrepresented real estate buyers, we all have our schpeels and some even scripts.  We all would have made points about the advantages of working with an agent that knows the area, the other Realtors and the inventory.  We would have even explained the real disadvantages of working without an agent.

I wanted to pose this question here in Active Rain to see what approach you would have taken with an educated consumer that believes there are more advantages to working without a Realtor than with one.

What would you have done?  Please keep in mind that even if you could not get this consumer as a buyer, it would be smart to keep the doors open in case she liked the listing she was looking at.

To say that mid-century architects were more practical is an understatement. Yes we've seen a sudden "Green Movement" taking over, and NO, I don't think this is bad, quite the contrary, it's something everyone should be aware of. But looking at Miami's architecture, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for those buildings of the 50's and 60's. I have a special soft spot for certain architects like Wahl Snyder, Marion Manley and Alfred Browning Parker.

When I walk into a house designed by either three, I feel it! My heart starts racing and there's an unquestionable passion felt throughout the home, passion transmitted by the designer through the construction and details of the space. I walked into a small Alfred Browning Parker home with a buyer customer not long ago and instantly knew it was his......I asked the agent, "Was this home designed by BP? And they said.....who????" OK ....let me not go there.

Alfred Browning Parker was the master of utilizing space, wide overhangs, clerestory windows and massing to take advantage of our climate without air conditioning. Frank Lloyd Wright's influence is obvious in his work, because of the organic nature and use of local materials.

Wahl Snyder's signature was to bring exterior spaces into the living areas; he would work with cross ventilation and create seamless transitions between the inside and outside of his spaces. Materials were key and clerestory lighting was a must. Take a look at his Miami Shores Residence.

Marion Manley was Florida's first licensed woman architect and at 75 she was still busy designing good quality homes. She used local materials, high ceilings, cross ventilation and never ignored our tropical climate.

These three architects are the epitome of the green movement without today's technology, without air conditioning and without the hype. Georgia Taske of The Miami Herald wrote a beautiful article about 2 homes designed in the 60's by Manley and Browning Parker. Both homes are open to their surroundings, and both are models for green living today. Georgia Taske also tells us about Alfred Browning Parker's visit to Miami a few months ago (he's 90) and how he teaches his University of Florida architecture students about 5 basic principles:

"Build Simply - Build as directly as possible with no complications - Use the materials at hand and keep these sparse - Let your building love its site and glorify its climate - Design for use; make it beautiful."

I will end this article with a quote by Janet McIlvane, a research analyst with the Florida Solar Energy Center because it really defines the shift in housing and design that is evident in current times.

"After World War II, there was a move away from individually crafted homes"

....

"We began to produce homes with a subdivision production mind-set. We were going to build 30 houses, not one, and build them all alike.And in that transitition, we started looking at how to make things easier, how to build more easily and quickly.

That's how the industrial revolution transitioned into the housing market. So we jettisoned the front porch, made the windows smaller and sealed up our houses. In Florida, those were the very components that allowed us to survive in the hot, humid climate."

*photos by Nuri Vallbona / Miami Herald Staff*