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Imagine a situation in which a stranger, accompanied by a
real estate agent, knocks on your door and asks to view your
house, which is not for sale. Then imagine that a broker returns
later with an offer to buy your house and, after serious
negotiations, you settle on a record price for the location.
That’s the
story behind a recent sale on
Fisher Island.
An executive of the Swiss corporation Villa Maritima Inc.
offered to purchase one Fisher Island property, but his wife
hated the home when she saw it, so SOL Sotheby’s
International Realty agent Michael Valdes drove her
around the island until a house, which wasn’t on the market,
caught her eye. Valdes got out of the car, knocked on the door
and convinced the non-receptive owners to allow him to show the
house. The Swiss lady loved it and, after six weeks of
negotiations, the company bought it.
The
four-bedroom, four-bathroom house is the most expensive
residence ever sold on the island. The sellers, Lou and
Barbara Adesso, bought the 6,869-square-foot home
with a private elevator from developers for $4.5 million in
2004. The new buyers paid $7.45 million, or $1,084.58 per square
foot, for the house.
Who pays the maintenance?
Whether you’re
bullish or bearish about the South Florida condo market, the
fallout from slow sales and foreclosures is creating a new
challenge for existing owners. To put it simply, they may have
to pay more money.
According to
local attorney Eric M. Glazer Esq., who specializes in
condo law, explains in further detail:
“Where there’s
a glut of unsold condos in a building, the developer would have
to make up any shortfall because the unit owner’s assessments
are normally guaranteed to remain at the level provided for
in-the-sales documents. However, if turnover has already
occurred, the financial burden caused by nonpaying owners will
ultimately fall on the paying unit owners to make up for what is
not being collected.
“The
maintenance problem is exacerbated in newer buildings, where
many owners who bought on speculation are going into
foreclosure. Owners who bought to live in their units may bear
the burden of paying the entire expenses of running the
condominium.
“If a unit
owner is delinquent in condo assessments, it is usually
indicative of a unit owner being in first mortgage foreclosure.
If a unit goes to first mortgage foreclosure, it’s likely that
the bank will get the unit back at the foreclosure sale because
the bank probably loaned more than the unit is actually worth
today.
“If the bank
gets the property back at the foreclosure sale, it only owes the
condominium association the lesser of one percent of the
original mortgage amount or six months of condominium
assessments.”
Blog along
There are Real
Estate Super-Bloggers, Top 10 Female Bloggers and even Kings and
Queens of Real Estate Blogging.
Now, there’s an award
for those bloggers who are well-known,
well-read and have a knack for stirring up debate on important
industry or local topics with a “fun voice.”
Inman News
recently compiled a list of the 25 Most Influential Real
Estate Bloggers of 2007 out of the hundreds online. Some are
decidedly local and others cover the bigger picture, but no one
from South Florida made the cut.
Recognized
broker and agent blogs include: Teresa Boardman’s St.
Paul Real Estate Blog, Ardell Della Loggia’s
Searching Seattle Blog, Marlow Harris’ 360Digest
and Doug Heddings’ True Gotham, which
focuses exclusively on Manhattan real estate with the tagline
“dispatches from the front line.” It also recognized Noah
Rosenblatt, whose Urbandigs.com advises buyers and
sellers how to get the most profit out of the New York housing
market.
For a detailed
list of notable bloggers in such categories as community blogs,
mortgages, housing and economics, industry commentary, marketing
and how-to, go to www.inman.com/Member/ specialreports/bloggers07.
Buzz
I remember my
mother using a 30-year-old washing machine and loving it, even
though it was, understatedly, a trifle old-fashioned. So, a
competition to find the oldest appliance, working or not, in the
United States or Canada, caught my eye.
The contest
marks the 80th anniversary celebration in January of appliance
parts company AP Wagner, which still gets calls to its
Buffalo, New York, headquarters from customers looking for parts
for their decades-old refrigerators and ranges.
The contest has
six categories and offers a grand prize of three brand-new
Whirlpool appliances plus $1,000 in cash for the “Absolute
Oldest Appliance.” There also will be winners for the
“Oldest Refrigerator,” “Oldest Range,” “Oldest Dryer” and
“Oldest Washer.” Contestants should submit two-minute videos of
themselves and their appliances. For contest details, visit
www.apwagner.com.
Coming up
The Second Annual RealShare SOUTH FLORIDA Conference
takes place at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables on Nov.
6. Presented by Real Estate Media — publisher of Real
Estate Forum, Real Estate Florida and GlobeSt.com
— the conference will provide some insight on where the
commercial real estate market (in Miami and all the areas south
of Orlando) is now, where it is going and how to profit from new
opportunities and market conditions. With a mix of keynote
speakers, one-on-one interviews and panel sessions, the
conference targets top-level real estate executives, brokers,
lenders, owners, investors and developers in commercial real
estate with a focus on offices, industrial and multifamily
properties. The registration fee is $145 for the first person
and $115 for additional registrants from the same company. For
details, e-mail Jason Young at jyoung@remedianetwork.com
or log on to www.realshareconference.com.
Please send news items on Miami-Dade real estate to
hhill@miamisunpost.com.
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