Archive for March, 2010
Townhome Living in Miami
Mar 30th
Over my years selling real estate in South Florida, I have sold several units which are considered townhouses. I always tend to think of townhouses as the in between if a buyer does not want condo living or a single family home. Townhouses tend to be catagorized as condos and zoned RE2 and if a buyer is getting financing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have changed the rules and criteria to not work in a buyer’s favor. The amount down a buyer must have in cash has increased to be at least 20% if not 30%. Also, during the process the bank will have the association or seller fill out a document, a condo questionaire, which asks specific questions about ownership, reserves and insurance on the builidng which is looking for specific answers to approve the unit for the loan. Most townhouses share at least one common wall therefore they have condo documents and a joint exterior insurance policy paid between the two, four or maybe more owners. If a certain percentage of the units are rented or still in the hands of the developer, the bank will not loan the money and the buyer may not get financing to purchase the property.
You will find lots of new construction townhouses in Center Coconut Grove which are primarily three bedrooms, two and half baths, gated with one car garage and some with private pools. A bulk of the villas if built after 2004 have impact glass which is a big plus. They range in size any where from 1700-2500 square feet and have spacious patios and balconies. If you travel during the year, this is a great property to be able to lock up and leave without much worry. Recently, the appraisals are coming in around $500,000 for a townhouse which I described above.
There are luxury complexes and clusters of villas along Bayshore Drive and Main Highway in Coconut Grove as well. L’Hermitage and Bayshore Villas are two different communities along Bayshore. L’Hermitage (1979-80) and Bayshore Villas (1990) both offer tennis courts, pool and dock space where some owners have purchased spots to have their boats close to home. Depending upon if the unit is on water or not the prices range in L’Hermitage from $799,000-$1,900,000. The most recent pending sale in Bayshore Villas is pending for $3,950,000 and is on the water. The Cloisters is another cluster of large villas which is on Main Highway in the heart of Coconut Grove ranging in price for a minimum of at least $1,295,000.
South Miami offers a few new construction townhouse communities as well. An associate in my office has the exclusive listings for Oak Lawn and they range in price from $695,000-$919,000. Click here to view active Oak Lawn units for sale http://tinyurl.com/ylk86el This new community sits on the corner of Red Road and 74th. Another complex, Pine Manor (see photo below) are quaint and charming villas around the corner from Oak Lawn and range in price from $550,000-$734,000. Click here to view active units for sale in Pine Manor http://tinyurl.com/ylbap6h
The French Village is in Pinecrest and is comprised of 12 luxury villas with 2 car garges and private pools and are priced above $700,000. Currently, two units are for sale click here to see photos and more detail http://tinyurl.com/yec24y5
Silver Palm Plantation is in shares a Pinecrest zip code 33156 and is off of US1 centrally located near 112th. Currently, only 1 out of 20 units is for sale and I have it currently pending contract. Click here is view a unit and the surroundings http://tinyurl.com/ydv5885
If you would like more information on any of these listings or assistance with the sale of your townhome please contact me at 305-807-9199. Become a fan on facebook by clicking here www.facebook.com/charmingmiamihomes
Sunrise park neighborhood in Gables/Grove area is heating up like hopefully the Miami weather!
Mar 23rd
March 23, 2010
If you travel down tree lined Main Highway in Coconut Grove you will find yourself at a light which empties into Douglas Road then splits into Ingraham Highway. Douglas then leads one into a great little neighborhood which is very family friendly, meticulously maintained and close to the beautiful Bay and a super cute park, Sunrise Harbor. You may notice the green metal street signs waivering above eye level and then a transition suddenly to white, ground level concrete blocks. This is a sure sign you are now in the City of Coral Gables, 33133. So Coconut Grove’s (City of Miami) well known zip code, 33133 shares itself with Coral Gables or vice versa. This area has a great vibe and wonderful aura about it, which does not surprise me in the least to see the following recent 2010 closed sales go under contract after only being on the market for less than 23 days each! Properties in this neighborhood may range in price if waterfront from $23,500,000 to non waterfront around $799,000.
Click here is see the recent sales ranging from a healthy $334 to $281/sq ft http://tinyurl.com/yc6ore7
Check out active homes for sale by clicking here http://tinyurl.com/y86m9dx
If you or a friend would like to view active listings in this neighborhood or surrounding Miami area you may find me at 305-807-9199 or jill@jillpenman.com.
What does a million dollars buy you Miami?
Mar 12th
March 11, 2010
With all we hear about short sales and foreclosures, I am often asked by clients and friends what does a million bucks buy you now a days? Click here to check out single family homes in Coconut Grove http://tinyurl.com/yfuhsyn and click here to check out Coral Gables listings http://tinyurl.com/ykjbxvy. Lots of great deals in Pinecrest/East Kendall too ttp://tinyurl.com/yz2uaxm. Check out some luxury condos in the Gable/Grove area for around the same price http://tinyurl.com/yzh5uok.
Here are some of my Top 5 pics for great homes around $1 million dollars in Grove/Gables:
This charming home is listed by Malvina Godoy, EWM and is a beautiful cape cod on almost 22,000 sq ft of land.
This home is in South Grove in the gated portion of Poinciana Avenue. Listed by Mignna Garate, First Florida Sun Realty, Inc. and is a foreclosure. The home is on an oversized lot and has six bedrooms & four baths. It is over 4,500 sq ft with a pool and at $255/ sq ft priced to sell!
Great lot size of over 18,000 sq ft listed by Audrey Ross, EWM. Quaint one story with a 2 car garage.
This is a one story Gables home listed by Ashley Cusack, EWM and is all renovated in a great location termed the Golden Triangle. This four bedroom is a great family home!
Six bedrooms and updated with one car garage, this home sits on 16,500 and is also listed by Ashely Cusack. Great outdoor area and priced to sell at $248/sq ft.
Don’t forget to put the clocks ahead on Sunday morning!
Here are some recent closed 2010 single family home properties for around $1 million dollars in Coconut Grove, Gables and Pinecrest areas http://tinyurl.com/yejaets Find the 4 closed condo sales around $1 million if you click here http://tinyurl.com/yzfauho.
If you would like to view any of the properties please find me at 305.807.9199. Have a great Friday!
Townhouse or single family home in Coconut Grove?
Mar 9th
As some of you may know, I started farming Center Coconut Grove a few years back and have had success over the years in this neighborhood. This neighborhood is comprised of townhouses and filled with families walking babies and dogs, parks and a short stroll to gourmet markets like Fresh Market and Gardeners, cafes and the soon to be newly renovated high end movie theater!
Since prices have come down quite a bit compared to 2005-2006, buyers who ruled out buying a single family home are now reconsidering this option especially since it is easier to get financing. Most townhomes are considered a condo or zoned RE2 and banks ruled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have strict rules when it comes to loaning money. The pricing for a 3 bedroom townhouse compares to some 3 bedroom single family homes of course with differences and what you get for the buck. If you click on the links below you will see there are new 3, bed townhomes and single family homes ranging in price from $300k-$700k some around the $300k mark; you can assume are short sales or foreclosures. Most of the towhomes are newer construction with impact glass and quite a few of the single family homes are smaller in size and may require some tweeking to make livable for you and your family. For this reason, some buyers prefer a townhome which is brand new and ready to move right in. After living in a single family home in Coconut Grove for almost 9 years, I can vouch for the yard up keep; you have to be ready for it all year long since some more than others tend to be high maintenance compared to a townhome yard.
Click here to see most of all the Center Grove townhouses on the market (please note to scroll from page to page use the arrow in the upper left hand corner) http://tinyurl.com/ycarzn8
Here are Coconut Grove SFH (single family homes) priced between $300-$700k http://tinyurl.com/y8mt2lg
Look what has closed so far in 2010 for townhouses http://tinyurl.com/ykq497x verses single family homes http://tinyurl.com/yfb98f8 -based on the # of closed sales the numbers are almost equal although if you consider the amount of townhouses on the market verses single family homes, the amount of SFH is almost double that of townhouses.
Which do you prefer a townhouse or single family home?
To view any of these listings in Coconut Grove find me at 305.807.9199 or www.facebook.com/charmingmiamihomes and I would be happy to assit you with your search.
What’s the 3-1-1? -City of Miami Hotline
Mar 3rd
March 3, 2010
This may be old news to you or new news but if you dial 311 from your phone you are instantly connected to a non-emergency division of the City of Miami to help you ask important questions in regards to City Services. This service has been in operation since 1997 and answers in Spanish, English and Creole with personal service 5 days a week Monday-Friday 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. with 24-hour information during emergency events such as hurricanes. More information may be found at http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/press/miami/311.asp .
I personally have used this service when the next day was a holiday and I was not sure if we had garbage pickup and also when we have missed garbage pickup.
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Examples of the types of services that City of Miami citizens can report or request are as follows: Public Works Issues Solid Waste Issues |
Examples of the type of information provided at 311 are as follows: City’s new Benefit Bank which includes info on Food Stamp and other Human Services, Small Business loans/how to start a business, information for first time homebuyers, information about City of Miami Parks and Recreation,mini-dimp location,zoning and much more!
Other helpful websites if you live in Miami and/or City of Miami: http://www.miamigov.com/cms/ or http://www.miami-dade.com/ or miamidade.gov
Dial 3-1-1
for non-emergencies
Mon. – Fri. 6 am -10 pm
Saturday 8 am – 5 pm
TDD
(305) 468-5402
From out-of-area
(888) 311-Dade
Did you know the City of Miami also has a Neighborhood Resource Officer?? So if you are going out of town or are getting your house tented and want the Officer to drop by and make sure all is well or sit in the driveway off and on for 2-3 days you can call Officer Leonardo Carrillo at 305-643-7170 or email him at Leonardo.carrillo@miami-police.org. He will stop by your property if you live the Coconut Grove area.
If you are thinking about buying or selling you may find me at jill@jillpenman.com or 305.807.9199. If you are reading this you have found my blog, tweets and website!
What school will my child go too if we move?
Mar 1st
February 28, 2010-tomorrow is March 1st already!-Did you know Daylight Savings Time always begins on the 2nd Sunday of March so soon on March 14, 2010, at 2:00 a.m. – you set the clocks ahead one hour. (Spring forward) and ends on the first Sunday in November so Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 2:00 a.m. – you set the clocks back an hour. (Fall back)
What a tough decision and very important one to say the least that parents have to make if they just had children or if they are moving to a new location with children. Let’s face it, kids are in school some days longer than at home with their parents. Teachers see children more hours in a day than some fathers or mothers that have to work 9-5 or longer in some cases. I am a working mother of 3 children all under the age of 7, so I know first hand how important our children’s education is in today’s world. There is an amazing website which has every school in Miami by typing in any zip code and state and breaks the schools down even by preschool, elementary, middle and high school and allows you to sort by private or public. Not only is it uber user friendly but it also has for each school first hand reviews which you may find extremely helpful. The link to this great website is http://www.greatschools.org/. You can search on any city in any state which is so useful! So if wanted to search all the schools within 10 miles of your home in Coral Gables, zip code 33146 they list will autopopulate within seconds.
Since I sell and live in Miami here are some local pertinent links for schools in my area.
Here is a helpful link http://www.aisfl.com/counties/dadeC.html which lists ACCREDITED SCHOOLS IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY.
To learn and get information about Miami-Dade public schools please refer to http://www.dadeschools.net/
The Division of Special Education provides services and programs for students with diverse needs. Since there are so many resources for special needs and eduction in Miami-Dade another helpful website is http://ese.dadeschools.net/
Great way to find out different opinions of schools is to ask neighborhood realtors who have children your kids’ age. What better way to pick another mother’s brain. Also, neighborhood parks and libraries and any youth center have tons of parents with opinions and thoughts about all the different private and public schools.
If you are moving to the Miami area you may find me to assist you with your real estate needs at jill@jillpenman.com or 305.807.9199. Have a good Sunday night!