Miami foreclosure auctions online, Broward follows / Fannie Mae approves condos for loans

MIAMI-DADE FORECLOSURE AUCTIONS ON THE WEB

On January 11, Miami-Dade county moved it’s foreclosure auctions from the courthouse steps to the web. The goal: to burrow through a pile of 115,000 foreclosure cases – with an additional 7,000 coming in each month.

The old method, favouring insiders, professional investors and schoolyard bullies, handled ca. 450 cases a week; the online auctions, allowing buyers worldwide to bid from the comfort of their velvet La-Z-Boy, is expected to process 2000 or more homes and commercial properties weekly. Impressive.

This is happening none too soon: The county is weighed down by the seventh-highest number of foreclosed homes in the US, and according to court clerks, more than 135,000 foreclosures could be filed in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties this year – compared to about 17,500 in 2006. No calculator handy? That’s plus 771 percent.

To participate in a Dade online auction, register for free at http://www.miamidade.realforeclose.com. Once you have completed this step, you can access thousands of foreclosed properties, view pictures, link to a property appraiser's report, take a street-level virtual tour of the neighborhood and check a profile on Zillow.com.

If interested in a property, bidders have to put down a refundable 5 percent deposit, which can be paid online (or in person – makes sense if you're bidding from, say, Mullumbimby, AU). After entering a maximum bid, they can let their computer take over and bid on their behalf, or monitor the auction and bid manually – quite similar to the eBay system.

With more than more than 2,500 registrants on the official launch date, Dade county officials must be delighted, as seem officials in other counties: Florida is the first state to adopt an online auction system for distressed properties, using the software already in nine counties. Three more will be added by March, Broward county being the next in line. – Hallelujah!

FANNIE MAE COULD BREATHE (SOME) LIFE INTO CONDO SALES

Though my blog or modernsouthflorida.com do not really deal with condos, here’s another tender morsel: Fannie Mae, recognizing Florida is ground zero for the condominium bust, has unveiled a “special approval” program listing established condominium projects around the state as "sufficiently stable" enough to merit Fannie Mae loans. Nice, eh?

51 condo projects in Miami-Dade (does everyone start there simply because it’s Mile Marker 0 of Interstate 95?) qualify so far – read: they are stable enough for lenders to originate mortgages that are turned over to Fannie Mae. Across the State, more are being added. 

Though most sellers are looking for cash buyers, and some sellers wouldn’t touch the paper an offer is written on if not accompanied by proof of equity, the list could breathe some life into the dismal condo situation in Dade. Inventory hovers at 16,162 resale condos per Jan 7 – that equals sixteen months inventory at the current absorption rate, not to mention new construction not listed in the MLS.

Now you wonder where to find that Fannie Mae list, don’t you? Well, please stay tuned for the April 1st post. 

(Or click here: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/approvedprojects/index.jsp)


– Have a nice weekend!

Property Values: What you get in Modern Townhomes

The second installment of the series examining current market values will have a look at available modern townhomes in Southeast Florida. Because of the relatively small number, this post includes all price ranges.

Historically, the term townhouse was coined in the UK, a “house in town” for aristocracy and wealthy country peers. In the US, it used to describe an attached multistory building with a small footprint, including servant’s quarters, located in an urban environment. Owning a townhouse in a metropolitan area such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto or San Francisco was a sign of wealth.

Today in Florida, a townhouse in a strict sense means an attached multistory building with no neighbours above or below, often with a small garden and community amenities such as a pool or tennis courts. Legally, one differentiates between fee simple (exclusively owned, including the land) and condominium townhouses, where the occupant owns the interior only and part of the common areas.

Forget mid-century modern. In Southeast Florida, there is no such thing as a mid-century modern townhouse (elsewhere?). At least I have never seen or even heard of one in 20 years of practice. The available modern townhouses I know of were constructed 2003 or later, confirming that the first builders became aware of an increasing interest in modern architecture somewhere between 2000 and 2002. 

(Interesting side-note: in 2000, a German architect and I were planning a joint venture to build modern townhomes with dockage in Fort Lauderdale. There was no such property available then, and we were certain we had found an interesting niche. Due to serious health problems my then-partner sadly developed, the project never materialized.)

Given the confines of designing interesting and sellable multifamily structures on sometimes smallish lots, expect a bit of stylistic conformity. The starting point is the sleek white box, often three stories, with a vaguely nautical look, befitting the surroundings. 

Within variations mostly due to the price points, standard are kitchens combining stainless steel with warm woods, lots of glass, as well as open floorplans, often orientated around open interior staircases. If you head uptown, tile floors are replaced by marble or hardwood, private rooftop decks pop up, and period quotes such as eyebrows and corner windows appear.


Geographically, the 55 available modernist townhomes I know of are all over the map between Key Biscayne and South Palm Beach county. The highest concentration however is in Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Sizes vary from 1256 sf under air  to 6100 sf, with a median size of 3365 sf.

As varied as the size are the prices: from $299,000 to $5,495,000, median $977,000, though the sweet spot seems to be between $590,000 and $900,000. 

What then do you get for your money?

$299,000: Miami, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, ca. 1,800 sf under air (ca. 165 sqm), built 2009. On Miami's Upper East Side, with open floor plan and two story ceilings in the entrance.

$425,000: Fort Lauderdale, 3/3.5, ca. 3230 sf (297 sqm), 2-car garage, built 2007. Two story glass atrium overlooking private garden and pool, 2nd and 3rd floor loft areas, rooftop terrace.

$668,788: Pompano Beach, 3/3.5, ca. 2958 sf (272 sqm), 2-car garage, deepwater dockage, built in  2007. Professionally decorated, below market bank pricing, located not far from the Hillsboro Inlet. 

$799,000: Miami Beach, 3/3.5, ca. 2360 sf (217 sqm), 2-car garage, built in 2006. 4-story townhouse on the Bay, garden rooftop terrace, heated pool and direct water views.

$999,000: Miami Beach, 4/5.5, ca. 3730 sf (343 sqm), 2-car garage, built in 2005. On gated 8.5 acre-island with own fitness center, spa, heated pools, children's play center, conference room etc. 
$1,950,000: Miami Beach, 4/5, ca. 3730 sf (343 sqm), 2-car garage, private 40 foot boat-slip, built in 2005. Same location as above, but with a deepwater (read: no fixed bridges to the ocean) boat-slip.

$5,250,000: Highland Beach, 5/7.5, ca. 6100 sf (561 sqm), oceanfront, 3-car garage, built in 2009. End unit/corner on 200 feet of private beach, completely reinforced concrete exterior walls, floor to ceiling hurricane impact/resistant doors and windows.

Eying the trophy, you will have to decide what is most important to you. 

If it absolutely, positively has to be a newer (year 2000 and up) modernist single family house, prepare to budget at least ca. $780,000 (with exceptions, but not many). A newer modernist townhome – most likely built after 2003 – is a viable alternative and can be found from ca. $300,000 and up. And if that still does not appeal to you, take your pick from the considerably larger selection of mid-century modern homes on the market.

A blessed, abundant and Happy New Year!

I started 2010 sinning, twice. Yesterday morning, on Januar 1st, I found myself with a blog entry ready to post. But I didn’t like it. While pondering either re-writing it or posting another entry, I answered a phone call from dear friends. Sin #1: my wife and I dropped everything promptly and went kayaking. This is South-Florida, after all.

For smaller sins you get whacked right away, as we say in German. Abandoning my Friday posting rythm and not having several alternative posts at the ready (sin #2), it got dark and windy as soon as our paddles hit the water. And this being South-Florida, it promptly started rain cats and dogs at the farthest point of our trip. 

We had fun though, ending the day together with our friends with two movies and excellent coal-fired pizza (from the new kid in town, Bellini Pizzeria). Not a bad way to start the New Year. It felt a wee bit guilty, but really good.

    For last year's words belong to last year's language

    And next year's words await another voice.

    And to make an end is to make a beginning.

    –T.S. Eliot: "Little Gidding" 

    (Thanks to my dear colleage Toni Napolitano for this quote).

Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

The Cost of The 12 Days of Christmas

What about Foreclosures and Short Sales?

Even though the subject has been nearly beaten to death, I receive enough questions about short sales and foreclosures that a short primer seems a good idea.

Both Foreclosure and Short Sale are neither for the faint of heart or for those with little patience and time. They can be an opportunity, but also a money pit of the first order.

In a Foreclosure, a property gets sold off in an auction-type format. Commonly this happened on the steps of a courthouse, in Florida it increasingly takes place online to level the playing field for non-professional home-buyers. The largest of the 12 Florida counties to conduct online foreclosure auctions, Miami-Dade County as an example opened their foreclosure website on December 8.

A Short Sale is a real estate sale before a property goes into foreclosure, fetching a price below the current mortgage value. Contracting partner and seller is the current owner of the property, though the lender has to agree to the contract and is the de-facto negotiation partner. Because the bank hopes to minimize it’s loss, it will look for the best and highest offer as long as possible and even try to bid up offers. A short sale is anything but short: a time-frame between three and six months from submitting an offer to closing is typical.

Short sale asking prices are teaser prices; selling prices are almost always substantially higher. Cash offers with no contingencies get the nod, or put differently: if the buyer doesn’t have bullet-proof financing lined up and/or asks for inspection contingencies, s/he is wasting time.

A variation is the pre-approved short sale, where the bank has agreed to sell the property if a specific price is reached. This is not the norm though. Experience shows that the pre-approval should always be obtained from the bank in writing, otherwise it can be considered worthless.

Foreclosure- and Short Sale-properties are usually in some state of disrepair and may be uninhabitable (vandalism, mold, roof damage, missing toilets, sinks, pipes, etc.) A buyer can not expect any price concessions and has to deal with visible and hidden problems on his/her own. Repair costs, which can easily eat up the savings in buying the property, can not be financed. Some examples I recently encountered:

Liens, second mortgages, unpaid taxes, utility bills, homeowners or condominium dues and open judgements can significantly add to what originally looked like an attractive price.

At the end of the day, a Foreclosure or Short Sale may not turn out to be significantly cheaper than buying a non-distressed property that comes without excessive headaches, but whose price probably has been driven down considerably by the large foreclosure and short sale inventory.

(Above is an edited excerpt of my guide "Buying And Selling Florida Real Estate", which is available as a PDF in English and German and can be requested here.)

Property Values: What to expect for $250,000 to $350,000

In this new series of posts, I will explore how much modern home per Dollar you currently can expect in SE Florida. With asking prices as of yesterday ranging from $179,000 to $42,000,000, expectations from a modern home at $75 per square foot surely differ greatly from one for $2,100 per sf.

In the first installment today, I will look at modern homes listed between $250,000 and $350,000.

In this price bracket, over half of the listings offer three or more bedrooms, but the houses are certainly not huge. Square feet under air – assuming that you want to live in air-conditioned space or don’t count your car port as living space – range from 1,020 to 2,274, with one lonely outlier of (unverified) 3,542 sf. The average lies somewhere around 1,800 sf.

Half of the homes in this price range have a pool, 55% have a garage. What you do not find in this group is new construction: the majority was built between 1950 and 1970, the youngest house in this group is still 21 years old.

But the homes are often in good to very good upkeep. Updates are quite common, but not always in the spirit of modern architecture: Mexican or some funky tile on top of terrazzo, lead-glass front-doors, country cherry kitchens with stainless-steel appliances and granite counter-tops or bow/bay windows are quite typical.

So either a remodeling budget or willingness to live with a stylistic mismatch for a while are helpful. Occasionally I see homes in original condition, often even well-kept: those are much easier and more fun to update in period style than a house that needs to be de-renovated.

From the houses on my for-sale list (remember that there is no “modern”-specific search in the SE Florida MLS) between $250,000 and $350,000, I chose six examples typical for this range:

Fort Lauderdale: 2/1 with room to expand, ca. 1020 sf, pool, carport, short-sale listed at $249,000. Notice the original corral wall and clerestory windows.

Boca Raton: 3/2, 1896 sf, remodeled, keystone entry, fireplace, marble floors, cabana bath, pool. $298,000.

North Bay Village: 4/3, 2577 sf, remodeled, pool, $349,000. Note the kitchen renovation: corner window meets cherry cabinets.

Lake Worth: 2/2, 1162 sf, garage, completely renovated, $249,000. Noticeable: crown- and door-moldings in a modernist home.

Delray Beach: 2/2, 1740 sf, PGT windows, sunken living room, diamond-brite pool, large lot, carport, $349,000.

Fort Lauderdale: 2/2, 1102 sf, waterfront with ocean access, move-in condition, new kitchen (with Mexican tile), fireplace, room for pool, short sale listed at $269,000.

In summary: between $250,000 and $350,000, you certainly can find interesting mid-century modernist properties. It helps tremendously if you are not in a hurry or if you are geographically flexible, as the houses shown here are over 40 miles apart.

Interested in more examples, questions regarding any of these properties, or would you like a specialist for modern architecture – that would be me – help you find the right home? Then do let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.