South Florida On The Market

The economic outlook hasn't been quite as rosy lately, and so the Fed is stepping back just a bit. The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday for a fourth time this year but lowered its forecast to two hikes in 2019 amid the recent stock market sell-off and uncertain growth prospects. "The economy has continued to perform well," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference. But, he added, "We have seen developments that may signal some softening … In early 2018, we saw a rising trajectory for growth. Today, we see growth moderating ahead." The central bank's latest move, which comes amid President Donald Trump's repeated criticism of Fed rate hikes, is expected to set off a domino effect across the economy, bumping up rates on credit cards, home equity lines of credit and adjustable-rate mortgages. As expected, the Fed raised the federal funds rate – which is what banks charge each other for overnight loans – by a quarter

With Miami’s new  10-mile Underline  project underway, the ‘Magic City’ looks to be changing for the better.    Meg Daly, previous marketing director turned founder of the nonprofit group Friends of the Underline, has teamed up with the Miami-Dade County and designers from the James Corner Field Operations, known for their work on New York City’s Highline, in tackling the massive construction job. The 10-mile long mixed-use park will extend from downtown Miami to Dadeland’s South Station, providing urban space for safe transit and recreation. The target design includes two 10-mile-long individual parallel pathways, with one dedicated to walking pedestrians or those on foot, and the other for bicyclists. The pathways will connect to several landscape spaces such as parks, playgrounds, gardens, and other locations for neighborly social gatherings.     Although Daly has already acquired $90 million in funding from Miami, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida,

The holidays bring time spent with friends and family. If you’re the host with the most, this also means lots of prep work and planning for your celebrations, especially when your home is the gathering place. And, if you’re pressed for space for a large crowd, you’ll need to employ a bit of creativity to make the most out of the space you do have. Here’s a list of clever small space entertaining tips and tricks to host a big gathering in a small space. Make Space for Coats . (Yes, even in South Florida... maybe) Your guests will arrive and the first thing they’ll do is take off their coats, scarves, and hats. Make room in your coat closet, or if that’s not an option, purchase a folding clothing rack to stash in a bedroom for use during the party and then fold up and store when not in use. De-clutter.  That curated stack of coffee table books and candles are a chic accent to your living room, but party guests will need surfaces to put their drinks and food down. Temporarily

One Thousand Museum condos will be the latest addition to the Museum Park area of Downtown Miami at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard. One Thousand Museum (1000 Museum) will join the four existing luxury towers located across the street from Bicentennial Park which is soon to be renamed "Museum Park". This thirty acre urban park will house both the new Miami Art Museum and the new Miami Science Museum. One Thousand Museum will be the newest ultra-luxury project located in Miami Downtown and will be sixty-two stories tall and offer just eighty-three (83) half-floor and full floor residences ranging in size from 4,500 to 9,800 square feet. These flow-through design apartments will offer residents incredible panoramic views of Biscayne Bay, the Miami and Miami Beach skylines and the light show that is the "Magic City"! ONE Thousand Museum, a new tower designed by world renown architect Zaha Hadid will soon grace the Downtown Miami skyline. Developed by Louis Birdman and Gre

The synergy between classic cars and luxury property as a desired asset and sound investment is becoming ever more apparent – both highly coveted, and not only giving a huge amount of enjoyment and personal satisfaction to those lucky enough to own either, but also seen by many as a good way to diversify their investment portfolios. Full Report Here

If you're selling your home, chances are good you're familiar with the concept of staging your home. Real estate agents recommend your home look its best to prospective buyers, and home staging is a great way to ensure you receive top dollar. But did you know you should stage the exterior of your home too? Failing to update the look of your home's exterior can cause buyers to get a bad first impression when they initially arrive to view your home.  Whether your audience are  luxury home buyers  or you are selling your starter home, staging the exterior of your home will have a major impact in the sale of your home.  If you want to put exterior home staging to work, here are five elements you should consider tweaking. Clean Your Exterior Windows and Screens Nothing says poor maintenance like dirty windows and window screens. If your windows are caked with dust or muck from the last rainstorm, open house visitors are going to wonder what other maintenance jobs you have

Okan Tower will have a 294-room Hilton-branded hotel, 236 condo-hotel units, 153 condos, 64,000 square feet of Class A office space and a restaurant on the 67th floor. Okan Group unveiled the project at an event at its 3,000-square-foot sales gallery in Istanbul on Wednesday. The architecture firm behind the tower’s bold design in tribute to Turkish culture is Behar Font & Partners. Okan Tower’s studio, one-, and two-bedroom condo-hotel units will be delivered turnkey furnished, ranging in size from 447 to 1,245 square feet, while its condo-residence offerings will include one- to three-bedroom units plus a den, ranging from 698 to over 2,071 square feet; and 4 duplex-style penthouses ranging from 1,873 to more than 2,142 square feet.  Okan Tower will also offer world-class amenities, including high-speed elevators with separate access for various mixed-use components, a sky pool with panoramic views from the 70th floor, outdoor lounge, Hammam spa, state-of-the-art health and

The Opportunity Zone Program is becoming more and more popular in South Florida. Florida has 427 designated Opportunity Zones, 68 of them are in Miami Dade County. Areas include:  Liberty City, Opa-Locka, Carol City, Little Haiti, North Miami and Aventura.  See map above. T he program provides tax incentives to developers who build in these areas. An Opportunity Zone is an economically - distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as Opportunity Zones if they have been nominated for that designation by the state and that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury via his delegation authority to the Internal Revenue Service. Opportunity Zones are designed to spur economic development by providing tax benefits to investors. First, investors can defer tax on any prior gains until the earlier of the date on which an investment is sold or exchanged, or Decembe

Is it easier today for homebuyers with a high debt ratio and subpar credit scores to qualify for a mortgage than it's been in years? And if so, what might that mean for first-time and repeat buyers who are struggling with credit and debt issues but still hope to buy a home? When the Federal Reserve polled senior bank executives last month on whether they've been loosening credit criteria for home-mortgage applicants, most bankers said, "no way, not us." They've kept their rules tight to avoid the problems the lending industry experienced in the housing bust of the last decade. Studies by the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center have estimated that lenders' historically strict underwriting standards have prevented millions of would-be buyers from becoming homeowners. Researchers said that between 2009 and 2014, 5.2 million mortgages were "missing" – they would have been made if lenders had relaxed their tough post-recession requi

The Wealth Report, now in its 12th year, is the industry’s leading publication on global prime property markets, wealth distribution and investment sentiment. Increasingly, the trends of the world's wealthiest are influencing markets around the globe. The Wealth Report provides unique insight into the evolving behaviors of this important investment class and is a valuable guide to the emerging trends that are shaping our residential real estate markets worldwide.  FOLLOW THE MONEY Tracking wealth concentration and the flow of capital 1) The number of UHNWIs – individuals with $50m+ in net assets – increased by 10% in 2017, taking the total to 129,730 individuals globally. 2) The number of HNWIs – individuals with $5m in net assets – is set to rise 43% by 2022 to a total of 3,617,550. 3) New York leads all global cities in households earning $250k+ per year, with more than 1,167,000 counted. Los Angeles comes in 2nd place with 637,000. 4) Nort

 Large-balance mortgage loans – "jumbo" loans – are becoming less expensive than conforming loans. Traditionally, jumbo loans carried higher interest rates, but since mid-2013 that has been gradually changing, and they were less expensive than a conforming mortgage loan by an average of 33 basis points during the first quarter, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. In response, jumbo loans have been growing, and their share of the mortgage market has reached its highest rate since 2009 – about 15 percent of home-purchase originations, CoreLogic reports. And in 2009, the jumbo share was just 6 percent. Jumbo loans are ones that exceed the high-balance conforming loan limit under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the Federal Housing Finance Agency set at $453,100 for most of the U.S. in 2018. In a few areas designated as high-cost, conforming loans stretch up as high as $679,650. CoreLogic researchers say one of the reasons that the jumbo-to-conforming ra

Since its introduction in 1990 by the U.S. Immigration Act, the EB-5 program provides a special category of immigration visa for the international investors. To qualify for the program, the applicant must invest $500,000 in a business or project located in an area of the United States with a high unemployment rate. The applicant's investment must create 10 full-time jobs within a two-year period.  After the successful completion of the program, investors and their family members (spouse and children under the age of 21) are given a conditional resident status in the United States, which can be converted into a permanent residency with a path to citizenship. Individuals interested in the EB-5 Visa Program must provide sufficient evidence documenting the source of the funds that are used for the EB-5 investment. The funds for the required $500,000 investment may be obtained from a number of sources such as from a gift, a personal loan, savings, sale of assets, an inheritance o

The first thing you need to know about home inspection: You’ll feel all the feels. There’s the excitement — the inspection could be the longest time you’re in the house, after the showing. Right behind that comes … anxiety. What if the inspector finds something wrong? So wrong you can’t buy the house? Then there’s impatience. Seriously, is this whole home-buying process over yet? Not yet. But you’re close. So take a deep breath. Because the most important thing to know about home inspection: It’s just too good for you, as a buyer, to skip. Here’s why. A Home Inspector Is Your Protector An inspector helps you make sure a house isn’t hiding anything before you commit for the long haul. (Think about it this way: You wouldn’t even get coffee with a stranger without checking out their history.) A home inspector identifies any reasonably discoverable problems with the house (a leaky roof, faulty plumbing, etc.). Hiring an inspector is you doing your due