Posts

Miami investor buys development site near Westchester

Image
A company controlled by Miami investor Ricardo Caporal paid $5 million for a development site near Miami’s Westchester neighborhood, property records show. AmeriLumber Hardware & Building Material Inc. sold the 1.37-acre property on Bird Road and Southwest 70th Court to Altis Ludlam Miami LLC. The lot is just north of a development site owned by a self-storage company and west of the proposed Ludlam Trail, a 6.2-mile trail intended for cyclists and pedestrians that has yet to be built. Caporal, founder and president of the Mattoni Group, declined to comment about his plans for the site. In November, Mattoni paid $10.5 million for commercial units at 1010 Brickell Avenue. The Brickell-based private equity group also invested in a handful of apartment projects in West Miami that were geared toward young professionals and working families. by:Keith Larsen

8777 Collins Ave #807 Surfside, Fl 33154

Image

Breaking a Lease to Buy a Home

Image
Trying to buy a home when you are up against the clock is stressful. If you are renting and on a lease, it can feel like a ticking time bomb: Are you going to be able to find a house and get an accepted offer or should you re-up your lease for another year? For first-time home buyers, the pressure is on and you don’t want to end up on the streets. Sometimes a lease break is inevitable if you land your new home earlier than anticipated. But, how can you get yourself off the hook without losing your shirt? First off, you should never take a lease-break lightly. Leases are binding documents and in many states they are very strictly enforced, meaning your landlord could take you to small claims court to collect missing payments. There are no guarantees that your landlord will let you off scot-free, but it’s worth a shot! How to Break a Lease When You’re Ready to Buy As a landlord myself, I have seen seen hundreds of tenants come and go. My advice to any renter is to first try an

Home affordability down 5% in 1Q – 10-15% by year end

Image
U.S. housing became less affordable in the first quarter and the cost of carrying a mortgage could increase by the end of year – making 2018 affordability more challenging than it's been in decades, according to the Spring 2018 edition of The Housing and Mortgage Market Review (HaMMR).   The report found that U.S. housing affordability worsened by 5 percent in the first quarter of 2018, and authors predict that the monthly mortgage payments needed for home purchases could go up another 10-15 percent by the end of the year. For homeowners, there's good news in the report: Home values are expected to continue to appreciate.   According to the latest quarterly Arch MI Risk Index, a statistical model based on leading housing market indicators, the average probability of experiencing home price declines remains unusually low at 5 percent. The shortage of homes for sale means that the likelihood of local housing busts – or even mild price declines– over the next two years is

Elliman Mag's Spring/Summer issue celebrates the warmth of the season.

#EllimanMag ’s Spring/Summer issue celebrates the warmth of the season. Inside you’ll find #Elliman ’s extensive portfolio of luxury resale, new development and rental properties. Pick up your copy at any DE office location or sales gallery today! #ItsTimeForElliman pic.twitter.com/xx2u5i8Ooo — DouglasElliman (@DouglasElliman) April 12, 2018

Energy-efficiency info needs to be given to buyers

Image
We all know that many types of disclosures can be provided between parties during the course of a real estate transaction. However, it's important to know which ones are required – and when they're required – so that the seller and buyer are in compliance with both the law and the contracts. Many Florida Realtors contracts contain a section regarding disclosures. Some of these disclosures are generic in nature, meaning that the required disclosure is contained within the body of the contract itself. For example, the radon disclosure contained in the contracts (residential and commercial) is based on statutorily proscribed language that must be given either before or within the contract. However, other disclosures may require additional attachments or information to be given. One example is the building energy-efficiency information. Pursuant to Florida Statutes 553.996, "a prospective purchaser of real property with a building for occupancy located thereon shall b

Landowners win eminent domain valuation case

Image
In March, a jury trial involved landowners who had easement rights taken by Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, under the power of eminent domain. The case was heard in a federal court before U.S. District Court Judge James S. Moody, Jr. in Ocala, Florida. According to the landowners' attorneys, the case – Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC v. +/- 3.921 Acres of Land, Sunderman Groves, Inc., No. 5:16-cv-00178-JSM-PRL (M.D. Fla. 2017) – is allegedly the first jury trial in which property owners have challenged Sabal Trail regarding the measure of compensation for the taking of both temporary and permanent easements as part of its 516-mile natural gas pipeline project that will span Alabama, Georgia and Florida. According to court documents, landowners Chuck and Jan Sunderman had a 40-acre tract of land in Bay Lake, Florida, split down the middle by Sabal T rails natural gas pipeline – a distance of 1,336 feet. Sabal Trail (owned by Spectra Energy, NextEra Energy and Duke Power) says