Great to have you back Steve. I like your 3 month plan for Miami. That will give you plenty of time to really scope the market out and wait for the sweet deals that you have to be on the ground to find and act quickly on. I think this will outweigh potentially missing the bottom of the market later in the year.
I too am planning to head to Miami this year. Look forward to your updates on the REO situation and your real estate adventures in general.
Cheers,
Fishface
Is anyone aware of good rental comparison US websites by any chance?
Somewhere where you could put in the address or the suburb (with other criteria) which would bring up relative rental prices of similar properties?
This would be a pivotal in determining the quality of a future investment..
I dont think there is one, but it would be a useful tool.
There are apartment rental websites such as rent.com where you can get a good feel, especially when comparing class a with class a, and class b with class b etc, of course this doesn't deal with the shadow rental market which is historically very large at the moment and skews things a bit. I think, Section 8 is determined at State level so they will determine a maximum for a two bed or in some cases a certain family size, so if your buying that type of stock you can know across the board what your looking at.
I dont think there is one, but it would be a useful tool.
There are apartment rental websites such as rent.com where you can get a good feel, especially when comparing class a with class a, and class b with class b etc, of course this doesn't deal with the shadow rental market which is historically very large at the moment and skews things a bit. I think, Section 8 is determined at State level so they will determine a maximum for a two bed or in some cases a certain family size, so if your buying that type of stock you can know across the board what your looking at.
http://www.rentometer.com this is only a guide as there could be some very high priced rentals in an area that will push the amount up.
ActToday wrote:http://www.rentometer.com this is only a guide as there could be some very high priced rentals in an area that will push the amount up.Thanks for the tip the site looks interesting.
I think I have found a good guide website, http://www.finestexpert.com
it appears to be user-contributed but gives information which is very much in line with rentometer.
I've just done comps on three of my properties, one came up $15000 under priced with rent $110 per month over what is achievable, the second was $18000 overpriced and $150 per month too high in rent but the third came up spot on. Definitely good to have several resources to check from.
Steve,
Just thought I would share this article from Forbes written last week. Like you, they also say that house prices in Florida are likely to fall over the next 12 months.http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/21/cities-home-values-prices-real-estate-personal-finance.html
Also the latest Case-Shiller Home Price info is out
Hi everyone who's kept this thread alive during my absence from the site. I'm now back in Miami, staying in a small rented apartment near Miami Beach. I have my wife and two babies with me, which is quite a handful.
If any of you've followed my posts from the last time I was in Miami, you'll recall I became obsessed with a water front property (facing the intercoastal waterway, but just a few blocks from Miami Beach). It came on the market at the end of October 2010, and it was a hot REO, attracting so many bids that the bank closed the bidding after about a week. Even though I put in a bid 25% higher than the asking price, I didn't get it. Someone must have bid much higher than me.
It turns out that the person who won the bidding pulled out of the purchase during the inspection period (that's a period the banks give you to decide whether to go ahead with the purchase: if you pull out during this phase you get your full deposit back). I don't know why the buyer pulled out (either he couldn't come up with the amount he'd bid, or he just didn't like what he found out about the property during the full inspection). So the property came back on the market earlier this month. This time I bid nearly 50% above the asking price, and it seems like I have won the bidding. I say "seems like" because this bank is notoriously slow: it took them 2 weeks after they closed the bidding to let me know I'd won, and now it's been a week since I signed the final contract (and paid the deposit directly to them) and I still haven't received the signed contract back from them. The estate agent (who is the REO listing agent, as I made sure I tracked her down before putting in my bid) assures me they're always this sloppy, but I'm not getting my hopes up until I've bagged the property.
I know some readers will think I'm crazy to bid 50% above the asking price, and to be offering enough to buy at least 3 nice single family homes in Miami. But if you took a look at the neighbouring waterfront properties, all worth well over $1,000,000 even in this depressed market, you'll see why I want this property very badly.
I'm not sure how things will pan out over the following 3 months that I'm here. By this I mean that I don't know if prices have bottomed, or will fall further, and as a result I don't know if I'll make any more purchases.
The Case Shiller stats that came out last Tuesday (reflecting property prices in the September to November months of last year) show that prices in the US are still falling, and rather quickly at that. However, Miami only dropped 0.2% month on month, much less than most other big cities.
Many of you are probably wondering what my personal experience of the market it here "on the ground". Actually, I haven't been to see a single REO so far, partly because I've been so busy settling in, but also because very few REO's have come out in the last 3 months. If you ask me, the foreclosure moratorium is far from behind us. REO's are still just trickling onto the market, and those that come our are either in bad areas, or overpriced.
There is surely an enormous hidden inventory still sitting on all those banks' books, but I reckon they're not ready to release them yet. They're probably still going through their paperwork to make sure they're not going to be sued for selling houses that were foreclosed by robo-signers.
If you're thinking of coming to the US soon, perhaps delay a little longer until
A. the REOs are being released faster, and
B. the Case Shiller stats show a real bottoming in the marketAnd if you're thinking of going to Detroit or Atlanta, you really need to see the most recent Case Shiller graphs for those cities. They seem to be in free-fall….
British Buyer,
I am sure everyone that has followed your journey is happy to see you back, I recently received an email from my business partner based in Denver, he has a company that advises on were to invest in the USA, researching over 250 markets, his thoughts on Miami are well worth reading, It is to long to post on the forum, I would be happy to pass them onto you if you are interested.
My email is [email protected]
PS Your comments on Detroit & Atlanta are spot on
Jeff
British Buyer wrote:Hi everyone who's kept this thread alive during my absence from the site. I'm now back in Miami, staying in a small rented apartment near Miami Beach. I have my wife and two babies with me, which is quite a handful.If any of you've followed my posts from the last time I was in Miami, you'll recall I became obsessed with a water front property (facing the intercoastal waterway, but just a few blocks from Miami Beach). It came on the market at the end of October 2010, and it was a hot REO, attracting so many bids that the bank closed the bidding after about a week. Even though I put in a bid 25% higher than the asking price, I didn't get it. Someone must have bid much higher than me.
It turns out that the person who won the bidding pulled out of the purchase during the inspection period (that's a period the banks give you to decide whether to go ahead with the purchase: if you pull out during this phase you get your full deposit back). I don't know why the buyer pulled out (either he couldn't come up with the amount he'd bid, or he just didn't like what he found out about the property during the full inspection). So the property came back on the market earlier this month. This time I bid nearly 50% above the asking price, and it seems like I have won the bidding. I say "seems like" because this bank is notoriously slow: it took them 2 weeks after they closed the bidding to let me know I'd won, and now it's been a week since I signed the final contract (and paid the deposit directly to them) and I still haven't received the signed contract back from them. The estate agent (who is the REO listing agent, as I made sure I tracked her down before putting in my bid) assures me they're always this sloppy, but I'm not getting my hopes up until I've bagged the property.
Good luck BB. We are keeping our fingers crossed that you get your dream house.
By the way, where do I find the Case Shiller graphs for individual cities ?Hey all,
I am heading over to Miami late feb and was just wondering if anyone is going to be around and would like to possibly catch up? I am keen to get out and see the property market and learn. British buyer would be keen to catch up if you are free late feb early march for a chat and maybe to look at some property and see how it all work in the US.
Thanks in advance.Simon
British Buyer wrote:And if you're thinking of going to Detroit or Atlanta, you really need to see the most recent Case Shiller graphs for those cities. They seem to be in free-fall….I'm familiar with both cities. On paper they look like bargains, but the housing stock thats left is worn out, the tenants are the worst possible types, itinerant, dangerous, drug dealing, thieves (they will steal floating floors and coppers). Ever seen a whole 92 unit apartment block trashed AND burnt? There is an old hotel for sale now in detroit at $89k its run down and there is mould and water everywhere. There is no upside on either of these towns until the main problems get fixed. And detroit isnt changing anything even with the new (supposedly uncorrupt) mayor. I'm sure there will be books on what Detroit was. But at the moment its not going to do anything to recover. Let it die and take your money to places where it will do something within your lifetime.
I remember looking at the Victorian town of Moe .. waay back in 1986-1987 and thinking .. wow .. these places are 20-25k per unit WOW cheap! Fact is .. its now 2011 and the town of moe still has the best el-cheapo units (now only 65-100k) still the cheapest on the market. Think of where your money could have been working better in the meantime. And Moe has some of the nicer aspects of bad tenancies. But nothing like Detroit.
simon87 wrote:Hey all, I am heading over to Miami late feb and was just wondering if anyone is going to be around and would like to possibly catch up? I am keen to get out and see the property market and learn. British buyer would be keen to catch up if you are free late feb early march for a chat and maybe to look at some property and see how it all work in the US. Thanks in advance. SimonHi Simon,
Ill be in Miami then if you want to meet for a coffee.
best
Mark
All this talk about the virtues of Miami and Florida perked my interest in the following LLC articles that may interest our MIAMI(ad)VICE colleagues. I came across some good posts from Biggerpockets.com that explain some of the finer details in some plain language.
Can Nevada or Wyoming Protect Your Real Estate Investments in Another State
A more in-depth article goes into detail regarding Florida specifics.
Setting the Record Straight on Florida LLCs
BB,
Very happy to see all your journey, all the best with your house and please keep posting. I’ll be in Miami in a few months, still working on details and getting some money ready.Simon, It’ll be good to know how your progress is as well, so please keep us in the loop.
Mosqui
xdrew wrote:British Buyer wrote:And if you're thinking of going to Detroit or Atlanta, you really need to see the most recent Case Shiller graphs for those cities. They seem to be in free-fall….I'm familiar with both cities. On paper they look like bargains, but the housing stock thats left is worn out, the tenants are the worst possible types, itinerant, dangerous, drug dealing, thieves (they will steal floating floors and coppers). Ever seen a whole 92 unit apartment block trashed AND burnt? There is an old hotel for sale now in detroit at $89k its run down and there is mould and water everywhere. There is no upside on either of these towns until the main problems get fixed. And detroit isnt changing anything even with the new (supposedly uncorrupt) mayor. I'm sure there will be books on what Detroit was. But at the moment its not going to do anything to recover. Let it die and take your money to places where it will do something within your lifetime.
I remember looking at the Victorian town of Moe .. waay back in 1986-1987 and thinking .. wow .. these places are 20-25k per unit WOW cheap! Fact is .. its now 2011 and the town of moe still has the best el-cheapo units (now only 65-100k) still the cheapest on the market. Think of where your money could have been working better in the meantime. And Moe has some of the nicer aspects of bad tenancies. But nothing like Detroit.
Well said ! A lot of people compare these places to our capital cities and think they are cheap. Your example of Moe is a good one.
spyglassltd wrote:simon87 wrote:Hey all, I am heading over to Miami late feb and was just wondering if anyone is going to be around and would like to possibly catch up? I am keen to get out and see the property market and learn. British buyer would be keen to catch up if you are free late feb early march for a chat and maybe to look at some property and see how it all work in the US. Thanks in advance. SimonHi Simon,
Ill be in Miami then if you want to meet for a coffee.
best
Mark
Hi Mark & Simon,
My partner and myself will be in Miami late Feb to early March, we sre looking at accomodation in South Miami beach and would be interested in catching up over a coffee…
Email: [email protected]
Hi All
Am a bit irritated that the long comment I just wrote didn't go up when I pressed POST.
Must remember to CTRL C everything next time.
I'm still in the process of buying my Dream Waterfront Home. Have opened my HSBC premier account, and applied for the mortgage. Must pay 30% down, and the interest rate is 5.2% now, much higher than last November's 4.6%.
I'm setting up an LLC using a local legal firm: only $154!
My family and I are loving Miami Beach (the long island that stretches from South Beach to Bal Harbour in the north). There's a wonderful holiday atmosphere here, great partying on the south end (where all the hostels and bars are) and great for young families on the north end. The beaches are great for the entire stretch of the island.
Now that I've got my kids with me, I'm meeting many families, all of whom love Miami, and particularly Miami Beach. None are Americans. They're all immigrants who're very happy to have landed in such a beautiful, safe, clean place. We're all amazed at the fantastic (and FREE) parks and public pools, which are great for kids.
Most people I meet are renting, some have bought. One young Serbian family, who have a son my son's age, bought an apartment last year when they discovered that it would only cost them $800 per month in mortgage payments, compared to the $1,200 a month they were paying in rent (for a 2-bedroom apartment that they've now bought for $95,000).
I haven't been looking at properties myself, since I want to get the Waterfront one finalized first.
I'm gonna post this before I lose it.
Steve
Today I saw an article in the Miami Herald reporting on Trulia's latest research into the US housing market.
According to the report, Miami is the best big city to invest in.
The reason: the money you'd spend over 6 years of renting a 2 bedroom home could buy that same home.
Here's a quote from the article:
<moderator: delete 8 paragraph long quote. Please use link for that volume of information>
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/25/2032762/miami-top-big-city-to-buy-home.html##ixzz1DZ047jKS
By the way, where do I find the Case Shiller graphs for individual cities ?
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