Juicy Estates: Mortgage Blog

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Soccer Rooftop Opens In Brickell

Great news for Futsal Soccer (5-a-side soccer) players and aficionados in the area! Soccer Rooftop has just opened its doors in Brickell, with two state of the art fields featuring the latest technology on synthetic grass. The fields, located on the rooftop of Rivergate Plaza on Brickell Avenue, measure 56 x 110 feet and are caged by a 21 foot tall net. The facilities provide all of the necessary infrastructure to assure a safe and comfortable environment for people of all ages to enjoy the sport of soccer year-round.

Brickell Soccer Rooftop is located at 444 Brickell Avenue, Miami FL 33131. For information on hours of operation, rates and reservations visit www.soccerrooftop.com or call 786-220-4589.

For more of my posts on Brickell Key real estate, news and events click here.

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Boutique Real Estate, The New Breed

 

In an era of industry consolidation on both the sales and finance side of real estate Janie Coffey and her business partner Shelly Montalvo are redefining the term “boutique real estate brokerage” at Papillon Real Estate LLC.  This excerpt from the Papillon Real Estate website defines their business model succinctly.

“Papillon prides itself on being a boutique real estate brokerage that is both High Tech and High Touch. Our focus is on education, knowledge, support and growth for our clients and our agents. We provide all of our buyer clients their own web page where they can sign-in and check the properties they have saved as well as appointments and other key info. We offer a large and varied host of marketing tools for our seller clients, ensuring that their properties are best positioned to sell in the market. We believe in building relationships for life. “

Janie’s blog Miami By Land and By Sea has a wealth of information and is a “must subscribe” for those who intend keep up to date on South Florida real estate.  My personal favorite of her more recent posts is her take on Miami’s Most Elite Neighborhoods.

You can contact Janie Coffey at 305.569.6380 or 786.252.4970 and Shelly Mantalvo at 305.569.6380 or 786. 525.1721.

Give them a call I am sure they would love to hear from you.

Update: Asia Condo In Brickell Key

You may be wondering how Asia, the latest development project in Brickell Key, has faired out in the midst of the real estate crisis and economic downturn. Since closings began in April, 2008, 53.66% or 66 of the total 123 units in the luxury tower have closed according to public county records.

In the last few of months tough, only two closings have taken place at Asia. This, coupled with the fact that no project in the area with a post November closing start-date has achieved more than a 4.5% closing rate; is an indication of just how big of an impact the downturn has had on new developments around Downtown Miami.

As a result of tighter lending standards and the new Fannie Mae requirements, Asia will most likely have to primarily rely on cash rich buyers to slowly absorb the inventory or explore the possibility of a bulk sale.

Currently there are 29 units listed for resale at Asia, with asking prices ranging from $1.24 to $9 million. No resales have been recorded so far. There are 16 properties listed for rent between $5,000 and $14,000.

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No wonder Lehman Brothers failed….

It was truly in the cards for Lehman Brothers.  Back in 2006, just on the cusp of the real estate meltdown, Lehman Brothers approved the loan for this property located at 1835 Opechee Drive in North Coconut Grove. 

If you look back at the property history, you will see that in 2004 the house sold for $850,000 which at the time was a very appropriate price.  It came back on the market in February 2006, the asking price was $1,690,000, way out of line with other houses in the area. 

Mysteriously, the contract was cancelled 2 months later with the Realtor and the house was sold for $2,850,000 on May of 2006 without any Realtor participation.  Lehman Brothers wrote a mortgage of $1,852,000 on this property which again, was unbelievable. 

Today, two and half years later, after an extensive foreclosure process, Lehman Brothers has put the house on the market for $625,000.  This was one of the biggest examples of mortgage fraud I have seen in Coconut Grove.  The house itself, has 3,400 square feet of living space, on a 14,000 square foot lot, with 7 bedrooms and 5 baths.  It was built in 1930 and its current condition needs alot of updating.  The location is hard to beat, as this is on a quiet street in the North Grove.

I have handled many foreclosures recently for my clients, if you are interested in seeing this property, please feel free to contact me.

Guest Contributions – Coming Spring 2009