Miami Real Estate

Can’t imagine buying a house in Miami  – without a pool?   Some neighborhoods seem to ’demand’ one.  Buyers looking in Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay expect their homes to have a pool.  Not true of  Coral Gables  or Coconut Grove though… where homes are a breeze to buy or sell…. with or without a swimming pool.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Looking to spruce up your home or are you simply tired of the same color on your walls? Painting is a fun way to change the feel of any room. Barbara Jacobs from HGTV has provided 10 tips to picking paint colors using “paint psychology.” She says that color accounts for 60% of our reaction to objects. The effects of color are psychological, physical, subtle yet significant. The color around us is influential in where we work and live.

1. Start Small: You may not be familiar with painting, so pick a small hall hall or powder room and experiment there. In order to see the results quickly, pick an area that’s quick to do. To start, pick a color from a piece of art, a rug, dishes or a piece of furniture as a main color or accent.

2. Think About Your Mood: Consider the mood of a room when selecting a color. Soft, neutral,  cool colors tend to create a quieter feel while the darker colors are more dramatic. When you think about what kind of dining room ambiance you want, do you think of something formal or something more casual and sociable? If you answered formal, use deeper blue-greens and neutrals. If you answered casual, use warmer, brighter and more contrasting colors.

3. Pay Attention To Lighting: Natural daylight works best for showing true color. Flourescent lighting casts a sharp blue tone while incandescent lighting brings out yellows and warm tones. A strong color might be effective when it’s used as an accent wall with indirect light, while the strong color might be too bright when used on walls that are next to a large window.

 4. Learn The Color Terms: Hue is what color is called. (ex-blue is the hue). How dark or light a hue is will determine it’s value. Saturation refers to how dominant the hue is…the red hue becomes less dominant as you go from red to pink. Intensity is the brilliance of the color. Pure colors like red are more intense than yellow-green. A stronger, more intense color usually has more hue. A very light color can feel too bright and stark when it shows up on all surfaces in a room. Instead, use two or more medium-light and closely related pastels to create a luminous effect when used in the same room. So, even if you want a light colored room, use colors that are more saturated than off-white or a light pastel.

5. Test Your Color Choice: Test your color choices out on a large area of the wall or a posterboard. Step out of your comfort zone by considering soft, deep neutrals like olive green or chocolate brown as main or accent colors. You could add a dramatic feel by using stronger colors on the ceiling, with a tinted celing creating a whole new look in a room.

6. Add Depth With Decorative Finishes: Transform bare walls into interesting spaces using subtle or dramatic visual texture and broken color. Layered color glazes and metal finishes (copper, mica,bronze or antiqued silver and gold),  add depth.

7. Walk Into Another Room: Think of it this way-when you’re in one room, you will see a piece of the other room. Therefore, as you are choosing colors, think of how they will flow from room to room to create a complete picture.

8. Follow The Color Wheel: Use a small color wheel-it’s a great reference point to modify and intensify two or more colors. Take red and green, which are normally opposite colors. They become more intense when used together. You may learn to enjoy entirely new color pallettes when you discover how many colors work really well together. The color wheel also serves to illustrate the visual temperatue of color. Drawing a fine line from the yellow-green mark down to the red-violet, you will find that the colors on the left are warm while the ones on the right are cool.

9. Play Up Monochromatic Schemes: If you think one color is boring, create bold variations by within one color group by using contrasting paint finishes. You can use closely related colors or a single color in different finishes for walls in one space. To create an accent color, use warmer (reds) or cooler (blues) colors to complement the main color group.

10. Choose Different Paint Finishes: To create a cohesive look in rooms with lots of windows and doors, use a different finish on the paint. You can use an eggshell finish on walls and a satin or semi gloss on trim. The color will look slightly different on each surface.

Happy painting! For other home decorating tips, click here.  If I can help you with any of your real estate needs, please send me a note or give me a call.

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ARE INTEREST RATES GOING UP?    Not yet… No!   They are about to though!  Interest rates are low (on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage) and have stayed artificially low (for such a long time). The Federal Government has  been keeping them that way - stimulating the economy by buying mortgage backed securities.  

HOW LONG will the FED keep doing this?     WHEN  will they  STOP?     Read the rest of this entry »

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Miami attracts foreign buyers in droves.  The destination is appealing .  It’s  easy to get here.   From almost anywhere in the world you can be in Miami in just a few hours.  The weather is  hard to beat.  Where else can you be outdoors, poolside and oceanfront,  literally year-round?    Miami  offers an alluring lifestyle …  has a diverse population with  a mix of  cultures  and people .  Not hard to find common ground here:  food, languages, interests.  It’s an easy place to fit in…   make friends…  and feel at home.  

35% of  property bought in Miami over the past year was purchased by foreign buyers.  In 2009,   sales  of condos equalled the number of single family homes sold.  Read the rest of this entry »

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For the 10th time, the Super Bowl is being played in Miami! This year, the New Orleans Saints  and the Indianapolis Colts  will play at the newly named Sun Life Stadium on February 7, 2010. Kick off is at 6:25 pm, but tune in at 6 pm for all the pre-game fun. Grab your best Super Bowl finger food and some good friends and watch the game in our very own backyard!

Want to live in the center of it all? Contact me for all your real estate needs…I would love to help!

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Most  buyers and sellers don’t grasp the level of  artistry that goes into negotiating a contract to buy or sell a home.

“Highest and best offer”  implies one thing  (but can  mean something entirely different).   Google anyone? Definition?   ”Highest and Best”  IMPLIES  giving one’s  best shot…  but often  it’s  idle chatter… at least in Miami.   As a seller,  whether you  take an offer like that at face value or challenge it depends on Read the rest of this entry »

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Simple  Home Improvements …  on a dime!  By  replacing outdated cabinet hardware, this Miami kitchen goes from dated … to SELLABLE … in minutes   (spending about what you might  at Starbucks!) .  

A screwdriver and a handful of wrought iron cabinet  knobs:  Outdated gold knobs on the left  -  Trendy ’wrought iron’  hardward on the right (Lowe’s, Home Depot, or online). 

Are you considering buying or selling real estate in Miami?   Please give us a call.    Our listings are selling!

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Some kitchens need more space and adding an island is one way to solve that problem. HGTV gives us these tips on how to build your own island. Follow these steps to making one.

1.Measure the space where the island goes.

2. Before you start, get an estimate of the width and depth for your island. You can use the size of the tiles, but be sure to factor in the space for the grout lines, to fine tune the measurements and draw a diagram of what the island will look like.

3. Use a tape ,measure to measure the birch plywood. Score the birch plywood using the T-square, which will keep it from flaring when you cut it.

4. Cut the plywood pieces with a circular straw.

5. With a table saw, cut a 45 degree mitered angle  for the side panel of the island. Be sure to cut from the underside to get a straight line with no flared edges. Repeat for the other side panel.

6. Glue and nail side pieces to top and bottom pieces and then sand any rough edges. Prime and paint the island.

7. Using a table saw, cut the bottom shelves to size. Prime and paint them.

8. Install the bottom shelf and cut frames for the bottom shelf out of wood stock, using a miter saw to cut each joint at a 45 degree angle. Prime and paint the pieces and attach the frame to the precut bottom shelf using glue and nails.

9. On the frame, dry-fit the bottom shelf and screw it into position. Do the same thing with the center shelf.

10. You can use the same countertops that are throughout he kitchen or get creative.

Once you revamp your kitchen, contact me and I’ll help you sell your house!

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Miami is  back to the  property values we experienced  in 2000 – 2001.    From 2005 -2008  housing prices skyrocketed and homeowners saw a significant increase in their equity. 

If you bought a home or condo between 2005 and 2008  -  at the height of the housing market -   breaking even will  likely be a challenge  ( if you need to sell now).

Read on though, because the housing market has already begun to rebound!

Read the rest of this entry »

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We all want the latest and greatest in kitchens and bathrooms, but it turns out that spending money on these kind of improvements might not be helping SELL your home. Think of it this way: Your kitchen may look fabulous – but if the roof is leaking, most buyers won’t look beyond that factor.

Remodeling Magazine  says that you are less likely to recoup your investment on a major bathroom or kitchen remodel than you are on a basic home improvement project, like new siding. According to their study, siding replacement recovered 92.8 % of it’s cost, while 80% or more was receovered on replacing windows or roofs. The only home renovation that showed a likelihood of a good return was a minor kitchen renovation (approximately $15,000). Read the rest of this entry »

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