Miami Real Estate

You are invited and welcome!  Come for lunch (lake side) this Wednesday 12pm- 2:30pm!  Preview this Contemporary 2 Story on E-Lake   -  13724 SW 92 Ct.  -  by the Falls.   $2,249,000.  Breathtaking waterviews…Come see it during the day… then come back for a spectacular sunset! Just listed by Pam Mayers and the Restivo Team.  

Directions:  US 1  to  SW 136 St (turn west… past  the Falls Shopping Center). Turn (south) at SW 92 Ave (corner of Macy’s). Turn right (north) at SW 92 Court … and follow the curve.

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Contemporary  Two Story Miami Waterfront  – Just Listed For Sale… 13724 SW 92 Ct,  Miami, Florida 

E-LAKE …  A True Miami Lifestyle…  ON VACATION … Living In Your Own  RESORT  Home!

 This private oasis is nestled on a quiet side street,  abutting  Miami’s highly desirable recreational and motorized  freshwater  E-Lake.  The 76 acre Miami lakefront community is home to residents who rarely relinquish their claim to the lakefront!   Here’s a contemporary home – 13724 SW 92 Court, Miami, Florida  33176 -  renovated and modern, with high ceilings, a truly breathtaking ”great room”, modern European kitchen overlooking the lake, dual stairwells, a wine cellar,  indoor black granite spa with lake views, private dock with electric boat lift, private beach, and a beachfront outdoor covered summer-kitchen.  Read the rest of this entry »

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The perfect holiday gift  ….   JUST REDUCED  by almost $250,000  and FOR SALE … BELOW APPRAISED VALUE !    This beautifully renovated  4-bedroom home  home sits on breathtaking grounds. Your backyard  is a recreational lake for  motor boats, wake-boarding, waterskiing, swimming.    The home was just reduced (from just under $1.2 million)  to $947,000… and is the only lakefront home currently available for under $1 million.   A hoiday gift idea. 

OPEN HOUSE: SATURDAY – DECEMBER 5th  (3pm to 6pm) -  9200 SW 140 Street, Miami,  Florida 33176.  You are welcome to stop by.

E-Lake  is a lifestyle …  Just behind the Falls Shopping Center in Miami, Florida.  9200 SW 140 Street is a beauty, available  for sale …  and listed at $947,000.   Come and take a look this Saturday…  or call Vicki Restivo  to schedule a private viewing  305-793-1365.

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The Restivo Team will be holding an open house from 3-5 PM on E-Lake. The price has recently been reduced by $100,000! This gorgeous 4/2 home features a Koi Pond, your own sandy beach with a dock and chickee hut and has been completely renovated. Stop by and see this rare opportunity on this wonderful recreational lake.

9200 SW 140 St

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On Sunday November 8, 2009, the Restivo Team and Isac Keboudi will be holding two homes open for your viewing pleasure. Come by from 1-5 pm and see them!

5240 SW 64 Av - The pool patio overlooks quiet canal from your dock. The home features a fishpond and luscious landscape. Birch kitchen. Carport for 10 cars!

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5305 SW 64 Av - Price reduced by almost $150,000! Newly renovated kitchen with top of the line appliances. Canal frontage with a dock. The pool area features a bar & entertainment area.

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Come for a glass of wine and preview  breathtaking waterfront  9200 SW 140 Street on E Lake:  OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY 2pm-6pm September 13th.  Enjoy an afternoon on E Lake.  Outdoor lifestyle worth exploring … E Lake… in the Falls area of Miami: 4 bedroom beautifully updated home.  E-Lake for sale!  $1,195,000.00.

Wave runners, sailboats, ski boats, rafts, wake boarders… private sandy beaches… and a water  quality (which is tested monthly) that has been (for over 30 years  now) exceptional!  From your dock you can see fish. From your beach front chickee hut you’ll enjoy breathtaking sunsets.  E-Lake affords  an active-lifestyle for the sports-oriented.  It also offers laid-back peace and quiet for those wanting resort-style tranquility in the privacy of their own backyard.  Curl up in a hammock with your favorite book.  Enjoy a leisurely bar-b-que down by the waterfront.  Take a boat ride at sunset over to visit with friends.  Enjoy  the privacy … or the sense of community.  At E Lake you can certainly have both.  Living on the lake affords an outdoor, active lifestyle unique to this particular area of Miami… and it offers a retreat where you can savor every minute of your spare time. 

E-Lake Community extends between SW 136th Street  and SW 144th Street (on the north and south), and from SW 92 Avenue over to SW 97 Avenue (on the east and west).

Property is rarely available on E-Lake.  Many of the original Jennings homes (which sold for $15,000 – $20,000) still stand, the lots  they sit on, themselves,  selling for over a million.  

 For more information on E-Lake, contact the Restivo Team at EWM Realtors  (305) 793-1365.  Hope to see you at 9200 SW 140 Street… an original Jennings built home, updated and beautiful… with a backyard that will take your breath away! Come see for yourself on Sunday, September 13th!

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Want to live somewhere really fun?  Boat,  fish, swim?  You might want to take a peak at  E-Lake.  The 76 acre Miami lakefront community is home to  a handful of residents who rarely relinquish their claim to the lakefront!  Jennings-built homes originally sold for $15K – $20K in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Today the lots themselves sell for more than a million! We have one listed now… at 9200 SW 140 St …  the least expensive piece of property on E Lake… updated and beautiful!

Wave runners, sailboats, ski boats, rafts, wake boarders… private sandy beaches… and a water  quality (which is tested monthly) that has been (for over 30 years  now) exceptional!  From your dock you can see fish. From your beach front chickee hut you’ll enjoy breathtaking sunsets.  E-Lake affords  an active-lifestyle for the sports-oriented.  It also offers laid-back peace and quiet for those wanting resort-style tranquilityin the privacy of their own backyard.  Curl up in a hammock with your favorite book.  Enjoy a leisurely bar-b-que down by the waterfront.  Take a boat ride at sunset over to visit with friends.  Enjoy  the privacy … or the sense of community.  At E Lake you can certainly have both.  Living on the lake affords an outdoor, active lifestyle unique to this particular area of Miami… and it offers a retreat where you can savor every minute of your spare time.

Everyone has a backyard that butts up on the lake.  Many of the residents have boats.  Because of the sense of community, rules are few and far between, but there’s a sense of caring and respect that’s refreshing. Residents have a voluntary annual contribution of $150 toward testing and treating the water and a desire to maintain not only the lake and but the quality of life.  There is no homeowner’s association.  What there is, is a common thread… a lifestyle that revolves around the outdoors, and an enjoyment of life and living… and a glimpse back, to a time when being a “good neighbor” .. and where pride and respect mattered. 

What’s the history of E Lake?   In the early 1920’s Henry Flagler  bought the land around E Lake  as a rock quarry… for the coral rock, limestone (also known as oolite)   needed to build his railroad.   The rock was crushed to form  the bed of the tracks, and  used in making the cement for necessary bridges and other structures. Flagler’s railroad was to go from Miami all the way down to Key West.  Because of the aquifer and Miami’s unique water table, the quarry began to fill with water. In spite of concerted efforts, the digging apparatus couldn’t contend with the infiltration of water… eventually causing excavation to cease.  By the 1940’s  a fresh water lake filled in the rock quarry, and  when seen from above, the lake looks like  the letter “E”.  The largest of the fingers is to the north, with the depth ranging  from 35 ft on the east  to  over 60 ft on the west side.   E-Lake Community extends between SW 136th Street  and SW 144th Street (on the north and south), and from SW 92 Avenue over to SW 97 Avenue (on the east and west).

Not surprisingly, the rock quarry site which is now the  historic Venetian Pool in Coral Gables similarly filled with water,  due to Miami’s natural underground springs. The Venetian Pool ( a few miles to the north of E-Lake)  became an elegant  public swimming hole for local Gables residents. Not much of a surprise to see other construction in and around Miami having to deal with that Miami aquifer even today!

By the 1960’s two developers began building homes on the land immediately surrounding E-Lake.   F & R  Builders and Jennings were the two prominent builders and many of their homes are still right where they built them.  Jennings homes are known for the scalloped edges in the closets, and their solid construction… enabling Jennings homes  throughout South Florida to withstand hurricanes in the days when  shutters or impact windows were the name of the game. Today,  many of the original Jennings homes on E-Lake have been added to, enlarged or remodeled.  Nevertheless,those homes that originally sold for $15,000.00-$20,ooo.00  occupy lots  today that themselves are valued at over a million dollars.   Real estate has long been a wise investment!  There are certainly market ups and downs, but in the long run, real estate (especially water front property) often appreciates nicely.   Homes are not often available on E-Lake.   If you have an interest in E-Lake, contact The Restivo Team at EWM Realtors  (305) 793-1365.    The Restivo Team just listed 9200 SW 140 St on E Lake for sale, and the beautifully updated  4 bedroom lakefront Jennings-built home is for sale at $1,195,000.00.  www.MiamiRealEstateCafe.com

E-Lake Community … a lifestyle worth exploring!

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A distinct benefit to having other Realtors preview a HOUSE YOU ARE SELLING is FEEDBACK …  different perspectives… stories…  tidbits of history!  I LOVE the unsolicited feedback I got from one of my colleagues at EWM. …  simple… and  worth it’s weight in gold! 

My colleague from the EWM Gables office previewed a listing we are selling, at a Broker’s Open, and suggested that  the dining room seemed somewhat over-crowded… She proposed that some  furniture be moved out.  (Note: the living room was empty). 

With her brilliant comment and the ensuing brainstorm that took place during that OPEN HOUSE,  Alexandra and I  kicked  off our shoes,  schlepped a couple of pieces of furniture out from the dining room and put them into another room….    We removed the trunk  from in front of the window.

It worked!   ”Ahhhh”   The dining room opened up.  The living room has some corners filled in.  A seemingly insignificant  furniture re-arrangement can make a difference.  We removed one console and one side-piece  (blocking the window).  We put them both in the living room. 

The interior is gorgeous now. No question!  (It ALREADY was!)….  Let me tell you though, living on E-Lake…  as beautiful as this new listing is, your entire life will revolve around your backyard:  9200 SW 140 St in Miami.  Click here for more information.

The day before this particular open house, I’d asked the sellers to find a narrow table for the entry foyer … to define  the space. (They ordered it… and can now cancel!).  

Furnished  rooms are  best,  but  this one house was already so lovely as a whole,  that the unfurnished living room seemed almost inconsequential. My colleague’s ‘eye’  and her shared comment  resolved a  minor staging dilemna  …  in a heartbeat. 

I promised the sellers I’d come back and put everything back as it was,  if they had even the slightest objection to the “staging”.  They had no objections! It is a pleasure working with  gracious and amenable sellers!  

Selling your house?  Being affiliated with one of the top Real Estate firms in the country makes my full-time passion of selling real estate a joy!   Call me, I’d love to help!  Esslinger,Wooten, Maxwell Realtors  (known also as EWM Realtors)  is a well-oiled machine… with cutting edge  technology …  and a family of over 700 Realtors working together to SELL FLORIDA better, faster, smarter.   For your real estate needs  in Miami  (as well as for domestic or international relocations) … or any questions you may have regarding buying or selling property…  contact Vicki Restivo or Alexandra Restivo … and visit their website and blog at MiamiRealEstateCafe.com      (305) 793-1365 or email restivo.v@ewm.com

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OPEN HOUSES don’t sell homes!  …  (So they say!) …   But I’ve SOLD  many homes to buyers who came because of an open house. (I even sold a CONDO to a buyer who was visiting a friend and got off on the wrong floor -  An hour later, we had a contract!)  

Who comes to open houses?  Everyone and anyone:  ”Visitors” …  curious passers-by…  neighbors … “lookers” … “shoppers” …  and  yes,  actual real buyers.   

Will an open house sell your home?  Probably not.  YOUR REALTOR will sell your home.   An there are options:  Open Houses or Private Appointments. Which should you do?   Either or both… The  important thing is that it BE  SHOWN.  Statistics indicate that very FEW homes are ever bought  “sight unseen”.  The best way to sell a house ?  Make it visible and available to as many potential buyers as possible.  

Open houses aren’t for EVERYONE… Personally, I like OPEN HOUSES.   I hosted one yesterday for a stunning lakefront property at 9200 SW 140th Street …  on recreational  E-LAKE …  and served lunch to  Brokers and buyers, both. 

What’s the real benefit of hosting a broker’s open for the primary purpose of having other REALTORS see the property?   First of all Realtors do have buyers.  Furthermore Realtors walk, talk, network and share information with each other …  as well as with buyers.  Real estate is a business of connections, contacts and information-sharing.  Yesterday’s BROKER’S OPEN  brought more than just brokers and visitors.  It brought IDEAS!  Stay tuned… You can see  them on an  upcoming  Restivo blog on MiamiRealEstateCafe.com!   Watch for the blog  ” Unsolicited Advice from a Realtor: Selling Miami Better, Faster, Smarter! “

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