miami -- latest thoughts

Miami has NYlike inventory with half the interest and season.
The window remains open with no storm shutters.

There is a ton of short sale opportunities, however the banks react unbelievable slow to close on deals.
I advice falling in love with more than one apartment and closing on the first one that sends you a contract.
{Bank took 8 months to approve a deal for my bro who got turned off and told them to scratch. The broker said "the window was closing" too, and that was 6 months ago. Property still not sold}

Looks like the buy-to-rent in Miami is amazing compared to NYC. Were one to think prices are even close to stable, would one think it feasible to buy 5 to 10 short sales / foreclosures in desirable nabes (obviously not top tier waterfront) and rent them out via a management company and stay cash flow positive? I don't think that is possible in Manhattan right now but it looks like it may be in Miami. Thoughts?

To whom would you rent them out? The key problem is that they way way overdeveloped in relation to the population size, and especially compared to the economic base.

I had two apartments that i recently sold at what I paid for..i rented them out since '07 so i pretty much broke even...but definitely you don't make money on flipping in miami or anywhere in florida.

RdaveNY
The problem is, on paper, everything always looks great.
Then when you dig in, the numbers are wishlists, Miami or NY. Commercial or Residential.
Rent roll is not a constant, and not even talking about the normal issues like vacancies, bad tenants, repairs etc.

I recently was shown an apartment building in long island with a 10% cap. Sounds great, right? Then I saw the rents for individual units. They were pipe dreams going forward.
And other buildings with anchor tenants who have expiring leases in the next year or 2.
Not to mention the unknowns for following years... taxes, employee costs (health insurance,etc).

Forbes says Miami is the hardest city in the US to pay your rent so i guess it's still overpriced:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/19/cities-high-rent-housing-lifestyle-real-estate-pay_slide_11.html

Miami is a maze of nabes and each pocket has it's own economic micro climate. I bought a defaulted property that was 20% down when I bought and it has probably gone down 10 -15% since. I bought because it is on the ocean with high end amenities and had limited downside. But there is other waterfront -- say in Sunny Isles -- that was so overbuilt I think it still has very far to drop. And I suspect that that area is experiencing huge undercurrent of fraud and corruption.

I bought because I had sold all my property in NY and didn't want to put all profits into the equity market and didn't want to have any more in cash (inflation) so Miami had had a big downturn and as an investment thought it was better than any other bubble city that was down. Though I bought as investment, I love it there and I use it - I never rented it though I could have.

I would be very careful about buying in Miami. There are some unbelievable deals if you know the market and are using the property as first or vacation home.. But for investment you better have a big float because you can't depend on cash flow positive. And I wouldn't do it unless your very informed, trusted spouse or twin is your property manager. Miami as a market is still very volatile.

* Miami is great if you are buying for your use as a 1st or 2nd home. Bought there recently and will probably sell in 5 years or so. The buying market is tightening with inventory dropping, but it hasn't dropped to the point where prices are heading upward. However, the units with the best views and floorplans are disappearing thanks to international buyers. Prices have stopped declining, especially downtown.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLyL-V2T4vaQdAOvlFcoliG1yGoQD9IL4I780?docId=D9IL4I780

* However, there are too many people playing the buy-to-rent game so I wouldn't count on making money that way; the supply is too high. However bc most locals can't afford to buy with tougher mortgage restrictions, the rental mkt is tightening, but you need to be in prime areas to attract high rent payers & unsurprisingly these areas don't have the crazy-cheap deals.

Plus it will be underwater in about 30 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/family-sues-miami-beach-in-taser-death-by-the-police.html
Family Sues Miami Beach in Taser Death by the Police
By NICK MADIGAN
Published: August 27, 2013
MIAMI — The family of an 18-year-old street artist who died three weeks ago after being shocked with a Taser by the police filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the City of Miami Beach and its police chief, accusing officers of “unnecessary, excessive and unconstitutional force” in their apprehension of the man, Israel Hernandez-Llach, who had been seen tagging an abandoned building with graffiti.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, says that police officers “had no reasonable basis to fear for their own safety or the safety of the public,” and no reason to suspect that the young man, who was unarmed and of slight build, was “a danger to them or anyone else.”

Miami Beach city and police officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing a continuing investigation. The officer who fired the Taser was placed on paid administrative leave. A witness to the pursuit that preceded Mr. Hernandez-Llach’s death in the early hours of Aug. 6 said officers laughed and exchanged high-fives as he lay on the ground, immobilized.

“Israel died on that pavement,” Todd R. McPharlin, a lawyer for the family, told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that Miami Beach police officers were not sufficiently trained to avoid using excessive force and were unprepared to offer medical attention to someone suffering from the effects of a Taser, which fires an electrical charge that is designed to render a suspect helpless.

In a study published last year, Amnesty International said that at least 500 people had died in the United States since 2001 after being shocked by Tasers.

The lawsuit said the young man was pursued for an act that amounted to no more than a second-degree misdemeanor. At Tuesday’s news conference, family members included his father, Israel Hernandez-Bandera, a former airline pilot from Colombia; his mother, Jacqueline Llach; and his 21-year-old sister, Offir Hernandez, who spoke for all of them.

“We’re not trying to draw attention to our family,” she said, adding that she wanted to avoid similar episodes in the future. She and other members of the family have called for an outside investigation into the matter.

The family’s lawyers asserted Tuesday that the Miami Beach Police Department was incapable of investigating itself.

A statement issued on Aug. 12 by the city manager’s office said the death remained under investigation in conjunction with the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is to review the findings of the police investigation.

An autopsy on Mr. Hernandez-Llach, who was also known as Reefa, was inconclusive.

>Amnesty International said that at least 500 people had died in the United States since 2001 after being shocked by Tasers.

Less than 1 per year per state.

You are stupid.

Hi Aboutready, where are you on vacation now?

What a prompt response. Pavlov would be proud.

Cool, how did you know Pavlov?

Stupid response from someone who thinks they are clever.

Oh, sorry, thought you might have worked with him.

Miami real estate seems to be doing quite well,. Clearly hb had no interest in adding any value to the discussion.

Did you go to Miami during your August vacation, or maybe your July vacation or June vacation or one of the earlier ones this year?

Fuck off, loser. Where did you go on vacation? You seem inordinately interested in my vacation schedule. Get a life asshole.

>Fuck off, loser. Where did you go on vacation? You seem inordinately interested in my vacation schedule. Get a life asshole.

You seem kind of angry. Can I recommend using TripAdvisor for ratings before you book? Possibly in time for your September time off.

No.

Where did you go? Long Island?

Long Island isn't your thing?