Miami Beach Waterfront Homes Blog

Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse inside South Pointe Park in South Beach. Featuring amazing views of Government Cut “Cruise Ship Alley”, Fisher Island, and Downtown Miami.  I recommend this as a destination for any visitors to Miami Beach, where you can experience South of Fifth’s beautifully redone South Pointe Park.  The views of the cruise ships as they enter and leave the Port of Miami.  Located right next to popular Miami Beach luxury condominium buildings-  Apogee South Beach, Continuum South Beach, South Pointe Tower, and Portofino Tower.

Whether you make it here during the day or at night- the views of the Atlantic Ocean, the cruise ships heading out of the Port of Miami, Fisher Island, and the downtown Miami skyline are exhilarating.    One of my favorite activities is to jog along “cruise ship alley” right around dusk time. I enjoy jogging alongside the cruiseships as they leave the port of Miami for the Atlantic Ocean.

A great jog is to start in front of The Apogee condo building (the southernmost point of Miami Beach) and to go due East until you reach the Ocean, and then head North along the Beach.  One of the great attractions in South Beach is the wide beach with hard sand, which is ideal for joggers!

One of the key skills that a client should look for in selecting a Real Estate agent to represent them in the sale of their single family home or condominium in today’s tough market environment:

The agent should embrace today’s technology and business trends. Life today moves at a rapid pace- with banks, lawyers, title companies, South Beach property buyers, and property owners expecting a FAST response to inquiries. This has been my recent experience, most especially, during the CRITICAL moments of hammering out an agreement to purchase or sell a property. If your listing agent does not have, as an absolute minimum, a smartphone and is responding to your emails and phone calls within twelve hours, then you are NOT dealing with a tech savvy real estate agent!

I’m often asked by both buyers and sellers interested in purchasing or selling a waterfront (and non-waterfront) single family home on Miami Beach if we’ve reached a housing market bottom?  The answer for PRIME waterfront properties located on island communities such as Palm, Star, Hibiscus, Sunset Islands I – IV, and the various Venetian Island communities is that homes that are priced according to latest closed sales comparables are selling quickly.  As inventory continues to be absorbed, we are seeing price stabilization (especially for remodeled and turnkey homes and condos).

Waterfront condos, especially premier waterfront and oceanfront buildings such as Continuum North and South Towers, Apogee, The Portofino, The Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, Icon, and even The Bentley Bay on West Avenue are also seeing significant sales taking place in the past several months AT REDUCED PRICES.  For South Beach landmark luxury buildings completed after 2001, if the price is right, we are seeing plenty of buyers willing to make reasonable offers.  Therefore, if you’re a seller that needs to sell, my advice is the same- work with an experienced and knowledgeable sales agent/broker that will price your property realistically and then market as agressively as possible.

My team and I recently had an interesting experience which I’d like to share with our readers. Last week, we placed an offer on a condominium offered as a short sale at the Murano Grande in Miami Beach.  We only went through the effort of contacting one of our most loyal and best buyers after receiving a solicitation on behalf of a distressed owner who I happen to know (this South Beach condo is listed with a family friend).  Unfortunately, shortly after submitting a contract significantly ABOVE the list price, we discovered that the price on the Multiple Lisitng Service was raised several times, and that the commission to cooperating Broker was changed to one percent (with total commission payable of six percent).

Here’s the problem – our ready, willing and able CASH Buyer was completely turned off by the lack of coherent pricing. Also, all short sales and bank foreclosures which we have dealt with in the recent past (and we’ve closed on many) stipulate commission splits of 50/50 between the buying and selling brokers.  We subsequently found out that the listing agent for the condo convinced the current owner to accept a finance contingency contract (his own buyer) at a significantly lower price.  Not only was this agent acting unethically with us, but the worst part is that the owner (and the lenders) have no idea of the games that this particular agent is playing in a desperate attempt to earn some extra commission income.

I firmly believe, especially in this market, that it’s an agent’s duty to do everything possible to sell a property for as high a price as possible to a QUALIFIED buyer.  Any agent (or Brokerage firm) that is not willing to work for the best interest of their client should no longer be in the business.  The old adage applies – “Let the Buyer (and Seller) beware.”

Latest Closed Sale from TheKleerTeam (Buyer Representation):

Continuum condo - North Tower #1404

Continuum North Tower presents over 15 styles of residences, with this unique split two bedroom floorplan offering views of Fisher Island, the Atlantic Ocean, and Government Cut. Residences feature private balconies with glass railings, floor to ceiling sliding glass doors with tempered, tinted glass designed to meet hurricane standards of the South Florida.

Closed Sales Price: $1,250,000 (7/1/09)
Original “For Sale” Price : $1,425,000
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Sold Price per S.F.: $838/S.F.
Reduced from Original Price: 12% (106 days on market)