Marina Blue – A Look Inside Biscayne Boulevard’s Newest Condo Development
April 9, 2008 by Lucas Lechuga
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos5.jpg)
Earlier this week, I took a look at an 01 condo at Marina Blue. I was also able to see the common areas and views from the Sky Deck located on the 14th floor. Below, you'll find some great pictures that I was able to take during my visit to Marina Blue.
The sunrise pool and views at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos13.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos14.jpg)
The sunset pool at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos8.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos9.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos10.jpg)
The putting green at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos12.jpg)
Lounge in style at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos11.jpg)
The club room at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos2.jpg)
Fitness center and yoga studio at Marina Blue (the free weights are in an adjacent room):
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos4.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos3.jpg)
Overall, I was very pleased with the common areas during my visit at Marina Blue. I didn't get any shots of the 01 condo that I saw because the unit had contractors in it working on the floors. The unit was a mess. It did seem a bit smaller than the stated 1,315 interior square feet. Maybe it was because of the big column in the corner of the living room.
Here are two shots that I took from the balcony of the condo at Marina Blue:
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos6.jpg)
![Marina Blue](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/MarinaBluecondos7.jpg)
I've heard that 900 Biscayne Bay is scheduled to begin closings towards the end of this month. I think when everything is said and done, 900 Biscayne Bay will turn out to be the most desirable address on Biscayne Boulevard. Here's a sneak peak of the pool deck at 900 Biscayne Bay:
![900 Biscayne Bay](https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/900BiscayneBay10001.jpg)
Lucas… The pictures are beautiful!! I don’t live in the Miami area so it’s great to have a visual! I really appreciate all the work you do on your blog. It is very informative on what is going on in that area. Keep up the great work!!
Nice pics! I wanted to see the building in Feb but couldn’t get in. How does Marina Blue compare to Ten Museum? Will 900 prices be similiar to Marina and Ten?
Lucas,
What do you think prices at MB per square foot should be going for in your opinion in this market as of now.
For example the 01 Line.
Sorry to be off-topic, but this is disturbing. The County just posted March statistics for foreclosure filings. Here are the numbers:
2002 14,567
2003 11,605
2004 9,606
2005 7,829
2006 9,814
2007 26,391
2008
January 3,434
February 3,721
March 4,238
For those interested in owning on that block. You had better go to http://aaarena.com and click on event calender. Ask your real estate agent to show you a unit thirty minutes before an event starts. I guarantee if you take your car you will never come back.
I agree with the 900 versus Marina Blue comparo. 900 layouts make more sense although Marina Blue has a much nicer curb appeal.
However, the developers are just flooding way too many units into it at once. Ten Museum, Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne, Marquis are adding what, 1,500 “luxury” condos into 5 blocks of an “up and coming area”? Next door, Everglades is getting ready to release an additional 870 units? Remember, the flipping game is over so that means 2,400 well-off families are going to have to decide to move across the street from Bongo’s over the next couple years?
This is quite the social experiment that is unfolding before our eyes.
perez those numbers are misleading, the situation is probably much worse. Not sure if this was already posted:
April 4 (Bloomberg) — Banks are so overwhelmed by the U.S. housing crisis they’ve started to look the other way when homeowners stop paying their mortgages.
The number of borrowers at least 90 days late on their home loans rose to 3.6 percent at the end of December, the highest in at least five years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington. That figure, for the first time, is almost double the 2 percent who have been foreclosed on.
Lenders who allow owners to stay in their homes are distorting the record foreclosure rate and delaying the worst of the housing decline, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, a unit of New York-based Moody’s Corp. These borrowers will eventually push the number of delinquencies even higher and send more homes onto an already glutted market.
Has anyone heard an update about a pipe bursting on the 29th floor last night soaking a significant number of units and common areas causing quite a bit of damage at 50 Biscayne?
I heard their answer was heavy duty fans. lol
I know when the fire sprinkler pipe burst at the Opera Tower, they had a considerable amount of work, inspectors for mold, completely replaced carpets, sheet rock etc and extensive renovation that was completed from the 19th floor down to the twelfth.
Thx
I’ve wondered about that too Wild Bill. Traffic for all the Heat games and concerts has to be like madness around 6:30 every night. Then again at 10pm.
i will tell you right now that biscayne during the season pushes me to the verge of tears. really, the nights i decide to take biscayne to 395…as i turn the corner from my building onto biscayne i’m praying that i don’t end up in a parking lot. hell, even in the morning, biscayne absolutely sucks.
Wild Bill,
There is definitely a lot of traffic when there are events at night. However, in time, once Miami becomes more urbanized, this will actually be an attraction. It’ll be nice to be able to walk to events, night clubs, shops and restaurants. It’ll take quite some time, but that’s why I feel Park West has a lot of upside. Once the planned relocation of the local homeless shelter takes place, I think we’ll see Park West finally come into its own.
Lucas,
Great Blog!
I’ve had a few homeless people in Park West tell me that would rather sleep outside than risk being in that dangerous shelter. The shelter will move, but I don’t expect many homeless to vacate Park West. I’m not sure many people who needed the shelter actually used it.
Can anyone tell me any names of any retail stores or restaurants that plan on opening on ground floor of these condos or in the nearby area?
Wild Bill,
I’ve heard from several people, a few months ago, that Gardner’s Market was very close to signing a lease at 900 Biscayne Bay. That will fill a big void if it proves to be true.
Wild Bill,
I disagree. Some of the homeless may not use the shelter to sleep, but I’m pretty sure that they use the shelter to acquire a free meal. Once the shelter moves, I think most of the homeless will relocate themselves to be closer to their meal ticket.
Lucas, Thanks for the beautiful pics.
I do have my eyes set on the 08 line (not the 01 line) in Marina Blue. With prices the way they are, I would not touch it though. At least not now.
Lucas, can you please tell me what is the price per SF on that unit at preconstruction and was the project announced in 03/04 or 05?
With the realtors accusing many of us of talking bubble too much, how about lets talk something positive?
My question is why dont we post as to which are our favourite buildings that are coming up or came up and which unit you might buy if the prices settle down to an affordable and justifiable levels? I want all of us to let the realtors know that if they stop the spinmeister job and help stabilize this market to what it legitimately should be, we are all waiting to come back in.
Let me start, I like these buildings mostly for the location aspect, amenities and future possibilities. I will be definitely picking up a unit in one of these.
Park West:
1. Marina Blue: line 8
2. 900 Biscayne B3, B4
Edgewater? UES? Design District? Performing Arts District? Miami Arts district? (For gods sake, can some one tell me what this friggin place is called just west of the Margaret pace park?):
1. 1800 club: 03, 05, 07, 09 lines
2. Quantum : 01, 02, 04 lines of the south tower.
Miami river: No favourites
Brickell: No favourites
Midtown: May be that building next to the Target.
Now that I have come forward and said what I may be looking for, can others chip in too. Dont worry, showing desire is not going to firm up the prices of any of these units or similar units as there is literally a flood of them coming in the market in the next 6-10 months.
The following was reported in the Miami Sunpost regarding a recent auction of units at Ten Museum Park, some of you may be able to identify the specific units:
Miami-Dade properties included two penthouses at Ten Museum Park in downtown Miami, not previously offered for sale. A starting bid of $1 million failed to reach the opening reserve for a three-story, 2,500-square-foot unit with 1,800-square-foot terrace. Nor were there bidders starting at $2.5 million (below reserve) for a 5,400-square-foot plus 1,800-square-foot-terrace penthouse. However, acceptable offers for the units came in after the auction.
AJ
I agree with you. We are not blindly down on the RE market in Miami, just the price. We have some great buildings and great up and coming neighborhoods. In order to fulfill the potential of these buildings and neighborhoods, prices must drop to attract the people. Typical new buildings at the $250-$300 psf range will begin to attract attention. True luxury buildings probably at $400 psf. At those prices, the people will come. Otherwise people will feel they are overpaying, and even 5% overpaying on a $400k condo is too much for most to stomach at $20k. unless you have $20k to burn.
So my vote on buildings of interest are the Plaza, Avenue, Met 1 and Emerald. These buildings will get my business with the right price. Although my whims change on a monthly basis.
Wow…that’s impressive Perez….I think 10 Museum Park is my favorite building in Miami…
It would be nice to walk to work every morning.
Where are all these people that make 120K + a year? I just can’t figure out that rational….
I never thought that making less than 80K could out price the middle class.
I live in Canada and everytime I visit Miami (love the vibe and the beaches) I have a burning desire to buy a property. Although, when I return back home and I read articles about the US real estate economy and how the housing prices have not bottomed out, and prices are likely to come down for some time, I hesitate and wonder, do these economists know something that I don’t. The point is that prices have fallen and will continue to fall, but will the prices of today become tomorrow’s nightmare? Do you have any comments? Lucas, love your blog, and I will definetly contact you for advise on any future transaction.
AJ,
I live right across from Margaret Pace Park, and I personally refer to the area as Edgewater. Officially, the City of Miami calls it Wynwood/Edgewater, but I think the latter name will stick as time goes on. This will particularly be the case once Paramount Bay is complete, with its small retail/commercial component that is to be called Edgewater Square. I love the neighborhood. It feels like an urban village, and sometimes you forget that Biscayne is but a block away.
perez ,
Those are big numbers, but I wonder where all those properties get listed afterwards, I’m been checking the MLS for a couple of ZIP codes and I do not see that many REO listed in MLS.
do you know another way to get the listing of those foreclosured properties?
Great site. Do you know how many have closed and how many have walked at Marina Blue? Anybody know how many lawsuits are under way to recover deposits? Any resales lately and, if so, how much per foot? Has the developer resold any of the defaulted inventory?
87 condos at Marina Blue have closed so far. There can be a 2-3 week delay though so the number is likely over 100.
Those buildings along Biscayne are dramatic and lovely. However, I can only imagine what life will be like there when events are taking place at AAA, Bayfront Park, etc. I have a friend who bought a place at Loft 2. I went to check out the apartment with him on a Friday night. We went up to the rooftop pool. There happened to be some musical event at the Bayfront Amphitheater, and you could hear the music on the pool deck. Mind you, this is a couple of blocks IN from the Boulevard, so I can only imagine how much the sound was affecting apartments that are actually along Biscayne. I couldn’t live in that environment, especially at those prices.
LUCAS and WILD BILL,
sort of on the fence regarding the traffic. if i lived in that area, i’d be ok with it because as Lucas mentioned, it could be ok having some hustle and bustle in the area (but i can see it be annoying after a while…especially if it bring people from hialeah, etc entering these areas and crapping all over them…IF this happens). I went to a Heat game last season and it was so horrendous that i left at the start of the 3rd quarter and it was still terrible leaving the area. they close down the 1st 2 lanes in front of the AA Arena for the “special” people and mass transit. I can’t imagine going through that for 40 games. After I went through that, i decided to not attend any more games.
….BUT they stink so bad right now that a fly barely farts around there during games 🙂
Richard, Thanks for clarifying the name. I think Edgewater sounds better. Hope it sticks. I am not sure where I will end up buying at this point. Park West seems a bit pricey.
Gables, You seem like a Brickell guy. I did not do much research on that. But this is my gameplan or rather my strategy.
If the units in a preconstruction building is sold by the developer to the public:
at 2003 prices – I am willing to pay close to those prices.
at 2004 prices – I will wait for a 20% discount.
at 2005 prices – I will wait for a 40% discount.
I am not here to argue with the realtors if the prices are ever going to settle at that level. If it does not happen, to heck with it. I will put my money in the emerging markets or may be even leave it in the bank but will not pay these existing prices in Miami RE. The current price levels and the state of the economy does not justify it.
I know that many investors are also hurting now who bought precons during 04/05. I know they are reading this blog. Even those who closed on the units hoping to recover their 20% deposits by putting those units back on the market are in for a long haul with absolutely no guarantees at all. Hopefully all this comes to a logical conclusion soon.
Neither of the two units at Ten Museum Park are REOs.
Lucas,
Thanks for the MarinaBlue pics. I’m a buyer/investor there and very excited. When you have time, would have the chance to give a shot from the North East tower? That’s where I’m buying and the views are amazing as well.
I’m a fully informed investor and know the Midtown and Dowtown areas back and forth, and without going into details, I see a huge upgrade in the near-future Park West.
One correction to your post…
MarinaBlue closed 200 units so far – not 87. I have been in close contact with the primary sources.
Thanks for a great blog. I’m an avid reader and hope you don’t mind my input now and then. Use it. I’m a good source of information.
AJ – It just seems that in this market, with high holding costs (since no income tax which hits out of staters harder), pricing could probably fall below 2003 prices as this thing unfolds. A big indicator will be what the market it like toward the end of the hurricane season….in my mind around that time we should get a sense as to where this market it headed over the next 2 years. My sense is prices will decline further over the next 2 years but the magnitude of the decline is uncertain…it could be a shallow further decline or it could continue fairly steep….but a decline none the less. If the decline is steep (indicating a 25% further drop in prices) things will get pretty darn desperate out there….
There is a big difference between those that say “I’m not going to sell at that price” and those that can’t float the high holding costs any longer. The later will determine the market prices.
Brahm,
I’ll try to get some shots from a high floor in the NE tower next time I’m in the building.
I get the closing numbers from public records. Like I said, there can be a 2-3 week delay. I actually spoke with someone at Marina Blue a little while ago and they did confirm that they’ve closed around 200 units. That’s amazing! I thought 87 units was good. 200 is outstanding!
Homeless issue in Park West should really be a 2-3 year issue. The city recently approved the final design for Museum Park, ppt with final design: http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/Planning/pages/urban_design/Bicentennial.asp, and it has now moved up to the next step.
MAM has said that they will be ready to break ground in 2009. Museum of Science is also getting their funding in place. So, it all seems to be real. Once the new park and museums are in place, the City will have to help relocate the shelter.
Long term value of this area is great, denying it would be short-sighted. My question is whether the prices are justifiable, they seem to already incorporate that future value. Miami downtown has the prices of a grown-up metropolis, when it’s just now starting on the path to become one (let alone the supply vs demand issue)
Not only prices, but holding costs are so high that it makes renting so appealing, much more so in a declining market. A terrible time for those, like me, that want to buy their first home, but are dazed by the economics.
Cyrus said: “I went to a Heat game last season and it was so horrendous that i left at the start of the 3rd quarter and it was still terrible leaving the area.”
I can see that being an issue if you lived right in front of the Arena.
As far as Heat games go, I’ve never had a big problem with traffic. Just don’t get on Biscayne. I take 2nd Ave off 395 to the “G3” city garage on the corner of 3rd St & 2nd Ave. It’s only $6 to park there – and plenty of spaces. It’s a couple of short blocks to the Arena from there. Then, when you leave, just take 2nd south to Flagler, cut over to Miami Ave, and go 1 block south to the I-95 on ramp. I don’t go to Heat games often, but when I do, I never encounter any problems. The people that try to park too close to the Arena are the ones who will get stuck in a jam (and unnecessarily pay way too much for parking).
BFG,
thanks for the info re: parking. i usually go to bayside and walk over…as you can imagine, it’s a nightmare.
…and sorry for the sidebar but i have to post this because of posts from Lucas’ other posts regarding DUBAI:
guy on cnbc just said that Dubai real estate is starting to crack a la Miami as projects are starting to fall apart and ‘investors’ are stuck holding the bag. same crap, different place. i would MUCH rather buy in miami right now than dumpy Dubai!
The homeless shelter is run by Camillus House. One day their new location by Jackson Memorial might be ready. Somebody can easily drive by the new location and take pictures. Maybe it’s still an empty lot. Some of the homeless work in those parking lots for events. Don’t expect them to relocate for a free sandwich and experimental health care at Jackson.
Why doesn’t somebody call the City of Miami Police Public Information Office at ask them how many new officers the City of Miami P.D. allocated to the new urbanized Park West area.
It would be interesting to see if the City of Miami really has a game plan for this area.
Does anyone know what psf prices were for direct bay view units at the Waverly in 2002 and 2003? How about psf prices at the Continuum in 02 and 03? I tried to look it up on zillow.com, but was unable to find the data. thanks.
In addition to heat games, there are events at bayshore park that will generate a lot of traffic. If miami gets more urganized, there will be even more traffic and congestion. Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, etc have heavy traffic downtown, but there are plenty of ways to get traffic in and out.
I had the misfortune of going downtown to pick up a fedex package (S. Miami ave). I missed my turn and had to go around a few blocks near the court house and was amazed at how norrow the streets are and how badly traffic is managed.
Also, a lot of people here think that restaurants, bars, etc bring in the people. I think it is the opposite. A location with lots of people with dispensale income attract restaurants and bars and other businesses.
Mark. Check out this url on zillow: http://www.zillow.com/Charts.htm?chartDuration=10years&zpid=62923579
It shows a condo currently for sale for $1.2M. It sold for high 500K range in Jan 04. So it has doubled in price in last 4 years.
Prices at the Loft II are already back where they were in 2004 when the sale’s center opened.
The largest unit is line 13, a 2 bedroom with 1153 sqf. You can find a mid floor below $300k. Unit 1813 is currently listed at $290,000 that’s $251 a sqf.
Waverly when it turned condo around late 2003 was around $350 sq. foot for the best direct bay view line 01/02. It could have been $330 or $370, but not $400. Right now, the lowest 01/02 is asking $510/ft. I think.
Anyway, I remember developers telling me how outrageous that was for a middle lux building and that the market couldn’t go much farther from there and everything was going to pop. Well it took another 2 years and another doubling to Pop.
Basically, I doubt any property anywhere is going to get ‘safe” until it rolls back to 2002-2003. If you graphed 2003 pricing and stuck it in for 2008, it still would look quite out of place on a 30 year chart.
Nothing appreciated as dramatically as houses on Palm Island and if you see their price charts, it’s quite telling. This is typical, appreciated 7% a year from ’98 to 2001 then things went psychadelic.
house built in 1952
Feb 98 800K
Oct 2001 995K
July 2004 2 million
2006 Not sold but was asking 3.3 million
Now asking in the high 2 million range and is priced very competitively to other CURRENT asking prices.
Note, if we allowed that 800K property to increase 7% a year straight for 10 years from 1998 to 2008, we would be at about 1.6 million now and 1.6 million would be my guesstimate for a 2003 price on that house.
Forget percentage down and up. It’s just silly not to think a market can roll back prices from a bubble high (early 2006) to a point 3 years earlier (early 2003).
That would be a rational rollback and wouldn’t even be close to an overbuilt investor fueled Armageddon. Historically, you can easily lose 10 years of gains after a bubble pop. An Armageddon scenario is looking for 1996 prices. Looking for 2002-2003 prices right now just means going back to an abnormally high appreciation curve.
The biggest strikes against Miami is that all during the rapid rise, it has done little to nothing to justify any appreciation in prices. In what category did Miami outpace other cities the past 10 years? Education? High Paying Jobs? The weather’s always been the same. People talk about how much better Miami is now than before…. as if other cities haven’t gotten a Wild Oats and Starbucks in the last 10 years.
Lucas likes talking about how good the condo prices are in Miami. I bet he couldn’t even afford a cheap 600sq. ft. condo at the Miami district. What a shame. Grow up and admit that those condos are nothing but rip offs. Oh, nevermind, you are here for the commission. Goodluck realtor.
Joe
I don’t think you know anything about Lucas. If you followed his blog on a regular basis you would know that he tells it the way it is good or bad. If you recall just a few months ago, his honesty has even gotten him in trouble. It sounds to me like you might have some jealousy going, maybe its time you grow up.
Het let’s stick to the blog topic which was about Marina Blue not about parking or other things eveyone always wants to steer to.
carbonblackcab – thanks again. How did you navigate to the historical sales price? When I type in the address of a building into the search engine, it takes me to a page with current listings, and I can’t seem to find the historicals. Also, looking at the link you sent me, I assume the dollar sign is where/when the last transacted price was?
carbonblackcab – sorry, I just noticed the past sale information under the chart. still wondering how to navigate to that page though. thanks.
carbonblackcab – sorry again, i figured out how to navigate to the historical data. thanks.
Joe, take that bottle of milk out of your mouth and grow up…while you’re at it, remove your head from hole #2.
OnceAgain, parking in that area IS important info…especially if someone plans on living in any of those buildings.
Great article in Business week about Maimi
Title: How the beach ball burst.
Url: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_16/b4080071341961.htm
Story:
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Christopher Silas Neal
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Illustrations by Christopher Silas Neal
Herewith, dear readers, an account of the epic South Florida real estate boom and bust of the 2000s, as witnessed by this longtime Miamian. Please note that certain names have been changed to protect the profligate. Screenplay proposals are welcome.
March, 2001. Fishing at my Uncle Gil’s house overlooking Biscayne Bay. The snapper and croakers are biting, as are our fresh wounds from doubling down on tech stocks. “The market is a fool’s game,” he says, tying a hook. “I’m telling you, man, the only real money is made in real estate.” He points across the water to a gorgeous, glassy skyline. “Miami’s at the tipping point. Get your head out of stocks, market boy.” I feel like Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.
December, 2001. My parents’ neighbor quits his brokerage job and joins a subprime mortgage startup staffed by fellow Nasdaq refugees. “September 11 changed everything,” he tells me, pinning palm-leaf mistletoe to his freshly painted door. “Interest rates are going down, and houses will only cost more. We’re hiring, you know? Nice commissions.” He hands me a 2002 calendar magnet—complete with his airbrushed mug—for my fridge. He has affixed an even larger one to the door of his half-totaled clunker.
April, 2002. My dentist’s office in South Beach. An avowed value investor, the good doc threw in the towel thanks to the bear market. “I’ve never seen it so bad—not in ’87. Open…more, moreParagraph that’s good. So this patient of mine is buying old homes, gutting them, marking them up. Easy flip. I’m getting into that. You flossing?” When the hygienist comes in to take X-rays, she tucks a stack of business cards into my shirt pocket: “Cecilia Mendez. Independent real estate agent. Specializing in the Beaches and Downtown.” She places the lead shield on my chest. “I’m starting my own business. Give a few to your mom, and, you know, any peeps in New York who are tired of the cold.”
October, 2002. My old Bar Mitzvah teacher, having seen me on CNBC, drops me a line after Googling my e-mail address. After some small talk about how she misses the brunch vittles in Manhattan, she cuts to the chase: “You seem like the guy to ask, Mr. Television Expert: Why not just go for the interest-only mortgage and keep taking out cash? You can’t lose. I mean, you used to have to put so much down.”
November, 2002. North Miami agrees to let a developer turn much of a 291-acre coastal swath into a city-within-a-city with 100,000 square feet of office and retail space, up to 5,000 apartments, and a hotel. Biscayne Landing, as it will be called, is to be built atop an illegal former landfill whose 6 million cubic yards of content were so noxious that the EPA added the site to its Superfund list. Neighbors were sickened by a fire on the premises in 1990. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “so that’s why it smells like Michelob and limburger whenever it rains.”
March, 2003. I’m down from New York to do my taxes. My CPA takes one look at my capital-loss carryover and nudges me to consider real estate. Cruising down I-95, listening to Journey’s Greatest Hits, I count no fewer than 16 construction cranes on the downtown Miami skyline.
Thanksgiving, 2003. I start to notice newfangled neighborhood monikers like “Upper East Side” and “Midtown” invading the conversational lexicon. Ditto mortgage-speak like 2/28, collateral-lite HELOC, and “Countrywide (CFC), baby—yeah!”
July, 2004. My 10th high school reunion. Three guys nursing mojitos ask me to join their already profitable venture: a flipping syndicate. For their latest project, they’ve put down a $50,000 preconstruction deposit on an ocean-view condo, intending to sell the rights at a premium to a snowbird or Latin American. On the eve of grand openings, the three amigos will even camp out on the beach, cashier’s check in hand, to get first dibs.
January, 2005. My Ivy League-educated cousin, fresh from his stint on a reality show that bombed, decides to ditch his embryonic acting career to study for a real estate license.
October, 2005. Hurricane Wilma tears across Florida. Property insurance becomes prohibitively expensive for adjustable-rate newbies. The neighbor’s subprime startup “winds down” operations.
2006-2007. A deafening silence descends, save for all the billboards announcing “Office Condos,” the next great thing. “Why rent when you can own?” A high school pal calls to ask whether he should liquidate his 401(k) to pay off an underwater home equity loan. The local mantras: “It will come back” and “I’m not worried, the Europeans will come in.”
January, 2008. Area home prices fall 19% from a year ago. Meanwhile, back in Dump City, the mayor and developer spar over the project’s future amid plunging condo demand and a glut of new supply. Much of the site remains a yawning excavation.
March, 2008. Fishing again at my uncle’s place. I can see at least 50 idle construction cranes on the downtown and Miami Beach skylines. The front page of The Miami Herald features a brilliant yellow sticker advertising “200 Bank-Owned South Florida Homes Will Be Sold At Auction on April 12” and a profile of a prosperous foreclosure agent. My uncle is pacing, cell phone glued to his ear. “You get a week to come up with the rent,” he says. “Then you get three days to pack up and move out. I’m sorry.”
He hangs up and turns to me: “How about you and I rent a warehouse and buy up barrels of oil?”
Tax question:
If I buy one condo for let’s say 70% of the previous sale price, how are the taxes calculated?
Based on the new price? or in the old (or current valuation)?
thanks
How does Marina Blue compare to the others in the area, Ten Museum Park, 900 Biscayne, Marquis, etc???