1 Bedroom Foreclosure at Brickell on the River North – $138,000
March 4, 2010 by Lucas Lechuga
A 1 bedroom/1 bath condo foreclosure at Brickell on the River North became available yesterday for $138,000. The unit has 757 square feet of interior space, a balcony off the living room, a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, carpeting in the living room and bedroom, ceramic tile in the kitchen and marble flooring in the bathroom. Earlier this afternoon, I stopped by the condo to take a look at it for myself. The unit appeared to be in great condition with all appliances, including the washer/dryer, still present in the unit. The 24th floor condo faces west with a direct view of the Miami River and the sunset in the evening.
This is definitely one of the best priced 1 bedroom condo foreclosures that I've seen come onto the market within the past three months. $182 per square foot is a good deal for a condo in a quality building like Brickell on the River North. Amenities in the building include 24-hour concierge and valet parking, fitness center, yoga room, sauna, steam room, conference room, club room, swimming pool and hot tub. The previous owner paid $305,000 in February 2006 for this 1 bedroom condo. This unit will likely have multiple offers and be under contract by next Friday.
Call me at 305-428-3860 if you would like to view the condo in person.
I think, we will already be too late with offers !
Don’t say The Ace never told you so, $184 is not that far off from $125 what.
Are we there yet The Ace asked knowingly.
The Ace; fair, balanced and unafraid for over six years.
The Ace makes a rare mistake: $182 not $184 even closer yet to $125
“THE ACE” is a very Knowledgeble and Honourable Man.I think he has pegged the market very well over the last couple of years.Of course his $125 a sq. ft. is NOT feasible with a lot of buildings in Miami.But in general we seem to be heading in that direction.With rapidly rising HOA’s and high unemployment ….more forclosures than ever ever seen before…..this “ACE” character just might shock us all?????
Yeah, just like the Marina Blue penthouse posted recently will be going for $125 sq. foot. LOL, gimme a break.
I hate to pile on to someone’s misery, but I can’t believe someone paid almost $400/sf for a sub-800/sf one-bedroom cookie-cutter condo.
Anyone know the HOA fee on this unit? That seems like the key piece of data.
Joe, to be fair, it was the bank that paid almost $400 sq. foot for this place, since they’re the one left holding the bag, who will end up takin the haircut when this place sells. Judging from the sale date, I’m guessing it was probably a 100% loan to some joe-schmo wanna-be condo flipper.
Brickell on the river is not such a great building. Building looks pretty run down.
The same applies to MB on the previous post. Who cares about a penthouse with great views if you live in a building with cheap finishing, renters who are destroying the building by the minute ( if you think I am exaggerating, go visit the building yourself ), surrounded by the great hoboland neighborhood.
And now that Mr. Falcone’s gone down for good, I want to see what is going to happen to the great new fantastic project of the world center! Don’t get me wrong. I wish it were true, but it seems like another Alice in wonderland story from Miami!
As I have said before, regardless of how great the views are if the unit is facing east, these condos are not worth what they are asking for them. Even with the great price reductions they have suffered in the recent months. If you face west then and look at the dreadful parking lots infested by homeless and junkies, then you are really nuts to buy there!
I just defended Lucas in the MB penthouse thread, but the fact the HOA isn’t mentioned here leads me to believe this isn’t as good of a deal as it’s being portrayed.
Yes, a Marina Blue Penthouse or otherwise along with EVERY high end Condo will depreciate to $125 this no longer is a question for debate but a simple question of when.
Those that doubt The Ace need to take their heads out of there Condo Bidet’s and smell the economics: mass unemployment – mass foreclosure’s – mass bank failures – massive and ever increasing but unsustainable Federal spending – mass State Government failures – mass devaluation of many of the worlds currencies – mass hyperinflation is on its way – massive tax increases from both State and Federal.
For my part I’m guessing 2011 but it may well may well be sooner because its the economy stupid and Barack Hussain Obamba and Nazi Poloski just don’t get it.
Say it isn’t so Ace
The Ace; fair, balanced and unafraid for over six years.
Anybody knows the HOA fee per month?
Sorry that I neglected to mention the HOA fee. The listing agent didn’t include it but I called the association earlier today. The master association fee is $107.63 per month while the north tower association fee is $362.95 per month.
So $470/month in HOA fees for a 757/sf unit? Yikes. That’s $0.62/sf already.
The “Ace” is looking better and better, everyday. I wouldn’t pay $20,000 for this place. So depressing. I’d hate to even have it on my mind. Ace may well be on the money. Who needs this boring, sad little place?
HOA fee is a killer. It should be half that.
Samson — Let’s not go overboard. This looks like a great little unit for $138,000. The problem is the HOA fee, which seems to be higher, per square foot, than even some of the high-end SoFi buildings.
totally agree with samson.
Carlos has a good point. Renters are destroying buildings for no good reason. Case in point: “Use stairs in case of fire signs” in Marina Blue were all defaced by some sociopath necessitating them being replaced by plastic heavy duty signs. These signs are now being written on with pen.
Here’s my post from the last thread in case you missed it:
I live in Marina Blue, so does Lucas. I thank my lucky stars I don’t own a unit in this building. I’m very uncertain as to whether it will retain it’s “luxury” designation with the way the renters are treating it. Security guards look like rent-a-cops. Many don’t speak english. Parking structure ramp and gate looks disgusting, it makes me want to vomit. The ramp is so narrow that you will definitely scratch your rims every once in a while. SO if you’ve got low profile tires/19 inch rims watch out.
Spots are ridiculously cramped together. The driving area in the structure is narrow. Add to that the fact that people don’t ever pull to the side as they barrel up or down the 12 levels. When you approach in the opposite direction you have to pull over as much as possible and pray the due in the Ford F-350 or Hummer H1 doesn’t ram into you. Terrifying indeed.
But I must temper my statements after visiting Opera in search of its $950/mo deal. Opera- The entire building stinks literally! It smells like crap on all the floors. Looks like it was built in the 1970s. No joke, it has Value City Furniture in the lobby! Most of the units face that garbage looking building to the north or another building to the south (no bay views). The finishes make me want to cry! The elevator looks like it was built in North Korea. The only one bedrooms they have start at $1575! Holy crap. Disturbing
the reality is this unit at this price is no longer overpriced-although it is not what i consider a “bargain” either. With mortgage, hoa and taxes it would probably run me in the neighborhood of $1300 a month-not including any tax deductions. in the ballpark with rentals. but this unit will sell at a bottom, which occurs somewhere between $150 and $200 sq ft for the newer buildings in brickell. dont see them dropping below $150.
prices will not drop to what i consider “steal” levels, since there is still too much cash on the sidelines waiting to be used. unlike past bubbles, this bubble inflated using credit. many of the “buyers” out there lost on the deals, but did not actually lose any cash-the banks did. in the tech bubble, you lost $200k on a tech startup-that was all your cash. today your condo drops from $400k to $200k, no big deal since you do not lose a dime of real money-its all on paper. far more paper loss than actual losses occurring over the past year has allowed many prudent investors to keep cash dry and on the sidelines. and this cash will put a floor in between $150 and $200 sq ft for most nice buildings.
Gables, pretty much the way I see it as well.
Another good example of crazy renters (I can only assume renters would be so uncouth but I’m probably wrong): throwing cigarettes off their balconies onto the sidewalk/people below. I was walking my dog by 900 Biscayne and someone in a corner unit on the 24th floor tried to spit on me. His spit landed very close but didn’t hit me. He and his buddy had a good laugh at my expense. Is this how you should treat your neighbors?
Apparently the year before I moved in people were throwing eggs from the Marina Blue “skybeach” floor 14 at pedestrians on the sidewalk below.
I’ve been almost hit by cigarettes and flying debris multiple times. I always move far enough away from the buildings to not be hit now but sometimes I forget.
Don’t get me wrong – Marina Blue is one of the GOOD buildings. I’m sure at a Opera people probably throw trash bags and old VCRs off their balconies.
Marina Blue Dude-
Interesting insight. Thanks.
It just shows the importance of association management. Without cash, maintenance or rental restrictions, certain “luxury” condos are quickly eroding into glorifed Hialeah duplexes. Couple that with shitty construction and bankrupt developers and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. If these trends continue, parts of downtown will resemble the Chicago Housing Projects circa 1970. Because once a building gets a reputation for being a slum overrun with undesirable residents, it’ll take a long time to turn that sinking ship around, if at all possible.
marina Dude.
Thank you for commenting.
I hope this reinforces the fact that despite the “luxury” these buildings try to sell you, there is absolute ZERO luxury in living in them and especially in that area. The views are really fantastic, but who cares?
I know most people who have bought in those buildings will want to say they are great so they can try to maintain the value of what they paid for their units, but ultimately they are trying to deny the big mistake they have made.
900 and Marquis are the best in the corridor, but I do know people who live in those buildings and tell me the same stories you have reported. Fortunately, they decided to rent there first and are already ready to get out.
It seems to me that only people who are crazy or completely uninformed would pay almost 800 usd/ sq ft to live in that hood!
at Met1 people throw eggs out the window, empty beer cans, cigarette butts and let their dogs poop in the parking garage when it is too cold to walk outside and poop in the grass.
BTW, I was impressed with the size of the kitchen in this unit posted. Most kitchens are much smaller than this, especially in a studio/1bd.
Well flo-rida lives in the penthouse of MB, and I’m sure he doesn’t mind it. His crew is probably contributing to the destruction.
Joe –
You’re right. That was a little extreme. My point was that sometimes the neighborhood is such that you wouldn’t even consider buying a unit in a building there regardless of price. As in, “I pass. Let’s look elsewhere”. I’m sure there’s some even cheaper stuff even further out of the way. Doesn’t mean you should buy it.
Samson,
I’m a bit confused, could you explain more. Are you talking about the building in this thread or another building. This building is a block from Icon. Why would that area warrant an “I pass. Let’s look elsewhere” just because of the neighborhood?
South Florida pending home sales on the rise
Pending home sales in South Florida increased in February amid a glut of cheap homes and condos.BY JIM WYSS [email protected]
Pending home sales in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were up in February, as low prices and a tax credit for first-time home buyers appeared to drive sales.
In Miami-Dade, the number of people who agreed to purchase a home in February was up 9 percent versus January at 9,164 homes and condos. Compared to year-ago levels, the number of pending home sales was up 61 percent, the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches reported Thursday.
In Broward County, pending home sales increased 4.7 percent versus January to 7,791 homes. Compared to last year, pending sales in Broward were up 62 percent.
Pending sales are recorded when a contract has been signed but the transaction has yet to close.
Most pending sales close in one or two months, making the data a good barometer of future sales.
One factor that may be driving the figure is the growing number of condominiums and townhomes priced under $250,000.
According to Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour-based consultancy, 53 percent of all townhomes and condos for resale in Miami-Dade are priced under $250,000. For Broward that figure is 65 percent; and in Palm Beach County the number is 51 percent.
“Residential real estate prices have tumbled significantly since the peak of the market in the fourth quarter of 2005,” Peter Zalewski, a principal at Condo Vultures, said in a press release.
“The challenge for many buyers is the under-$250,000 properties are increasingly located west of Interstate 95 in the suburban areas of South Florida.
“Prices east of Interstate 95 in the coastal areas have continuously crept up as buyers have associated the proximity of water with quality,” he said.
I understand the criticism. So then what would be a fair price this unit. Previous owner paid $305k and now its at $138k. If not $138k then what? Its easy to keep saying lower, lower, lower but at some point it has to be worth something.
Also, while I understand many of these condos are trying to maintain a luxury image there seems to only be two outcomes here, luxury and slums. I mean seriously what do you think someone expects when they’re only paying $1500 a month to either rent or own a condo.
So I know everyone is caught up in what going on locally but if you step back this doesn’t look like a bad deal. I really think a lot of people in Miami have really lost touch with reality. I wish you guys could see what $1500 gets you in other similar cities.
Stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, marble bathrooms, valet, 24-hr concierge, swimming pool, steam room, club room, downtown, 5 minute walk to Mary Brickell Village, 10 minute walk to Brickell station, next to metro mover and affordable to a household income of about $65,000. You’d probably need a household income of about $120k to afford something like this in DC.
Marina dude
Point accomplished: it must be really something to be able to tell everybody florida lives in your building..lol
I agree he probably doesn’t mind it, if you consider where he probably comes from. MB is probably his crib in the sky…not too far from the ghetto though
Carlos # 8
Marina Dude # 20
Interesting comments from both of you. It’s always a lottery who is living with you in a building especially those renters. Besides destroying buildings renters usually care less about their neighbours making a lot of noise.
A low rental ratio is key not only for a bank! Buying whatever apartment even @ US$ 125/sf as The Ace projects, it doesn’t guarantee a good living in a building. You even get more renter problems as prices are getting lower.
Only a few places are still safe and
FLORIDA is the worse tenant. His entourage has no respect for bldg rules and they think they own the place
Sorry, something happened writing last sentence, wanted to write someting about my favourite place, Brickell Key!
gables – I don’t think I agree with your post: “prices will not drop to what i consider “steal” levels, since there is still too much cash on the sidelines waiting to be used. unlike past bubbles, this bubble inflated using credit. many of the “buyers” out there lost on the deals, but did not actually lose any cash-the banks did. in the tech bubble, you lost $200k on a tech startup-that was all your cash. today your condo drops from $400k to $200k, no big deal since you do not lose a dime of real money-its all on paper. far more paper loss than actual losses occurring over the past year has allowed many prudent investors to keep cash dry and on the sidelines. and this cash will put a floor in between $150 and $200 sq ft for most nice buildings.”
– People are paying down debt and like crazy which is sucking up cash. Old credit is being cut back and new credit is hard to get. Even if some people have a lot of cash on the sidelines, for many of them, their net worth is way down, why would they “invest” in real estate, they would probably still need a mortgage to by real estate, etc. This is much worse than the tech bubble. To say it is just paper loss is really understating the problem. I’ve had four people/businesses approach me for investment cash in the last two months….only considering one of them though with the appropriate security interest.
I was looking to rent around pace park area starting Apr 1st but I had no luck so far as these units seem to be a bit above my budget. I followed the sales and rental page for 2 months and noticed that Quantum and 1800 Club rentals have slightly firmed up. There is a $100 uptick on 1 bed and $150 on 2 bed units. Is this an isolated case or a general trend? I looked at Midtown too and not much luck either. Brickell is not an option for me as I work at Biscayne and 26th st and need to be close to my work.
Midtown is even pricier than pace park. Some buildings on the Biscayne Boulevard are within my price range but I do not want to live on the blvd itself unless I exhaust all other options. Any suggestions are welcome.
slater,
You said:
I was looking to rent around pace park area starting Apr 1st but I had no luck so far as these units seem to be a bit above my budget. I followed the sales and rental page for 2 months and noticed that Quantum and 1800 Club rentals have slightly firmed up. There is a $100 uptick on 1 bed and $150 on 2 bed units. Is this an isolated case or a general trend? I looked at Midtown too and not much luck either. Brickell is not an option for me as I work at Biscayne and 26th st and need to be close to my work.
—->Go to condoreports.com . It shows all types of information (including rentals) for ALOT of buildings in DADE and BROWARD counties.
—-> Here is the link to the dade-miami condo buildings:
http://www.condoreports.com./reports/building_list.php
—-> .It shows older condo building too for each area not just the new ones. The older ones should rent for less money.
—> there is a map to each of the building so you can see if the building is near the location you want.
—-> you want to pick buildings in or around the 33132 zip code I would think -Good Luck.
Marina Blue Dude said, “I was walking my dog by 900 Biscayne and someone in a corner unit on the 24th floor tried to spit on me. His spit landed very close but didn’t hit me. He and his buddy had a good laugh at my expense.”
It makes you wonder how these people can even afford rent in those buildings. The truth is that they’re mostly floppers and housing fraudsters who are still living for free, just splitting the HOA between many freeloaders until the bank kicks them out. They make little money here and there by hustling; the guys dealing some drugs while the girls do the escort thing, bar tending, collecting unemployment, or spending the little cash they made as straw buyers.
Why would the Downtown area have so many young people in luxury buildings who behave like idiots? They’re certainly not bankers or lawyers. If they hit someone with an egg from up there, that’s assault. Therefore, we know they aren’t smart money who stay away from any liability risk. Who would even hire these brain-dead people to work? Do they even have good credit? Do these buildings even check credit before renting units?
Pictures from units for sale at these “luxury” buildings show nothing but mattresses in the living room, no furniture, and bottles of booze all over the “granite” counter. Never mind all the punch holes on the walls. As you knock doors to see the units, they all hide inside like roaches and refuse to open the door. I went to see an unit around 2 PM and the girl had just waken up and refused to let us in to see the unit. When I picked inside there were a couple of mattresses in the living room, with another girl still sleeping on it. I can only speculate how many more were inside the bedrooms. That was a “luxury” condo selling in the high $200s.When these freeloaders get kicked out from the free housing and the unemployment check stops coming and the housing fraud money ends, it’ll be interesting.
Gixxer 1000 — As much as I hate to engage you in what surely will be another lengthy and acrimonious debate, I have a hard time seeing this as “not a bad deal.”
Sure, the r.e. price looks okay at $138,000, but the HOA fee is a whopping $0.62/sf already, and if this building’s HOA is as underfunded as most others, the buyer could be looking at a $0.75 or higher HOA within months.
If I was a single person with a high income and had no one else living with me, I might take the plunge on this place if I had some cash to burn and the building otherwise seemed okay. This seems like a nice unit for someone who works 80-hour weeks or travels a lot and simply needs a small place to call home in between trips. But with just 757/sf of space, this doesn’t look like a long-term residence for many people.
Renter Tom, my point is that there is still enough cash sitting on the sidelines held by folks with an interest to buy a home to keep the collapse from going exceedingly low. I will buy a unit in my desired buildings (I am looking at a couple) well before it ever reaches $125 sq ft. Will pull the trigger at $150 without blinking. At $175 I have to think first, and at $200 need to really fall in love with the place. Some buildings may drop very low but they wont attract my attention. If prices stay above $200 sq ft, I can still rent cheaper and will continue to do so.
Plenty of people are paying down debt, I do agree. But there are alot of folks who hold some debt from perilous living-credit cards come to mind. But they are not deep into a mortgage, and thus will have the ability to pull the trigger when they deem necessary. For my part, once you get to newer 2B Brickell condos in the sub $200k range, the downside risk begins to disappear quickly.
Enzo #37 – I agree. There is a lot of riff raff in some of these buildings. Hard to turn it around as owners are desperate for cash that they don’t care….collect rent, but skip mortgage, taxes, HOA. Again, living in a condo is like being on a lifeboat, if everyone does there own thing and rows in different directions or just simply don’t row to help out, they will doom everyone…
gables – I know you’ve done your homework for your own purchase. Just keep in mind we just went through an historic real estate credit boom…not to be repeated in our lifetimes. The amount of capital that was deployed was insane and it takes a while for things to shake out to return to normalcy….the touchstone of reality was missing.
Listen up, we need more dirt on Marina Blue and adjacency. I kindda dig that Little Italy. Too bad Italian girls aren’t hot…festive…but not necessarily hot. MB has great views and the units have nice finish. Does any of you bottom-feeders live there? lol
Gixxer, you’re so quiet…are you busy with your triangle ruler and abacus, burning neurons with Case-Shiller charts, for your $100k purchase in Aventura? LOL
RT, i agree with you. we just may disagree on how far things will swing the other way. Things will not return to the old normal, as the “new normal” is coming into play. The debt burden was huge. But unlike the Great Depression, we have flooded the economy with money to keep a collapse from occurring-and it worked. We did not, and probably will not, see the massive depreciation which occurred from the Depression on a national scale (some local areas and buildings will be different however). Many people will be under a debt burden for years to come-and they are out of the game for a long time.
But there is an entire generation of folks age 25-35 who have rented their whole lives and are moving up in the salary bracket. They may not have alot of cash, but they carry little debt compared to the mortgage holders. Its people like that who will put a floor on reasonable housing options. Like I said, for many buildings I look at I will never let the price get to $150 sq ft. For a typical 2B condo in Brickell that would correspond to $165k. Even with hoa and taxes this becomes extremely affordable if you plan on living in the unit (investors are a different story altogether). A $150k mortgage is not difficult to obtain and opens up the market to many folks in the MIA area.
gables, you said: “Many people will be under a debt burden for years to come-and they are out of the game for a long time.”
– We are all in this boat thanks to Barry O. Trillions and trillions for years and years.
– Keep in mind, the “younger” generation, 18-25 y.o.’s are entering the workforce with more debt then any generation in history….not just federal govt debt BUT also student loan debt, credit card debt, etc. Never in the history of the world have the young been burdened with so much debt. It will only get worse as taxes rise and the Boomers all vote for expanding their own old age entitlements, esp. now that a lot of their wealth has disappeared. This debt burden will be a very heavy sled to pull…
Jackson plan would slash 4,487 jobs
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2010/03/01/daily70.html
I suspect the only people able to buy these condominiums will be public works, bus drivers, police, and firefighters.
Post #27: Typical NAR schrill nonsense, buy ino it if you want but don’t come back and say that The Ace never told you so.
It’s Friday night and The Ace is off clubbin it in S.Beach where he will perform the world famous 125 Ace shuffle to the tune of “Are we there yet”
Da dod dod dadat dadat dadat dadat dadat da dod dod dadat dadat dadat dadat dadat c,mon, everybody do 125 Ace shuffle the greatest dance craze since the Macarana.
Hey The Ace; fair, balance and unafraid for over six years.
Re Jackson: What’s funny is that Jackson South is currently undergoing major construction/renovation that adds 157,000sf to the facility. So while Jackson gives notice that they’re going to dump Jackson South, they’re in the middle of a multimillion $ construction project at Jackson South. I also read that they only have enough cash to pay the next 21 days of expenses (salaries, operations, vendors). After that, they have no money. Well done.
I will pay top $ to see The Ace perform his greatest hits. Put me on the guest list. Where at, Ace? Mokai? Mansion? Florida Room? LIV?
Besides the Macarena, I’d like to see The Ace do the foxtrot and Mexican hat dance. Followed by a waltz with Gixxer 1000.
Enzo wants more dirt on MB….let me see. I think that Brazilian bar/restaurant in 900 Biscayne is not doing too well these days. Seems pretty empty, even on game nights. The owner lives in Marina Blue and sometimes does laps in the pool. I feel bad for him. He seems like a nice guy. I ate there once and it was pretty good, but I don’t have the money for much eating out these days. Times are tough.
Marina Blue Dude, I’ve been in that place before. What’s the name of it? Bautecou or something. I had a salad at Urbanite today. It was pretty good.