Brickell on the River South Receives Approval From Fannie Mae
April 16, 2009 by Lucas Lechuga
As of yesterday, Brickell on the River South became a Fannie Mae approved development. As a result, creditworthy buyers will now be able to acquire financing. This should help Brickell on the River South to bolster sales of its remaining lofts. 1 bedroom lofts start at $180,000 while 2 bedrooms start at $272,000.
I know of a few other condo developments in Brickell that have applied for Fannie Mae approval and should be receiving approval soon. A lack of financing for new condos in Miami has hindered sales drastically since the new Fannie Mae guidelines went into effect in January. It'll be nice to finally see financing back in play once more condo developments have been reviewed and approved.
Could be a game changer!
Did Fannie Mae relax the guidelines? How does a new building not qualify one day but does the next? Do you still have to have a certain amount of closed units? Does Fannie still require a 70 % owner to renter ratio?
My Section 8 radar feels that 1 bedroom maintenance fees are near $500 a month. My Section 8 radar does not know what to think. I’m getting dehydrated. My condo didn’t pay the water bill.
Kramer,
From my understanding, all condo developments that didn’t meet the new Fannie Mae guidelines needed to apply so they could be reviewed by Fannie Mae on an individual basis using the Project Eligibility Review Service (PERS). It’s a pretty expensive application fee. It was just a way for the government to re-fund Fannie Mae.
Kramer – Developments can apply for an exception. Don’t know what requirements FM will include with the exception but would be interesting to know. Typically I would think the # of sold units would be waved….things like if 75% of the owners weren’t paying dues probably would not get waved. I wouldn’t call this a game changer since buyer still have to want to buy (would you in a building that could only have 40% sold for years and years with the potential of the developer going BK) and a large down payment is still required so not like the buyers are playing 100% with the house’s money…..no more condo casino. Basically this is a sign of hope that may prove to be way too little. We will see. Depends on the building too…..if it is near the qualifying guidelines anyway, then this will help.
don’t see how this changes things much. most folks down here can’t afford to come up with 20% down and even if they could…they still can’t cover th HOA and taxes.
Luis, is there a list of buildings that are approved by Fannie Mae, or a list of buildings that are not being financed by any banks right now? I’m interested in a condo but i dont want to waste my time on buildings that i cant get financed.
Agree with jcrimes except he should have said “can’t afford to come up with 10% down”. Your typical young Miami Professional doesn’t have 2 nickels he can rub together let alone $25 grand for a small primary residence condo.
Take a look at the foreclosure stats below. No matter what Fannie does there will be huge amount of inventory hitting the market soon
“A lack of financing for new condos in Miami has hindered sales drastically”
Hmmm, I have to disagree. Unrealistic asking price has hindered sales drastically.
JW, I have to agree. This move will not necessarily help sale prices, although hopefully it will move inventory. In fact, prices could still fall. At $180k for a single loft, cash only, the number of eligible buyers was miniscule. Now that the unit can be financed, more eligible buyers will exist. Doesnt mean they will pay more than the cash buyer, however. the bigger question becomes, what are the current apprasised values of these condos? Perhaps Lucas can give us some insight? Cant finance a home beyond the appraised value in general.
Seems like a tough sell if a buyer has to put down 20% today. The building would probably only appeal to first time buyers and $40-50,000 is a lot of cash to save up. Those loft living rooms are a joke–an elevator is larger.
Louis is their a list of approved Miami condos for fannie Mae financing? and which buildings have applied I know 500 Brickell also has approval…
Who are Luis and Louis? Do you mean Lucas?
richard makes a good point…families and couples won’t be buying here. this is a building solely devoted to the “young professional.” too bad miami doesn’t have a lot of these folks.
also, why pay 180 when you can get into neo vertika for cheaper and it’s the exact same concept?
I received an email yesterday from RCRS stating that 500 Brickell has also received Fannie-Mae approval.
Yes, sorry, I meant, Lucas – sorry!!
any idea how the failure of bank united will affect the local miami economy, and coral gables in particular? curious how many of the recent coral gables condos buildings were housing these financial personnel, and what will happen to them and their units in the future? does bank united have a presence in brickell?
Lucas,
I have money and want to invest to buy 1 bdr in Miami for rental. What building would you recommend?
——Mortgage industry changes throw new hurdles in borrowers’ way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tacking on extra fees for many loan applicants, while some lenders are going even further in tightening underwriting rules.
——applicants are being hit with extra fees of 3% to 5% because of the type of property they want to buy or refinance, their credit scores or the size of their down payment.
why 25% down? FHA allows up to 96% financing, so the buyer will only have a 4% minimum down. the condo may have an internal minimum of 90% financing but I’m sure the developer will find a way to ammend the condo docs to allow up to 96% financing. It should allow buyers to come out and attempt to be approved by the banks.
Where is everybody???I miss all the comments. joe
Running the Boston Marathon?
Does this mean HAPPY days are back? Can we do 125% financing on these units?
Or should we wait for 6 months more for the prices to drop another 50%
If you do 96.2% financing you are underwater as soon as you buy the property. REALTORS will need 6% pound of flesh to sell the property that puts the buyer 2.2% underwater as soon as docs are signed.
jcrimes,
I was at neo vertica and latitude the other day. But why would I buy there (to go to Andu everyday??) I went into the balcony and had to run back with the mind blowing noise from the cars, highways all around, bridge traffic, and the most important, the Metro rail thundering past me every 5 minutes. I had to come inside and close the door. What good is a balcony if you cannot stand outside peacefully or chill with a glass of wine? Some Neo vertica condos are right infront of the metro rail. Sorry. Brickell on the river facing East is a better bet compared to these two.
Samir,
So I think I am right when I said a few weeks ago that these F & F regulations will be rolled back sooner or later. Both B on the River and 500 Brickell will not qualify if the guidelines are applied strictly. But i believe each building is being given exceptions on a case by case basis after the hefty application fee as Lucas sugested it will cost them.
according to this list the 900 biscayne is also on the fannie mae approved list.
here is a link to the list since a couple people were wondering..
https://www.efanniemae.com/syndicated/documents/dps/condopud/FL.pdf
I visited a friend the other day and saw two St. Bernard’s in the elevator!!! i wonder where you can walk a dog. the front of the building is super cramped
Congratulations to you for your continued success in engaging your readership and providing a forum for response and lively debate.
By providing topical and lively data you will continue to gain a following.
Thank you
David Pylyp
Toronto
twitter.com/dpylyp
Annual Revenue: +$14,400 (Rent @ $1,200/month)
Real Estate Taxes: -$2,000 ($100,000 @ 2%)
Tax Credit: +$600 (R.E. Tax Deduction of $2,000 assuming a 30% Tax Bracket)
HOA: -$5,400 ($450/month)
Annual Mortgage Payments: -$4,769 (30% down = $70k mortgage @ 5.5% for 30 years).
Mortgage Interest Deduction: +$1,245 (Annual interest of $4,149 & assuming a 30% Tax Bracket).
Depreciation Credit: +$1,463 ($100k for 20.5 years & assuming a 30% Tax Bracket)
NET: $10,308 (or 34.4% on the $30,000 down payment).”
Renter Tom who seems to be pretty knowledgeable said the following:
“RAM – You are looking at cash flow. From a wealth accumulation standpoint and assuming you do not hold this asset until you die, you should not include the “Depreciation Credit” as an expense since it will be recaptured when sold so it is just a temporary thing. Moreover, the entire purchase price can not be the basis for this depreciation since the purchase price includes items that can not be depreciated such as land which reasonably would be 15%-25% of the purchase price (all condos have X% undivided interest in the common areas which includes an interest in the land). So, the return on a cash flow basis is an inflated return until the asset is sold. Other than that nuance, good analysis and good job.”
I agree with Renter Tom’s criticism, but I’m wondering if he missed something or if I’m mistaken. In Ram’s numbers above, he subtracts interest and taxes from rental income as he should, but then adds back tax and mortgage interest “deductions.” I don’t think it works that way. When you subtract interest and taxes from rental income, isn’t that the deduction? Adding back your tax bracket percentage of those amounts is essentially deducting them twice. I believe RAM was thinking of how owner occupiers can deduct interest and taxes from their taxable income. But he was giving an example of a rental property. Anyway, I was surprised Renter Tom didn’t catch what I thought was a big error in analysis, but maybe I’m wrong. Look forward to your thoughts.