$52 Million in Miami Beach real estate transactions

Miami commercial property, Miami Beach real estate

Fort One Real Estate Investments, an investment fund with ties in Miami and Washington, D.C., says it has closed $52 million dollars in transactions for several Miami Beach real estate properties including a Miami commercial property.

Fort One Real Estate said, in a news release that it has closed on the purchase of the 48 unsold South Beach condos at the Capri Condominium totaling $31 million dollars....

Full article...$52 in Miami Beach real estate transactions

commercial Realtor in Miami, Miami real estate

Coconut Grove hopes for a change

Coconut Grove Miami real estate has been struggling for the past few years with CocoWalk in foreclosure, the Movie Theater closed Coconut Grove Playhouse boarded up and the Coconut Grove Convention Center no longer attracts tourists.

Because of the recession and more competitors, Coconut Grove just isn’t that popular anymore.

The combination has been too much for many Miami real estate business owners. Shops and many Miami restaurants have thrown the towel in.

Full Article...Coconut Grove hopes for a change

Miami hotel occupancy rates up, Miami hotels

Miami hotel occupancy rates up

Miami hotels in the past two months have been filled thanks to the recent Super Bowl as well as spring break.

For the week ending March 6, Miami hotels occupancy rose to 79.9 percent from 67.7 percent one year prior. Occupancy in Palm Beach County rose to 77.2 percent from 68.2 percent. According to the latest figures from Smith Travel Research, Broward’s occupancy rose to 76.7 from 70.8 percent. Occupancy across the U.S. rose to 54.9 from 52.8 percent.

Average daily room rates were up substantially for Miami hotels but continued to slide in Broward and Palm Beach.

Full article...Miami hotel occupancy rates up, Miami hotels

Inland Real Estate pays $424M for retail portfolio, Miami commercial real estate

Inland Real Estate pays $424M for retail portfolio

Sixteen shopping centers, three of which were Miami commercial real estate properties, have been purchased an arm of the Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. for $424 million.

CB Richard Ellis National Retail Investment Group represented the seller which was a joint venture between TIAA-CREF and Developers Diversified Realty.

The purchase was made on behalf of Inland American Real Estate Trust, a public, non-traded real estate investment trust.

Full Article...Inland Real Estate pays $424M for retail portfolio

Cypress Bay Development, Miami Beach real estate

Investor buys foreclosed Miami Beach project

The foreclosed Miami Beach real estate project, Cypress Bay condominiums in South Beach have been taken over by LeaseFlorida, a Miami Lakes based company.

A LeaseFlorida affiliate purchased the defaulted mortgage and took title to the unfinished Miami Beach reaql estate project at a Febuary 1 foreclosure sale, following Compass Bank’s $4 million foreclosure judgment against Cypress Bay Development. Alan I. Waserstein along with his brothers own LeaseFlorida and said he bought the note at a considerable discount to the judgment amount.

Full Article...Cypress Bay Development, Miami Beach real estate

Miami Beach Hotel, Florida Foreclosure

Can Playboy save the Sagamore from Foreclosure?

The Sagamore, a Miami Beach hotel, which is behind on its mortgage payments, hopes to hook up with the company that is know for its sexy bunny’s.

Can the Playboy Bunnies keep the Sagamore from being another Miami foreclosure?

That's the question hanging over one of South Beach's most fashionable Miami Beach hotels as it looks for a licensing deal to open the only Playboy Club outside of Las Vegas.

Plans for the Miami Beach hotels cocktail lounge calls for waitresses dressed in the iconic skimpy bunny uniforms to serve drinks in and on the beach behind the 93-room hotel. For top dollar guests could sleep in a decorated Hugh Hefner suite.

Full Article...Miami Beach Hotel, Florida Foreclosure

Miami Oceanfront hotel, Miami Beach real estate

South Beach's Gansevoort hotel to be auctioned in foreclosure sale

Less than two years after the Miami Beach hotel opened, Lenders plan to sell ownership of the Gansevoort South in an auction next month.

On Wednesday, Credit Suisse announced an auction for the ownership stake used to secure an $89 million mezzanine loan on the 334-room Miami oceanfront hotel. Developers William and Michael Achenbaum secured the financing for the project at the height of the Miami Beach real estate boom, only to see their plans for the former Roney Palace roiled by the collapse of the condo market.

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Miami Homes for Sale, Miami Commercial Real Estate

Federal: Florida Recovery Lags,

Miami Commercial Real Estate

The government said Wednesday, even as Florida and the Southeast continue to struggle with a weak job market, depressed lending and a gloomy Miami commercial real estate sector, the national economy is perking up.

Anecdotes from the nation’s 12 Federal Reserve districts were provided in the Beige Book, a compilation of economic.

The report found that in eight out of the 12 districts "economic conditions have generally improved." However, in four others, including the Atlanta District, which serves Florida, reported mixed economic news.

Full Article...Miami Homes for Sale, Miami Commercial Rea Estate

Wall Street Bailout, Miami Beach Real Estate

Scott Pelley reports on the mortgage crisis that's far from over, with a second wave of expected defaults on the way that could deepen the bottom of the U.S. recession.

Lehman Brother's Bancruptcy, Miami Real Estate

Miami Real Estate Developers Impacted by Lehman Bankruptcy

Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in history Monday, dwarfing WorldCom Inc.’s insolvency in 2002 and Drexel Burnham Lambert’s failure in 1990.

South Florida was greatly impacted when Lehman Brothers, a lender most large real estate developers would turn to for high-end projects, filed for bankruptcy protection.

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy has left behind billions in debt, including millions in Miami. Lehman bankrolled some of South Florida's biggest real estate projects such as Miami Beach’s Canyon Ranch resort, the Riande Hotel chain, the Donald Trump condo tower under way in Hollywood and the Related Group’s Icon Brikell on Biscayne Bay. City and county governments also invested heavily in Lehman.

Full Article...Miami Real Estate Developers, Lehman Brothers

Florida Foreclosures, Miami Beach Real Estate

78,000 Florida Foreclosures, Miami Beach Real Estate

According to an industry report released Friday, with more than 78,000 new homes in jeopardy of being repossessed by lenders, the number of Florida home loans entering foreclosure continued to rise at a quick rate in the second quarter.

The Mortgage Bankers Association survey, which tracks only first mortgages, painted a dark cloud over Florida's housing market after a more than half-decade of overbuilding and heavy speculation.

Full Article..... 78,000 Florida Foreclosures!

Home Mortgages, Miami Beach Real Estate

Home Mortgage Plan Set by FDIC for IndyMac Borrowers

Under a new plan from federal regulators thousands of troubled home borrowers with loans from IndyMac Federal Bank will be able to switch to fixed-rate mortgages, which seized the bank last month after it became the largest regulated thrift to fail.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Wednesday, most IndyMac borrowers who are seriously delinquent or in default on their mortgages and can document their situation will be able to switch into loans capped at an interest rate around 6.5%. Unchanged from the previous two weeks, the average U.S. rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages was at 6.52% last week.

Full Article...Home Mortagages, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Homes, Homeowners May be Rescued by Bush’s Signature

Mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners was approved by congress on Saturday as part of an election-year housing plan that also aims to calm jumpy financial markets and boost the slumped economy. Despite reservations, President Bush said he would sign it promptly.

The measure is regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades. It will allow homeowners who cannot afford their payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes.

For troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac it means a temporary financial lifeline and tightens controls over the two government-sponsored businesses.

Full Article...Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

MIami Homes, Florida Foreclosure

Foreclosure Rates are Flooding South Florida, Miami Homes

In June, 6,292 homes went into foreclosure in Broward and 5,289 Miami homes were foreclosed on in Miami-Dade.

As the mortgage crisis, made worse by tougher economic times, continued to claim overextended borrowers in the region, South Florida's ailing housing market was flooded with foreclosures in June.

Meanwhile, even as the bill faced new problem in the House, the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to advance a mortgage rescue to help hundreds of thousands of stressed homeowners.

The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 84-12, putting the election-year aid package on track for approval by the end of the week.

Home Sales Rise! Miami Beach Real Estate

February Home Sales Rose, Miami Beach Real Estate

After six months of decline, we saw a rise in home sales of existing homes in February but private economists said it was too soon to say the prolonged slide in housing is coming to an end.

Existing home sales rose by 2.9 % in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units, reported The National Association of Realtors. It marked the first sales increase since last July, but even with the gain sales were still 23.8 % below where they were a year ago.

The biggest slide in the current housing slump was the median sales price for single-family homes and condominiums which dropped to $195,900, a fall of 8.2 % from a year ago, The biggest decline in four decades was the median price for just single-family homes which was down 8.7 % from a year ago,

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial average rose 187.32 points to close at 12,548.64. Wall Street, which had been expecting another decline in home sales, was encouraged by the February increase as well as improved terms for Bear Stearns stockholders in the sale of that company to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Full Article...Febuary Home Sales Rise..Miami Beach Real Estate

Foreclosed Homes and Condos on the Rise,

Foreclosure Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate Foreclosures

Nationwide, foreclosures have climbed closer to record levels as thousands of homeowners struggled to make their payments and began loosing their properties to foreclosure. Miami Beach real estate foreclosures have more than double this past year and we are starting to see more and more Miami Beach real estate auctions. There are a number of ways to take advantage of foreclosures, depending on the stage of foreclosure of the property. At first, when the homeowner defaults on their mortgage, they receive a notice of default from the lender and are given a chance to catch up on their past payments. If this is not possible, then the property reverts back to the lender and is then considered an REO or real estate owned property, as it is owned by the bank who had given the loan on the property.

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Florida Property Tax Cut, Miami Beach Real Estate

Cutting your Florida property tax by 25% a year? That's what Florida voters will decide in the fall. But adversaries of the plan say that in reality that’s just putting money in one of your pockets and taking it out of another.

Cutting property taxes by 25% would mean an 8 to 9 billion dollar savings for Florida property owners. The state would eliminate property taxes for schools, and make up that money by increasing the sales tax by 1 cent, raising an additional $3.4 billion.

Supporters of the bill say they'll make up the shortfall for schools by cutting spending.

The plan would also cap tax increases for part-time residents and businesses at 5% instead of 10%.

The tax cut plan will require a 60% voter approval to pass.

Full article...Tax Cut, Miami Beach Real Estate

Florida, #1 in Mortgage Fraud!

Florida #1 in Mortgage Fraud, Florida Foreclosures Rise

Two years running Florida has led the nation in mortgage fraud in 2007.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is urging Congress to set aside $31.25 million over the next five years so that they may hire more FBI investigators and prosecutors so they can investigate the number of cases of suspected mortgage fraud in relation to South Florida real estate.

According to a 2006 report released this week by a Virginia based Mortgage Asset Research Institute; Florida replaced Georgia for the number 1 spot for mortgage fraud. The group tracks loan fraud and ranks the top 10 states where lenders either have found, or suspect, problematic loans. Florida ranked fourth in last year's report.

Full article...Florida Mortages, South Florida Real Estate

Free Foreclosure Listings,Florida Foreclosure Sales

Florida Foreclosures, Miami Real Estate

Miami Lodge Realty, Inc has compiled a list of 50 Miami Homes that have been significantly discounted because they are in some stage of foreclosure process. Our Florida foreclosure listings consist of Miami homes in foreclosure, Miami short sales and distressed properties in Miami. These Miami homes are in various stages of foreclosure such as pre foreclosures and foreclosure auctions. For additional information on any of the Miami homes in foreclosure shown below please call our Miami real estate office at 305-673-3303 to speak with a professional real estate agent.

Click here for ...Free Foreclosure Listings in Florida