Real Estate Darwinism

Neutral Miami Real Estate

You hear it so much that it's ingrained in your brain - when selling Miami Real Estate, go neutral - but why?

People say I have a gift for color, my mom remembers me as a little girl painting color charts and experimenting with color hues and values instead of drawing stick figures. I did a lot of color consulting in my architectural business before going into real estate (and now offer that service to our clients). So let me tell you a little about color.

As in Real Estate, there are emotions associated with color - our senses are heightened and we react to certain hues and certain feelings come out with certain colors. Unfortunately, we cannot generalize that red will make you angry, blue will sooth you and yellow will make you indecisive. The psychology of color is a lot more complicated than that and different colors affect different people in different and unpredictable ways.

Just yesterday, I was asked to visit some dear friends' home to help them with color. This is a married couple who are very compatible and at the same time very different. While one of them wanted blue, the other one felt blue made them uncomfortable. I'm not going to go into details about the colors that were finally chosen, but the whole point of this is that as a Miami Real Estate Seller, you have the ability to control certain aspects of how people will feel when they walk into your home.

When you are competing against so many other properties for sale, wouldn't it make sense for you to try to make that first visit as pleasant as possible, without instilling feelings that are out of your control? That's the reason for neutral.

Keeping colors in the off-whites and light beige color scheme is not only the best way to feature elements within a property, but the best way for people to be unbiased when viewing your Miami home for sale.

Long Beach Home and Income Property Tax Pending

Just in from the Pacific West Board of Realtors:

The Long Beach City Council will consider placing a Parcel Tax on the November 2008 ballot this Tuesday, July 22nd at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall.

Guide to Long Beach City Government

The proposed Parcel Tax is $120 annually per residential parcel and $120 annually per unit for apartment buildings.

We encourage you to attend this council meeting if possible.

City of Long Beach
333 W. Ocean Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90802
Tel: (562) 570-6555

Why is this important to you?

If you are the owner of a single family home this will cost you an extra $120 per year. Not a lot by anybodys standards and won't exactly break the bank.

If you are the owner of apartment buildings this parcel tax will be per unit. Own a lot of units? OUCH! This breaks down to about $10 per month per apartment.

If you are a renter, plan on having that included in your next rent increase!

Steeplechase - Something Different in Palm Beach Gardens Real Estate

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Palm Beach Gardens real estate is probably luxury homes on a golf course.

For the most part that is true - but there is an alternative or two. One of the first that comes to mind is the unique community Steeplechase.

Situated on the south side of Northlake Boulevard, just south of BallenIsles, Steeplechase offers the top-notch estates that Palm Beach Gardens is so well known for BUT, each home is on a lot that is a minimum of 1 acre.

There are none of the uncomfortable, zero-lot-line set ups that you see in so many other communities.

Leibowitz Realty has a great description of this community:

"Steeplechase is a wonderful 24-hour gated community of luxury homes on one acre plus lots! (A very rare commodity in South Florida).

Offering a diverse selection of established estates and brand new construction custom estate homes, Steeplechase is one of the most unique neighborhoods in Palm Beach County. Each home is set on at least an acre of gorgeous property creating a true estate feel with deeply set back homes offering the ultimate privacy and fabulous backyards with room for tennis courts, sports courts, private playgrounds and more! A Charming tree-lined main street and sidewalks on Steeplechase main drive encourages neighborhood walks, jogs and general enjoyment of this intimate community and the fantastic South Florida weather. Custom estate homes surround the quiet side streets and are interspersed around lovely cul-de sacs as well in this beautifully designed community."

You can read more about it HERE or take a TOUR of the community.

Please call me at 561-282-7406 at any time to discuss the community and the properties that are currently available.

Miami Performing Arts District and Urban Center

Some people refer to the area around The Arsht Center for Performing Arts, formerly known as Carnival Center for Performing Arts as "Miami's Performing Arts District" (somehow the whole name change makes me think of Prince). It is full of antagonisms and controversy because the Performing Arts Center has not, excuse the pun, "performed" as originally planned. The concept was to give Miami what it was missing, the performing arts and theater culture that major cities have. There were amazing projects built all around and the area has boomed....but maybe not at the pace everyone hoped.

Real Estate was to follow the lead of the multi-million dollar project, especially because the city was dumping a lot of cash into the re-design of the area - from pedestrian friendly streets to public places. And so it happened, beautiful Miami Luxury condos around the Arsht Center for Performing Arts were constructed with amazing views of the city of Miami as well as the Bay and Port of Miami together with best amenities. These are not only centrally located, but are close to shopping and withing walking distance to everything you need and a stone throw away from Downtown Miami.

The Arsht Center for The Performing Arts

The Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of multi-purpose state-of-the-art performance halls . Designed by Cesar Pelli and Associates, it is the focal point of performing arts activity in South Florida and serves as a showcase for the finest established and developing cultural programs.

Located on Biscayne Boulevard between NE 13th and 14th streets, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts consists of three performance facilities which are linked by a pedestrian bridge spanning the Boulevard. The Center's performance halls include a concert hall designed for concerts of classical and popular music and a ballet opera house, capable of accommodating the grand sets and scenery employed in major theatrical productions. The complex also houses a theater for small-scale theater and dance presentations. The center's auditoria, banquet facilities, plaza and other public areas are intended to accommodate a range of civic and social events.

The economic impact up and down Biscayne Boulevard, from Overtown to Biscayne Bay, is obvious and new Miami downtown condominium projects make their proximity to the Miami Arts District a major selling point.

This is an old photo before many of the condos South of the Center were built, but gives a great perspective of the city.

Wynwood Luxury Condos or Miami Arts DistrictRead more »

8 Things Clearwater Home Sellers Must Know Before Hiring a Clearwater Real Estate Agent

What expect from YOUR Clearwater Real Estate Agents?

Clearwater, Florida - Home Sellers what do you expect from your Clearwater Real Estate Agents?
Most sellers will say, "to sell my home or condo at the highest possible price with the least inconvenience." But, how do Clearwater Real Estate Agents differ? The Clearwater Real Estate Tampa Homes blog is pleased to welcome guest author, Irina Netchaev, Pasadena California Realtor and Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty - specializing in Pasadena California Real Estate.

We all have different approaches and views on how to accomplish our home seller's goals. When you are interviewing a Clearwater Realtor for the job of selling your home or condo, I would urge you to first LISTEN to what the Realtor says:

Is he or she trying to identify what's important to you in selling your home?
Is the Realtor's approach more consultative vs. "salesy"?
Do you feel like there's a connection between the two of you?
Do they understand the market trends in your local area? Can they intelligently predict, based on hard data, the pricing trend in your area?
Do they know the inventory and how many months of inventory there is on the market currently?

Questions to ask the Clearwater Real Estate Agent you're considering

1) How will you market my property? Today's market takes a tech savvy Realtor to make sure you're Clearwater home or Clearwater Beach condo will be seen where 85% of buyers are looking - on the internet in addition to using signs, email, promoting to other REALTORS, etc.

2) How will you keep in touch with me throughout the process? A Realtor should be updating their clients and should be able to provide you updates on the activities occuring regarding the sale of your home or condo. Are you able to check activities yourself daily and also track what homes around you are doing? If you like using email, is your agent email savvy? How often do they check it? Do they have set times for returning their voicemails daily?

3) Do they have a marketing campaign ready to implement the moment the listing is ready to be put on the market with custom color flyers, personal websites, pictures and videos of your property?It usually takes at least 7 to 10 days to line everything up so that your home is marketed correctly on day 1. The first 2 weeks of putting your home on the market are the most critical.

4) Does he/she have Showcase homes on Realtor.com? Featured homes on sites like Trulia? Only very few Realtors have Featured Homes. These spots give your home unprecedented exposure with hundreds of hits daily.

5) How often will your real estate agent reevaluate the Clearwater Real Estate market and my competition? It's critical to make sure that you and your Realtor know what your competition is so that an appropriate strategy is used. Read more »