Don’t make common home buying mistakes when searching
for Miami real estate. Here’s how to avoid them.
Kick some Miami Real Estate tires
1. Shop and Compare Miami real estate listings.
a. Start you Miami Beach real estate search online to get
a feel for all MLS listed homes that are for sale.
b. Walk through several MLS listed homes that are for sale
in your price range and located in the Miami Beach area. By
reviewing multiple Miami homes available in the market you
will be better prepared to recognize overpriced homes and
real estate and obtain the confidence to know a good home
value in the Miami real estate market when you see one.
Get help from a Miami real estate insider
2. “Pick the brain” of a smart Miami
Realtor™.
All Realtors are not created equal. If a Realtor does a lot
of self-promotion, that does not mean they have the most Miami
real estate experience and are respected by their peers. If
you are a Buyer in a hot real estate market (Miami Beach is
a hot market), presenting a home offer through a top local
Realtor™ gets your offer noticed and taken seriously.
Top local Realtors™ know the real estate sales process,
all about real estate financing, how to remedy inspection
issues and are expert real estate negotiators. Great Realtors
will get you the home you what. Great Realtors know the pros
and cons of homes in there city and market area and may even
know about homes not yet available but that will be soon.
Smarter Agent only works with the best Miami Realtors and
we are here to help you (877-786-5683).
A mortgage makes your Miami real estate
purchase happen.
3. Get pre-qualified for a mortgage- it only takes
a few minutes.
Get over financial hurdles before you put in a home purchase
offer. Find a good mortgage professional and go over what
you can afford. A good lender will give you a pre-qualification
letter even before you find the home you want. Any good realtor
can help you find a good mortgage professional. There is nothing
worse than finding a home and losing it, or worse, losing
your deposit because you can’t close the deal. Get a
mortgage application. (In a hot real estate market like Miami,
many sellers won’t accept an offer without a letter
of pre-approval).
Budget for all your life needs not just
your Miami home.
4. Don’t over mortgage yourself.
There are so many mortgage products, you may be tempted or
advised to borrow as much as you can. But be warned - there
is nothing worse than getting in over your head. Make sure
you can afford to live comfortably in your home, put money
aside for your children, and have cash on hand to pay for
unexpected events. Don’t assume your home value will
keep appreciating at the same rate it has over the past 3
years. Do assume your home carrying costs will rise! Your
annual local real estate taxes and homeowners insurance rates
will most likely rise each year. If you have an adjustable
rate mortgage, your monthly mortgage payments will eventually
go up. Housing markets eventually cool, but your payments
never stop - be prepared!
The Agreement of Sale is key.
5. Put all the details of your home purchase in the
Agreement of Sale.
The Agreement of Sale spells out the timing, terms and dollar
amount of the real estate transaction. Don't take anything
for granted, or rely on promises from the Seller or their
real estate agent. Have your Realtor put all conditions of
the home sale into writing, and get the seller's written approval
for any modifications or amendments to the Real Estate Agreement
of Sale.
Inspections:
Know Miami homes before you buy.
6. Use a professional Home inspector.
Make sure all electric, gas water and other utilities remain
connected so you can inspect the home in working order. Get
a qualified home inspector to do a review of the house and
prepare a written report for you. Go over the report with
the inspector and your agent. Agreements of Sale usually allow
a few days to bring any serious defects to the attention of
the Seller - so a resolution can be attempted.
Final Home Check.
7. Do a final house assessment.
After the Seller moves everything out of the house, take a
walk through the house a day or two prior to settlement. Make
sure the home is ready to be transferred in good shape as
outlined in the Real Estate Agreement of Sale. This will be
your last chance to ensure everything in the house is in working
order prior to settlement.
Let a Miami real estate team show you their
best stuff.
8. Be open about your timing, financial condition,
and lifestyle needs.
A good Realtor is trained to find solutions to fit your needs
– in ways you may have not yet considered. You may say
you want a house on a golf course, but your retired spouse
may feel more secure in a low maintenance gated condo community
where you can play several of the regions courses with less
carrying costs. A good Realtor can take the information you
give them, and translate that into unique property solutions.
Be Flexible
9. Try to relax.
From negotiations to closing and moving dates, focus on getting
the real estate deal done, not winning every battle. Delays
and complications are part of most real estate deals, as both
you and the Seller are completing a very time consuming, expensive
and sometimes emotional transaction. Most issues are resolvable.
If you’ve done your homework, have a great Realtor and
mortgage team, you can be confident you will get a good deal
and avoid mistakes.
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Smarter
Agent’s Miami real estate experience can
help you avoid mistakes in the home buying process.
We believe it’s important to pick the best real estate
professionals off the bat.
When you are ready to start your Miami real estate search
with Smarter
Agent, you can call (877-786-5683 toll free)
or email
us with any questions from your first internet search straight
through to your actual closing and beyond!
Get savvy, try Smarter
Agent. Smarter
Agent will save you a lot of time and help you
get the best deal with the least hassles and at the best price.
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BEST NEW ARCHITECTURAL TREND
High-rise lofts
Originally published by Miami New Times May 13, 2004
©2004 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Builders are banking on Miami's magic in a big way. Somehow
in the next two to four years -- poof! -- the downtown area,
from Brickell through the newly christened Biscayne Boulevard
Corridor, will fill with some 40,000 new residents eager to
shell out a quarter-million to a million bucks to live in
so-called lofts in chic neighborhoods. For now, many of those
neighborhoods are largely imaginary, hopeful names scribbled
in developers' dreams: the Performing Arts District, the Cultural
Arts District, the Florida East Corridor. The names of the
new so-called loft projects are no less whimsical: Aria, Quantum,
Platinum, Star, Mist, Blue, Sky, Ice. But who knows? Sometimes
developers' dreams do come true. Maybe in five years or so
Miami will be transformed into Manhattan south, with well-heeled
culture vultures perched in high-priced nests overlooking
Biscayne Bay. On the other hand, maybe there aren't quite
so many gritty culture hounds with deep pockets ready to move
into little skyboxes in America's Poorest City. Maybe then
the prices will come down and families from the shrinking
middle class will have a chance to move into condos with "endless
views of Biscayne Bay." It's possible not even the middle
class will buy into the developers' fantasy, and the buildings
will stand empty, sky-scraping testaments to another crazy
Magic City scheme. That could be cool, too. Imagine mile upon
mile of empty towers. A wild squatters' underworld. A sultry
Blade Runner. Instead of the art scene driving development,
once again we'll have urban decay driving the art scene.
^^ back to Miami real estate search
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