Although such short term rentals are offered in other areas of Florida, Southeast Florida (Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties) condo associations generally restrict rentals to a minimum period of 90 days. Many associations have 1 year minimum rental restrictions. Additionally, most homeowners in the area do not wish to rent their homes for such short periods for various reasons. There are a very few select number of single family homes throughout the area that are willing to rent on a minimum weekly basis. Generally, the weekly rents start at a minimum of $2500.00 plus approximately 11% in area taxes. We do not directly handle such rentals. However, we will gladly refer you to the local area REALTOR® that specializes in this very limited market. Please call our office for further contact information.

The best help we can provide you in this regard is educational. Contrary to the many books and videos on bank and government foreclosures the foreclosure process is not what most people imagine. Here are some of the most common unknown facts: a) The successful bidder at a foreclosure auction must pay a minimum 10% deposit of the purchase price by cash and/or bank check at the time of winning the bid. b) The successful bidder at a foreclosure must pay the balance of the purchase price in cash and/or by bank check within 2 hours of winning the bid or possibly lose their deposit. c) In many cases the properties are bought at auction without the ability to inspect the interior of the subject property. Basically, they are being bought as-is and sight unseen. d) In many cases the properties are occupied by the current owner and/or a tenant. The successful bidder, should they finally receive title, would then be required to evict these occupants. e) There is no guarantee that all lien holders to the property have been named, and served process, correctly. Therefore, a successful bidder may face a future claim against the property by a past lien holder. f) The monies paid at the auction to the court will be held by the clerk for a period of 10 days. The current owners have a right to redeem their property within those 10 days. Should this occur the successful bidder's monies will be returned by the clerk's office. g) Most all court foreclosures are sold to the lender; the final judgment is generally always more that the value of the subject property. There are several other unknown facts that will generally cause most individuals to stay clear of the foreclosure market. The ones outlined above are usually enough to give most people a reason to avoid further consideration.

First, many condos built prior to 1990 prohibit renting the condo for the first 1 to 3 years of ownership. Generally, if you are obtaining a mortgage that is in excess of at least 60% of the purchase price you will not have a before tax positive cash flow. In fact, with all expenses considered you will probably have a before tax negative cash flow. The southeast Florida rental investment market is generally best suited for individuals that are in a high tax bracket that are willing to subsidize the before tax negative cash flow in consideration for the benefit from their tax savings and long term equity appreciation. We strongly recommend that you consult with your accountant in this regard.

Again, this depends on many factors including most importantly how much of a mortgage are you going to need. It is generally true that the costs to maintain a property, including a highly leveraged mortgage, will be more expensive than rent for a similar property. Many factors that people forget to consider is their tax savings and anticipated long term property appreciation. We are fully prepared to work with you in a preliminary review of what is in your best interest. However, we always recommend that you should consult with your accountant for a more detailed opinion based on your specific goals and situation.

The rule of thumb that is generally used is 2% of the purchase price. However, there are many situations that will cause the property tax to be substantially less expensive short term and long term. These include newly constructed condos and homes, under valued condominium buildings and subdivisions, and homesteading. You would also want to consult with your accountant to determine the net effect to you after income tax considerations have been applied.

Condo fees generally include insurance, water, trash removal and overall maintenance and management. These costs will generally be considerably less expensive when compared to the same expenses as incurred in a single family home.

A REALTOR® is an active real estate licensee that holds membership in the National Association of REALTORS® and that subscribes to the association's Code of Ethics. There are many other benefits to working with a REALTOR® and we invite you to visit the National Association of REALTORS® website at www.realtor.org and the most popular real estate website in the country at www.realtor.com

A "Short Sale" is simply a real estate transaction that should it close would result in the mortgage lender(s) accepting a payoff that is less than the currently owed full balance.

Generally not. Most all Short Sales are closed at a price that is very market competitive. Typically, the mortgage lender(s) and/or a mortgage insurance provider will demand market value. The market value will typically be on the lower end of the market value but current statistics clearly demonstrate that the closed Short Sale transaction were sold at or very near the market value. Additionally, on average less than 25% of Short Sales are ever approved and closed. The vast majority will be foreclosed or a loan modification will occur. The typical turn time for lender approval on a Short Sale ranges from 90-120 days at a minimum.

You should hire us for the same reason our sellers have used us over and over again. They know that they can depend on us to get them the most money, in the shortest amount of time, with the fewest hassles. Our No Hassle Listing Home Marketing system offers benefits that the ordinary agent does not. Our program offers flexible commissions to put more money in your pocket, a client reward program when both buying and selling, a cancel anytime policy, and the right to sell your home yourself and pay us nothing. When hiring anyone to perform a job for you, experience should weigh heavily in that decision. Who really wants to be the surgeon’s first patient? Let’s examine one of our program benefits; we allow you to cancel the listing at any time. Most agents will not give the consumer this right. You might ask yourself why agents need to “lock you up” for four to six months. Why would they be afraid to give you the right to cancel? Our philosophy is that we would rather strive to earn your business every day. We are confi dent that we can provide a superior level of service and care. If we don’t, we don’t deserve your business. It is that simple.

Sellers don’t need a broker just to sell their house. They need a broker to sell their house or more! If your property would sell for the same price no matter who sells it – it probably would be in your best interest to sell the home yourself. In that case, why pay any broker? The fact of the matter is we can sell your home for more. We have the track record we do because we are experts at pricing the property and experts at creating the greatest amount of exposure for your property. Even at contract presentation, we do not follow the pack. We do not permit other brokers or their agents to pressure you into a rash decision. The contract will be presented to you by us alone. This specific action (especially when there are multiple offers) gets significantly more dollars for our sellers. It is very difficult for a seller not to transmit emotions and reactions to another broker. That can cost a seller money. Sadly, there are many broker and thier agents who need the deal (sometimes more than you do). The weakest negotiator in any transaction is the one who has to have the deal. We are in the fortunate position of having enough clients that any one deal won’t make us or break us. Therefore the negotiations are really about getting you the most money for your home. Period. If the offer doesn’t make sense, you can count on us to tell you so. In addition to these points above, with our sliding scale commission (6% - 4% - 1% - 0%) and our Client Reward Program, our fees in many cases are even less than the limited service broker.

Absolutely not! Most of our listings sell at close to full price. Because we specialize in South Florida Luxury homes we have acquired a vast knowledge of our niche market, This knowledge combined with our seasoned agents ensure that you get the highest possible price for your home. We accomplish this by first doing a supply/demand analysis in the immediate area for any home we consider marketing. All agents have access to the same market information. It is the evaluation of what that information means to the marketing of a home that matters. X-rays mean nothing until they are evaluated by a competent doctor. Similarly, knowing what the market is doing in any area affects both the marketing time and value. Factors like area, demand, condition, pricing, accessibility, and agent choice all affect a home’s time on market. Because of our effective marketing efforts our homes typically sell significantly faster. All of our yard signs, as well as our promotional materials and ads prominently feature our web site address which is one of the area's top visited real estate website. Our media promotion drives thousands of buyers to view homes on our web site. Your home will also be prominently featured on Realtor.com, the number one real estate web site in the world, as well as on Google, AOL, MSN and Yahoo. To increase buyer interest in our properties we always Showcase out listings on Realtor.com. Per Realtor.com, our listings are viewed twenty times as often as a regular listing on Realtor.com. According to the National Association of REALTORS® “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers”, over 84% of home buyers used the internet when starting their home search process.

Absolutely! Any agent who does not place your home on MLS is doing you a huge disservice. With over 50,000 agents in the tri-county area, it is important to tap in to that agent base of buyers. Also, if you are not on MLS you cannot appear on Realtor.com, the number one real estate site on the internet.

We are not professional photographers. We do however contract with a professional photographer/videographer to fully detail each of our listings with wide angle photos and a professionally edited video tour. These are all provided to Realtor.com in a showcase presentation to ensure adequate exposure of your home to the most widely visited web site in the country. These detailed images are also the focal point for many other forms of our internet and traditional marketing efforts. Great photographs simply get buyers excited.

Contact our office by e-mail or phone, and we will set up an appointment to have one of our listing specialists meet with you. We will tour the home, go over recent market activity in your area to educate you on values, and make recommendations for maximizing your profit and increasing your speed of sale.

Once we have a signed listing agreement and a spare key, we can have your home on the market within 48 hours. However, it usually takes two or three days for the sign company to professionally install the sign and the photographer/videographer to take the necessary photographs.

Absolutely! If you are selling more than one house or plan to both sell and buy (new or resale), ask for a copy of our Client Rewards Program. We will mail or e-mail it to you immediately!