News about properties and real estate
Celebrity name-dropping, Twitter contests, skywriting planes and free grub are all strategies home sellers and real estate agents are using to entice buyers to the closing table in South Florida’s oversupplied and uncertain housing market. The list of marketing gimmicks used to sell houses and condos has grown longer and more eccentric as the real …
Continue reading “South Florida home sales hit 6-year high in volume but not price”
When it comes to protecting condominiums and homeowners communities from hurricanes, Florida law may not require as much property insurance as you may think – or need. These are tough times for shared communities across the state, and the notion of "going bare" — without insurance — to save on costs may sound appealing, but …
Continue reading “Condo hurricane insurance: Hurricane season should prompt insurance check”
The historic El Patio Hotel in downtown Venice has been sold for $2.195 million to longtime real estate investor and restaurateur David McRae. The 16-room business at 229 W. Venice Ave. is the only remaining operational hotel in downtown Venice and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1927 …
There’s a quiet building boom taking place in South Florida, but it’s nothing like the mid-decade condo rush that ended in an epic economic bust. The new towers going up today are not being built on the water for the affluent, but on the chipped sidewalks of gritty neighborhoods for the region’s poorest families. The …
Continue reading “Building boom in affordable housing underway in South Florida”
Partners in life for 13 years and now partners in a major house-building project, interior designer Sharon Nizolek and investment banker Guy Della Penna recently finished a beautiful coastal home in Sarasota. It reminds them so much of the shingle-style homes of Newport, Cape Cod, Kennebunkport or the understated mansions in the tony villages of …
Continue reading “Homeowners build their ideal Hampton house on Siesta Key”
Need some advice on dealing with a homeowners association? Is a short sale your best option for unloading your home? Lawyer and real estate consultant Gary M. Singer will answer your housing questions in this space each Friday. To ask Gary a question, click here. Q: I have a $42,000 mortgage at 8.726%. I want …
Continue reading “Underwater borrower should consider less traditional refinancing”