News About Properties

Driving the streets of Edgewater recently, Martin Melo eased the accelerator of his Porsche Panamera to point out large swaths of land his family-run firm has cobbled together for high-rise development in one of Miami’s most rapidly emerging neighborhoods.

“This four-block area is ours,” said his brother Carlos, whose Melo Group has seven condominium and apartment projects lined up in the area. “We bought [the lots] one by one. It’s hard work.”

The buzz of activity at Melo Group — headed by their father Jose Luis Melo, who moved from Buenos Aires in 2001 — comes as the transformation of Miami’s funky Edgewater district has shifted into high gear.

via A real estate explosion in Edgewater, Miami’s next trendy district.

Despite a flock of investors buying up South Florida homes for rental property profit, the market ranked lower than eight other Florida regions for the best place to purchase single-family rentals.Nationwide, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties also failed to place in the top 20 best investment areas for rentals, according to a RealtyTrac report to be released today that measured estimated profit by comparing home sale prices and monthly costs with average rental rates.Port St. Lucie, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Tampa, Lakeland, Ocala and Palm Bay all earned spots in the top 20 list, which ranked New York and Northern New Jersey as the best place in the nation to earn rental income on a single-family home. Los Angeles was second, with Chicago taking third place.

via South Florida rental market not as hot for investors.

Dan Gilbert, the billionaire Detroit real-estate investor, has shown he likes a bargain—snapping up downtown office properties for as little as $10 a square foot.

But now he is negotiating to take control of Detroit’s Greektown Casino-Hotel at a price that isn’t deeply discounted.

An affiliate of Mr. Gilbert’s Rock Gaming already owns some shares and has agreements that would give it a 77% stake in Greektown Casino’s voting shares for about $147 million. Meanwhile, Greektown Superholdings Inc., which owns the casino, announced terms Tuesday that could pave the way for Rock Gaming to buy shares from the remaining shareholders.

via Deal of the Week: Detroit Mogul Antes Up.

Michael Gatlin built his three-bedroom home in Flushing, Mich., with his own two hands.At 3,000 square feet, it had plenty of room for his two young boys. The home sat on nearly an acre of land — or snow, depending on the season — and the kids took advantage of every inch.Gatlin recalls summer days when his sons had two-a-day football practices and the entire team would come over at midday to swim in the pool while Gatlin grilled hot dogs.

via To track housing recovery, follow the cash trail.

Home remodeling projects across Southwest Florida are on the rise, spurred on by a thin supply of houses for sale and an overwhelming number of underwater mortgages that have made it difficult for some homeowners to move.The trend has put hundreds of subcontractors in Southwest Florida back to work, boosted revenue for home improvement retailers and lifted sluggish property values that in many cases have been long overdue.

“I have been slammed the last six months solid — all remodels,” said Matt McMurtrie, owner of Sarasota’s Decadent Design and Remodels. “People are getting great deals on homes right now, and the cheaper they get the houses, the more money they have to play with and fix them up.”

via Remodelers are busy again in Southwest Florida.

With their children through college, Myra McWethy and her husband Kevin decided to sell their three-bedroom Santa Monica, Calif., home in May and move to San Diego. Given the soft housing market, they weren’t sure how buyers would react to their $1.8 million asking price.

They found out quickly. Within hours of listing the property, they had an offer for $25,000 above their listing price. They soon had six others. “We got extremely lucky,” says the 55-year-old actress, who bought the home 10 years ago for $1.1 million

via Luxury Snaps Back.