Charming, Historic Coral Gables - plus income!

Historic 3/2 Old Spanish main house plus detached efficiency in the heart of Coral Gables, qualifies for Historical Signifigance, walking distance to shops and restaurants.

This beautiful property, on a 6150 square foot lot, is being sold for less than land value!

Currently rented for $3,000 per month, tenants will stay or move.

At $649,000, this is a bargain for the project-oriented owner with vision. Many possibilities for this unique home of character.

Shaq sells Star Island Manse!

Who says that there are no good deals in the world of Luxury Property? Well, I guess it is relative! After four years on the market and after dropping from the highest list price of $35,000,000, Shaquille O'Neil's Star Island property was just sold for $16,000,000 (current list price was $22,500,000).

There are currently 67 single family properties for sale in Dade County with list prices higher than $10,000,000. However, in the past 90 days, only 3 such properties have sold. In case you are considering listing your luxury property for sale, let's take a look at some of the features of successful listings:

• Extensive use of professional photography, especially of water views
• Aerial photos of property showing waterfrontage
• Virtual tours
• Designer furnishings/stagings
• Listed by agent teams

When I did a google search on the property names for the properties that had sold, most had multiple mentions (especiall Shaq's house). All had featured listings on their company website at least.

If you list with Simpson Associates, you will have the benefit of a boutique firm dedicated to the successful sale of the listing. We make extensive use of internet resources, including the latests options for interactive floor plan/tours. Our partnerships in the community include businesses that provide professional photography and staging services. We look forward to working with you.

Incredible Pinecrest Foreclosure Deal!!!!

WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Incredible, spacious, 2 bedroom, 1 and a half bath condo in PINECREST - How much do you think???? Take a guess???

Only $99k. Buy today or it will be gone! Already foreclosed, no short sale hassle.

Low maintenance fee - only $231. Cash FLOW.

Call me - 305-984-0404 or email LisaMerrittRealtor@gmail.com. Or visit my website, www.MiamiFreeRealEstateInfo.com for lots of free information.

City of Miami program helps low-income buyers

If you are househunting for your first home in the City of Miami, have they got a deal for you! First time buyers who qualify can claim $50,000 - $88,000. No typos there. You have to take a workshop, fill out an application, and work with one of their approved mortgage lenders, but if you are a low-income buyer this can make your dream of homeownership come true!

Buyers make no payments on the portion of the money that comes from the City for as long as they live in the home. If you live in the home for 30 years, you never have to pay back the money! If you sell before 30 years, the City will receive a percentage of the profits from the sale. That's it!

Homes, condos, townhomes all are available now. Call me at 305-984-0404 or email LisaMerrittRealtor@gmail.com, and I'll be glad to work with you.

Another program helps Miami-Dade County homebuyers claim one of the County owned foreclosed properties, and with major lenders like Bank of America announcing that they are giving municipalities first shot at owning foreclosures, this program can help anyone in the County purchase a first home.

Call me today! What are you waiting for?

GREAT Foreclosure Deal

Terrific GABLES POINT - 2 bedroom, 2 and a half baths for only $94,900! Foreclosed and vacant, ready to move in. Hardwood floors, remodeled baths. Great location!

Don't miss this deal - gonna be another highest and best offer sprint. Call today 305-984-0404.

TweetLister - List With Me for More Internet Coverage!

Just tried out TweetLister this morning for my new condo listing in Miami Beach, and I really love it! So easy to use, it distills all of your listing information into the required 140 characters via easy, pull down menus - even converting your listing URL into a tweet-friendly link.

But probably the best feature of TweetLister - you can schedule the frequency for tweeting your listing! Daily, every other day, once, and you can even pick the time of day to tweet the listing.

So if you list your property for sale with me, whether short sale, luxury, condo, or single family, you'll get the benefit of daily tweet listings in addition to the coverage already provided on Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, craigslist.......

What are you waiting for? Call me now for your free home valuation - 305-984-0404. Or visit www.miamifreerealestateinfo.com for more great free information for buyers and sellers.

Luxury REOs

Some of the best REO (foreclosure) deals on the market involve luxury homes in sought after neighborhoods. If you've ever wanted to get a great deal on a home with all of the luxury amenities inside and great benefits outside, including a large yard, great schools, quiet tree-lined neighborhood, now is the time to consider looking at homes that are are bank-owned but have great cache. These homes have already gone through the foreclosure process, no short-sale bank negotiations necessary, and are ready for your family.

Consider this great Pinecrest home with 7 bedrooms and 4 baths plus 2 half baths, over 6,000 square feet, on an acre with all Palmetto schools. This is a bargain at the current REO price.

Or how about a bargain home in the Coral Gables Country Club area -

Marble floors, many upgrades throughout, vacant and ready to move in! Foreclosure priced, won't last long.

Call me at 305-984-0404 to find your luxury REO home.

Have you visited my new website - www.miamifreerealestateinfo.com? Lots of great free info for every home buyer or seller!

New Listing! South Beach condo

I have a new listing, a rare 1 br/1 1/2 bath condo - easily convertible to 2 br!- in a great boutique building in South Beach:

Custom built-in bookshelves, large walk-in closet, convection oven, jacuzzi
tub, assigned gated parking. Remodeled throughout with high-quality materials
and fixtures. Free Washer/Dryer shared with only 3 other units on floor, or
poss.space in unit. Gorgeous north city views from large balcony. Easy to show,
flexible month-to-month tenant. Perfect for 1st-time buyers, investors. Low
condo fee.

Every detail of this unit is top of the line, from the custom tile flooring to the pull out kitchen shelving to the light fixtures. A real bargain! Comparable unit in building listed for $330k!

Lovely north facing view of South Beach - you can even glimpse the Bay and the Ocean from the spacious balcony.

Call me at 305-984-0404 to show this gem.

Update for First Time Homebuyers

Monetize the $8000 investment tax credit 6/2/2009

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced at NAR’s Real Estate Summit plans to allow consumers to monetize the first-time homebuyer tax credit and apply it to the purchase of a home. This past Friday, HUD made good on that promise, providing guidance to lenders regarding how they can enable buyers to use the credit to effectively buy-down their mortgage rate by giving them a larger downpayment. Here is how the program will work… The option is available on specific government loan products. Buyers must provide a downpayment of at least 3.5 percent, which can be a gift from a family member, employer or nonprofit, charitable organization. Lenders may then offer the monetized tax credit to supplement the initial downpayment and to pay for closing costs and interest rate buy downs.

What a deal in the Grove

Beautiful, right? and only $59,000! Maintenance fee only $258!

Call me at 305-984-0404 to buy this little gem.

Good location in Coconut Grove, close to shops and only 3 blocks from the Bay.

Great 1 bedroom for first time homebuyers or investors.

Not an REO, but priced like one. This one is too good to pass up!

Call or email today for this or other great deals in the Miami area.

Bank of America, Chinese Drywall update, Deals

News to start the week:

Bank of America has announced that it will streamline the process for municipalities to purchase REO properties held by BoA, effectively giving municipalities that are receiving federal neighborhood stabilization stimulus money a first shot at purchasing these properties in order to allow them to leverage grant money. These properties will be announced on a private website prior to being listed for sale on MLS systems, making it harder for investors and individual home buyers to purchase.

The Florida Association of Realtors has created a special addendum to offers for purchase to address the Chinese Drywall disaster. This addendum asks the builder to disclose knowledge of Chinese drywall and offers the buyer the opportunity to inspect for chinese drywall. Buyer beware!

Now for your deals:

A couple of great new short sales on the market in Kendale, both remodeled 4/2 pool homes:

Take your pick, or move with your best friends, in-laws, or kids! Call Lisa at 305-984-0404 today!