Thinking of buying a property in South Florida?

When we think about buying a property, we believe that we have to fill out a lot of paperwork. While this is true, it is best to be well counseled and consider a number of factors first.

We advise you to consider the following before investing:

1. Insurance

If you are thinking of buying an old house, with an old roof, it will be very difficult to get insurance for your home.

2. Property taxes

Taxes will vary depending on the area where the property is located and will also vary depending on the type of residence that you want to buy.

This expense can be very high, so it is important to evaluate it before buying the property.

3. Inspections

All inspections are mandatory. They should be, since you can discover all the imperfections that the property may have. In the inspections you will find the hidden damages that do not show in the sale photos of the property.

4. Visit the property at different times of the day

If you are thinking of buying a property, you should know that you will also have to live with the people who are around you, so it is very important to visit the house at different times to find out the habits of that population. We also recommend that you talk to the neighbors, since they can give you the best insights of the place where you want to invest.

5. Always check the documents before signing

Last but not least, always review the documents before signing. We recommend that you seek advice from a trusted lawyer and realtor to ensure that everything is perfect.

Source: http://actualidadradio.com/noticias/6-cosas-que-debe-saber-antes-de-comprar-una-propiedad-en-florida/

Top 5 tips for foreign investors in South Florida

Since 2006, the fluctuations in the United States real estate market have been focusing around South Florida, transforming it into one of the top investment opportunities in the US. Taking this into consideration, many foreign investors have seen this area and its surroundings as the perfect opportunity to secure their assets and produce an extra income. However, the investment process involves some steps that might become a little more complex for non-native property owners. That is why, if you’re a foreigner, we want to share 5 tips for you, to help you start your journey in South Florida’s real estate business.

 

 

1. Be realistic: some marketing professionals might try to sell the luxury + bargain image (90,000$ beachfront apartments, for example), when in reality those expectations are far apart from the actual projection of the market. To develop a successful business in Miami, foreign investors must be aware of the fact that any contract that is worth the cash, will be closed within a week or so. To see results in terms of 5 to 10 years, being willing to invest realistically (however obvious it might seem) is essential.

 

2. If possible, work with corporations: investing under the name of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a Corporation simplifies the tax payment process and the inheritance procedures in a long-term period. Otherwise, the tax rate for a non-native owner, in case of any extraordinary event, would be too high. These corporations can be foreign, domestic, or might even be presented in the form of a trust fund.

 

3. Be aware of the bureaucratic proceedings: even though the process in the United States has proven to be pretty simple, there are certain requirements for foreigners and non-residents. Some of them, like the TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number), imply a bit of a procedure (filing an application and providing all the ID specifications: passport, driver’s license, birth certificate, then sending it to the respective offices, etc.).

 

4. Find the best professionals: for the completion of the previous step it is necessary to have experts, such as US Tax attorneys, Real Estate attorneys, accountants, brokers, and buyers who are committed to your business and watch over your safety.

 

5. Ask Questions: once you have found the best possible team, be prepared to ask some of the following questions: What if I carry out other businesses in the US? Is there some type of tax alliance between my country of origin and the US? These might be very helpful for you and the professionals that guide you.

 

In South Florida, we keep these 5 tips at the top of our heads. We are prepared to receive you, answer all of your questions and guide you through your investing process! Contact us!

Communications from a business standpoint

When I started in the real estate business our main avenue to reach clients was word of mouth. At the beginning this was enough. We were able to sell real estate investments to most of the people we knew. This strategy worked up to the point where we had sold to everyone we knew because obviously family and friends are a limited resource. You can argue you can make friends fast, but earning their trust is way more complex and it takes time.

Trust is a very important factor in almost all businesses and especially in real estate. If people do not trust you, it is going to be extremely hard to close deals. When you start working in any business, the people who already trust you, usually family and friends, are the first ones to do business with you. But how do you do when you need to grow your business outside of your circle of family and friends?

In our case, we grew organically up to a point where we did not have time to speak to more clients but we still needed to keep growing. It reminds me of a friend of mine, owner of a pizza restaurant, who told me once that he was very frustrated with his business while we were having dinner and all the tables were full.  I was puzzled and did not understand. He explained that he could no longer grow his business; that he had reached his maximum and could not grow anymore.

One of the best ways to slowly earn people’s trust is to be in constant contact with them. Therefore, communication is essential to earning somebody’s trust, especially at the beginning of the business relationship. We try to be in touch with our clients frequently via either meetings or phone calls. This allows us to slowly earn their trust. This model does not scale, as time is a limited resource. I needed to talk to more people to be able to close more deals. Our rule of thumb is that you have to talk to 100 people so that 10 listen to you and you close 1 deal. Therefore, the challenge lies in reaching the maximum number of qualified prospects using channels that allow you to grab their attention while slowly building trust.

For these reasons we started experimenting with social networks because the entry cost was very low, almost zero, and more and more people use them everyday. We were able to attract a lot of followers but were not able to attract new qualified prospects. We realized we needed a well-defined communications strategy to maximize the number of qualified people we could reach and ultimately gain their trust. Consequently, it is more than just hiring a community manager; you need to hire somebody who can define a realistic communications strategy that allows you to grow.

It is very challenging and costly for small businesses to hire a full-time communications expert, let alone a communications team. Therefore, most small businesses decide to hire an outside communications consultant or firm. This is a very important step, as this consultant must understand your business and your goals. They will not understand your goals –or it will be very difficult– if they have not worked in your line of business before.

After we hired an outside communications firm and defined a strategy, we started getting calls from qualified prospects. Moreover, we were able to train more salespeople to understand how to communicate the right message to prospects and how to slowly earn their trust. As a result, our team started to grow and our business started to expand. We meet regularly with our outside communications team to tweak our communications strategy and to learn from mistakes. The more they get involved to understand the intricacies of the business, the better the results. This is a very important point. I have heard a lot of people in the real estate business saying we hired a consultant who used to manage our communications and it did not work out so we stopped the service. And when you ask them how often you met to go over the strategy, most of the time they say we only met at the beginning.

Every business is different regarding communicating through social media. In some businesses you can produce a sale using social media directly. It is still really hard to sell real estate through social media, but you need a strong message to be able to catch the attention of qualified prospects and bring them knocking on your door.

It is still important to keep in touch with prospects and clients through phone calls and meetings, but if we had not hired an outside communications consultant, we would not have been able to grow our business and make more clients happy and satisfied with our service.

Carlos E. Rojas – Lic. Real Estate Broker, America Riches

Real Estate Market on 2017-2018

The real estate market is the most stable one. It’s a fact that a real estate investment is a safe investment. But in order to make it safe, you have to make it right. From some time now there has been a lot of talk about a global economic recession estimated for 2017-2018. By that time, Miami Dade will be completing a lot of new buildings that are great investing opportunities.

So, you might be wondering how to act knowing about this possible recession. Well, prices are going down in all of Miami Dade County, so there will probably be a lot of good opportunities for investors by 2018 in the high-end market as the prices start to adjust and it’s prudent to wait and buy then. However, for 2017, we recommend investors to make small investments and buy $150K units, which they should rent with a long-term mindset.

A low income unit is a wise investment if there is a recession since these cheaper units may not go down in demand. In case of a recession, there may be more demand for rental if people are making less money in the next 3 years, which is why they’ll look for cheaper residences to live and renting is always more accessible than buying with a lower salary.

Therefore, be wise and invest wisely. The real estate market is a safe one if you play your cards well. Gables Riches offers all kind of assessment in this kind of matters. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re looking forward to go ahead on time and make right decisions for your money.

Property Management Services

Investing on a property is no easy thing to do and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. You are about to put your money in some serious business. This is why Gables Riches always recommends you to invest hand in hand with a professional. A little advice will help you make the best decision and will increase the chance of future profits from your investment. But, once you have already invested, then who’s taking care of that property? This is the time when the owner should think about hiring a property management company.

Here are 5 reasons why you should hire a property management company:

1)    Workflow: most investors have no idea how much work it takes to own and manage their investment. Property inspections, staffing maintenance personnel, and other issues that may arise in the day-to-day of owning a property take up a lot of time from you. To avoid this, a property management company will take care of it all.

2)    Legal issues: there are lots of local, state, and federal laws to consider when you collect rent and deal with property management. A property manager will make you stay on the right side of the law.

3)    Rent collection: most real estate investments are to obtain money from them. Collecting rent money is probably the least glamorous aspect of all, leave it in a property manager’s hands.

4)    Marketing expertise: property managers know how the real estate market runs and will help you obtain the highest possible rent and avoid long vacancies on your property.

5)    Tenant issues: regardless of the type of property you’ve invested on, it’s probable that sooner or later you’ll have issues with your tenants. Late rent payments or squabbles between neighbors, they can all give you sleepless nights unless you hire a property manager who takes care of it all.

Top 7 Properties to Invest

Choosing the right property to invest on is not an easy task. There are so many details we have to take into consideration before deciding which one we should buy. If you are looking forward to investing on real estate, America Riches will help you make the right choice. We want your happiness and your money to be safe. So, if you are thinking on real estate investments, here’s a list of the top 7 properties you should consider.

Student housing

1.     Senior housing: this kind of property is experiencing an upward demand. Its renting rate is increasing daily. This type of property offers the best risk and return profile right now.

2.     Student housing: at the beginning of 2016, the pre-tax yield for student housing properties was 7.6%. An investment on student housing is generally in line with long-term trend, it is the best performing sector year-to-date in the REIT space.

3.     Suburban office: office vacancy has dropped 20 basis points in 2016. This means job growth and therefore economic stability. Investors should consider suburban offices, since they are one of the few property types that are showing recovering growth.

4.     Flex big-box warehouse: this is one of the healthiest industrial sub-sectors, driven by demand for e-commerce tenants.

5.     Self-storage: this sector is becoming more accepted as an institutional asset class. Right now, it’s showing higher cap rates, solid NOI growth, and low cap-ex. Self-storage is pleasing great income expectations.

6.     Neighborhood Community Centers: this type of property, just as fortress malls, is very powerful since it’s carrying the retail asset class. The firm rated neighborhood community centers with 6.4 out of 10.

7.     Street retail: this type of property has been a very trending one on the past few years, with cap rates in gateway markets dropping below 3%. There has been a recent uptick demand on street retail spaces.

Street retail

Flex big-box warehouse

Investing in Miami is Still a Safe Decision

When looking for a new home or a place where to spend your vacations, Miami always comes to mind. Not only will Miami offer you an excellent lifestyle, but it also comes with a great environment, amazing weather, excellent schooling zones, beaches, infinite recreational areas, great job offers, and best of all, economic stability. Miami is still one of the safest places to put your money in, and real estate is one of the most stable markets of all. If you are thinking about investing on a new property, here are some reasons why Miami should be your first choice.

·     Miami is the eighth largest growing city in the United States, and it’s growing daily. Thousands of people are moving to Florida every day.

·      85% of Greater Downtown Miami is under construction. Products to be delivered in 2016 are pre-sold.

·        Over the next 3 years, 100% of the inventory under construction in Greater Downtown (about 7,200 units) will be delivered.

·     More than 80% of the new condos sold over the past three years were obtained allcash, without bank financing. This means a tremendous amount of equity and very little bank exposure or default risk.

·       The most important worldwide city for high worth individuals is New York City. On a 10 year projection, Miami and New York will be the only two U.S. cities for high worth investors.

So, Miami is still one of the safest cities to invest. Whether it’s to purchase a vacation home, a primary residence, or just as an investment, Miami is an excellent choice. This city has everything to offer in terms of quality of life. And numbers don’t lie; your money will be safe in Miami.