South Florida home prices up 9.5 percent

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties rose 9.5 percent in October from a year ago, marking the third consecutive month that the annual increase outpaced 19 other metro areas.

South Florida tenants spent $10.5 billion in rent in 2014, up 7.7 percent from 2013, Zillow said. And the average renter household in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties paid $59 more a month ($708 a year) on rent in 2014 compared with 2013, the website said.

 Read More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

Chinese investors buy Miami site for $74.7 million

An affiliate of China Communications Construction Company U.S. International purchased a block-size site in the red-hot Brickell neighborhood for $74.7 million, in its first major bet on Miami.

Plans for what will be built on the 2.4-acre site at 1430 S. Miami Avenue aren’t yet complete, according to Dr. Shan-Jie Li, chief executive officer of American Da Tang Group Co. Ltd. in New York. American Da Tang, he said, is working closely with CCCC as the Chinese firm’s U.S. representative on the venture.

In an interview conducted through an interpreter, Li said the new owners are in the process of researching what type of development to pursue and could end up with a mixed-use project that includes condominiums, hotel and office elements. As their first project in Miami, Li added, he wants the development to be “a landmark.”

The buyer of the land is listed as a newly formed Delaware entity, CCCC International USA LLC.

The seller was Teca Group Investments GP LLC, which controlled 1430 SMA LLLP, the limited liability limited partnership that owned the land. Teca Group is managed by Elias Cababie Daniel, a Mexican.

The property is located between 14th Street and 14th Terrace and South Miami Avenue and Southwest First Avenue. The transaction closed on Dec. 26.

In the last development cycle, Cabi Developers had planned to build two towers on the site, but Li said the Chinese group doesn’t intend to pursue those plans and instead is starting with a clean sheet.

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

Florida Surpasses New York to Become 3rd Most Populous State

And North Dakota is the fastest-growing one

Florida has overtaken New York as the third lost populous state in the country.

The Sunshine State added 293,000 new residents between July 1, 2013 and July 1 of this year, according to the U.S. Census bureau, reaching a total population of 19.9 million. New York added only 51,000 people during the same period, amounting to a total of 19.7 million.

North Dakota saw the fastest growth at an increase of 2.16%, while the overall U.S. population increased 0.75% to 318.9 million. California and Texas remain the first and second most populous states, with 38.8 million and 26.95 million, respectively.

Read More: http://time.com/

Details: http://www.census.gov/

Voters to decide whether Miami Beach should have an 800-room convention center hotel

Miami Beach voters will decide the fate of a proposed hotel next to the soon-to-be-renovated convention center despite objections from one commissioner who felt building a hotel before developing mass transit would make Beach traffic worse.

On Thursday, the city commission voted 6-1, with Commissioner Jonah Wolfson opposing, to let voters decide in November whether to approve a possible lease of city land for an 800-room hotel. Beach residents will be able to review the plan online; 60-percent approval would be required to go forward. The city also unanimously approved part of the design for the $500-million convention center renovation, which is expected to start in early 2016.

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

New York City Prices in Miami

The New York Times

Richard Meier has been an architect for half a century, and yet, thePritzker Prize winner has never bought an apartment of his own design. Until now.

Mr. Meier, who is based in New York City, was one of the first to buy a condominium at the Surf Club Four Seasons, his latest project in Miami.

“I thought, well, you know, everyone is going to Miami. This place is jumping,” said the 80-year-old architect. “I probably should have done this before. But I designed the building and it is great, and I figured I might as well enjoy it myself.”

Pamela Liebman, the chief executive of the New York City-based brokerage the Corcoran Group, which is marketing the project, also purchased a unit there. In fact, two-thirds of the buyers are New Yorkers, said Nadim Ashi, the managing partner at Fort Capital, the developer.

Over the years, Miami has been referred to as the city’s sixth borough, and it would appear that in the exclusive world of luxury real estate, this has never been truer. A wave of New York City developers has washed onto the Florida shoreline in recent months, bringing with them New York buyers, and increasingly, New York City-type pricing.

Over the past 18 months, prices have risen by 11.5 percent along the beachfront in Miami, with new condominiums averaging $1,011 a square foot, up from $907 a square foot, according to a December market report by the Miami brokerage firm ISG.

At the same time, the number of units for sale has dropped by nearly 64 percent, to 623 units from 1,717 units, over the same period. There are also a number of high-priced penthouses for sale, including several that surpass $3,000 a square foot. The priciest is a $60 million home for sale at Faena, the development where the Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and the Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, both New Yorkers, have reportedly bought residences.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/

FREE - Board Certification Course

Everything You Wanted to Know about Being a Board Member… But Were Afraid to Ask!

Board Certification Course for CONDOS ONLY

Provider #0000811, Course #9626099, 3 HR or ELE credit hours

Presented by Carlos Martin, Esq.

If you agreed to serve on your board, you will want to be sure you comply with the State’s certification requirements, have the tools and information you need to perform your job well and to avoid any potential liability associated with your new role.

Our Board certification class is designed to equip directors in all types of shared ownership communities with the information they need to make their communities function well. We will discuss statutory requirements, common documentary provisions as well as best practices in the   community association industry.

Some of the topics we will cover include:

• Defining Fiduciary Duty
• Analyzing Association Operations
• Explaining how to properly maintain the association’s books and records
• Understanding the pros and cons of Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Avoiding Common Election pitfalls
• Preparing Budgets & Funding Reserves
• Understanding Financial Reporting Requirements
• Navigating the quagmire of insurance coverage
• Defusing conflict

Our class allows both newly-elected directors and board veterans to ask questions and get the answers they need in a comfortable environment.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Registration starts at 5:00 PM

Alhambra Towers

121 Alhambra Plaza

10th Floor

Coral Gables, FL 33134

Light refreshments will be served.

There is no charge to attend, but seating is limited.

Participants must be registered in advance to reserve a seat.

Contact Leydis Hernandez at lhernandez@bplegal.com or (305) 262-4433 Ext. 11041 for more info.

THE POWER OF THE PRESIDENT

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Last week was interesting as far as politics goes. President Obama got tired of waiting for Congress to fix the immigration issues this country is facing, and decided to try to fix it on his own by signing an Executive Order. Needless to say, his opponents immediately yelled that the President has no such power to circumvent The Legislature and that President Obama has now caused a Constitutional crisis.

This historical event immediately reminded me of the constant questions I receive from Presidents, Board members and unit owners alike. That is: Does the President of my association have any extraordinary powers that other members of the Board or community don’t have?

Let’s first start by briefly explaining the set-up of your Board. Each year the unit owners vote to elect the Directors to the Board of Directors. They do not specifically vote for the Officers such as the President, the Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Once the Board of Directors is elected, those Board members themselves vote to decide who the Officers will be.

So let’s say your Board votes you in as the new President of the association. Can you rule with an iron fist? Need you consult with the other members of the Board before committing the association to contracts? The simple answer is…………you’re really just one of 3, 5, 7 or 9 votes of the Board of Directors. You have no more power than any other member of the Board except you get to chair the meetings and are typically the person who signs contracts for the Board, but only after the Board gave you permission to do so.

Many times over the years, Presidents have told me “But I’m the President ….of course I can do that!” To which I reply……”No you can’t Mr. or Mrs. President.” On the other hand, I have had Board members complain that the President votes on motions before the Board and that the President should never vote on an association matter unless there is a tie. To which I also have to reply: “Your’re wrong. The President always gets to vote on issues just like every other member of the Board.”

Sure, the President is often the face or voice of the Board outside the presence of a Board meeting. However, once that meeting starts, the President is simply another voice and another face on the dais.

So who still wants to be President?

Read More: http://www.hoa-condoblog.com/