Recently, an article by Andres Amerikaner of the Miami Herald was written highlighting my favorite city, Sunny Isles. Here are some highlights…

The surge in Sunny Isles real estate has led to an unexpected distinction as it’s shed the run down image of the past to a touristic resurgence of the future. Trip Advisor, the largest travel community online, has ranked Sunny Isles as the top emerging destination in the country for 2008. The company spokesman said this is based on changes in search activity and postings. ‘

“They are the up and coming destinations,” Ferencsik said. “It’s about emerging destinations, more so than it is the hottest or most popular destination.” Brooke Ferencsik of TripAdvisor

The City of Sunny Isles struggled with its image prior to being incorporated in 1997. With dilapidated motels lining Collins Avenue since the 1940’s, the City of Sunny Isles more than welcomes this new recognition as a tourist attraction and wonderful place to live. Now Collins is lined with Luxury Oceanfront Condos in Sunny Isles and Condo Hotels in Sunny Isles such as Acqualina, Jade Ocean, Turnberry Ocean Colony, Le Meridian M Resort and Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort. Donald Trump sees the future value of prime locations such as Sunny Isles and has now built 6 luxury high rise developments with the Trump name on each. The newest tower known as Trump Tower I has begun closings and the deals are to be had! Trump Tower II and Trump Royale will soon follow in third and fourth quarter 2008.

The Sunny Isles attraction is multifaceted. It’s close to the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports and a short cab ride from the nightlife and restaurants of South Beach real estate. There’s enough variety in each oceanfront hotel, from the flashy to the cheap, to fit any traveler’s budget when coming to Sunny Isles. The white beaches, normally populated by a majority of snowbirds and International travelers, are low key and very family friendly. Shopping at the newly expanding Aventura Mall is a short trip over the William Lehman Causeway into the City of Aventura (approximately 5 minutes). Then there’s the quaint restaurants serving quality ethnic fare such as my favorite Russian or Argentine cuisine which populate the Sunny Isles strip malls. High end spas and food delivery services are easily available as the money has poured into this prime area of investment. Despite the fast paced development of the last decade, the city has kept a homey feel with a small post office, a diffusion of tiny stores, great public parks, the infamous boardwalk off 169^th (Newport Beach Hotel) serving some of the best fish sandwiches and a tight knit community which follows the demand.

Ibis Romero of the Sunny Isles Beach Resort Association has been working diligently to make this city what it is today by promoting Sunny Isles to travel agents and tour operators. The Global reach is in full effect with Latin Americans from Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and Europeans from France, England, Germany and Italy form the core of the city’s international visitors, Romero said. These days, French streams from under umbrellas staked on the beach, sometimes more often than Spanish or Russian, two of the largest immigrant communities in the city. ‘It’s buzzing louder every day,” she said. “They’re comparing us to Hawaii.”

With all of the excitement comes a price… With all the extra income and development, the city’s tax base climbed from $1.1 billion in 1997 to about $6 billion in 2007. That is the new dilemma faced by the city, which is poised to start going after the big dogs, like Miami Beach FL real estate, in the battle for tourist dollars. ”You know what? Everything grows,” Romero said. “At the same time, I want to keep it our own little secret.”

And to Andres Amerikaner, Thank you for sharing this positive article on Sunny Isles as a landmark destination. Sunny Isles real estate is a well kept secret with very limited space to build and excellent buying opportunities in each luxury oceanfront condo tower along the Atlantic coastlines. I always welcome positive articles, feedback and area information on Sunny Isles. Feel free to add your comments, knowledge and thoughts pertaining to this post and the Sunny Isles you know of.

A Simple solution to real estate investing. Buy when everyone is selling and Sell when everyone is buying. A simple real estate investment 101 formula but forgotten by the majority of speculators. This article is to inform the skeptical buyers on what the elite investors ARE doing with Miami Dade real estate investments.

Jorge Perez CEO of the Related Group. If you don’t know the name you should. Perez is the biggest high rise condo builder in Florida and among the biggest in the country. For the past decade, he has been closely watched in the industry because he has demonstrated a knack for spotting trends and quickly taking advantage of them. During the boom of 2001 to 2005, Perez and his company, the Related Group, built some of the best (over one dozen) pre construction condo developments in Dade Counties Downtown Miami and Brickell area. He is known for teaming with Trump & Dezer for the new Trump Towers I, II & III being released this year among dozens of other incredible real estate monuments in Florida. Yesterdays article in the Miami Herald interviewed Perez who is now making a $1 billion dollar bet that the South East Florida region’s real estate market is a bargain.

“Condo builder Jorge Perez said South Florida real estate is undervalued and he’s setting up a $1 billion fund to start buying properties” Perez was quoted “I strongly believe that Miami real estate is undervalued and Three years from now, people will look back and be amazed.” MiamiHerald.com

His decision to launch the “opportunity fund” as he calls it, should be interpreted as a sign of confidence in South Florida’s condo market, not a reason for worry. His plan is premised on the long term growth and success of the SouthEast Florida real estate market. Perez said the investor group intends to hold units for two to five years at a loss and then sell at a profit when he bets, the market will have improved. Perez said he has not decided to use the investor fund to buy his that he built although he anticipates as many as 20% buyer defaults on his developments. The developer said he will rent unsold unit out himself, without the investor fund. Perez is now diversifying his portfolio geographically by launching more than 10 projects in Latin America.

My opinion is you’re never going to find the bottom of the market. At some point you’ve got to make the decision to Think Big, Aim High and Act Bold. A lot of unsold inventory will be purchased by the Investor “opportunity” fund plus the rental surplus by The Related Group of unsold developer units in part because of lack of demand, over speculation in a less desirable area of Downtown Miami and Brickell real estate as today’s buyers want oceanfront luxury condos. Interest rates have had the biggest cut since the 1980’s.

“Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait” Donald Trump

In determining value at Trump Tower I from a Banks perspective, they will send out someone who may or may not even know the local market. They research similar units in the same tower that have already closed and take into account floor height, view direction and finishes (detail) such as marble floors vs. carpet or raw & unfinished. If 3 to 5 other units have closed b.w $1.1 & 1.5 price range they will make the adjustments so that yours fits into the puzzle and come up with an estimated value. Because of the mortgage market situation today’s banks are more conservative than ever. If not enough resales have yet occurred in the new Trump towers they will research and look outside the building but in the immediate vicinity of Sunny Isles real estate such as Trump Palace of Sunny Isles (or similar units & square footage ) to determine value.

I believe as we get closer to closing units at Trump Tower I, prices and values will go downward for a short time as we find 2% sellers extremely motivated. The most motivated speculators try and get theirs sold first with pricing wars usually occurring b.w unit owners of similar units such as #2903, 1703, 503, 4003 and so on…Today’s value in my mind, is somewhere around $1.1M for a high floor 2700 sq feet. With a $30K or so investment into finishing the property, I find it to be very cost effective and almost mandatory as today’s buyer(s) do not like the hassle of ‘what it might take to finish it themselves’. The return for finishing each unit at Trump Tower condos should at least cover the expense if not add $50-$100K additional (first come first serve so act fast) but again it comes down to active competition and what the most motivated are doing at that time.

Hope this helps,

Ashton