Brittex Blog

This weekend I inspected a small commercial property on NE 2nd Avenue and could not help but see the beautiful Bacardi Museum Building a few blocks away, a Miami Landmark. 

The building was built in 1963 by the Bacardi family. See the YouTube video with Mr. Tito Bacardi narrating it.  The video also takes you on a tour of the inside of the building and gives you the history of the company.

In 1960 all the Bacardi buildings were confiscated by Cuba, and they moved to Miami and built this building as their headquarters.   There are 28,000 specially designed mosaic tiles on the outside of the building.

Enjoy these photos as it was a clear and bright day for photography.

Notice how Architect Enrique Gutierrez (Coral Gables) cantilevered the north and south sides of the building 24' form the central core.  See the "floating stairway" under the south cantilever below. This was an advanced technique used extensively by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  

Photos by Britt J. Rosen using a Cannon S90.  The extreme color photos are "foil" using Paint Shop Pro which brings out interesting shades. For instance, in the foil photo above, it appears a vine is crawling up the left side of the building.

Here is a colorful photo of the Coral Gables Trolley taken from my car through the windsheild.  Click here to see the an old photo of the trolley along Miracle Mile when they were first in service, in April 1925.  

• Trolley Map
• 1925 Photo of the first run of the Coral Gables Trolley

This photo was taken from the pool deck of the new 500 Brickell Building, looking north at the City of Miami's Central Business District. The photo was "stitched" together using three photos that were overlapping.

Miami was nicknamed "The Magic City" in the early 1900s because buildings seems to appear from nowhere. In fact a new office building is obscuring the view of One Biscayne Tower on Biscayne Boulevard.  

Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896 with a voting population of a little over 300. Since then it has grown into a thriving metropolis. According to the 2000 Census, its population is 362,470 and by 2010 it is projected that 390,191 people will call this city their home.

The deadline for filing the real estate tax petitions is approaching for Miami-Dade and Broward. The Palm Beach deadline was last week. The "hot links" below will take you to sites where you can file an appeal. The filing fee is $15 per folio. If you have consecutive folio numbers, they are $5 per folio. Email Britt regarding any questions you have.

Property owners that have Citizens policies were sent letters that they must get an appraisal for the replacement cost of the home in order to renew the policy.

This replacement cost is not a “market value” as in a traditional FannieMae home appraisal for mortgage financing. It is a cost approach and for the cost new, exclusive of depreciation.

The letters are saying that the policy has been "cancelled." However, as long as the property owner fulfills the new requirements, including the "replacement cost new" for the structure, the policy will be renewed.

A new policy is that homes whose replacement value is more than $750,000 will require shutters. This shutter rule is part of a 2007 insurance legislation which is now being enforced.

I have an extensive background in building construction and we can prepare these replacement cost reports.

Please contact me at 305 663-7334 x107 and we can discuss the "insurance appraisals" with you on both commercial and residential properties.

On Monday, July 20, the Miami Herald published an article on Page No. 1 of the Local & State section regarding the Miami-Dade County property record site. It is titled:

Foreclosure Data Comes up Short on Miami Dade Website (Look under Recent News, 3rd story from top).

Appraisers, Realtors, CPA's, attorney's and the public use is site daily for the following:

• Aerials, owner's name, sq ft, year built, land area, prior sale info, legal description, zoning, and real estate taxes.

In performing an appraisal, the USPAP or "appraisal law" adopted by Florida requires the appraiser to comment on any prior sale of the subject property going back three years from the "effective date" of the appraisal. This is designed to disclose the "flipping" of properties that occurred over the past several years, when properties where sold multiple times.

It appears that foreclosure sales will not be acknowledged by the tax assessor's office, even though in Broward County, Lori Parrish is accepting them as legitimate sales, as long as they were marketed using the multiple listing system (MLS). The Miami-Dade County property appraiser's office is considering them "not qualified." However, the fraudulent sales, due to mortgage fraud, which are the “high” sales in the market, are not being purged from the tax rolls. (See my previous post in this blog).

A good example of an area of Miami-Dade where foreclosures are typical is  Homestead. Short sales are difficult to close and they are only a small percentage of the overall market. The foreclosures in this market are the comparables that are the norm between most buyers and sellers.  Until the market stabilizes and they become fewer in number, appraisers will continue using them in appraisal reports, along with listings, pending sales, and any normal sales that can be verified.

Mr. Garcia’s intent may have been that vandalized foreclosures sold at steep discounts (less than liquidation value) were the sales that should not be used. I agree with this, however, they should still be disclosed on the county’s web site!

We have noticed that when real estate taxes are reduced by the VAB’s Special Master, the lower tax assessment or “just value” is not reflected in this Miami-Dade site. A special web site shows the results of the tax appeal. The followoing year, market values typically adjust to what they were previously, as if the reductions had no merit.

Britt J. Rosen, CCIM, of Brittex Appraisal Services, Inc.  along with attorneys from North American Title, speak at Power Financial Credit Union's First Time Homebuyer's Seminar of April 29, 2009.

Power's Chief Credit Officer Rick Perez and Residential Business Manager, Joanne Carroll attended. The seminar was located at Power's main office in Pembroke Pines, FL.

Topics Included:

• Cyclical Nature of Real Estate overview - 1920 to 2009
• Absorption, Stabilization of real estate prices
• First Time Homebuyer's $8,000 tax credit
• Affordability
• Short Sales and Foreclosures
• Mortgage rates and programs
• Condo Association Fees
• New FannieMae Guidelines
• HVCC

Effective April 1, 2009, a new ordinance by Miami-Dade County requires lenders to obtain inspections for foreclosed properties and the issuance of certificates of use, prior to accepting offers.

Flavio Gomez, P.E., Building Division Director, Miami-Dade Building Department, spoke to the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) South Dade Chapter on code compliance at John Martin’s in Coral Gables last week. The meeting was hosted by Chapter President, Phillip G. Spool, ASA.

“Certificates of use” must be obtained for these properties, and any violations under the Miami-Dade Building Code run with the property, according to Mr. Gomez.

Broker's representing lenders must file an inspection report with the county, including the estimated "cost to cure" defects and bring the home or condominium into compliance with building and zoning regulations. The county will issue a "certificate of use" and without the certificate, they cannot accept offers on REO's.

Banks are not required to fix code violations; however, buyers who are alerted to the deficiencies will need to repair them. It could reduce, and/or delay the sale of homes and condominiums in the open market, thus, extending the absorption time for the supply of 56,000 foreclosure cases filed in 2008. Absorption is what is needed to reach market stabilization and once REO and short sales are absorbed by the market, stabilization will occur.

If you have any questions about this, please contact Britt J. Rosen at 305 663-7334 x107.

Also, Architect Carlos Bravo can be reached at (305) 412-9499 http://www.vertexarchitecture.com/

There are new requirements for appraisers completing appraisals for clients who intend to sell their loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. 

It is called HVCC or the Home Valuation Code of Conduct.

The form 1040MC is designed for appraisers to comment on market conditions (MC) regarding the appraisal.  It is a requirement as of April 1, 2009.  Other portions of the HVCC requirements go into effect on May 1st, 2009. See a sample of the 1040MC by clicking the link below.

As of May 1, 2009 appraisers will be adding this 1004MC form to their appraisal reports for Fannie and Freddie reports.