Miami news, Miami local news

When buying homes in Miami, a great investment, it’s standard practice to check out equivalent sales in the area to get an idea of value. But what do you do next?

You can do a walk-through and see that the back door sticks, but why? Maybe it because a hinge is loose but it could be much worse. It’s possible with some homes in Miami that something is wrong with the foundation.

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to pinpoint the problem unless you’re a building inspector.

Claude McGavick, a board member with the Florida Association of Building Inspectors, says, “A good home inspector will look at 800 to 1,000 things in a home.” He says inspectors follow standard guidelines that tell them what to look at and how to look at it.

Here are some tips for finding an inspector:

• Word of mouth is one of the best ways to choose an inspector for homes in Miami. Home inspectors in Florida are not licensed but that will change as of July 1st.

• Search professional organizations databases. They train their members and giving them inspection guidelines. Here are three places to start:

• Florida Association of Building Inspectors              800-544-3224
• American Society of Home Inspectors                    800-743-2744
• National Association of Home Inspectors               800-448-3942

According to the Florida Association of Building Inspectors, standard inspections involve a visual examination of the Miami real estate property from top to bottom. The inspector will check the heating system, the central air-conditioning system, the interior plumbing and electrical systems, the roof and visible insulation, walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors, the foundation, basement and visible structure. The inspector should tell you about any system that may be near the end of its serviceable life or not up to par, and why. It’s very important to pay special attention to the roof and to termite damage of Miami real estate properties.

In general, expect to pay about $300 to $500 for an inspection, says McGavick, who also is an inspector with Home Check Home Inspection Services of Bradenton. The size of the Miami real estate property, the age, special structures and so on can affect the price.

It’s not up to the inspector to tell you whether or not to buy a house in Miami. No house is perfect; you must decide which imperfections and eventual repairs are acceptable.

The number of Miami homes in November, in some stage of the foreclosure process, dropped by 5.62% in Miami-Dade County compared to October. However, according to figures released Thursday by foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac, Miami foreclosures were still up by double-digit percentages versus the same month last year.
In November, 7,306 Miami homes had either received a foreclosure notice, were scheduled for auction or taken back by a bank in an auction sale. This was an increase of almost 13% from year ago.
The number of new Miami foreclosures filings was up from last year by a large 30% predicting a bigger lump of Miami homes that are likely to enter the market later on.
Miami-Dade ranked seventh in the state for foreclosures, with one of every 133 Miami homes in some stage of the process. By comparison, one home in every 417 was caught up in foreclosure nationally.
In November, the foreclosure rate in Broward fared slightly worse compared to October, rising 4.44%, with one of every 113 homes in the pipeline.
The rate was up 4.38% from a year ago and new foreclosure filings were up 27% from last year.
Following Nevada, Florida (with one home per 165 in foreclosure) displaced California for the state with the second-highest percentage of Miami homes in foreclosure. In Nevada, there was one home in foreclosure for every 119 that were not.

Most people are always looking for new and interesting ways to spend their vacations when saving money. With the advance of the Internet, there have appear new and interesting ways for travelers to enjoy a very deserve vacation. A new trend that is going strong all around the globe is vacation rentals, and Miami is not the exception! Nevertheless, in the most popular area of Miami, Miami Beach, short-term rentals have some restrictions. Therefore, it is hard to find good Miami Beach vacation rentals.

When looking for a Miami Beach vacation rental, you must be cautious. There are several ways through which one can rent Miami Beach vacation rentals. The Internet has it all, but before you go to the every changing online world you must know in detail the three, almost four, ways vacation rentals are available to travelers.

To start with, there are really big websites that make easy the mission to book a vacation rental. Examples of those are: vacationrentals.com, vacationhomerentals.com, vacationhomes.com, goin2travel.com. However, you must know how they work before going ahead. Everyone can list a property on those websites. I could be for free or by paying a fee. Either way it can be a little risky. Just suppose one want to make easy money and put an online ad of a property that really does not exist. What will happen is that you will get scam. Most of these kinds of websites have incorporated some ways to prevent anything like this to happen, yet it might not been enough because “face to face” contact is not require in order to put the ad.

Other way to rent a Miami Beach vacation rental is through an owner. There are many people with vacation properties or investment properties that have decided to open them to travelers in order to make some money or pay their mortgages. Renting through an owner also has its issues. For instance, the owner might not live on Miami, Florida, so if you have any kind of problem with the Miami vacation condo or Miami vacation home, it might be hard to get a quick response.

There are some real estate agents doing Miami Beach vacation rentals, but they are a few. Miami realtors make more money by selling or doing long-term rentals, so they usually not take the time to do short-term rentals in Miami.

At this instant, we have come with local Miami vacation rentals agencies. As it already was mentioned, there are certain restrictions over Miami Beach vacation rentals, so there are not many around. However, Miami Beach vacation rental agencies might be the most secure way to rent a vacation apartment or vacation home in Miami, Florida. A local agency is usually managed by local people who will guide you, as it should be, through all the rental process. Besides, if you get to have any problem with the property they can take care of you immediately. In most cases, you can almost be sure that the property is going to be well-maintained. Owners might not be that meticulous, otherwise. MiamiHabitat.com is a local agency operating in the hearth of Miami Beach where you will probably find a property that suits you.

Afterwards, Miami Beach vacation rentals represent a good solution to tourists looking forward to a more private and . They just have to be smart at the time to choose a property, and rental canal, in order to avoid any further inconvenient.

Other interesting posts this week:

2008 Father’s Day in Miami

Calendar of Miami Events 2008

May / June / July / August / September / October /

Miami Florida is a great vacation spot year-round; therefore, there are several lodging options. Nowadays, I growing tendency among frequent travelers are vacation rentals. Relying in a vacation rental in Miami can make your whole experience different than staying in a Miami hotel. For instance, you will be able to save some money and get more privacy. Personally, I think vacation rentals in Miami Beach are ideal for people traveling with a big group whether it is for recreation or business. Next you will find a few tips on how to find and select a great vacation rental in Miami Beach.

Travelers can rent a condo or home through the owner directly or by using the services offered by a vacation rental in Miami agency. There are many owners of Miami vacation condos that advertise their properties in local classifieds or even in international vacation rental websites such as www.escaperental.com. You must be aware that renting a vacation rental in Miami through an owner can be a little risky because the maintenance of the property could be no good enough, at least not as you would like it to be. When renting a vacation rental in Miami through an owner TRUST is KEEN. You need to trust the owner and be careful with many scammers that invade websites with fake properties. On the other hand, when you rent from a well-established vacation rental agency in Miami you can be sure your money and  trip are save. Also, renting through an agency will guarantee you, or it should guarantee you quality and maintenance of the property, whether it is a Miami vacation condo or a Miami vacation home.

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Be sure the property you are selecting is located in a good area close to most Miami attractions. Check with the owner or agency if the property is FURNISHED and discuss PARKING issues PRIOR arriving.

When selecting Miami vacation websites, you should first and foremost select a website based in Miami Florida for precision and good service.

The appearance of the website is what sells the properties; therefore, you should choose one that looks professional and well-taken care of. Choose websites that offer full descriptions of the areas, buildings, apartments, and plenty of pictures so that there are no bad surprises in the end. At the same time, these websites should provide you with an e-mail address and contact number in case of any questions or for further assistance. Check if there is a phone number and an address, if it is easily accessible, then the company encourages you to call, thus it is service oriented. To great vacation rentals’ websites in Miami are MiamiHabitat.com and MiamiLodge.com

Vacation rentals in Miami are the ideal place to stay during your Miami travel!