Keyes Commercial Brings Wild Fork Foods to Miami

20,083 Sq. Ft. of Reasons to Choose The Keyes Company's Commercial Division

Is your business looking to capture a new customer base? What about launching a new product line and needing more space to showcase it. Maybe it's time to downsize and really focus on the services that bring you the most revenue.

No matter your reason, the motivating factor is the same. Your business doesn't fit the space or location you have any more.

When it comes to helping you with whatever commercial real estate goal you have, for yourself or your business, it pays to trust The Keyes Company and our Commercial Division team.

Wild Fork Foods did, and now one of the world's largest meat producers is getting ready to launch their brand to the Miami market.  

Click here to check it out: 

Carlos Villanueva Represents Wild Fork Foods in Finding Their Inaugural Miami-Dade Leases

For your commercial real estate needs, contact Keyes' Commercial Division Manager David Joseph at DavidJoseph@Keyes.com.

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The Keyes Company is the largest independently owned real estate firm in Florida and a Top 30-ranked firm in the entire United States. In 2018, Keyes generated more than $6 billion in real estate services across its Keyes Family of Companies, with over $322 million of that transaction volume coming from a growing Commercial Division team.

We Are Unable to Offer You The Property

Protecting Yourself and Your Rental Property

Benjamin Gene is the President of KPM,

and has over a decade of industry experience

Rising property values and a smaller inventory of affordable starter homes have led to a boom in the rental market. Few places can boast as strong a market as South Florida, where great rental opportunities get filled as quickly as they come up for rent.

This has led to a situation where landlords or agents get themselves into trouble with Fair Housing Practices in the way that they turn down prospective rental applicants. Today's guest post comes from Benjamin Gene, President of Keyes Property Management with a word of advice on how to do this and make sure you don't open yourself up to potential liability.

I’d like to discuss declining tenants for a rental. As some of us have seen, there are now “Professional Tenants” who will call around to speak with agents or owners of rental listings to try and trip them up on Fair Housing issues before suing them for breach of those laws.

What I would like to do today is tell you how to legally decline a prospective tenant. It’s actually very simple. Simply state, “I’m sorry. We are not able to offer you the property at this time.” No matter their response, including when they ask why, repeat the phrase again.

This way, you don’t open up any avenues to allow them to claim that you violated any Fair Housing laws. They may get frustrated at your insistence on repeating that phrase, but it will protect you or the owners from violations.

Additionally, at MyRentalScreening.com, KPM will provide owners and agents with a summary page of why a tenant has been declined. This is based on criteria that they agree to prior to filling out the application. The only reason you must put in writing why you decline a tenant is for credit reasons. You do this by providing an Adverse Action letter. At MyRentalScreening.com, we provide you with this letter. Remember, the only thing to say is, “I’m sorry. We are not able to offer you the property at this time.”

Borrowing Against the American Dream

Student Loan Debt & Its Effect on Mortgage Lending

Craig Garcia, President
Capital Partners Mortgage

Through the second quarter of last year, student loan debt lagged behind only mortgages as the largest consumer debt segment in the United States. And while mortgage debt has remained steady, with negligible growth over the last 10 years, student loan debt continues to skyrocket. 

That growth in outstanding student loan debt has ripple effects across the nation's economy, as younger generations see much of their spending power go to monthly payments on this debt. In turn, that keeps many from feeling like they can take the step of buying a house. Today's guest post comes from Craig Garcia, who gives a glimmer of hope, along with some advice, for anyone who still wants that piece of the American Dream that is homeownership.

I’d like to talk to you about student loans. A recent Federal Reserve study showed that student loan debt has become a major hurdle for younger generations looking to buy a home. Being in the mortgage lending business, and seeing what we see on a regular basis, I wholeheartedly agree. Most of you out there with student loans might say something like, “yes, we already knew that.”

What you might not understand is that one of the main obstacles actually stems from the mortgage loan industry itself. Loan programs are challenging. It’s why you shouldn’t just go and apply for a mortgage on your phone or without putting some thought into it. 

The four most common loan programs available to potential buyers all treat student loan debt and payments differently. That sets the stage for confusion. Let me break down some options available to those consumers with student loan debt, because our job is to help as many people as are able to successfully complete the home buying process!

1.     VA Loans – If your student loan payments could be deferred for up to a year after closing, then the VA will then be able to state that they won’t count any student loan payments against you when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage loan as a Veteran.

2.     Fannie Mae & Income-based Student Loan Repayment Plans – Your student loan lender has options to base your student loan payment on your income, temporarily offering you relief with lower, more manageable payment terms. The most aggressive loan program that will accept that lower payment when it comes to qualifying you for a loan is Fannie Mae’s conventional loan program. They will look at your new payment terms and accept those when determining your eligibility for a mortgage loan.

It’s important to remember that, in these circumstances, you will still need to be able to cover a mortgage payment and student loan payment eventually. Make sure you plan for those expenses and know that you will be able to successfully pay them.

It’s an unfortunate fact right now that student loan debt has become a large obstacle when it comes to purchasing a house, but it hasn’t made it impossible. If you feel that homeownership is the next step in your life, come talk to us at Capital Partners Mortgage today, and we can offer you advice and guidance as to how you can achieve this goal!

- Craig Garcia, President | Capital Partners Mortgage

www.capitalpartnersmtg.com

Keyes Partners with CARE School in Miami

The Keyes Company and KeyesCares delivered school supplies from our Miami office drive to CARE School students.

The first day of school brings excitement and enthusiasm for opportunities ahead, but for some, those emotions are tempered by the uncertainty of not having the materials needed to take full advantage. Many students at CARE School know this feeling. 

KeyesCares' mission is "to support the communities in which we work and live by strengthening the essential components of the infrastructure that contribute to quality of life - Education, Children, Healthcare, and Community." While each are important in their own right, being able to partner with organizations that promote the welfare of more than one of those pillars allows us to better make a lasting impact on our communities.

CARE School provides a nurturing learning environment to children primarily from the Overtown community in Miami. Several Keyes Associates and corporate employees are actively involved in ongoing support of the school and this summer championed a drive throughout Keyes' Miami-Dade offices to gather much needed supplies for the students at CARE School.

At the completion of the drive, Keyes Owner & Vice President Tim Pappas, along with his son Jason from the Sunset office, Frank DeValdivielso from Coral Gables, Rene Beal from Commercial Miami, and Linda Chin from Palmetto Bay (all pictured above), delivered the supplies to CARE on the first day of the new school year.

President of the CARE Board, Marty Steinberger commented, "The generosity of Keyes Realtors in providing school supplies again this year means so much to families at CARE. For each student in the school to be able to start the year with necessary items is deeply appreciated by the parents, students, and teachers...The smiling faces of the children as they received [their] bags spoke volumes."

Thank you to each of the Keyes family who donated their time & supplies to help make this drive such an incredible success!

Single Family Homes on the Market range up to $65 million.

Recent article of Miami Today discusses the amount of high priced single family homes.

Source: Miami Today

The number of expensive single-family homes is not dwindling, but instead there is an abundance of them. 

With the high price of these homes, only a small amount are willing to reduce the price. Many sellers are wary to reduce their price, but in the market for the past few years, it may be what is needed to get the listing sold. 

Sales of listing were also slowed down with the arrival of Hurricane Irma in South Florida. Agents were out of the office for about 2 weeks, causing closings to be delayed and making the market seem sluggish.

"There is a strong demand and interest for properties that are priced at a realistic market price and are in move-in condition," says Keyes CEO and President Mike Pappas. He ends with saying that he believes that the upcoming season will be good for the luxury market due to the proposed tax reduction.

What will the new travel ban mean for Miami's real estate market?

Venezuela being part of the list may affect Miami's real estate.

The new revision of the U.S Travel ban now includes Venezuela, causing a stir among South Florida's housing market.

With a large part of the real estate market dependent on Latin America, any changes made to countries like Argentina, Brazil, and/ or Venezuela is directly felt in Miami according to Coldwell Banker realtor, Danny Hertzberg.

In Doral alone, Eli Santurio, The Keyes Company district manager of sales in Doral, said that his associates were wary of how the new ban would affect them. Venezuelans make up 32% of the Hispanic Population in Doral.

Venezuelans spent $930 million in real estate in 2016, making them an important part in Miami's real estate economy. 

“Their overall impact has waned,” said Mike Pappas, president of The Keyes Company. “Three years ago was the peak of the Venezuelan buying. Recently it’s become more difficult to people to get their money out of the country, so they’ve had less punch in the industry.

Read the rest of the article here!

Keyes Co. President Mike Pappas gives his insight on the current real estate market.

Cash is no longer king for South Florida homebuyers.

Cash sales peaked in the first quarter of 2011, when more than seven out of 10 deals didn’t involve a loan.

“The market has dramatically shifted,” said Mike Pappas, president of Keyes Co. in Miami. “Cash drove the market in the bottom-feeding and opportunistic times, but today we have a real market with real buyers, and they need mortgages.”

Investors descended on South Florida in 2011 and 2012 as the six-year housing bust was ending. With prices hitting bottom, bargain hunters with fistfuls of cash scooped up foreclosures and short sales for pennies on the dollar.

Read the rest of the article here!

Solar panels may become standard on new homes in South Miami.

South Miami is set to become the first city in Florida to mandate solar panels on new homes.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Similar to San Francisco, South Miami will become the first city in Florida to require new homes to install solar panels. San Francisco, Miami, and two other smaller California cities will be the only jurisdictions in the United States to have these renewable energy regulations. 

A final reading was set on July 18th, but prior to that there were enough votes for it to pass. South Florida mayor, Phillip K. Stoddard, is a long time advocate of renewable energy solutions and believes that passing this will help reduce carbon emissions.

There is still opposition to this, as some believe that forcing homeowners to install the solar panels results in financial issues. South Miami Commissioner, Josh Liebman, believes that this will place financial burden in low-income neighborhoods and affect the development of affordable homes.

Read the full article here.