Although Indian Creek Village is not technically a Miami Beach home community, it is considered a premiere Miami Beach area waterfront home community.

Just NW of Miami Beach, take 91st Street east from Bal Harbour and you will arrive at the entrance to Indian Creek Village.

The guard house is manned by Indian Creek Village's private police force. Unlike Star Island and Sunset Island, Indian Creek Village can not be toured by tourists in their cars.

Indian Creek Village is a city/island comprised of only 34 waterfront estate properties surrounding a members-only 18 hole golf course.

Being a high handicap golfer, I love the ratio: you will never need to worry about getting a tee time if you are an Indian Creek Village resident.

Currently, there are five estate homes for sale from

$8,900,000 (34 Indian Creek Drive)  to $35,000,000 (12 Indian Creek Drive)

Most of the lots in Inidian Creek Village are 200 feet on the water and 400 feet in length for a total of 80,000 square feet.

There are two vacant lots available for

$18,000,000 (4 Indian Creek Drive ...wide bay view) and..

 $23,900,000 (9 Indian Creek - wide bay view..and this lot is 33% larger at 120,000 square feet.)

If you are a yacht owner looking to build a new home on a private island and need a private police force, Indian Creek Village is definitely worth serious consideration.

It is only 15 minutes to South Beach by car. If you love shopping for luxury clothing and jewerly, Bal Harbour Shops are 5 minutes away.

THE BEST DEALS as of August 18, 2009

22 Indian Creek Drive, listed at $10,950,000 is the best deal on the island if you prefer a wide bay view. At $136 per square feet for the land, it is priced within 20% of its market value.

34 Indian Creek Drive, listed  at $8,900,000 is a good deal if you prefer to be on the east end of the island with eastern exposure (not a wide bay view). At $111 per square foot for the land, it is priced (by land square foot) $15 per sf lower than all of the closed sales in Inidian Creek Village over the past four years.

It is a great time to buy. Many Indian Creek Village sellers are sitting on millions of dollars of equity they need to liquidate. Some of the homes and lots for sale have been owned by the same families for 30 years.

Although you don't find desperate sellers or foreclosures in Indian Creek Village, sellers are still motivated.

Feel free to give me a call anytime at 305-609-1087. I'll be happy to take your call.  - John

Miami Beach Home Alarm Companies

I met with representatives from the biggest home Alarm Companies in Miami Beach: Protection One, www.protectionone.com and ADT alarm companies, www.adt.com

Comparing Service and prices is easy – the plans and prices are similar. Both monthly rates are contigent on 3-year contracts. 

With home alarm companies, “the regular package” trend is to install 2-3 sensors on the main door and windows, then mount a motion detector to detect movement in a main area of the home

With a motion detector, it is effective to detect intruders when you are out of the house, but you need to disarm it when you are inside the house or you will set it off yourself.

Both Miami Beach home alarm companies charge by the sensor if you’d like sensors on all of your doors and windows.

Both companies tell me that a new alarm system installation requires a Miami Building Permit  - $140.

Without giving away their pricing, you can count on $500 down to install a new home alarm system and $40-$50 per month for monitoring.

To me, it is well worth the investment. I also recommend having Medeco Locks on your home's main entry doors as Medeco can only be copied by the owner

Feel free to call me with any of your Miami Beach home questions at 305-609-1087.

One of Miami Beach's most eccentric homes, a 10 bedroom, two story mansion built to resemble a medieval castle complete with moat, drawbridge and gargoyles, caught fire this past Monday. The home has been unoccupied for the past two years.

Listed at $6,900,000 before and after the blaze, 4462 N Bay Road is still priced reasonably for the location. The lot is 25,427 square feet or 2362 square meters with ample linear water frontage of 145 feet.

Had the fire burned the home to the ground, it probably would have increased the property's value as it is and was considered a "tear down". Demolition and debris removal may cost $50,000.

This lot is may be a smart buy at (20% off list)  for an investor who can hold it for 2-3 years and build a new home on the lot.

It has THE best views in Miami Beach; wide bay direct downtown views of Miami. Building a home may take 18 - 30 months (conservative numbers). Of course, you would need to decide whether to build a new Mediterranean Home or a new Contemporary home.

If you have the time, money and patience, there are still millions to be made developing luxury homes.

Of 21 waterfront homes and lots on N Bay Road currently for sale, only 9 are renovated homes.

From my experience with most Miami Beach home buyers in the 5-10 million dollar price range, they have built and renovated homes before and do not want to go through the process again. I show them 3-5 "fixer-uppers" in the 5-7 million range and they adjust their expectations quickly.

These buyers will pay a premium to buy a "turn key" waterfront home in South Beach.

Investing 1-2 million in downpayments and waiting 2 years to see a 100% return on your investment is not easy, but for investors with a love of real estate, the process can be fulfilling if you chose the right contractor.

In addition, if you are an end-user, you can build a home exactly to your specifications.

The burned down castle is not THE best priced per sqaure foot land on N Bay Rd currently, but I will list these lots and homes in my next blog. Have a great week.

Take care,

John

p.s.  I have a good recommendation:

 <a href="http://www.teamchabris.com">Cincinnati OH Real Estate</a> Your Real Estate experts for the Cincinnati Ohio area.  Customer satisfaction is our top priority.  Cincinnati is a great place to raise your family.

June 29th, 2009

North Bay Road Miami Beach Waterfront Homes for Sale Market Report

At the moment, my favorite street for single family homes in South Beach and Miami Beach is North Bay Road. Since the creation of Miami Beach, North Bay Road has been the premier address for Miami Beach estate homes.

Currently, there are 38 homes for sale on North Bay Road; 17 are waterfront homes.

I have previewed a majority of these homes with clients. In addition, there are six waterfront lots for sale.

The lowest-priced waterfront home is 4640 N Bay Rd, a 3 bedroom, 3 bath home with 2041 square feet of living area listed at $2,995,000 with an open bay views.

From a layman’s perspective it looks like the super-steal of the century.  It is unusual, as the home sits on only 5400 square feet of land. Although there is no standard size lot for N Bay Rd, 20,000 square foot is the average size.

At $1467/ square foot for the house, 4640 N Bay Road is the most expensive home on N Bay Road based on price per square foot...

In my opinion, the best “Deal” on a home is 3114 N Bay Rd listed at $4,390,000. The 2^nd lowest-priced home on N Bay Road offers open bay/downtown Miami views and 100 feet on the water. The lot is 20,000 square feet, more than sufficient and at $511 per square foot for the interior, this home is THE lowest priced per square foot home on N Bay Road.

3114 N Bay Road does need some remodeling as most “Great Deals” in Miami Beach waterfront homes are not in showroom condition.

Many of these homes were built in the 1920s and 1930s heyday of Miami Beach. Families passed homes from generation to generation. Consequently, many of these 4-6 million homes are in need of restoration and/or renovation.

In addition, there are six waterfront lots for sale.

2920 and 2940 N Bay Rd are being sold by the same owner for $7,900,000 and $6,900,000 for approximately 52,000 square feet of land for 2920 N Bay Rd and 44,000 square feet of land for 2940 N Bay Rd.

Invest in these lots together and you’ll have over two acres and 300 feet of exclusive South Beach water frontage to dock your yacht year around.

Although this location does not offer wide bay views of downtown, the lots are priced well at $150-$156 per square foot for the land.

Feel free to request a spreadsheet from me. I have organized all of the North Bay Road Homes for Sales by price per square foot for the interior space and price per square foot for the land on each property. I will expand this blog throughout the week. Take care, John

Here's a quick FYI you may be able to use. Have a great night.