Property taxes in the Miami real estate market keep going up even though the value of the homes has declined in 2008. Miami-Dade County Tax Appraisal office must re-adjust the property taxes in order to reflect the percentage drop in property values. Gross tax has increased by at least $600 per house. Some properties have increased by as much as $1,500.  This increase has affected all home owners and investors alike in the Miami real estate market. The value of the properties has declined so the property taxes should decrease.

The investors are being charged the bulk of the increases in the Miami real estate market. Since the owner does not live in the property there is no limit to the increase. The huge tax increases in the past years plus the increases seen in the insurance have put a tremendous strain to the real estate investor. Some homeowners, especially the elderly have lost their homes when they were unable to pay the property tax increase. Many investors have gone into foreclosure due to the high property taxes increases.

This property tax increase must be ultimately be passed on to the tenant. This means that the rent should be increased appropriately. Miami-Dade Property Tax appraiser’s office should review all property tax assessments issued and re-adjust the number to reflect real property tax assessments. Property taxes in Miami-Dade County are unaffordable and the landlords simply can not afford to keep paying these extraordinary taxes. In the current depressed Miami real estate market sometimes you can not increase the rent enough in order to cover the property tax and insurance increases.

Landlord’s cash flow projections have been drained due to the high property taxes and insurance payments. Many home owners and investors who have no mortgage have opted not to carry homeowner’s insurance at all to save money. The risk of being without insurance in Miami is too high and should not be considered. The insurance rate has increased dramatically even though there has been no serious hurricane activity in the past three years. The insurance rate is also astronomical but this will be discussed in another post.

Miami-Dade sends the Real Estate Property Taxes assessments every year. You must appeal the tax assessment immediately after you receive it. I have been so busy that this year I was late again in my appeal and will go to the downtown at 140 W. Flagler Street tomorrow morning. Last year I was not allowed to appeal since I missed the deadline to file even though the taxes increased dramatically. The appeal process is very difficult and time consuming.

Miami-Dade County Appraisal Office should answer the following question: Why did property taxes assessments go up if the value of the homes has declined? The county should implement an automatic appeal process. Many people have no idea of the current appeal process and don’t even know how to appeal. Miami-Dade County Real Estate Property Taxes Assessment Office must reduce the property taxes in the Miami real estate market. 

Hector Lesende is owner/licensed real estate in Miami real estate. Serving Miami, Miami Lakes real estate, Coral Gables real estate, Miami-Dade and Broward counties. We offer a South Florida foreclosure list.

  I wrote an article about Coral Gables real estate in Ezine Articles. The city beautiful has many outstanding opportunities. My office is located in Coral Gables and it is truly an excellent and exciting place. Coral Gables remains an elegant city with excellent restaurants and a wonderful quality of life.

These are the Coral Gables real estate statistics for the month of September 2008.

Coral Gables Real Estate - Single Family Homes

Homes for sale  -  667

Average list price - $1,782,000

Sales – 31

Pending sales – 24

Average sales price - $635,4000

Coral Gables Real Estate - Condos and Townhomes

Condos and townhomes for sale – 466

Average list price - $661,700

Sales – 5

Pending sales – 4

Average sales price - $231,600

As of November 07, 2008, there are 49 foreclosed homes available for sale in Coral Gables. These properties include short sales, foreclosures, bank owned reo’s .  Now is an excellent time to buy a Coral Gables foreclosure.

Hector Lesende is owner/licensed real estate in Miami real estate. Serving Miami, Miami Lakes real estate, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade and Broward counties. We offer a South Florida foreclosure list.

 I wrote an article last year about Miami Lakes real estate. Miami Lakes is an excellent place to live and work. I have been a resident of Miami Lakes for a long time and I am a member of the Don Shula’s Golf and Tennis Athletic Club.

Miami Lakes Real Estate Single Family Homes Activity Report.

These are the statistics for the month of September 2008. There are 195 homes for sale in Miami Lakes. The average list price was $541,457. There were 6 sales and 10 pending sales. The average sales price for a single family home in Miami Lakes was $448,000.

Miami Lakes Real Estate Condos and Town homes Activity Report.

In September 2008, 195 condos and town homes were available for sale in Miami Lakes. Average list price was $208,000. There were 4 sales and 8 sales are pending. The average sale price for a condo and town home in Miami Lakes was $256,750.

Sales prices have decrease slightly from last month and the number of sales has increased. Miami Lakes foreclosures also represent an outstanding opportunity to purchase a property at a reduced price.

Hector Lesende is owner/licensed real estate in Miami real estate. Servicing Miami, Miami Lakes, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties. We offer a free Foreclosure List.

Miami-Dade Housing Authority Section 8 operations will be privatized by next year. Over two hundred and fifty employees will lose their jobs or be transferred to another spot within Miami-Dade County. All departments within Section 8 will be affected including, customer service, inspections, survey, and tenant-landlord services among others.

This move is not unusual for HUD, who took over operations early this year. HUD privatized the sales and acquisition department back in the late nineties. HUD eliminated hundreds of government jobs related to the sales of HUD homes in Miami real estate. The process was streamlined and it became more efficient.

This is a good strategy. A private company will do a better and more efficient job of dealing with Section 8 tenants and landlords. It is estimated that fifteen private employees will replace over 250 government employees. There are currenlty many complaints with the way that Section 8 is handling their voucher program. Number one problem is that it takes more than four months for the landlord to receive the first check. Other problems involve timely inspections, surveys, and customer relations. It takes usually over two and half hours for a landlord to see a customer service representative. The wait for the tenant is even longer.

Privatizing Section 8 operations will streamline the voucher process and eliminate wasted time. The county will save a lot of tax payer’s money by reducing their work force. The process will be faster and the landlords will receive their checks in a timely manner. This initiative should have been taken many years ago. Many landlords that currently refuse to rent to Section 8 tenants will deal with the voucher program again.

Miami Real Estate, Miami Lakes Real Estate  We offer a South Florida Foreclosure List.

Miami-Dade County will use over $60 million dollars they received from Congress to buy bank foreclosures. County officials will buy bank reo properties and then rent them to low income people. Miami received more money than Broward and Palm Beach County combined since Miami real estate was devastated.

This is a great idea but it will be a challenge to city officials to decide what to do with the money. Miami-Dade County is not in the real estate business. Property management should be done by professionals not by the government. Who would determine which bank foreclosure to buy and for how much? How much would they rent the property for? Would the county evict tenants for non-payment of rent? Miami-Dade County should not be involved in buying distressed properties. Renting these foreclosed homes will prove a nightmare for county officials.

Foreclosures and Bank Reo’s usually need a lot of repairs. The county must take this into account and factor it in before buying any properties. The price must be low enough so then all these repairs make sense. The property must generate a positive monthly cash flow otherwise Miami-Dade County’s tax payers will pick up the difference. Miami-Dade County should stay away from the real estate business.

Miami Real Estate, Miami Lakes Real Estate  We offer a South Florida Foreclosure List.