All over south Florida cash investors are KINGS, . They are feasting. South Florida is in the midlle of a real estate crash. Home prices are down 25% in the past year, with many places changing hands for less than third of their height-of-bubble values. The region has seen foreclosures on more than $13.8 billion worth of property this year—a record. Developers can't sell enough units to pay construction cost. Condo boards are trying to keep the stairwells of their half-empty buildings clear of the homeless. Landlords are renting out units at daily rates to anyone who asks.
The sad picture is exactly what highly agresive cash investors have been waiting for. Having sat out the bubble, they're rushing to south florida Miami and the south coast to make lowball, all-cash offers for numerous properties at once. Some members of this assortment of foreign professionals, U.S. money managers, and retired corporate executives learned how to prey by picking through the detritus of the U.S. savings and loan bust. Others earned their stripes in emerging- market financial crises. They differ in their tactics; what unites them is their absolute insistence on paying bottom dollar. As scary as this sounds it's great and is making the market move. It's what we need to get the banks looking at deals.
"I hope these people make this market move the right way. Not since a hurricane devastated Miami in 1926 has the city offered so much property at such steep discounts. "You're not going to see a new condo go up in this town for seven years, minimum," says Zalewski. "The common Joe can't get a mortgage, and a 40% downpayment is becoming the rule for anyone who can. But if you have the cash, you can feast like a king"
So Not since a hurricane devastated Miami in 1926 has the city offered so much property at such steep discounts. "You're not going to see a new condo go up in this town for seven years, minimum," says Zalewski. "The common Joe can't get a mortgage, and a 40% downpayment is becoming the rule for anyone who can. But if you have the cash, you can feast like a king.
So bring your cash and let the feast begin. it is time to make a killing.