South Beach fchatters need a little help: Thinking of buyin Mirador or Flamingo??

wishful thinking amigo... not for 250 bro.

 

Flamingo is a great location w lots of talent at the pool

but the apts are not the highest quality, imagine a VIP dorm and thats it

I think they have a very small marina at the Flamingo

Dont know anything about Mirador

There are some condos on the small islands just W of SoBe you can look at too

 

you wont find anything with taste for the cash youre looking to spend.. i know your style bro and its high quality, so expect to spend another 50k .. and even then youre stuck with a 'whatever' building.. probably old and not super clean.. and then you want dock space too... gonna be nearly impossible but good luck bro. ill be down there this weekend... will update you.

 

let me know if u move into Flamingo

Theres a great old building at 5th & Ocean right on the beach which Ive been looking at

I might go for a 3 or 4 BR in 1 of those older buildings

 

I live in the center tower (1504 bay rd) of the Flamingo South Beach for the last 4 years. It was built in 2004, the other properties were built in 1972 I think, and that is what WilliamH comments are about. The ceiling heights are a foot shorter in the older buildings. The south building has been renovated last year or so. Only the south building (1500 bay rd - 558 apartments out of 16xx) of the three buildings on the property were successfully converted into condos, the rest are rentals. Why don't you start by renting (you can park your boat at the marina if you rent) and then purchase later. You will find the association fees are about 450.00 per month for a one bedroom and 700.00 month for a two bedroom and the taxes will be 400.00 a month for a 250K place, which will put you at about 3K per month to own, and you could rent a 2/2 for 2,500.00-3,000.00 here in the center tower. BTW, everything above the 19th floor of the center tower has higher level of appointments, like cherry wood, granite, and stainless appliances in the kitchen, hardwood floors, marble bathrooms, etc. And the views are worth a million dollars.

It costs 20.00 per foot per month in the marina here, and if a hurricane arrives you need to store the boat somewhere else. This is a great area to walk to everything: Regal Cinemas, CVS, cafes, shops on Linclon and Alton, and so forth.

The other buildings are the Waverly next door (built in '97 ? as an apartment building and converted in 2003 or so), the Floridian on Bay near sixth st, the Bentley Bay at fifth street. Use condos.com and the zip code 33139 and you will see a list of buildings in this area.

 

ask robert m about the waverly....

 

What is a waverly ???
Have you been to south beach??? hmmmm; no !!! well have you heard about the Waverly at South Beach

smart a$$ - LOL

 

I have been living in the South Tower of The Flamingo for almost 3 years now, renting a 1-bedroom bay view on the 12th floor for a year before the building converted to condos and then an identical 1-bedroom bay view on a lower floor after the conversion. When my first apartment went up for sale, The Flamingo was asking $400K for it-- I'm not sure what it's worth now but I doubt it's dropped down to $250k. If you don't care about the view, there are a number of condos that can be had facing the courtyard, the beach, or the service entrance (on lower floors) that would surely drop the price significantly.

I *love* living at The Flamingo but I would not consider buying a unit in one of the classic towers (north/south...center excluded) without making significant upgrades. For instance, the walls between units are pretty thin and unless you live next to a mute (or are lucky enough not to have a neighbor), you will hear a lot of your neighbor's actions. On the bright side, since the condo conversion, the South Tower has been toned down a lot as far as the young, party atmosphere goes, but nevertheless it can still be noisy if you live near the wrong people. The appliances are also pretty archaic, the stock ceilings are popcorn, and the flooring is light-colored carpet....but other than that, everything else is great.

 

at the Flamingo in the N tower the 19 line has 2BR w a great view of the bay and downtown Miami, and the causeway

 

The only 1-bedrooms in the South Tower that have a direct view of the bay and downtown are units ending in -18 or -20, which both have balconies and are right next to each other. Flanking this pair of 1-bedrooms are a couple of 2-bedroom units with numbers ending in -16 and -22. There are also two corner units that are 1-bedrooms with direct bay views but I am unsure of their unit numbers. Besides those 4 units, there are a couple of others that are usually listed as "direct bay views" by realtors, and while they *do* face the bay, they face it to the south, so you cannot see downtown unless you step out onto your balcony and look all the way to the right. Otherwise, looking straight out of your windows, you will see the pool, the bay, the causeway bridge onto the beach, and The Waverly/Mirador/etc.

After looking for a place in this building twice and helping a couple of friends find apartments similar to mine, I have learned that a lot of the listings you find online will flat out lie about the direction of the view, and realtors will spin the truth about the view just to get you to bite. Just a couple of months ago a friend of mine committed to renting a unit that he thought was going to be a corner unit with a direct bay view in the South Tower. When he came down to Miami to move in, it turned out to be an east-facing unit and instead of being on the corner with windows facing in 2 directions, he was simply at the end of the hall, adjacent to the REAL corner unit. Be careful.

 

Scott, you should be aware of the property tax situation here in Florida.

Since there is no state income tax in Florida, local governments get most of their money from ad valorem taxes.

If you "homestead" your property, it will be a non-issue.
Your annual tax bill will be capped at a maximum of 3% of the appraised value.

However, non-homestead property (snowbirds w/vacation homes, investment & commercial) can and will be taxed based on the appraised value w/o the cap.

This may not be an issue today w/falling prices.

But come an up swing in the market, you could be in for a big surprise.

In the past, I've had clients call me who had their taxes jacked up considerably when compared to similar apartments in the same line in the building.

The difference was one was homesteaded and the other was not.

Cheers.