A total of 617 homes are currently for sale in Coral Gables. The least expensive home for sale is listed for $299,722, the most expensive is for $22,000,000. The average asking price per square foot is $437 for a non-waterfront home and $877 for a waterfront single-family home. In our current inventory of homes for sale, many have been in the market for over a year now. Of late we’ve seen many drastic price reductions, sometimes as much as 30% below asking price. This may in fact be the catalyst needed to get this market going again. For the first time in a long while, I can honestly say there are deals coming about raising eyebrows. My latest survey of the real estate market in Coral Gables clearly illustrates this reality. Take the time to examine recent sold homes in Coral Gables, I have just compiled more than 45 recent sold homes, each seemed like an good value. Mortgage rates remain attractive, though I have observed more cash deal transactions. From my point of view, this is actually comforting in that Buyers are committing to current values and may be a sign that we have reached very near the bottom of this market. If you’re buying, be ready to roll up your sleeves and work hard in getting to see all options available. Inventory levels are still high with many options available. This in fact has been a problem for most buyers in that it gets confusing after a while. Remain diligent and organized. If you’re selling, you must remain informed through the whole process of marketing your house. Knowledge is the key here; take a weekly snapshot of market conditions as it relates to your own home. Define your competition and know it well, keep track of it as times goes by and see what sells first and why.  Whether you’re buying or selling, tenacity will play an important role in bringing in good results in your endeavor.

No question about it, it is a Buyer’s market. If you’re been waiting on the sideline waiting for the market to hit bottom, I am here to tell you, you’re missing out. This is the point in time where we’re all going to look back and wished we had acted on it. “I wished I would have” time is here again. You watch, as much as the real estate market overshot on appreciation, it will do the same on the downswing.  Most of the Buyers I have been working with of late have had a real hard time to commit to a purchase, but the real good deals are starting to surface.  My latest survey of the Coral Gables Real Estate market substantiates my reading on current market conditions. Take for instance this house listed as a foreclosure for $548,900. The listing agent solicited any and all offers; it sold and closed for $350,000. Another transaction with a motivated seller listed at $510,000 sold and closed for $280,000. Interestingly in my picking 32 properties sold in Coral Gables for the month of September and October, more than 50% of the properties sold surveyed were sold above $800,000 .A total of 582 homes are currently for sale in Coral Gables. The least expensive home for sale is listed for $339,000, the most expensive is for $25,000,000. The average asking price per square foot is $431 for a non-waterfront home and $952 for a waterfront single-family home. We’re starting to see some really good values out there. Now is the time to take a careful look as to what is available in the market place, you might be in for a pleasant surprise.

There are many reasons why my wife and I enjoy living in Coral Gables so much. If you’re looking to move to South Florida, you must look into Coral Gables.  I hope this will give you a perspective that warrants your attention to this paradise where we live. Here are a few reasons of many why we love our City beautiful…

The design of the Biltmore Hotel was inspired by the Giralda Tower at the Cathedral of Seville. 350 rooms, with a fifteen-story tower, and two massive seven-story wings. Famous for its pool built to hold 1,250,000 gallons with more than 20,000 sqft. The Tower is visible from as far away as downtown Miami. The Hotel opened in 1926. You must have Sunday Brunch here.

Venetian Pool – A sixty thousand-square-foot, eight-hundred-thousand gallon swimming pool. Would you believe this is a former rock quarry excavated for many of the early homes built in Coral Gables including our City Hall. It is listed in the National Register of Historic  Places. It was inaugurated in 1924.

Our beautiful City Hall, also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It features a rotunda patterned after the Philadelphia Mercantile Exchange. The structure was completed in 1928.

George Merrick, founder of our City Beautiful grew up in this house. It is open to the Public for tours. It is located at 907 Coral Way. A must see.

Coral Gables has over five miles of Biscayne Bay Frontage and approximately forty miles of lot frontage (+- 12 miles of canal in the City) on its inland waterway system.

The magnificent De Soto fountain. I make it a point to drive by here everyday on my way to the office. It is currently undergoing extensive renovation at a cost of more than $750k.

The Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center. Children and Adults alike enjoy a variety of programs and activities. The center includes a small theatre, gymnasium, teaching kitchen, a fitness center, indoor playground, and an athletic complex which includes a football field, two soccer fields, three baseball/softball fields, outdoor basketball courts, and a playground.

The new Coral Gables Trolley service began in November, 2003.
It is free, and a very pleasant way of getting around. I never have to wait for more than 15 minutes for a ride. When in need to go Miami Downtown, the trolley will take me to Metrorail and I am in Downtown in less then thirty minutes with no hassle.

I have just completed my quaterly survey of the Coral Gables real estate market. This will give you a good sense of what real estate values are like in our City Beautiful.

All right folks, judging from the traffic generated on this blog, I see many of you seem to enjoy food related topics. So, here is another one for you. This one is a crowd pleaser. The recipe is simple and easy to do. The ironic thing about this is that I got this recipe came from a PHD scientist in University of Montreal. It goes to say, simplicity is bliss. So please, give this one a try, you and your guests won’t be disappointed, I guarantee it.

BarBQ Ribs Canadian Style
Recipe courtesy my cousin Pierre Drapeau

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings 
 

5/7 pounds Ribs (I usually get a package Baby back ribs at Costo)
5 garlic cloves crushed
1 medium onion sliced finely
3/4 cup fresh Ginger peeled and grated
1/2 cup chili sauce (you’ll find it in the ketchup ailse)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tbspn crushed red pepper
2 cups ginger ale

Preheat BarBQ grill, Preheat oven 350
Season ribs with salt and pepper
Grill ribs with frequent turning until meat turn a nice golden brown, 20-30 minutes
Prepare marinade with all ingredients (except ribs) in a large bowl and mix well.
Place ribs in a roasting pan, submerge entirely with marinade and cover (aluminum foil will do nicely)
Put in 350 degrees oven for 1hr 30 minutes
Set aside the rack of ribs and put marinade through a sift, I use a wood spoon to facilitate the process.
Cook for 20 minutes or so on the grill with frequent basting with reserved sauce.
by then, the meat falls of the bone and is succulent, guaranteed to please.

Corn on cobs is a great compliment to this dish. 

I am reading with great interest this article on the NY times the other day. It made me reflect on the phenomenal rate of appreciation in real estate we experienced in just the last few years. I spent a couple hours looking through my records and decided to chart my findings with the help of Excel.   I thought it might be interesting reading to some of you, as I share few of my observations. First off, I didn’t have too much trouble defining the average price per square foot for a single family home in Coral Gables year-to-year since 2002. Like any other markets, there are different price ranges, and certainly the price per square foot will vary depending on location, size of the lot, finishes on the house… Though, I can honestly say that in today’s market in Coral Gables, a decent house with approx. 2,000 sqft in a good neighborhood with three bedrooms/ two baths on nice lot will be priced in the $800,000’s. Following the same logic with given aggregate price per square foot in 2002, the same house was $500,000. In essence, in 2002 with a down payment of $100,000 your monthly payment for ownership was $3200 (PITI). Today, you’ll need $168,000 cash down and will have to qualify for $5,500 a month (PITI). As it stands today, Buyers are making a statement; they’re having a very difficult time to commit. Many feel prices will come down considerably.  On the other hand, Sellers are holding firm on their price. Meanwhile there are 19 homes in Coral Gables that went under contract since the beginning of this month. Three of these deals I had my eyes on for a Buyer I am working with. The inventory is still relatively high, but prices seem to be holding at the current level. There are Buyers out there….

I love to cook. Especially when in need to relax a little bit. Cooking is my therapy, if I had an especially difficult day, I’ll take over the kitchen and make it my sanctuary. Plus, I draw great satisfaction in pleasing family and friends with my new found skills. I enjoy watching the food channel and more so surfing the net for new recipes. My father owned a successful French restaurant; my mother is an accomplished chef. We all love to eat. Here is one of my latest try, I made this beef bourguignon for some friends, every one liked it, and they really liked it. So, give it a shot, surprise someone this week end. The recipe is simple and easy to make. Let me know how it went.

Beef Bourguignon
Recipe courtesy my Mom

 Recipe Summary
 Prep Time: 20 minutes  Cook Time: 2 hour 20 minutes
 Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes  Yield: 4 to 6 servings

2 pounds beef stew cubed
1 cup all purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1 med onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced and finely chopped
3 carrots roughly chopped
3 cups mushrooms
2 cups frozen package perl onions
2 cups of dry red wine
2 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
1 Tbsp Thyme

 

Serving suggestion: with new potatoes or egg noodles and crusty bread.

 

Season flour with salt and pepper, roll beef cubes in flour and shake off excess flour.
Melt a tbsp butter combine with equal amount olive oil in casserole (a creuset works great here).
Brown meat on all sides on med heat, do so in different batches if need be. Take out beef and set aside.
Brown chopped onions, garlic and carrots on med heat for more less 7 minutes. Poor in red wine and deglaze bottom of casserole with wood spoon. Let wine cook and reduce for few minutes (5 to 8 min seems to do the trick). Poor in beef stock and put back reserved beef.  Add thyme and perl onions. Reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook for two hours. Saute mushrooms in butter and add to casserrole near end of cooking time. Let cool and skim surplus oil from the top. 

There you have it, my first blog entry. Why not? I ‘m outgoing, I make friends easy and I just love to meet new people. I am the guy in the grocery store check out line who will strike a conversation with you just because there is nothing else to do while waiting,  I’ve always seem to pick the longest line anyway despite how short it may seem, I might as well do something constructive, something productive. You might look at me funny at first, but I grow on you after a while. Isn’t that what a blog is all about? Making conversation with a pure stranger… Who’s to say what can happen. There you have it, random is my destiny. Out of the blues, sitting at my computer, I decided to take a break from my experiment in Macromedia Flash.  No doubt, all of this  has been stuck in my sub conscious for a while now, because it’s all coming out fast and easy, including this inspired title for my blog; “A Little of this, a little bit of that”. Nothing specific, just a place to post my opinion on just about anything.