South Florida’s luxury market has been booming and the Luxury Team has been helping clients discover the best new-construction condos since 2006. While the total number of condos sold is down in both Miami-Dade & Broward Counties, the average. price for square foot in each market is up over the previous year.* BLDUP recently sat down with the founder of The Luxury Team, Steven Seigel to discuss the state of the market, along with the benefits and risks of new construction.

BLDUP: Tell us about your background and the history of The Luxury Team.

Steven Seigel: The Luxury Team was created a decade ago by its founding agent Steven Seigel. Steven identified an often misunderstood and underserved niche of pre-construction condo sales in South Florida. Since its inception, The Luxury Team has helped hundreds of buyers navigate the pre-construction condo market. The Luxury Team has intimate knowledge of every new project, developer, architect and pricing history giving their clients an edge when purchasing.

BLDUP: Your small firm has grown to become one of the top 15 brokerage firms at Compass in FL, what factors have contributed to your success?

Steven Seigel: The Luxury Team is ranked as a top 15 team in the state of Florida at Compass, one of the largest residential brokerages in the country. The team's unparalleled knowledge of the pre-construction condo market has attracted countless buyers and referral partners from around the United States and internationally. Their reputation as the experts in the luxury condo market has continued to propel their growing business

BLDUP: Can you give us an overview of the state of the South Florida luxury market and what makes the market so unique? Any trends you are watching?

Steven Seigel: The South Florida luxury market continues to outperform the rest of the country. The favorable tax benefits, beautiful weather and remote working trend has made South Florida one of the most desirable and most expensive housing markets in the US. This year we’ve seen a decline in sales volume but overall pricing has held strong and keeps increasing.

BLDUP: You focus quite a bit on new construction, what are the benefits to buyers with new construction?

Steven Seigel: There are countless benefits of buying new construction. Early buyers have a much larger selection of units to choose from, can modify floor plans and typically purchase at a lower price. Newer condo buildings are also built to the latest building codes which makes them safer and require less maintenance.

BLDUP: You’ve covered the benefits of new construction, but what should buyers be on the lookout for with these new developments?

Steven Seigel: There are more risks in buying new construction condos since you are committing to a purchase before seeing the final product. It’s not uncommon for an early purchaser to wait 4+ years for a project to be completed. Buyers should research the developer’s reputation and history, how their deposit is being used and is it protected, what their views will be and what prices other buyers paid for similar units in the project. We also recommend that all of our clients use a Florida attorney familiar with new construction condos to review the developer contract which is usually weighted in favor of the developer.

A few other points to keep in mind when buying new construction…

1) Buyers of pre-construction condos have a 15 Day rescission period by Florida state law in which they can back out of the deal for any reason.

2) Developers don’t use standard realtor contracts. Developers create their own contracts which usually favor themselves vs the buyer.

3) Every contract has an outside date. If the developer doesn’t finish the project by this date you can hold the developer in default and request deposit back.

4) The square footage of the actual units often deviates from the square footage advertised for a project.

5) Oftentimes buyers can negotiate extra parking and storage spaces.

6) Branded projects are licensing agreements for a set length of time and the brands usually have rights to pull out of the project.

7) Developers only need to keep 10% of purchase price in escrow or bonded and can use anything in excess for construction.

BLDUP: What projects are you most excited about?

Steven Seigel: Our team is most excited for all of the new branded oceanfront condos that have been recently announced including the Rosewood Residences in Hillsboro Beach, the St Regis Residences in Sunny Isles, and the Waldorf Astoria Residences in Pompano Beach.

Rosewood Residences

Waldorf Astoria Pompano Beach

Source: The Luxury Team Condo Report