Selling Your Coral Gables Home | How to Capitalize on a Strong Market without Overpaying for your Next Home?

Selling Your Coral Gables Home | How to Sell High and Buy Low?

In a market where home prices have sky rocketed it’s very appealing to sell and cash out. Who would not want to sell at a 25% increase from last year?  Sadly the reality of our market is such that nothing sells in a vacuum and because the price increases across our market have transcended every single price point there is (from $1M to $50M) we find so many sellers telling us; “I would be happy to sell at 25% above market value, but I’m not leaving Miami, so where the hell do I go?”. This clearly creates a very real world problem.

So, what is the solution? Well, no to shy from a challenge, and refusing to believe that the market has to go into a stale mate scenario, we want to provide a solution for those would-be sellers. Always born from real world experience we provide our clients with two experiences that two of the DSG Team members have gone through in the last few months. Myself (David Siddons) and Jorge Salazar have both sold our own homes and are moving. But how and why?

Example 1: Selling a Coral Gables Home for a Larger, Completely Customized Ponce Davis Home.  Jumping from a $2M home to a $7M+ home in 5 years.

I bought the property on 907 Jeronimo Dr, Coral Gables in 2015 for $1.9M. The property had good bones, but needed a complete renovation to make it work for us. We spent about $600K in renovating the house and making it ours. After redoing the house we enjoyed it for a good amount of years and we just sold this property for $3,750,000.

We loved renovating the home and we were extremely proud of the end-result with its superb finishes. But as much as we were in love with the home, it was not exactly what we had envisioned to be our final dream home.  Older homes are structurally different than newer homes and the architectural shortcomings bothered us. Examples would be the type and the flow of the floor plan as well as the height of the ceilings, doors and windows.  We always dreamed of building a home from scratch and we had been looking to find the perfect fixer upper or rehab home. We made several offers on homes and land and we missed out on many of them. Besides not being able to find that perfect land or home, we also realized that building from scratch might take too long. We wanted this to be our dream home, but we also wanted to be able to enjoy it with our two children while they still live at home.

I then found the perfect shell home. Basically a concrete frame with a roof. We loved the location (Ponce Davis) and the lot with its priceless, large Banyan Tree. It was being developed by Mocca and the finished product was priced at $4.4M. We sat down with the builder and although we loved the plans it was not 100% what we wanted. We really wanted a fully customized home with the best of the best finishes and details. Builders, as prominent as they might be, always have a budget and end up building something more spec than custom. Their level of detail and customization will never be the same as that of an end-user. In the decision-making process we agreed to the price of $4.4M. In that stage of the process we wanted to close on the house in order to start our customizations.  Of course as a buyer you can choose between going to the finish line with the original developer or finish it yourself wit the help of a different contractor. We made several additional change orders for example we upgraded the $50K kitchen to a state-of-the art $100K kitchen and we added lots of details such as custom millwork. In the end I think we are in this house for somewhere around $5M, but I must say it will be 100% customized with exceptional finishes and unparalleled levels of detail.  We could have finished it for $4.4M or stay under $5M and the home would have still been spectacular.

You don’t get a better home for the same dollar amount unless you start from scratch! I spent $1.3M out of pocket (could have been $700K) and the proceeds of my sales. I went from a 4,850 SF home in Coral Gables to a 6,500 SF home in Ponce Davis. I now have a brand new, completely customized home with the finest in finishes, a functional floor plan and a better structure. The lot size is about the same, but the new property is a two-story home that is closer to the street which means I have more private backyard space to enjoy.About 3 weeks ago I was offered $7M for this home (30% appreciation), which I declined and it’s not even finished yet.

It’s worth mentioning that I too recognize that moving can be a pain, and when you have a family to think of, just selling without a plan of where to go is just crazy, and the stress it creates is insurmountable. Having learned from previous mistakes I vowed to never just sell and then ‘figure it out’ again. It’s important to remember that even if the offer is amazing just selling then figuring it out can lead to compromise or over paying on the following property. On my first home I sold at a significant level above what I paid but then I bounced around from rental to rental for nearly 18 months and it was really tough. So… with the last sale I agreed a lease back from a nominal amount for a period that would ensure a seamless move from my current home to my new home. I will tell you that now more than ever relocating buyers are willing to do lease backs which can make the transition far more comfortable.

Example 2: Selling a Gables Home to build A New Construction Home in South Miami

My family and I have been long time owners of a property on 6901 Almansa Street. A home inherited from my father, which remained in the family but was rented for many years until my wife and I decided we would make it home. What started out as a small remodel quickly turned into a complete expansion of the home. Prior to starting the construction the home was worth around 850k. We completed 3 additions; new kitchen, a hallway leading to the master, a new front facade/ foyer entrance and also the interior was completely gutted and redone improving the layout/ floor plan. My wife a successful designer (Cozy Salazar Interiors) turned the space into something beautiful and timeless. The home was filled with custom mill work and top of the line finishes. We enjoyed the home for a couple years and decided to sell given the strength of the market and our growing family wanting more space. The home sold for 2.150m marking one of the highest sales per square foot in Coral Gables history.