Eli Montag is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Miami.
Every week, we ask a Miami real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before.
This week, we talked with Eli Montag, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Greater Miami who specializes in new construction developments, particularly in Miami Beach, Brickell and Miami’s downtown. A top producer, Eli had a 2012 sales volume of $15 million, and before joining Coldwell Banker he oversaw $15 million worth of sales at a new construction, single-family residential development on Miami Beach.
Miami Agent (MA): Are you finding that it’s any easier for your clients to get financing for their home purchases, or is the lending environment in your markets still difficult?
Eli Montag (EM): It’s definitely more challenging. You see it on a couple ends. I’m working with a client right now, and even though they have perfect credit, they feel like they’ve been completely abused by the banks.
I have another client, and they have a $5 million stock portfolio, but the bank won’t even consider that equity because of what happened with Bernie Madoff … Or all the new construction projects, they’re requiring more cash down to qualify for a loan. I have clients who really feel almost violated – banks are going through old receipts and credit cards from 15 years ago.
It’s all because of what we saw in 2008 and 2009, with all the foreclosures and defaults. Banks are being more and more cautious. Overall, I think that’s a good thing, but now, the people who are buying are actually the ones who can afford to buy, as opposed to all the flippers and speculators from back then. I think this is going to be the new normal. I’d like to think that we learned from our past mistakes, but you never know – things could get too comfortable, and banks could start easing their lending policies a little bit.
MA: Few cities have undergone a more radical evolution than Miami in the last 10 years. Where do you see Miami heading in the next two, three years?
EM: I think it’s going to be a continuing trend, to see more of an influx of international buyers. What got us out of the 2009 hole was, there’s still a demand from international buyers – a lot of South Americans, Europeans and Canadians. And now that the economy is back, it’s becoming more of a domestic demand, with New Yorkers and Californians buying.
If you look at Miami from a New Yorker’s perspective, where else can you go in November, December and January – in a three hour trip – and be in 80 degree weather? And a lot of these new construction projects, there are more and more New York buyers, which is encouraging. Initially, it was international buyers, and now it’s more and more domestic buyers, because when you compare what you buy here to what you buy in New York, your dollar goes so much farther.
MA: When it comes to the “Big Three” syndication sites (Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com), do you use them for your business, or do you have other avenues for Internet marketing that are more effective?
EM: I’m present on them, because they’re very popular among the general buying/renting public; they use them as resources. I always tell customers, though, to use a little bit of caution, because especially on Zillow and Trulia it’s not always the most accurate of information. If you’re not a licensed agent, and you don’t have access to our database, and your using those sites, I would say tread with caution; but, if you are a real estate professional, you should have a little bit of presence on those sites, because they do generate quite a bit of traffic.