Danny Hertzberg is a Realtor with The Jills Group in Miami Beach.

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 Danny Hertzberg, a Realtor with The Jills Group in Miami Beach. Featured as a “30 Under 30” in Forbes, Danny is a Miami Beach native with a joint JD/MBA from the University of Miami. Fluent in Spanish, Danny also studied abroad at the Universidad del Salvador Law School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has developed innovative, industry-leading marketing strategies – many of which he has discussed on speaking engagements at seminars and conferences nationwide.

Miami Agent (MA): We put together an entertaining story on our site that compiled the most prevalent reasons for home sales in 2013; based on your interactions with your clients, what seem to be the main reasons for their choice to sell?

Danny Hertzberg (DH): The really stand-out reason is where the market is. People have been waiting since 2008 and 2009 for the market to increase, and in 2013, our market is beyond the top of the market price since 2005 and 2006. So people feel that because the numbers are so high, they want to take the opportunity and move.

The second reason that I’ve seen is there is a lot of new inventory that is exciting to people. There are many new construction opportunities, from single-family to condos. So if somebody has been in a property for a long time and it’s worth much more now, or they were underwater and now, all of the sudden, they can break even or walk away with some money, they are taking the opportunity to go to the newer, more modern projects that are coming up, so I think that new construction inventory is definitely driving the move as well.

MA: We cover technology very regularly on the site; are there two or three apps that you think have benefited your business in a special way?

DH: DocuSign has been revolutionary in the real estate business, in terms of the speed of a transaction. Usually, it takes people days to get a signature: they could miss a signature; fax the wrong page; or scan the wrong side. There are so many issues with the traditional way of signing, but with DocuSign, people sign from their cellphones. It’s allowed some of my clients to get homes that they wanted, and to beat out other buyers, because we  move so quickly.

So I’ve literally shown a property, we’ve gotten in the car, my client says they want to make an offer, I call the office and have my assistant write the offer – and within 20 minutes, they have it on their phone, they click through with their signatures, and that is it. The market is moving quickly, so the speed that DocuSign allows has been really affective. Also, it’s a much cleaner transaction; people used to miss signatures, but with DocuSign, you can’t move on to the next signature until you click through to each page.

The second one is Zillow. I think Zillow stands out above all the other real estate apps, especially in terms of its “nearby” function. When people are in a neighborhood, they are seeing what opportunities there are, what properties are available, what are the sales, what are the comps, etc.

There’s always an issue with [the data], but there’s an issue with the MLS, there’s an issue with realtor.com – you need to use multiple services to really get an idea. We’re not going to base an offer on a Zestimate, but it certainly gives someone an indication of what homes around them are selling at and what inventory is available in the area. People are really connecting with the way Zillow is presenting the data.

MA: Are there any trends in Miami’s housing market that you are really focusing on, as 2013 draws to a close?

DH: The huge trend, as 2013 comes to a close, is that the pre-construction condo market has been so expensive – we’re talking, selling at $1,000 to $1,500 to $2,000 a foot – that all the sudden, the single-family homes present a huge opportunity for buyers. So a lot of people who were focused on condos are suddenly recognizing their purchasing power in the single-family market, which is just bound to take off. So I think the trend we are going to see is, in Miami Beach, Miami, Coral Gables and the other areas of the Miami market, single family is going to start to move.

The other trend is buyers are willing to pay a huge premium for turn-key properties. That was already there, but it’s 20, 30, sometimes 40 percent more if it’s completely turn-key, bring your toothbrush. The takeaway has been, most buyers are not interested in getting involved in renovations, in work, in permits and plans. And if investors or owners are willing to do that, it can add significant value to their home.