Ivory Cooks is a Realtor Associate with Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Coral Gables.

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 Ivory Cooks, a Realtor Associate with more than 23 years experience. With designations in GRI, CRS and PA, Ivory is also Certified Notary Realtor. Operating with a “client-first” philosophy, Ivory brings integrity, in-depth community and market knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation skills and a high-quality professional network to his business.

Miami Agent (MA): Our 2014 Predictions feature is getting quite a bit of attention from readers; what trends are you watching the closest, as 2013 draws to a close?

Ivory Cooks (IC): As 2013 draws to a close, we are seeing a big increase in properties being sold. I think the buyers are starting to get more confidence in the market now that we have moved passed the government shutdown. In our market, the weather has been phenomenal, and many buyers are starting to think about purchasing a second home in South Florida.

Should the real estate market continue the upward trend, then I feel 2014 is going to be a great year for real estate.

MA: Of the major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.), which do you find to be the most useful for real estate marketing?

IC: I have found that Facebook really is becoming more important in the marketing of properties. I am seeing many hits on my listings from Facebook. I also see that Zillow is probably the number one site that buyers are looking at right now.

MA: We know that all-cash financing remains very prevalent in Miami, but how would you say the lending environment is looking for homebuyers who cannot afford to pay with cash? Is financing still tough to come by, or has it loosened somewhat?

IC: Financing today is available for buyers with good credit and those that are not carrying a lot debt. Just because a buyer has good credit, though, does not mean they can qualify for a loan.

Starting in 2014, lenders have changed the income to debt ration, making it even more difficult for a buyer to qualify for a loan. Probably the hardest property to get a loan for is condos; we are still having problems getting lenders to finance condo/hotels. In our market for 2013, cash buyers represented approximately 77 percent of the market.