For April Fools this year, I found a photo of a $11 million condo in Miami Beach and said I had landed it. Although I feel bad that I was playing the fool, I love that so many people thought this was true, which I take to mean that people think I swing for the fences and that I'd have the moxie to go for something so lavish. Way out of my league, but great to know folks didn't immediately fall for it!
Here's the kicker, though: at the same time I was plotting to deceive, I actually was zeroing in on a place in Miami Beach. And I'm happy to report that earlier this week I closed on it, a 450 square foot one-bedroom unit on West Avenue with a community pool on the rooftop. The Huang Family real estate empire now extends all the way to the Sunshine State.
This unit, like Ocean City, is one that I intend to rent out most of the time, enjoy myself (with Amy) on an exceedingly rare basis for the next several years, and maybe ramp up use in our retired years. But, there are two key differences between this place and OCNJ. First, unlike New Jersey, Florida can much more easily get rentals year-round rather than just seasonally. Second, whereas a beach house lends itself to weekly rentals, our new place in Miami Beach is actually what's called a condo-hotel, in that it it shows up on hotel booking sites and will get rented out by the day.
The historical track record of the place (pictured above) is eye-popping. Built five years ago, last year's occupancy rate (i.e. the percentage of nights the place was booked) was well over 90 percent. Running the numbers, it looks like we'll be able to comfortably cover carrying costs, even being conservative about room rates and accounting for down the road when we ourselves are using the place more and more.
Real estate is all about location, and we love what we got here. It's located on the bay side of Miami Beach, not far from the causeway that cuts through the Venetian Islands on the way back to downtown Miami. Ours is a west-facing unit, so the balcony boasts an obstructed view of Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. To the east, it's about a 10-minute walk to the beach, and about a 20-minute walk to the core of South Beach. This is exactly the area we were targeting: close to Miami Beach hot spots but on a quiet block, with bay view and easy pedestrian/bike access to a pleasant trip back to the mainland.
One concern I had about owning something so far away from home is being able to find tenants and take care of the place. A hotel program solves both problems. Property management markets the unit, finds guests, and handles bookings, so I don't have to lift a finger there. And, they've systematized unit maintenance, such that cleaning, maintenance, and furnishings are all taken care of. I literally can't buy, decorate, fix, or maintain anything in the place, which is fine by me because I have neither the time nor the access to do so.
The unit cannot be a permanent residence, so if down the road Amy and I decide we want to move south, we'd have to find another place. But, this place works perfectly as a snowbird option: spend a couple of winter months a year there as well as any other time we want to go down there (hello, golf getaway in the dead of winter!), and otherwise generate revenue just about any other day we're not there.
Time will tell what our retired days look like, influenced as they'll be by where our kids are and whether we have health issues. But we now have lots of options for year-round fun: winter in Miami Beach, shoulder seasons in Ocean City, the occasional summer stay in DC, and lots of revenue potential all the other times of the year we're not at these places. So I'm feeling really good and really lucky.
As for any additional real estate aspirations, I'll still comb Redfin for deals. But it's entirely possible that I'm done buying up stuff. Of course, if the right situation presents itself in St. Louis...
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