I just wanted to comment on the 60 Minutes news segment that ran on 12/14/08. I practice real estate in Miami Beach Florida, which is located in Miami-Dade County. To report on Miami-Dade County real estate as they did, does not take into account the numerous different markets that comprise the localized real estate market. It is just silly and irresponsible for such a major news outfit to report in this way. According to Wikipedia.org:

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,387,170 in 2007, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States. It is also Florida's second largest county in terms of land area, with 1,946 square miles.

I just wanted to take a paragraph and relay how proud of my industry I was during the Annual Convention for the National Association of Realtors held during November in Orlando Florida. It was such an energetic and perseverant crowd, and truly the elite of our profession. Out of some 1 million plus Realtors nationwide, approximately 20,000 take the time, energy, and money to make it to the conference for the extended weekend (and some for even longer) and I truly applaud those that take their profession serious enough to attend.

There were so many educational classes, fun events, cutting edge products for marketing and technology and you name it, the networking was an incredible way to meet so many different people from all around the world. And everything was relevant, dealing with the most important topics of the day in our industry.

As a unit owner in a large condominium, as well as a board member; I have realized that condominiums present great challenges in 'going green', or at least implementing as many environmentally sensivtive products and procedures during the construction phase or repairs/improvements/retrofitting, etc. However, I try to see the other side of this drawback, and that is if you are able to implement a handful of 'green' products or procedures, the exponential effect can be much more considering the nature of the condominium. Meaning, you are not affecting 1 household, rather 300 households (or however many units); and that can really add up to some serious monetary savings, reduced carbon footprint, water and energy conservation, better indoor air quality, etc.

Contact: Sean Greco, seangreco@buybeach.com, 786-877-9220

Russian billionaire’s purchase of French villa sets new world record for most expensive home -- $750 million!

Most expensive home on the market in Miami Beach area (includes Fisher Island) -- ($30 million)

I am a data and numbers type person, and I also don't feel as if anyone will drop $500,000 on a condo as a 2nd home because I tell them to, or list a property at a certain price without seeing comparables. But I do know I can add value by showing the pertinent information and data that buyer's and seller's need to make informed and educated decisions. With that being said, I take the time on the last day of the month to gather data for the very specific market that I work in: Miami Beach (South Beach, Mid Beach, North Beach), Bal Harbour, Fisher Island, Surfside, and Bay Harbor Islands. Please click on the following link and take a look at unbiased data and determine for yourself what is actually going on in this specific market.

This is my first posting for my blog. I ask you to please have patience as I become more familiar with this platform, and constantly improve the content, ways in which it is posted, and use within my business. I know that this will be a very informative blog, full of useful information, my opinions on certain matters, and useful for gathering feedback from all of you!