Condo Hotel Resales in Miami Beach

Q: I am interested in a condo hotel resale, not a developer-owned unit, preferably in Miami Beach, Florida. What is your recommendation?

A: As a relatively new concept, there is a very small inventory of condo hotel resales. The vast majority of properties on the market are being sold by developers. Having said that, one condo hotel property that does have some resale units is The Roney Palace in Miami Beach. I personally am very fond of The Roney for numerous reasons: location, the amenities, the rental program and the prices.

First, there are few Miami Beach oceanfront properties that allow rentals, and none have more amenities or offer more square footage for the price than The Roney. The property's many amenities include the following:

Three restaurants, pool bar, two heated pools, 650 feet of beachfront, private beach pavilion, sauna, spa/hot tub, free membership to the gym, bike/jog path, bike storage, community room, valet parking, doorman, secured card entry elevators, security patrol, business center, common laundry and more.

All The Roney units have central air/heating and included in your monthly maintenance fee is: a/c maintenance, common area maintenance, elevator maintenance, landscaping/lawn maintenance, outside maintenance, roof maintenance, property insurance, electric, water & sewer, trash removal, cable TV, security, pool service, parking, pest control, child play area & property manager.

Because The Roney is actually a condo, not a condo hotel, management does not rent out the units on a daily or weekly basis. This reduces staff, overhead, paperwork and wear and tear on the units and increases security within the building. The savings are passed on to the unit owners.

The Roney rental program pays the unit owner 80% of revenue generated if their unit is rented out monthly and 85% if it is rented out for a period of six months or longer. This compares extremely favorably to the other condo hotels we represent which typically have formulas that provide an approximate 50-50 split between unit owner and management.

Maybe for this reason, it should not be surprising that my contact at the Roney says that even in the slower summer months the units run close to full.

The above question was submitted via e-mail by a visitor to www.condohotelcenter.com. The answer was prepared by Joel Greene, a licensed real estate broker with Condo Hotel Center which specializes in the sale of condo hotel units and fractional ownerships in private residence clubs.