The Treasure Hunt

Finding the Property

How do you find a true gem of a property? As a design group, our process is different from a fix and flip real estate investor group. We are looking for something with historical value, beauty, and will be a challenge to work on. There’s no clear plan to follow.

In our experience, finding a treasure is a combination of luck and how much the property “wants to be found.” Maybe it sounds strange, but we know that properties have personalities and we love to help them “find their voice.”

The truth is, great properties present themselves in strange and opportune moments, with no rhyme or reason. The opportunities open up when a very specific series of events goes right or goes wrong. A seller’s series of unfortunate events can sometimes turn into a buyer’s good fortune if you are ready to jump in at the right moment.

After finishing one of our projects, we were looking for a new property where we could renovate an existing structure. Everything we looked at was either overpriced or too boring. We also wanted to grow as a development group, even though we had no idea what that would actually entail.

This treasure of a property appeared in a very strange place — an ad on Facebook Marketplace listing a “Two unit Miami townhome for Sale.” It seemed too good to be true. The ad stated, classic, mid century modern design, a fun up-and-coming neighborhood, two lots, and all for a reasonable price. What was the catch?

Even stranger, the property was not listed on Zillow or any of the traditional sites. Because it turned out the property was technically not on the market, we called an agent to help us hunt down the mystery. It had recently gone under contract, but the buyer got cold feet, being uncertain of their financing and their ability to follow through on the project.

Neither of those issues were a problem for us and we were ready to jump! Without delay the deal was closed and the REAL work began on this jewel of a project. We are calling it the Jetson House and we’ll tell you all about it coming soon! Stay Tuned.