A New York landlord is learning the hard way that you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure after his former business partner and girlfriend filed a lawsuit against him seeking $500,000 for breaches of contract and restitution.
The suit, raised by Douglas Elliman agent Vesna Todorov out of Palm Beach, alleges that her ex-lover Michael Speiser kept her on the hook for years as he promised to leave his wife for her and used her to make real estate deals in South Florida.
Speiser and Todorov met in New York around May 2010, according to the suit, filed earlier this week in New York Supreme Court. The landlord and interior designer quickly hit it off and began dating, despite Spieser being married with children.
The two even began living together full-time in a Palm Beach apartment, while Speiser continually delayed his promises to divorce his wife. Todorov, who was not working at the time, became restless and wanted to start earning her own income, according to the suit.
Speiser proposed they begin investing in real estate together: Todorov would earn her Realtor’s license and identify properties for them to invest in, and Speiser would fund the transactions.
As part of the agreement, she was to get a commission from the purchase as well as a piece of whatever the property sold for when they flipped it, according to the suit, first reported by the New York Daily News.
With Tadorov as his broker, Speiser bought a $1.775 million unit at 350 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach and a flashy $3.7 million unit at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami.
The suit alleges that Speiser later pocketed part of Tadorov’s $37,800 commission for the Palm Beach unit and told her she wouldn’t get anything when the Ritz-Carlton unit was eventually sold.
On top of that, Speiser picked up a new broker girlfriend when Todorov left for a few weeks in 2014. He kicked her out of his properties and refused to return all of her belongings, the suit alleges.
The push is on to redevelop Miami Beach’s North Beach. The area from 63rd Street to 87th Street and westward from the ocean to the bay has lagged when compared to South Beach or Mid-Beach, which has seen explosive development in recent years.
Just last year, plans to develop the Ocean Terrace historic district, between 73rd Street and 75th Street were rejected by voters. Since a charter amendment was passed in 1997, voter approval has been required for up-zoning changes involving an FAR increase in areas facing the water. The amendment was strengthened in 2001 to include inland areas as well.
With that in mind, city officials pledged that any development plans for North Beach would get a full public airing before being approved, and next week, the city will hold a design charrette, open to the public to discuss a proposed Master Plan for North Beach. Town planning firm Dover Kohl & Partners which has been selected by the city to produce the master plan, will hold the charrette at the city-owned Byron Carlyle Theater.
Jeff Oris, economic development division director in the city’s Office of Tourism, Cultural and Economic Development, said that it’s the public’s chance to decide what happens in North Beach. “Our best job is to get people out to say what do you want your North Beach to be, and ultimately when we have a plan we want it to be the community’s plan,” he said.
Jason King, a project director and town planner with Dover Kohl, said a master plan for North Beach will be comprehensive, involving land development regulations, zoning, budget priorities and the design of streets and public spaces.
“This plan won’t just sit on the shelf, because it really is North Beach’s time,” he said. “If you look at South Beach or Mid-Beach or Surfside, North Beach has really been inexplicably passed over in terms of investment, but the secret is out,” he added. “There is going to be change in North Beach, and the question is how much and where, and what kind will it be, and if North Beach will be a better place for it.”
Community activists like Kirk Paskal, who led the fight against developing Ocean Terrace last year said, “the community is engaged,” and that all North Beach residents want is a “balanced plan.”
Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who won an upset victory last year largely backed by neighborhood activists and preservationists, said North Beach residents “don’t want large towers and they don’t want more density.” What they want, she said, is more “mass transit,” she said, and while the area needs to be upgraded, it doesn’t need big changes. “It’s very charming, and I don’t think it needs that much revitalization. It’s a beautiful neighborhood.”
The EB-5 visa program, which is enormously popular with developers but criticized by some lawmakers as an unfair express route to U.S. citizenship for the wealthy, just got a five-day reprieve.
Renewal of the program – which awards a U.S. green card to foreigners who invest $500,000 into the U.S. economy – was part of a short-term spending bill approved by the House of Representatives Friday. The bill, approved by the Senate on Thursday, will keep the government running through Dec. 16 while lawmakers negotiate the $1.15 trillion budget, of which EB-5 is a small component.
The EB-5 program, which offers 10,000 U.S. visas annually and has been dominated by Chinese investors in recent years, was initially up for renewal in September, when lawmakers passed a stopgap measure to keep the government operating through Dec. 11.
In recent months, lawmakers have been considering various changes to the program, such as raising the minimum investment amount. Currently, investors are required to invest $1 million or a discounted amount of $500,000 in “targeted employment areas,” or zones designated as having high unemployment. Other changes could place restrictions on TEA designation.
The EB-5 legislation currently contains 40 pages of changes, according to Ron Klasko, a managing partner at Klasko Immigration Law Partners.
For New York developers, proposed changes to TEAs are particularly worrisome since many of them have taken advantage of the discounted investment amount by creating special districts linking their projects to low-income neighborhoods.
“From the point of view of New York developers, almost all of them have, in the past, qualified for the $500,000 reduced investment amount of the TEAs,” Klasko said. “Many of them will not qualify for that under this new law, meaning investors would have to invest $1 million. That’s an issue.”
The legislation would also allot a certain number of visas to different investment categories, such as 2,000 visas for projects in rural areas and 2,000 visas for people who invest $1 million.
“There have been long waiting lists for investors in China when they were competing for 10,000 visas,” Klasko said. “Now many of them for the New York projects will be competing for 4,000 visas.”
There’s little chance the bill will not pass, he said, since it’s part of the government’s omnibus bill. Meanwhile, developers and investors are sitting tight. “Until we have the final law,” said Klasko, “There won’t be a lot of activity.”
China’s Central Bank is moving forward with capital markets reforms that could make it easier for Chinese citizens to invest in South Florida real estate.
The country’s monetary policymakers announced on Friday they may soon allow residents of a Shanghai free-trade zone to buy overseas assets directly – a trial run for the rest of China and part of a broader effort to loosen capital controls.
The move would also open up Yuan-denominated bonds to foreign companies. Chinese citizens currently face tight limits on the amount of money they can invest abroad. Those looking to convert funds from Yuan into Dollars to buy, say, an apartment in Brickell, often have to do so through companies or by smuggling cash to Hong Kong.
The announcement comes despite an uptick in capital outflows from China in recent months, which would normally provide an incentive to tighten capital controls.
In September alone, investors pulled $194 billion from the country, according to Bloomberg. “A lot of people suggested that if the economy slows, if there’s more volatility, the Chinese will drop the reforms,” Andy Rothman, an investment strategist at fund manager Matthews Asia, told Bloomberg.
“I don’t think that’s the way the Chinese government views it. They are not worried about the scale of the outflows.” ISG World, an Aventura-based brokerage, recently partnered with one of China’s top real estate firms that has more than 60,000 agents spread throughout 17 cities.
It’s the latest move in Miami’s real estate market, where eyes have turned to Asia now that a strengthening U.S. dollar has sapped the energy of South American investors.
Real estate is a reliable way to make extra income and earn a return on your initial investment, but your choice in neighborhoods will have a massive impact on your success. Different cities and regions offer different perks for your investment, such as more attractiveness to incoming tenants and a greater potential for appreciation, but you’ll need to consider the advantages and disadvantages carefully before you make a purchasing decision.
One of the most interesting opportunities for real estate investment is in apartments or housing near college campuses. Near-college real estate can be a potentially lucrative investment—so long as you know what you’re getting into. Using a location-specific search site (such as Gator Rentals for Gainesville or Smart City Living for Dallas or Austin) can help you get a feel for the pricing and accommodations of your specific area, but the advantages and disadvantages of near-college real estate are somewhat universal.
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These days, it seems like everyone wants to invest in multifamily. But what sized multi should you focus on? There are pros and cons to both, but what are they? Should you invest in a small 15-unit complex or stretch to the 50 or 75-unit deal? Which is a better, more lucrative investment long-term?
In today’s video, I go into detail on the topic and give my definition of small and mid-sized deals and why I break it up that way. I go into the biggest downside of mid-sized multifamily investing and why it exists in today’s marketplace. What’s the biggest cash flow killer on a small multi that is not a real factor on mid-sized deals? Watch the video to find out!
So, this is a way larger conversation than I could get into in a 10 minute video, and I’m hoping we can keep it going in the comments section. I didn’t get into some of the other factors that affect mid-sized deals, such as additional services you have to consider (landscaping and trash removal to name a few). I also didn’t get a chance to talk about how management affects both deal sizes.
When people ask, “Is it still a good idea to buy real estate now?”, there are often two underlying problems. First, is a loss of direction. Second, “The Stock Market Mentality.” Put simply, in the stock market, timing is all important. If you don’t sell today, tomorrow your stock may be worth 50% less. If you don’t buy today, tomorrow it may cost 50% more. Fun, adventure and excitement. Keep away from it.
Real Estate should be different. Real Estate should be a long-term affair (most worthwhile goals in life are long-term – have you noticed?). To make a lot of money in real estate short-term you have to be very skillful. And somewhat lucky. In fact, most people who invest in real estate short-term make $5,000 or $10,000 here or lose $5,000 or $10,000 there. Big efforts. Small results.
The people who really make it big in real estate play it dumb. They buy a property today. They hang on to the property for seven to 10 years or more. Then maybe they sell it. When they buy they are not sure that it is the right time to buy. They may even overpay a bit for the property at the moment of the purchase. Seven to 10 years later that property has doubled in value. It all seems very boring; however, it just creates millionaires.
1. Fill Your Emergency FundYour emergency fund is a pool of savings you set aside to pay for emergencies. It’s self insurance for things you can’t insure.
2. Pay Off High Interest DebtNext, or concurrently with the emergency fund, pay off all high interest debt. If you are paying interest on credit card debt, you should be investing in yourself and paying down your debt as quickly as possible before investing.
3. Get “Free Money” From Your EmployerIf you’re working for a company and the company offers a retirement package, make sure you take full advantage of any financial benefits they offer. Many employers that offer 401(k) plans will offer an employer match to your contributions.
4. Build a Financial RoadmapYou need to build a financial road map. This road map will help you understand where the real estate investments fit in your broader financial picture.
5. Be Aware of Common Investment ScamsFinally, study the common real estate investment scams and scandals of the last twenty or thirty years. Be aware of what happened, how they could be avoided, how they could be mitigated, and how you can spot them as they happen.
First, Other People’s TimeYou probably already buy other people’s time, such as accountants and lawyers. This is another form of leverage. Because they save you time – freeing you up to make more money doing the things you do best – they ultimately make you money.
Second, Other People’s WorkThere’s no sense in trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, use resources such as mentors, books, seminars, blogs, videos and podcasts to learn from other people’s experiences and leverage that knowledge to make smart investments.
4. Other People’s IdeasAs you take those experiences from others, look for proven methods that can be replicated. That’s exactly what my company Cash Flow Savvy offers busy professionals
5. Scalable Production and DistributionAnother type of leverage exists when you can scale production and distribution. With real estate investments you’re not looking to scale distribution, but you can scale production in a sense.
6. Scalable Customer BaseA scalable customer base, isn’t a type of leverage you’d use in real estate investing if you’re focused on rental properties, but you might if you were flipping. That’s not something we discuss much here, but it’s an important consideration.
7. Other People’s MoneyThis is the form of leverage you’re probably the most familiar with. Let’s say you have $80,000 in cash that you’d like to invest in real estate.
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