Coconut Grove is located in the state of Florida and it has distinction of having the first hotel in South Florida built in it. At the time of its being built that is in 1882 it was referred to as Bay View Inn. Later its name got changed to Peacock Inn. City of Coconut Grove, which is also referred to as Cocoanut Grove, is located in the city of Miami in Miami Dade County. Lying towards west of Biscayne Bay, whole of this city comes under single zip code of 33133. Average home price is from $600,000 to $1,700,000.

This city has witnessed several stages of development during its appreciably long history. Out of all these stages of development, first one took place in 1825, soon after opening of lighthouse, operated by John Dubose, in Cape Florida. Next phase of development made its presence felt in this then quaint city in second half of the nineteenth century. This period, especially the 1870s, saw an influx of a large number of people to Coconut Grove. People who came here during were mainly a mixture of Northeast Americans and British immigrants. But from that time onwards a lot of development has taken place in this city.

Today this city happens to be one of the most popular cities in not only state of Florida, but also in the United States. As its name suggests this city has a touch of Caribbean life too. And this becomes most evident during Goombay Festival, which transforms this city takes on an atmosphere completely reminiscent of Caribbean lands. Shopping is one major attraction in this city in Florida. Food is another specialty of this city, which is sometimes also called as just “Grove”. Due to concentration of a large number of food outlets in this city, Grove is also known as Food Court of Miami. Besides all these, an annual art festival held over here is another major crowd puller. The Vizcaya Museum, Cocowalk, Monty Trainer’s The Playhouse are a must see in a visit to this city.

A holistic combination of all above mentioned factors has made this city very attractive to real estate hunters as well as real estate dealers. As it is the market of real estate is witnessing a massive upswing in recent times. This corner of the country has not been an exception to this trend. People are large numbers are flocking to this city with intention of making this city their home. With an active nightlife, especially after this city got annexed to city of Miami, this city is has now become a dream destination for many. Prices of homes have already crossed hundred and seventy five thousand dollar mark. And numbers of empty estates which are available for sale are also dwindling at a very fast rate. And if this rate of growth is maintained by Coconut Grove, it will soon outstrip some of its more illustrious counterparts. The nightlife is this city is only second to South Beach.

Coconut Grove Real Estate is coming back from the recent boom years and is expected to rebound by 2009. Coconut Grove Real Estate is slow, following two fantastic boom years. A few excellent communities in Coconut are Fairhaven, Terranium and Utopia. Condos subdivisions include Beacon Harbour, Cloisters on the Bay, Grovenor House. Upscale Hotel Resorts include Ritz-Carlton and the Sonesta Bayfront Hotel. Coconut Grove Real Estate is an excellent investment opportunity as inventory levels continue to rise.

The media is currently full of real estate ‘doom and gloom’ – real estate repossessions and arrears are up and real estate prices are down … its almost as if the ‘sky is about to fall’! This situation has seen many real estate developers, and property investors generally, leave the market – and for those thinking of starting out in real estate development, these are scary times indeed.

What seems like the worst time to get into real estate development can, in reality, be the best time. Successful real estate developers today realize that they can use time to their advantage – their real estate development projects will typically not be ready for sale or rent for 2 to 4 years from inception. So if they have bought well, they are less likely to be affected by the economic situation at the time of purchasing their real estate development site.

In fact, a weak market is a real estate developer’s paradise, because a weak market is a buyer’s market, and one of the first steps to any real estate development project is securing a viable real estate development site on the best possible terms.

Although we know that the real estate development business is cyclical, and many parts of the world are in a property downturn, we also know from history that knowledgeable real estate developers are successful in any market – falling, flat or rising.

We’re working towards what we believe the economic conditions will be in 12 to 36 months time. Indeed we ourselves are still active in the market – seeking Council permission for a number of real estate development projects. This gives us the opportunity to act quickly and build our approved real estate development projects when the market does become buoyant.

It is our opinion that the following market signals are some of the key factors that will lead to increased future opportunities, especially for real estate developers:

· The pent up demand for housing. In March 2008 leading Australian economics forecaster, BIS Shrapnel chief economist Dr Frank Gelber argued that housing prices across Australia will rise by 30% to 40% over the next five years because of the built-up shortages of housing.

· The current Federal Government has stated that they will work towards increasing Housing Affordability and have begun to announce incentives including Tax Credits of $6000 per year if the housing is rented at 20% below market rent.

· We believe that an increasing number of people, in the short to medium term, are likely to require the rental accommodation that we intend to build. This is due to either their financial stress (can’t afford to purchase a home) and/or demographic trends (including Gen-Ys who are less likely to buy Real Estate).

Even if our ‘crystal ball’ is incorrect, we know we have the resources to hold real estate development sites during possible further market fluctuations to come, and increasing rents are certainly helping with that!

Our belief is that this is a golden time to act – perhaps a once in a generation opportunity. Maybe it is not the time to sell completed real estate development projects at the moment, but it is certainly a great opportunity to secure the development site and obtain development planning approval. Now this strategy is not for everyone – you must have the necessary resources to hold the development site and especially the knowledge of real estate development to take advantage of these opportunities.

The best approach for anyone contemplating real estate development will depend on his or her own personal and financial circumstances, but the key message here is that you must do something!

There are many strategies that small real estate developers are currently using, if they don’t have the resources to complete a real estate development project right now, including to turn their real estate knowledge into cash by locating ideal property development sites, perhaps taking out an option on the site, and on-selling the ‘Development Permit Approval’ to someone who does have the resources.

Successful real estate developers know that times of opportunity like this only come along once in a while, and they’re taking action so they don’t miss the boat.

Regardless of your immediate financial situation, this is the perfect time to leverage your real estate development knowledge into current or future income. If you have any doubts about your ability to do this, or you would like an experienced real estate development mentor to guide you, act now to get the knowledge and mentoring that you need. There is no time to waste!