By Arden Moore

Theres a new breed of dog unleashing plenty of debate and controversy. Identified as emotional support animals or ESA, these dogs are making their way into housing developments in South Florida, even those with no-pets-allowed policies.
Depending on whom you ask, these ESA dogs are regarded as healthy godsends or reviled as unruly rule breakers. But they have the law on their side. And that is making some property managers and condo association board members bark in protest.

Kay Valente created a legal firestorm in the West Lakes Community in Boca Raton when she obtained a pet prescription from her neurologist to authorize her dog, Boots, as an ESA dog to help her contend with her seizure disorder for which she wears a medical bracelet. Although the rules of development permit dogs less than 30 pounds, Boots, a Labrador retriever-shepherd mix, weighs 47 pounds.
Despite spending $800 on professional dog training, Valente says she went through a living hell from some neighbors and board members, who yelled and even cursed at her. She says she twice found dead rats left on her driveway. She and her husband, John, who requires kidney dialysis, no longer use the communitys clubhouse, pool or other amenities because of backlash by some, but she feels grateful to have Boots.
Boots is so sweet. When I walk into the house, she greets me, runs to her basket to bring me a stuffed toy and sits beside me, says Valente. I could be having the worst day and Boots will come over, lean into me and I become relaxed.

Advocates sue condos
In 2010, Valente won a lawsuit filed against her by the condo association, which was ordered to pay court costs, according to her attorney, Marcy LaHart of Gainesville, who operates a website called www.floridaanimallawyer.com.
When The Coastal Star phoned West Lakes property management for comment, an office employee said, Because of the legal ramifications, Im not allowed to respond. I have no comment. She then hung up the phone.
In South Florida in particular, it seems that some condo boards have nothing better to worry about than determining if someone is faking an emotional or mental disability, says LaHart. So far, Ive won every case and my clients have been able to keep their animals in their homes. As lawyers like me are winning cases all over the country, homeowner associations are realizing that they need to be more understanding and accepting of people who have disabilities.
Attorney Cara Thomas represents condo associations in legal disputes with residents. Under the Florida and federal fair housing acts, Thomas says a person is entitled to an ESA dog to ameliorate a physical or mental impairment, provided the need is stated in writing by the individuals physician.
The difficulty we have is that we are not physicians and thus, cannot diagnose any owner, says Thomas. If they can provide evidence to support that they do suffer from a disability and need that dog, we will work with the owner and the board. But a board will file a lawsuit if it feels it is not a legitimate claim and that the resident is abusing the situation.

Training not required
Confusion about a dogs designation is on the rise. And misidentifying ESA dogs as service dogs angers Carol Roquemore, founder of Canine Support Teams, a nonprofit group based in Menifee, Calif., that trains and provides service dogs to people will all kinds of disabilities except blindness.
Roquemore, who was diagnosed with polio as a child, works to match service dogs with people with physical and emotional disabilities. She estimates that it takes about $20,000 and 18 months of intensive training to prepare each service dog.
These ESA dogs are untrained and some havent even had basic obedience training, says Roquemore. They are hurting those of us who provide genuine service dogs who perform remarkable things for individuals and help them have a quality of life. Unfortunately, people get confused and think these ESA dogs are service dogs, but there is no policing of these ESA dogs and the law is very loosely written. All someone needs is a prescription from their doctor. Yes, that does upset me very much. Physicians need to be educated and ESA dogs need to be properly trained.
Under the law, an emotional support animal does not require any training, but also under the law, is not allowed in supermarkets, restaurants, other places of businesses that do not permit pets. Only service dogs are able to accompany owners to businesses and on buses, trains and planes.
Shay Maimoni, a professional dog trainer and owner of Woof Dogs (www.woofdogs.com), who lives in Boca Raton, is happy that people with ESA-designated dogs are enrolling them in his training classes.
I would like to see a standardized form of training for these types of dogs to make sure these dogs are trained at the highest level, says Maimoni. To me, an ESA dog, temperament-wise, must be confident and calm, good with all kinds of people, all kinds of dogs and able to adapt to different environments. I can tell you that some of these ESA pets are regarded as real treasures by their owners who are coping with some form of emotional disability.

Dog fights can be expensive
When it comes to being able to live with a beloved pet, money isnt an obstacle for people like David Shapiro, who lives in the Palmsea condominium in South Palm Beach. Shapiro initially purchased a condo in 1992, when he was a full-time teacher in New York City. When he retired in 2005, he headed to Palmsea to live permanently with his dog, Lexi. At that time, the HOA rules enforced the no-pet policy and Shapiro said he spent $20,000 in boarding and legal fees to keep his dog.
When Lexi passed away, the loss took an emotional toll on Shapiro. Someone informed him about the fair housing law and he obtained a pet prescription from his physician to adopt Lexi II, a Labrador retriever mix, as an ESA dog who now lives with him.I invested about $3,000 in her for training and she has definitely helped me deal with loneliness, sleeplessness and anxiety, says Shapiro.
 

Palmsea board member Harvey Brown said his condo still enforces the no-dog policy at the 121-unit property, but recognizes the exceptions in ESA dogs like Lexi II.
What can we do? We dont have a choice but to allow these dogs the law requires us, says Brown. I will say that Davids dog is very well-behaved and we dont have any problems with him or his dog.
Shapiro was so inspired by the benefits of ESA dogs that he became an activist.
I am not an activist or an advocate by nature, but this so took hold of me that I was willing to do anything and go anywhere to talk about the benefits of these emotional support animals, says Shapiro. At one time, I even became vice president of a group called Citizens for Pets in Condos.
With Lexi here, I feel much more relaxed and I dont have those periods of anxiety or depression as I used to have. She really has brought out the best in me.
 

By CHRISTINE DAVIS
Special to the Daily News

Irene Athans, a general contractor who was headquartered in Tampa for many years, began tackling renovation projects in Palm Beach after she moved into a condominium on South Ocean Boulevard six years ago.

I had found this 1970s apartment with a kitchen enclosed within four walls and saw the capability of opening it all up to take advantage of the views, Athans recalls. Its all about lifestyle.

And because her apartment is on the first floor, she can walk out her door and be on the beach within moments.

I used to live in a penthouse, she says. I like this better.

Over the last half-dozen years, she has renovated a dozen other apartments for resale, all in the same area of town. She recently completed work on two oceanview units, which she has listed for sale with Scott Gordon Realty in Manalapan.

Both apartments have three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms. One condo a fourth-floor unit with 2,900 square feet of living space, inside and out, at Sloans Curve, 2000 S. Ocean Blvd. is priced at $1.399 million. The other unit is in the same building where she lives: a ground-floor condo with 4,100 square feet in the 2500 Building at 2500 S. Ocean Blvd., just south of the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course. Its listed for $1.799 million.

Im having fun doing these, Athans says, noting that the inventory of renovated apartments on the market in the South End remains tight.

After buying the Sloans Curve unit last year at auction, Athans set about planning its renovation. That included covering all the floors in crema marfil marble, except in the foyer, where she used exotic lava wood.

You can entertain beautifully from the kitchen. It has top-of-the line appliances and special granite. And the cabinetry is well constructed with dovetailed drawers. The center island can be used for serving, and I built in the dining room table to maximize space in the living room.

Also notable are the variety of wall finishes: Venetian plaster in the entry, a warm French glaze in the master bathroom and faux-bois painting on the rear of the front door that mimics the entrys lava wood.

The other condo is several blocks to the south in the 2500 Building. Like her own residence there, No. 2C1 is on the ground floor, which meant she could approach the remodeling project practically as if she were tackling new construction.

You can bore down into the floor for new plumbing, so I could change the floor plan around and add a bathroom, Athans explains. I gutted the whole thing, and flipped the master and guest bedrooms.

Today, the master bedroom has views of the ocean, while the second bedroom captures vistas of the Intracoastal Waterway. Double 8-foot doors with etched glass delineate the two suites.

Plans also called for enlarging the master bathroom and installing a bubble tub and an enhanced vanity area. Overall, she opened up the apartments space, reconfiguring the layout of the kitchen and adding a secret laundry room. Removing a corner in the entry and bar area provided better views of the ocean.

The new floor plan also included space for a new powder room.

Floors throughout the apartment and on its terraces are covered in Jerusalem stone that has been given a chiseled edge and laid in the irregular pattern known as Asher.

Athens also brought both apartments up to todays building codes with impact-resistant windows and doors while adding zoned air conditioning systems and prewiring the units for electronics.

Ive always cared to choose the better products, because quality wins out in the long run, she says.

The way Athans looks at it, the time is ripe for builders and designers with staying power to invest in condominium rehab projects, especially around Sloans Curve, an area completely built out with buildings that are at least 25 years old.

Theres just so much of this strip. Nature is not going to create any more, and no one is going to nuke an old building to build a new condo.

Call broker Scott Gordon at (561) 346-4141 for more information about No. 2C1 in the 2500 Building at 2500 S. Ocean Blvd. and No. 407N in Sloans Curve, 2000 N. Ocean Blvd.

Mortgage modification events aren't necessarily new to South Florida; there have been a few held down in Miami Beach.  Since driving from Palm Beach to Miami Beach isn't exactly something that can be done within ten minutes, homeowners struggling to pay the mortgages for their Palm Beach homes will be pleased to know they won't need to travel too far.

Hope Now is an alliance of investors, mortgage servicers, and insurers and it will be hosting a mortgage modification event with major names like Chase, HSBC and Bank of America representatives on hand to speak with borrowers and learn more about the status of their mortgage as well as work out a viable payment solution to keep their Palm Beach homes and not become another statistic.

If you're interested in speaking with a representative, the Hope Now mortgage modification event starts at 11am on Friday and continues until 7:30pm at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.  Borrowers will be seen on a first-come, first-serve basis so if you need help paying for your Palm Beach homes, you may want to make plans to get there early as these events typically see a large influx of people.

By Darrell Hofheinz - Daily News Real Estate Writer

After being knocked senseless by the real estate bust, Palm Beachs condominium market south of Sloans Curve is beginning to stir, with more units changing hands in higher price ranges, brokers, agents and sales analyses say.

Even so, the problem that has plagued the area for many months a glut of outdated units that will require buyers to invest thousands of dollars to renovate them remains an obstacle to a quick recovery.

Sales of late have largely been driven by price-conscious buyers on the hunt for second and third homes, observers agree. Although more than 200 condominiums and cooperatives south of Sloans Curve in Palm Beach are on the market, buyers in the higher end those willing to pay at least $500,000 for an apartment are having trouble finding homes that meet their criteria.

They all want an ocean view. They all want to be in the best building. They all want to be in a unit thats been updated. And its very hard to give them all three, said Don Gorbach, a senior agent for the Corcoran Group in Palm Beach. Theres a lot of inventory out there, but theres not a lot of quality units.

Some owners who bought at the height of the boom 2006 and 2007 choose not to sell, fearing they wont recoup their original investment or the cost of renovations. Other sellers of non-updated units have seen buyers shy from apartments that require major interior work common south of Sloans Curve, where the majority of buildings are at least 30 years old, if not 40.

A marketon the upswing

When the slowdown slammed the island, real estate sources agree, no other area of the housing market was hit as hard or was slower to emerge from the economic muck than the South Ends Condominium Row.

But the sales picture is better than it has been since the recession tightened its grip on the island at the end of 2008, they say.

In 2007, at the height of the islands real estate boom, nearly $85 million worth of South End condominiums and cooperatives changed hands in 99 transactions, according to that years Evans Report analysis prepared by Palm Beach real estate attorney and property owner Leslie Evans. Those sales were spurred in part by readily available financing and investors who bought apartments for quick resale in a red-hot market.

But the bust in 2009 left many new owners in the lurch, generating transactions practically unheard of in Palm Beach: foreclosures and short sales, in which condos sold for less than what owners owed.

In 2009, the number of sales rose to 125 for South End condos, but the total dollar amount spent for them dropped to $73.5 million, reflecting plunging prices. In 2010, transactions climbed to 175, but the total dollar amount declined further, to $65 million.

Although more condos have sold in the years since the bust, prices plummeted from a median of $625,000 in 2007 to a median of $265,000 in 2010, the Evans Report shows.

In the boom period, a lot of people stepped into that hysteria of owning real estate, and they paid prices for units in their original condition that reflected prices of units that had been completely updated or were in a better location. It was kind of a perfect storm, recalled broker Scott Gordon of Scott Gordon Realty, whose Manalapan company focuses on South End condos. Before this past season, people were standing on the sidelines. Everybody was just waiting for that bell that said it was safe to come out and play.

That bell sounded steadily the past six months for higher-end buyers, Gordon said.
Last year, there were only seven transactions over $1 million for the entire year. So far this year, we have 12 that have closed, and another two sales are pending.

Broker Jeffrey Ray of Jeffrey Ray & Associates said higher-priced South End listings $1 million and up fared well this past season. The better inventory that I had did quite well, and price became the focus of the sale, he said.

But, Gordon cautioned, Im not so sure prices are going up (across the market). I think people are being more selective about what theyre buying. Theyre buying better location, for example.

Joan Wenzel, manager of condominium sales at Fite Shavell & Associates, specializes in luxury South End condos priced above $600,000.

“I’ve seen a definite upswing in prices,” she said. “I think the lower prices have been chewed up, especially if you want direct oceanfront. ... There are still bargains here, compared to a few years ago — just not the ridiculous giveaways.”

Sales figures in the Evans Report for the first quarter of this year support that. From Jan. 1 through the end of March, about the same number of condominiums in the South End sold as during the same period last year: 36 in 2011 versus 37 in 2010. But the median sales price rose by $126,250, to $376,250, and the total dollar amount of South End condos sold during the quarter nearly doubled, from $12.4 million last year to $22.8 million this year.

Evans hasn’t released his second-quarter report yet, but the Palm Beach Multiple Listing Service shows a steady number of South End sales since January — a total of 77 through the middle of this month. The biggest deal involved a three-bedroom condo with 4,040 square feet in the 2770 Building that sold in May for a recorded $2.2 million. The apartment was listed by Gordon; agent Ralph Gill of Monique Matheson Properties L.C. represented the buyer.

“Price it right, and it will move,” broker Monique Matheson said. “Sellers have realized that they can’t get the prices they were asking for, and they’re being more flexible.”

What’s for sale, and who’s buying

Waterfront apartments in the South End have traditionally been less expensive than the island’s in-town condominiums.

“The South End lets you live on the beach with a cost per square foot that’s almost half of what it would be to live in town,” Gordon said. “That’s not to say there aren’t great values in town, but it just demands a different price point.”

While Midtown condos are close to Palm Beach’s bustling retail and dining districts, buildings to the south have quieter resort-like charms. Direct ocean views and access are complemented by vistas to the west of the Intracoastal Waterway. The newly renovated Par 3 Golf Course is convenient for golfers. And the fact that access to the area is limited to a single roadway increases the sense of security — a key sales point, Gordon said.

The number of residential units available in the South End also puts the area into a class by itself: Of the 267 condos that sold throughout Palm Beach last year, nearly two-thirds, or 175, were in the South End, Evans documented.

Today, the South End condo market ranges from a one-bedroom co-op unit at The Ambassador for $60,000 — the bottom of the scale — to a rare-to-the-market double-unit penthouse with 6,500 square feet at Sloan’s Curve, listed at $6.99 million by Matheson.

According to mid-July figures from the Palm Beach Multiple Listing Service, 37 properties in the South End were on the market for more than $1 million; 71 between $500,000 and $1 million; 47 between $300,000 and $500,000; and 78 for less than $300,000. (The price ranges in the adjacent town of South Palm Beach, in comparison, are more narrow: Of the 59 properties listed for sale there in mid-July, only two were priced at more than $500,000, and of the rest, 42 were listed at less than $300,000.)

“I always say, ‘You buy building and view. These are the two things that drive the price,’ ” said Susan Sternfeld, a longtime condominium specialist with Martha A. Gottfried Inc. Square footage, condition and what has sold nearby are also factors in setting prices, she said. Thanks to the ease of comparison-shopping via real estate websites, buyers today often know exactly what they want — and what they want to pay for it, Sternfeld said.

Different profile

Today’s buyers also don’t fit the traditional snowbird profile, Wenzel, of Fite Shavell, said.

“My buyer used to be someone who was retiring from the Northeast who was looking to buy a second home. I’d say that over half of my buyers are looking for third homes — and they pay cash.”

Cash is key these days, as the availability of bank financing for condominiums has tightened since the bust.

Sternfeld agrees today’s buyers in the South End are likely to be younger — in their 30s and 40s — and in search of a pied-a-terre that will accommodate shorter stays. “The bottom line is they look at it as if they’ll be here on vacation, so they want a lot of amenities in the building they choose.”

Sternfeld added a kicker: “They also want newer amenities and very high ceilings, but there are few buildings that offer that.”

Updated apartments in demand

Properties in the area are all over the map when it comes to having the features in demand by the majority of today’s buyers: choice ocean views, updated kitchens and bathrooms, and fresh interiors in well-maintained buildings. Finding that package on the South End isn’t easy.

“Out of the 300 or so units (listed in mid-July), there’s less than 10 percent that have been renovated,” broker Gordon said.

Outdated apartments often end up in the hands of the original owner’s grown children, who find them a tough sell. Others who bought apartments in their original condition during the boom in hopes of flipping them for profit found themselves stuck with white elephants.

“Buyers don’t really want to renovate. And this season, I really saw them stick to their guns, whereas in the past, they would go ahead and buy and then renovate,” noted agent Susan Furman of Linda A. Gary Real Estate, whose specialty is condominiums priced at $1 million or more.

Wenzel cited one example of buyers paying more for renovated units today. At The Cove, 2784 S. Ocean Blvd., a renovated apartment recently sold for $685,000 — $190,000 more than the never-updated apartment directly below it fetched a year before.

“A lot of the units need updating,” said Gorbach of the Corcoran Group, “and they’re in buildings that need updating as well.”

While some higher-end buildings have made maintenance a priority, other buildings show their age — with deteriorating concrete, leaky air-conditioning ducts, loose balcony railings, an out-of-date lobby or a host of other infrastructure problems, Gordon said. Buyers, who drive sales, may avoid a building where problems are obvious, fearing big special assessments to fix them, he said.

What lies ahead?

Real estate agents acknowledge it will be a while before they see more stability in the number of transactions, inventory available for sale and prices fetched in the South End. And, they warn, it may take years before prices approach numbers seen at the height of the boom.

“Today, our inventory is probably double what the sales are. That’s going to be the biggest hurdle before there’s stability in the marketplace — to reduce our inventory,” Gordon said. “It’s happening, which is a good thing. If we stay on this course, though, we still have a year and a half to two years worth of inventory to be absorbed.

“And once that happens, we’ll see a little bit of normalcy in the marketplace, where (sales and prices) won’t be just bouncing around, as they are now.”

The many less expensive units on the market — priced below $250,000 — will eventually find entry-level buyers, Gordon predicted.

Wenzel said she reminds her apartment-hunters that the South End is unlike many other condominium areas in South Florida, where canyons of high-rises area are a given. The South End offers buyers a different sort of lifestyle — and Palm Beach cachet.

“The building may be more modest, but you’re right on the beach,” Wenzel said. “When I tell people that there aren’t new buildings in Palm Beach, I do have people who say, ‘What about Singer Island?’

“But then you’re not in Palm Beach.”

Those who follow the Palm Beach real estate market have been keeping a watchful eye on its ups and downs but lately it's been seeing a relative improvement in sales, even if some may consider them to be very modest.  How did the market fare during the month of May?

Existing sales for Palm Beach homes soared by a healthy 26 percent last month when compared to those of last year.  Not only did home sales improve, median sales prices actually improved for the first time in six months.  Additional welcoming news includes the actual number of homes sold, with the number surpassing 1,000 for the third month in a row.  Finally, the current housing has dropped from fifteen months to an eight month supply.

Although the same can't quite be said for Florida as a whole, the news regarding Palm Beach real estate is encouraging considering how rocky things have been for a town which is usually favored by  billionaires and business magnates.

Is the Palm Beach real estate market returning to its former status as one of the top investor friendly markets in South Florida?  Some might say so.  Taking advantage of wary homeowners still undecided about taking any steps in what is unquestionably a delicate market, investment properties are priced at some of the lowest values when evaluated historically.

While existing conditions are heavily in favor of seasoned investors, the Palm Beach Real Estate Investors Association is holding regular meetings starting today to assist both experienced investors and those just getting their feet wet in taking advantage of the many investment opportunities.

You don't necessarily need to attend one of these meetings if you're looking to explore the homes and condos available as an investment property.  Contact one of our Palm Beach realtors and we will help you get started on finding the most lucrative Palm Beach real estate available regardless of what your needs are.