Luis and Giovanna Fernandez are among the most prominent names in the luxury real estate market in South Florida. With decades of expertise in the industry, they can handle the most high-profile and complicated transactions, while ensuring the best deals for their clients, be the buyers, sellers or investors. Both Luis and Giovanna specialize in high-end properties in Coral Gables, South Miami, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest and Brickell among others. These real estate powerhouses sat down with Haute Residence to discuss their recent sale in Key Biscayne, FL:
Describe the estate that you recently sold (location, features, amenities, style, etc.)?
350 Island Drive: The Island House located on the Island of Key Biscayne Is a stunning, custom built Modern waterfront home. My seller went above and beyond sparing no expense in construction from imported marble & wood floors, glass-cased wine cellar, home generator, impact doors and windows, a rooftop terrace and a home generator to fuel the entire home for our stormy summers. He even had the home entirely soundproofed with movie theater grade insulation. He loves the ocean so the home had water features from the waterfall that greeted you at the door, the 500-gallon saltwater fish tank in the foyer and of course, the floor-to-ceiling sliding doors for a clear view of the water. We sold this home in under 4 months for $7.9 million.
What were the prospective buyers looking for when seeking this home?
Warmth and water! They moved from the cold Minnesota winter deciding they were sick of the harsh winters. The day of the walk through the buyer showed me the temperature back home being at a frigid -34 degrees and said: "this is why we are here!"
What is significant about the selling of this particular home?
This home was built with so much love living out his dream. He was the only owner and it was very hard for him to part with it. I felt like I was helping him give his daughter away at the altar!
How does this sale correlate with the current state of the real estate market?
The luxury market is sluggish, particularly on Key Biscayne. There is a lot of competition and an overage of large homes for sale in the South Florida market as buyers are going more minimalistic. What made this home appealing was its ease to the open ocean and the size of the home is a manageable size that can still accommodate a large family.
Photos courtesy of Luis and Giovanna Fernandez
