Miami Beach homes are something of a paradox.  The higher end luxury residences are considered the types of properties that are having the most trouble finding buyers yet we regularly hear about new homes being sold to affluent buyers, albeit at a discounted price more often than not.  Take these examples of some properties that have recently been sold for millions.

Over in La Gorce, one of the area's classic Miami Beach homes built in 1939 was sold for a cool $9.5 million to a buyer who paid $978 per square foot, the original asking price being $13.5 million.  The two story residence features a distinctly Mediterranean design and contains seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and features such as hardwood floors, a four car garage and a boat dock.  The entire home encompasses just over 9,700 square feet.

Also in La Gorce Island, a couple purchased what could be considered one of the more modern Miami Beach homes, this one built in 2003.  Compared to the aforementioned property, this one is much more modest with four bedrooms and five bedrooms.  The couple ended up paying about $2.6 million for the property, that's roughly $384 per square foot.  The original asking price was nearly $3 million so the discount isn't quite as dramatic but it is still impressive.

Many people who own Miami Beach homes are getting room to breathe by successfully having their mortgage loans modified to something more manageable.  Mortgage modification events and marathons generate lots of attention and hundreds of homeowners but despite their good intentions,  having your loan modified does not come without some risks.

We all know that actually securing a new home loan is easier said than done, less than fifteen percent of South Floridians have been able to do so in fact.  However a new problem with these newly secured loans has made some homeowners wish they'd stuck with the original loans for their Miami Beach homes.  Balloon payments, which are one-time lump sum payments that cover any principal that may have been deferred are being included and so are terms suggesting that interest rates can still rise again.

Although they're intended to allow homeowners to actually keep their Miami Beach homes and avoid foreclosure, it's important to realize that a mortgage modification is not intended to be a permanent break but a temporary one.  If you plan on keeping the home, try and make plans for when those low payments come to an end and see whether or not the home is financially viable.

The weather forecast for this weekend doesn't look too promising for the time being but there's no reason to stay inside your Miami Beach homes when you can check out a music event in an indoor entertainment venue.  Several high profile artists will be performing in South Florida in the coming days, make sure you don't miss out on these highlights.

Travel up north to the city of Sunrise in Broward County and enjoy a performance by multiplatinum singer Michael Buble at the BankAtlantic Center tonight at 8 pm.  He'll be performing songs from his latest album, “Crazy Love” and some older hits.

You'll have two opportunities to enjoy the classic tunes by the legendary singer Aretha Franklin.  She's performing at the Seminole Hard Rock on March 16th but if you'd rather something closer to your Miami Beach homes, she'll also be performing the following day at the American Airlines Arena.

Got kids?  No need to find a babysitter and keep them holed up inside Miami Beach homes.  Also taking place at the aforementioned BankAtlantic Center is the Disney Live Rockin’ Road Show on March 14th.  The all ages event kicks off at 1 pm.

Miami Beach homes that are “underwater”--meaning owing more than what the property is worth—are nothing new in the current market.  The problem comes in when homeowners decide to throw in the towel and simply stop making their monthly mortgage payments altogether, a problem that leads to an eventual foreclosure among many other side effects.

The decision to walk away from Miami Beach homes that are underwater is understandable but what happens afterwards may not be worth the burden of not having to pay a mortgage.  For one, a homeowner’s credit score will nosedive significantly which makes it that much harder to get a car, credit card or even sign up for a basic cell phone plan.  Secondly, with the increased number of homeowners choosing to walk out banks are increasingly exercising their legal right to file lawsuits against homeowners and get the money owed to them.

If you find yourself struggling with mortgage payments or are entertaining the idea of walking away from your Miami Beach homes, keep in mind that there are many resources available designed to potentially lower your monthly payment via a modified loan agreement, including the government’s Making Home Affordable program.  Walking away may seem like a good solution but the long term effects are far worse.

Would you leave your Miami Beach homes if you were struggling with the mortgage and someone paid you to part with it?  That’s what the Obama administration is considering doing.  Not only would homeowners be allowed a short sale, they’d receive a monetary consolation prize of sorts to send them on their way.

Despite the government’s best efforts, its multibillion dollar mortgage modification program clearly has not reached its full projected potential, only assisting a small number of people in keeping their properties like Miami Beach homes.  Could this new strategy launching on the fifth of next month be the catalyst that will see the program work effectively?

The program is designed so that owners of properties such as Miami Beach homes will be left with about $1,500 in funds to use towards “relocation assistance”.  Whether or not that amount seems worth parting with a property will be up to the homeowner but it could potentially boost short sales and prevent yet another wave of foreclosures.

If you're among the numerous people living in Miami Beach homes who are looking to work out a mortgage refinancing of some sort, you may have also been one of the many who visited the recent mortgage modification marathon that took place over in Palm Beach County.  If you were unable to attend, all hope is not lost.

It's been around for some time now but the Obama administration has decided to extend its Making Home Affordable refinancing program for another year.  It's been around for some time now but many homeowners are completely unaware of its existence.  In fact, less than 195,000 people owning property like Miami Beach homes have taken advantage of the program.

Because Florida has a higher number of properties that have underwater mortgages, the program is considered an ideal solution for such a market.  If you're looking for some kind of financial assistance, you must owe up to 25 percent more on the loan for your Miami Beach homes than its market value in order to qualify.

Now that the Making Home Affordable program has been extended into June of 2011, perhaps it's time to stop struggling and find a solution that won't have you worried about being able to make next month's mortgage payment.