The stock market may have been in a turmoil but local real estate had a bullish week, with not just one but two closings, one new contract, four new listings and ten new price tags. Our inventory unfortunately continues to creep back upward, ending the week up two from last week, with a total of 379 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 market, with 148 homes, and 231 lots. That’s a 6% increase just since the first of the year.
Interestingly, both of our sales this week were land, one a 100′ wide gulf to roadfront parcel on Cape San Blas, and the other a road front, gulf view lot on C-30.
We’ll start with the Cape sale which was originally offered as two adjacent lots (18 and 19 of San Blas Estates) for 200′ of gulf front for $1.59M. Apparently a contract was negotiated for selling just one of them, and lot 19 closed on Monday for $750,000, roughly half of the original list for both, so very good job. It’s a beautiful piece of property not far from Scallop Cove. The seller had owned it since at least the early 80’s so he did just fine I’m sure.
The second sale was on this road front lot with a terrific gulf view located in Waters Edge subdivision on C-30, just past the curve where you turn onto Cape San Blas Road. These people got a great deal as it was listed for $125,000 and they were able to buy it on Friday for $80,000 cash. The seller did ok, too, since he bought it in early 2002 for $65,000. Only the county property appraiser thought it was worth more since he had it assessed all the way up at $150,000. The county’s been collecting a bundle of taxes this year on assessed values that have absolutely no basis in reality any more. They had better start looking long and hard at making some draconian budget cuts.
If you can’t park your money comfortably in the stock market right now it has to go somewhere so it’s a good time to diversify that portfolio with some quality bargain-basement priced, income-producing real estate, which is exactly what one savvy investor did Friday by putting a contract on this gulf front condo at Sea Cliffs. These homes have awesome views and the buildings have been well-maintained by the owners’ association over the years. The sellers appear to be the original owners as records indicate they bought it for $133,000 back in 1987 when these were built. They put it on the market in February 2006 for $750,000, obviously with no takers, and have tweaked the price downward ever since, finally landing at $450,000 last June. According to the MLS notes, it is scheduled to close April 6. I’m curious to see just how far below the county’s assessed value ot $503,711 it actually sells for. (Don’t you just love the odd dollar amounts the county comes up with???) If you do feel like you want to dip your toe back into the stock market at the same time to help your real estate investments, you can look at how to buy bitcoin with a Paysafecard, also known as Bitcoin mit Paysafecard kaufen, to see if you can build up some financial backing.
Only four new listings this week, three of which are lots, so my pick of the week is easily this bay front cottage at Scallop Cove on the Cape which I listed for $249,000 on Tuesday. This place has so much going for it. It’s bay front with a dock, totally renovated in 2003, well furnished and tastefully decorated with a colorful beach-themed decor, ceramic tile floors, gleaming black granite countertops, all electric appliances, roomy screened in porch, and large open deck for sunbathing or picnicking. Check out the view – this picture was taken on the front deck.
There is also a dedicated easement to the beach across the street with a gated walkover. Here’s the beach at Scallop Cove.
There are six of these cottages in all, and they have a hugely loyal following of people who have been staying in them each season literally for years and years. Because of the dock, they are extremely popular with the scalloping and fishing set. Properly managed, this cottage should easily produce a gross rental income of $20K-$21K which, at this price, when you crunch the numbers cash flows at roughly a 4 to 4 1/2% cap rate. Not a lot of properties out here can do that. And don’t forget, under current tax law you can use the home up to 14 days per calendar year and claim business expenses for maintaining your investment. That’s pretty sweet. All this and seller financing is even available to sweeten the deal further. Email me for details.
There are some very tempting opportunities in this week’s crop of price changes and I can’t narrow it to just one winner, so I’m going with two gulf front lots for $299,000 and $275,000. 
One is located at Curve at the Cape, a gated sudivision on C-30 just past Cape San Blas Road. It has been listed since July for $399,900, but the seller is suddenly serious and brought it all the way back to $299,000 to get it sold now. This should do the trick. Since it’s outside the CBRA zone, federal flood insurance isn’t an issue in this area. Nice size lot, too, with 59′ of water frontage which at $299K is only a little over $5000 per waterfront foot where it has been hovering around the $8000 mark for the most part. This lot last sold in April 2004 for $640,000 and is assessed by the county for $505,325.
The other is a bank-owned lot located on Indian Pass very near the boat ramp, and it has been reduced from $325,000 to $275,000. With 25% down, seller financing is available: 5% with 5 year balloon. This lot last sold in April 2005 for $735,000, and is assessed at $437,410. Email me for more details on either of these; I doubt they’ll stay on the market long at these prices.
It’s a nice change of pace having regular inquiries again from buyers looking for good properties after having been quiet for so long. If you’re interested in moving back into some real estate instead of stocks, there are some very attractive properites out there. Give me a call toll free at 877-512-9366, locally 227-7891, or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you. As always, thanks so much for stopping by today.