School’s back in session so the beaches are quieter but as far as sales are concerned it seems a lot of people have enrolled in Real Estate Investing 101 as we had a banner week with three more sales and three new contracts. With just two new listings our inventory remains essentially unchanged, down just one, closing the week at 401, with the MLS showing 155 homes and 246 lots for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Only six sellers decided to try lowering their prices. Let’s take a look at what people are buying.
The banks are generating most of our business lately, and two of our sales and two of our new contracts were bank-owned properties. Our first sale takes us to one of the northernmost subdivisions on the Cape, Sunset Pointe, where this interior bank-owned lot listed for $44,500 sold for just $38,000. That’s a 10-cents on the dollar sale having last sold in September 2006 for $355,000. The county’s going to have to start moving these assessments downward as they had it at $50,000.
Our second sale takes us a couple hundred feet south of Scallop Cove where this high and dry first tier lot overlooking St. Joe Bay sold for $72,000, well below its list price of $99,000, and a smidgen below the assessed value of $77,000. It’s one of four lots carved out of a 100′ wide parent tract that sold for $310,000 in early 2004. Each of the four lot owners share an impressively well-built dock for easy access to fun on St. Joe Bay.
We’ll head on out to the C-30 Corridor for our third and final sale of the week which takes us over to a mini-subdivision called Stillwater almost all the way out to the Franklin County line. It’s our second bank-owned sale of the week which last sold in early 2005 for $118,214, just a little above the bank’s list price of $21,500, and about 5-cents on the dollar for the $6,500 it sold for on Friday. Your read that right – no typo – $6,500. Unbelievable. The county on this one is WAY off, having it at $55,000.
The first of our three new contracts is back on the Cape in Seagrass where this bank-owned quarter-acre first tier lot which sold in early 2004 for $225,000 goes under contract with a list price of $140,000, below the assessed value of $170,000. This is a significant listing in that another first tier lot a little bit further south in Ocean Haven sold just several months ago for $160,000.
Our second contract is on a sprawling 3,888 square foot, 6-bedroom, 4-bath home with 50′ of waterfront listed for $849,900. That lot alone sold for $1,044,000 in late 2008. Those owners were in the process of building a home when the property went to the bank, and they sold the unfinished house in June of 2009 for a mere $303,000. The current owners finished the home beautifully and they now have a contract on it. If you have in mind about building your own home just like these owners, you will need to source the builders you require, and you can check here to see how you can get help in this area. For sure, the whole process of constructing a house from the ground up is no easy feat whatsoever. However, there’s plenty of helpful tips and advice to be found online on what to consider when building your own home.
Our third and final new contract finds us back out on C-30 once again at Stillwater where yet another bank-owned property went under contract with a low list price of $13,500. The lot previously sold for $113,000 but is currently assessed for $55,000. There are no contingencies to be met and the projected closing date is September 21.
Only two new listings so no Pick of the Week there, but among our six new price tags I do have a Pick of the Week, and it’s a house on the Cape with million dollar views for just a fraction of the cost.
This is a 1,073 square foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath home with unobstructed gulf views which although it is not technically gulf front, you can see from the odd shape of the lot it’s not likely the beach will shift in such a way as to provide ample room for a home to be built in front of it.
In the spirit of full disclosure this is one of my listings, and this week we lowered the price from $399,000 to $377,000. If you’ve thought you couldn’t afford a home on the beach this one could be just what you’ve been wishing for. The owners have never rented it, using it only as a family retreat, and they have taken very good care of it. It’s being sold completely furnished, too.
That about does it for this week. As you can see there are some terrific values out there. If you’re interested in shopping or thinking of selling, I’d love to hear from you. Try me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . I love hearing from my readers. I hope you have a terrific afternoon, and thanks so much for taking a few minutes to stop by today.