What a difference a week makes. After flat-lining with zero sales and zero new contracts last week, this week we hit the mother lode, with two sales and nine new contracts, five new listings, and seven price changes. Even so, our inventory remains unchanged from last week closing once again with 343 properties listed for sale in the MLS for Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and the C-30 Corridor market, with 134 homes and 209 lots. We have a lot of territorty to cover today so let’s get right at it.
I absolutely love cottage style and southern history, so this next home works for me on both levels. The first of our two sales is located over on the Pass in Indian Pass Beach Subdivision. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1900 square foot Cracker-style home which was relocated onto this site sometime after 1998 when the sellers bought the unimproved lot for just $30,000. The kitchen captures the flair of the home.
The home was only on the market a few weeks when it went under contract in early December for a modest $249,900, and the sellers got very near that list price when it closed this week for $235,500. This is one the county’s assessment was way off on their having it at a questionably low value of $128,197.
Our second sale is a true comp killer, a quarter-acre first tier lot in The Cottages at Indian Summer which last sold in mid-2005 for $525,000, and sold this week for less than 10 cents on the dollar for $45,000. This was not listed as a short sale nor was it bank-owned so this one’s a stunner. That’s also less than half of the $100,000 county assessed value.
Let’s see what people were buying this week and look at our nine new contracts. We’ll start at the north end of the Cape in Peninsula Estates where this bank-owned bay front, 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,344 square foot home with a list price of $277,200 went under contract with no contingencies. It sits on a lovely 100′ wide lot with a gorgeous view of the bay, and already has a good dock in place. The house needs a fair amount of work but even so this was a steal at this list price with the last similar lot just up the street having sold not too long ago for $199,000.
There’s a little bit of everything in this week’s mix and our next contract is on a pre-construction package which we see every now and then. It’s on a 4-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 2000 square foot home on a first tier lot in the San Dunes Subdivision about three miles south of the state park. The package was listed for $319,000; the county’s assessment on the lot alone is $150,000, which seems a bit high at this point, but when you subtract a reasonable value for the land and estimate the square footage construction costs, this is till an attractively priced offer.
Our fourth contract is on a bank-owned first tier 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,508 square for home built in 1999 currently listed for $495,000. It last sold in October 2004 for roughly twice that, $880,000, and when the bank got it back earlier this year they originally listed it for $599,000. When you look at this home it appears to be gulf front but there is another lot platted seaward of it which in all likelihood will not have anything built on it for quite some time.
We’ll head to the south end of the Cape to Cape Dunes for our fifth contract, which is on a great gulf view home with 2-bedrooms, one a large master suite with french doors opening to an adjoining large room which opens onto a spacious deck with terrific views of the gulf. Because it’s in the X zone, insurance costs are minimal since flood insurance is not required. This is a good value at its current list price of just $249,000. The sellers have owned it since 1995 when they bought it for $84,500. They have done a good bit of renovations over the years so the home is in good shape and shows well.
Remember this bay front home over on C-30? If it looks familiar that may be because it was my New Listing Pick of the Week just before Christmas. It’s bank-owned and listed for the very attractive price of just $168,300, way below the county’s asessed value of $246,840. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2,283 square foot home built in 2002, and with the assessed value of the lot being at $50,000, the list price equates to roughly $52 per square foot so this is aggressivley priced and that strategy paid off quickly with a no-contingencies contract on Monday.
Our seventh contract illustrates just how far land prices are correcting. It’s a 75′ x 217′, 0.37 acre lot in Treasure Bay out on C-30 which sold back in 2005 for $200,000. It eventually ended back in the hands of the bank who had it listed all the way down to $17,000 when it went under contract this week, exactly half the $34,000 of the county’s current assessed value. It’ll be interesting to see what it actually closes for as it previously sold in late 2002 for $40,000 and prior to that in 1998 for $8,200.
Up next is this first tier lot over in The Cottages at Indian Summer which went under contract on Monday as a short sale with a list price of just $59,900. However, it’s adjacent to the other first tier lot that we looked at today that just sold for $45,000 so I’m curious to see what this one actually goes for. The quarter-acre lot measures 50′ by 220′, has easy proximity to the beach with a view somewhat obstructed by a number of pines, but all in all a very peaceful and pretty setting. It last sold in April 2004, and is currently assessed at $100,000.
We’ve made it to our ninth and final new contract which takes us over to Indian Pass Beach Subdivision where yet another classic beach cottage has gone under contract, this one a 1,200 square foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath listed for $229,900. It has an interesting sales history, having sold in October 2003 for $330,000, then again a year later in December 2004 for $400,000. Fast forward to today and the county has it valued at $180, 488.
There are several really interesting offerings among our five new listings so rather than pick just one take a look at them all. I especially like the gulf front lots in Money Bayou since we just sold one there in December for $190,000 which gives us a nice fresh comp on which to base an offer. I’m not seeing one property that shines ahead of all the other seven price changes so I’m not going with a Price Change Pick of the Week.
Man, what a marathon! Thanks for hanging in there til the end. The amount of activity we’ve explored here today mirrors my experience perfetly as I’ve been working seemingly non-stop since early December. Not complaining one bit – love having so much going on. Have had the pleasure of working with a lot of my readers helping them buy great properties. I’d love to help you with your shopping, too, if you’re in the market for some coastal property, too, give me a call on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Take care, keep warm, and thanks so much for stopping my today.