The weather’s a bit cooler with a hint of fall in the air, but our market certainly hasn’t cooled, as this week we chalked up a respectable six closings, one new contract, listed six properties, and changed seven prices. We added a few to our inventory, closing up four from last week to 395, with 108 homes and 287 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets.
We’ll start our review of our six sales on the north end of Cape San Blas, on Spinnaker Lane about a quarter-mile south of the state park entrance with this 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1120 square foot circa-1993 bay front cottage on St. Joe Bay. The sellers have owned it since 1987 when they bought the lot alone for $28,000. It’s built on a 70′ by 227′ one-third acre lot and sold on Monday for full list price of $249,000 cash, way above the assessed value of $162,534.
Our next sale was this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,532 square foot home situated on a 51′ wide gulf front lot on Clipper Way on the Cape. Clipper Way is in Feather Sound, one of the original subdivisions on the Cape with homes dating from the early 80’s. Built in 1989, this home has an interesting recent history, having sold in late 2004 for $772,000, and then again the following winter for $1.188M. That’s a little bit above the $291,400 the county’s current assessment. It went under contract in late August as a short sale with a list price of $499,900, and closed this week for $449,000.
List prices are all over the place as illustrated by our next sale, a half-acre gulf front lot close to Stumphole. It’s in the VE flood plain, entirely seaward of the CCCL, and in an area of historically severe erosion. Even so, it was listed for $220,000 in the same vicinity of gulf front lots listed nearby for $85,000. It sold this week for an even $100,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $150,000.
According to the MLS notes, the buyer of that lot also closed on another property in the Stumphole area, the first house past the rocks. It’s a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,484 square foot home completed in 2010, listed originally as a spec home in 2008 for $799,000. It went under contract with a list price of $399,900, and closed on Wednesday for $400,000. The county has it valued at $279,194.
Our next sale is on a bank-owned bay view lot at Eventide on the south side of the Cape, which went under contract two weeks ago with a list price of $20,000, exactly one half of the county’s assessed value of $40,000. This is one of several bank-owned properties in this subdivision the developer was never able to sell. I was stunned to see it closed this week for $12,000.
Our sixth and final sale is on the south side of the Cape in Crescent Palms, where this 4-bedrom, 3 1/2 bath, 2,504 square foot gulf front home sold on Friday for $735,000, about 92% of its list price of $799,000. Not bad. Not sure why the county has this lovely home assessed so low, at $454,237. It’s on a 50′ lot in a quiet, gated community tucked away from view not far from Salinas Park.
Our only contract is over in Treasure Bay along the C-30 Corridor where this bay view first tier lot went back under contract as a short sale with a list price of just $29,900, having last sold in October 2004 for $275,000. The owners put it back on the market in early 2009 for $199,900 but were never able to attract a buyer. They recently dropped it to its current list and this is the third time they’ve had an offer on it. Hopefully for them the third time will be the charmer.
From our six new listings, my Pick of the Week is this 100′ x 228′, half-acre, gulf view first tier lot in Treasure Shores listed for an appealing $129,900, less than the $150,000 it sold for in 2002. Treasure Shores is located along the scenic C-30 Corridor, and is outside the Coastal Barrier Resource areas of Cape San Blas and Indian Pass, and therefore elegible for Federal flood insurance. This lot is in a coveted “X” flood zone, so flood insurance is not required when you build. All of the lots in this subdivision have deeded gulf access, too.
My Price Change Pick of the Week from our seven price changes is easily this bay front cottage at Scallop Cove on the Cape which was reduced from an already attractive $159,900 to a truly tempting $156,000. This place has so much going for it. It’s bay front with a boardwalk out over the bay, totally renovated in 2003, well furnished and tastefully decorated with a colorful beach-themed decor, ceramic tile floors, gleaming 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 bay acess, 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 easily cash flows at roughly a 5 or 6% 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. Email me for details.
That’s a wrap for this week. Still lots going on so if you’re thinking that now may be the time for you to secure yourself a place here on the coast, let me know. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] .
If you’re lucky enough to be in the area this weekend, be sure to take in some of the awesome music from the songrwriters from Nashville here for The Blast on the Bay. Lots of great free music, and fantastic fall weather on tap, so it should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.
