It’s nice to return to a sunny, breezy and pleasantly cooler Cape San Blas after a soggy, rain-drenched week; we really needed the rain but we’re happy to have the sunshine back. It didn’t rain on our real estate parade, though, as we closed six sales, wrote seven new contracts, listed seven new properties and lowered the prices on seven others. Unfortunately, our inventory headed in the wrong direction, adding another three, closing at 344, with 106 homes and 238 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s see what kind of great deals buyers snapped up this week.
The first of our six sales is an out-of-the-ordinary listing, a lot in Sea Cliffs on the north side of the Cape measuring just 18′ by 60′, the footprint of a townhouse. It’s a bank-owned property that was listed for $25,000, well below the county’s assessment of $45,000. I looked at its location on the plat map and it appears to be for an end unit so it will be interesting to see if the new owner decides to build soon or waits for others to buy up the adjoining lots before getting underway. This week it went for $23,000.
We have another bank-owned property next door in Barrier Dunes for our second sale. This one’s a lake front 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,377 square foot unit with a history that is a prime example of what happened during the real estate bubble. In 2003 it sold for $309,000, and just 15 months later in September 2004 resold for $417,500. In April of this year it was foreclosed on and the bank listed it for $174,900, in line with the county’s assessed value of $179,719, and on Friday it closed for very near that at $167,500.
In nearby Ovation we have the first of our post-Ashwood May Madness Sale where they cut the prices so low on a large part of their inventory. That sale period officially ended, and the lots they’re releasing since then are sporting higher price tags, such as this bay front beauty listed for a still very attractive $74,500. I’ll say one thing about this seller; they don’t budge on their list prices and on Friday they sold this one for that full list of $74,500. That’s a nice 11+% increase in appreciation for two of my recent buyers savvy enough to have gotten their bay front lots while the sale price of $67,000 was in effect.
Next up is a distinguished beauty, this handsome 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,591 square foot gulf front home on Haven Road. The sellers bought the 55′ wide lot in late 2000 for $255,000 and built in 2003. They’ve had it on the market since last April when they listed it for $869,000, and it went under contract last month with a $799,000 price tag. On Friday they turned over the keys at closing for an effective value of $655,000 after closing concessions were met.
A little further south of Haven Road, our next sale is a gulf view lot that was listed for $69,000. It’s about a third of an acre and measures 100′ by 140′. This was part of a group sale of lots from a minor-replat of a larger parcel, so no sales history on this lot alone. On Thursday it closed for $53,500.
We’ll head off the Cape and over along the C-30 Corridor to Gulf Pines for our sixth and final sale, a 100′ by 257′, .59 acre first tier lot that went under contract in early April with a list price of $159,000, about double the county’s assessed value of $85,000. In October 2003 it sold for $300,000, and then again in October 2009 for $165,000. On Friday it closed for $119,500.
OK – now on to our seven new contracts, heading back to the north end of the Cape to Sunset Pointe where our first contract is on an 80′ by 110′ quarter-acre lot with an “X” zone LOMA. The sellers bought it in late 2009 with plans to build there until they couldn’t resist the recent super savings at Ovation where they snapped up two adjacent lots on the bay. Now they’re planning to build there so they put this one up for sale with a $44,900 asking price. I had a buyer who had asked me just days before to let him know if any “X” zone lots became available in Sunset Pointe so the day this showed up in the MLS I called him, he submitted an offer, seller accepted, and on Tuesday next week we’re going to closing.
We’re back at Barrier Dunes for our next two contracts, beginning with this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,845 square foot townhouse listed as a short sale for $199,000. The sellers bought it back in mid 2005 for $440,000, basically quadruple the $111,900 it had sold for just 5 years earlier in late 1999. The county has it assessed at $194,723.
Just down the street is our fourth new contract, another 2-bedroom, this one with a terrific straight-one view of the gulf down a green way. The sellers are the original owners who bought it from the developer in 1999 when they paid $118,200 for it. They’ve maintained this home very well and it’s in excellent condition. They’ve listed it for $239,900. My buyers were looking for a reasonably priced gulf view rental home and this should fill the bill very nicely.
Our next contract is a 2-bedroom bay front cottage at Scallop Cove listed for just $156,000. Sweet. It’s one of six cottages on 200 feet of waterfront which includes a shared pier on the bay and deeded beach access directly across the street. Originally built in the mid-80′s, the cottages were totally refurbished in 2003 and outfitted with new metal roofs, tile floors, granite counter-tops, new front decks, and all new appliances and furnishings. After the renovations were completed, the owner sold this one for $160,000. The county’s assessed value on this one seems way too low, coming in at just $97,772, with the last recorded sale of one of the other cottages having been $150,000.
We”e heading back off the Cape again over onto the C-30 Corridor, first turning left towards the Buffer Preserve stopping at Treasure Bay where this bank-owned lot measuring 138′ by 254′ (0.8 acre) went under contract with a list price of $59,900. That’s well below the county’s assessed value of $77,000, and less than a quarter of the $269,000 it last sold for in mid-2004.
Bringing up the rear this week with our seventh and final new contract is yet another bank-owned lot, this one on Canoe Lane near Indian Pass. It’s a 74′ by 244′, 0.4 acre FEMA-eligible property that last sold in September 2006 for $550,00. Wow. The bank has it listed for $61,600, pretty close to the county’s assessment of $60,000.
That does it for this week. As you can see, this stepped-up pace of sales has become the new norm. Your dollars may have less buying power in almost everything else you encounter, but when it comes to real estate your buying power is stronger than it has been in years. Now’s a great time to diversify. To get started, call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected]. Have a terrific week and I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.