Well, I truly intended to post my review last Sunday but our MLS system was down for the day while the company was relocating servers, and by Monday the cold I had been fighting declared itself the victor and down I went for the better part of the rest of the week. Feeling a good bit better now and glad to be back at it. It has been a busy fortnight, too, with five closings and twelve new contracts, twelve new listings (two of which are already under contract), and fourteen price changes. Our inventory closes at 387, with 99 homes and 288 lots listed for sale in the the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, C-30 Corridor market. We have a whole lotta territory to cover today so let’s get right to it.
UPDATE: After posting this on Saturday, I learned later in the week that this sale was only for the one interior, land-locked lot, and did not include the lot fronting Sandlewood Blvd. as depicted in the county’s aerial photo. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We’ll begin our review of this week’s five sales up on Sandlewood Blvd. in Peninsula Estates, about a half mile south of the state park where we have a “twofer”, two lots being sold as one parcel with a combined list price of $69,000, attractively below the combined assessed value of $95,000. The two lots measure roughly 1 1/3 acres. They last sold in 1999 for $35,800. In what may be the Steal Deal of the Quarter, some lucky buyer was in the right place at the right time and picked up the title this week for $20,000.
This next sale is also in Peninsula Estates, on the gulf side, and is one entered into the MLS for comp purposes as it was not an MLS listing but a direct sale of a bank-owned fixer-upper. This is a photo of the house from her better days. She has set vacant now for several years and is in need of a fair amount of work. It’s a 3-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath, 1,058 square foot modular home built in the ’80’s up on Blue Heron Drive by the state park, and relocated onto this lot in the md-90’s. The bank sold it for $150,000, which means they basically sold it for little more than the rough value of the land. The county has it assessed at $160,309.
Our next sale is a classic short sale as it has been under contract since April 2010. It’s a 100′ wide gulf front lot in Cape Breezes about a mile south of the state park entrance and went under contract two years ago with a list price of $279,500. This is just amazing as this same lot sold in April 2005 for $1.2M. Ouch ouch ouch and ouch. When it went under contract it was assessed at $640,000; now the county has it at $300,000. The parties finally made it to closing on Thursday when a check for $275,000 sealed the deal.
Next up is another bank-owned gulf front bona fide fixer upper located on the Cape in the vicinity of Scallop Cove. One family had owned this 4-bedroom, 4- bath, 2,400 square foot beach house for about twenty years but sadly lost it to the bank this past fall. She has definitely seen better days; the decks and rails are rotting, the roof needs a lot of work, etc. and the bank has it priced at an “As Is” price of just $289,298, which means they’re putting most of the value in the 50′ waterfront lot. The county’s more generous than that, having it valued at $349,298. This week it sold for $258,900 cash.
We finally head off of the Cape for our fifth and final sale, a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,362 square foot home nestled away on a half acre lot in Treasure Bay out along the C-30 Corridor. Built in 1993, it last sold in February 2004 for $180,000. They put it back on the market two years late in November 2006 asking $264,900, but had to get that price all the way down to $199,000 to finally attract a buyer, and this week they went to closing for $175,000.
We’ll begin our marathon review of twelve new contracts in a subdivision on the Cape up by the state park, Park Point, where this bank-owned corner lot went under contract on Wednesday with a list price of $38,900. It sold in October 2003 for $145,000, and then resold the following October for $230,000. Fast forward to today and the county has it valued at $50,000.
We’ll head a couple blocks down the road to Barrier Dunes for our next two contracts, starting with this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,369 square foot townhouse which is one of the two new listings this week already under contract I mentioned earlier. When it was first built in 2002 it sold for $168,100, pretty close to its current list of $169,500. This is a homesteaded property.
Just around the corner the other contract is on a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,172 square foot unit listed as a short sale for $177,812, the sellers having paid $370,000 for it in August 2004, even though it had sold just two months prior to that in June for $207,000. The owners listed it the following summer in July 2005 for $485,000. If this one looks familiar it may be because it has now been under contract five times without ever making it to closing.
Over on the bay side of Cape San Blas road up adjacent to the south side of the state park on Blue Heron Drive our next contract is on a 104′ by 208′ lot listed as a short sale for $42,000. This one sold in December 2004 for $260,000, then again in early 2006 for $329,000. Today the county has it at $55,000. This little subdivision includes deeded bay access but not gulf.
Back to Peninsula Estates where our next contract is on a half-acre first tier bank-owned lot with awesome gulf views listed for $121,900. I did a double check on this one’s recorded sale price of $760,000 in July 2005, but according to court records that is indeed what it last sold for. This X-zone lot also comes with deeded gulf and bay access making it just that much more attractive. 
About three miles further south, we have another bay side lot under contract, this one a road front third-acre parcel measuring roughly 79′ by 193′. It’s in the X zone, and comes with the use of a shared dock on the bay. This isn’t a recorded subdivision so there are no HOA fees.
We’ll head directly across the street to Sea Grass for our next deal, a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,304 square foot home listed as a short sale for $450,000, a price that induced an offer within three days of its being listed last week. The X zone lot alone sold in the summer of ’05 for $580,000, and after this house was finished, sold again the following summer for $880,000. The list price is above the county’s assessment of $407,867.
It’s all happening on the Cape this week and our next contract is no exception as we head a mile further south to Aruba Drive in Cape Sands Landing where this beautifully renovated 4-bedroom 3-bath, gulf front duplex went under contract with a list price of $359,000. When this home was built in 1985 there were at least two other home seaward of it, one of which was relocated to a nearby lot and another lost to Hurricane Opal in 1995.
Up next, a nicely renovated gulf front home in Surfside Estates about another half mile south along the beach. It’s a 4-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 1,752 square foot home on a 50′ swath of beach. Built in 1991, the owners have done a number of nice upgrades, including a made-over kitchen. They purchased the home in late 1994, and have had it on the market since February 2005 when they listed it for $950,000. Adapting to the changing market, it went under contract last Monday with a list price of $455,000. This is another one the county has too low, pegging it at just $287,405.
Down near the rocks at Stumphole, our next contract is on a 45′ wide gulf front lot listed for $159,000, pretty much in line with the county’s assessment of $150,000. It’s in a VE flood plane in an area of historically high erosion. Those of you who have sat through my History of Cape San Blas Erosion lecture understand why I’m not too jazzed about lots such as this. We’ll just move on.
Here we are on the south side of the Cape in The Club at Cape San Blas for our eleventh contract which is on an attractive 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,620 square foot townhouse style condo listed as a short sale for $219,900. Built in 2004, it last sold for $499,900. This is a beautiful home with gorgeous heart of pine floors, granite counter tops throughout, and 10 foot ceilings
We have finally made it to our twelfth and final contract, a bank-owned 75′ by 359′ lagoon front lot on Indian Pass listed for $75,000, well below its assessed value of $104,500. This little piece of paradise last sold in the summer of ’04 for $325,000.
We made it! Great to see so much activity and worth noting once again the two homes that went under contract the same week they were listed. Our inventory of homes has come down to a point where buyers are having to move more quickly to get the best selections. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, I’d love to help. Let’s talk – call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected]. I also want to thank all of you who sent such kind notes of concern this week – greatly appreciated more than you know. Thanks so much for stopping back by today.