A number of people capped off their summer vacations this week with the ultimate beach souvenir: a place at the beach to call their own. We closed four sales, wrote two new contracts, listed five properties (one of which is already under contract) and tried on eight new price tags. In what I believe is a first in the four years I’ve been writing this blog, our inventory remains exactly where it was last week, at 403, with 119 homes and 284 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We have a nice variety of properties to review today so let’s get started.
The first two of our four sales are on the Cape up at Ovation where those recent developer price reductions are having their intended effect and they’re finally selling a lot of lots again. They closed on two more this week, both good sized corner lots overlooking the bay. Each was sold for full list price of $50,000. These are both “X” zone lots with awesome bay views. They’re a terrific value at $50K, which is below the county’s assessed value of $65,000. There are only a few of these left with several others also being under contract so if you’ve been considering purchasing one of these let me know soon because they’re going quickly now.
We’ll head off the Cape and out onto the C-30 Corridor for our other two sales, both gulf front homes, heading towards Indian Pass stopping first at this bank-owned lovely 6-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,348 gulf front home built in 2008 as a spec home and listed for a mere $590,000. The owner bought the lot alone in February 2007 for $926,5000, then built this lovely home, so they were very heavily invested into it, and tried to market it as early as the summer of ’07 when they listed it for $1.825M. They eventually lost it to the bank who sold it ”as is” with some interior finish work still needing to be completed. On Thursday it sold for $551,000, which is not far off from the current assessed value of $517,344. If you think this was a deal, wait til you see our next one.
Our fourth sale is on one of my favorite homes which I’ve featured before as a Pick of the Week. It’s a gorgeous craftsman-quality gulf front stucco home in Money Bayou listed as a short sale for $649,900, having last sold in 2006 for $1.25M. The county has it at half that, for $567,295. This is so much home for the money, especially considering it sits on a 50′ wide stretch of stable beach front, is FEMA eligible and has no HOA fees. It has 2,172 square feet under heat and air with spacious decks on both levels for a total of 4,300 square feet. Under contract since the beginning of April, the bank finally approved the deal, and on Friday it closed for the unbelievable price of just $525,000. Talk about a serious comp killer . . . .
It’s tastefully decorated and sold furnished.
The spacious kitchen features custom-crafted cabinetry throughout, gleaming granite counter tops, and high end appliances.
Somebody was handsomely rewarded for driving a hard bargain.
We’ll head about a mile west for the first of our two new contracts which is on this immaculate bay front home on Sandbar Drive in Treasure Bay, also along the C-30 Corridor. It’s a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,953 square foot home on 100′ of waterfront in a FEMA flood insurance eligible community. Built in 1996, our sellers have owned it since December 2002 when they bought it for $295,000. They’ve had it on the market since May when they listed it for $309,000, but didn’t really generate a lot of interest until they reduced to price recently to $286,000, which attracted a good number of people scheduling to see it, and last Saturday one of them wrote an acceptable offer and we’re waiting to close. Price it right and they will come.
It’s been all about the the C-30 Corridor today, and our second new contract is on the lagoon, about 2 miles past the World Famous Indian Pass Raw Bar. This one was listed not too long ago, but then withdrawn when it went to the bank in early August. They listed it this week at $99,900 and the following day it went under contract. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200 square foot home built in 2008 currently assessed at $88,923, and it last sold in late 2008 for $425,000. This place has awesome views overlooking its 100′ of waterfront.
Our five new listings all look pretty good, so take a look at all of them. There are actually only four left to consider since one looked so good it’already under contract (the little house on the lagoon for $99,900).
My Price Change Pick of the Week from our eight price changes is easily this bay front cottage at Scallop Cove on the Cape which was reduced from an already attractive $169,000 to a truly tempting $159,900. 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. Our price points have gotten to where properties are moving at a good clip again as it’s taking fewer and fewer dollars to acquire premium properties. If you’re interested in finding out more, please call or text me on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to [email protected] and I’ll be glad to help you explore possibilities. Until then, have a terrific week, be safe, and as always, thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to stop by today.