If you weren’t lucky enough to be on the Cape this week you missed one of the prettiest weeks of the year. The weather couldn’t be more perfect: crystal blue skies, highs around 78 or 80, relatively low humidity and gentle breezes. Mark your calendar: October is a great time to head to the coast. It was a pretty good week for real estate as well, with one sale and one new contract. Our inventory edged up just a smidgen to 392, with one additonal home (164 vs. 163) and three new lots (228 vs. 225). We also have seven new listings, seven new price tags, and eight expired unsold.
Our solo sale of the week was this 3,324 square foot 4-bedrom, 4- bath gulf view home in Sea Grass on Cape San Blas. Built in 2006, the developer put it on the market in June of that year for $1.175M and kept tweaking the price downward to $785,000 in April of this year when unfortunately it was taken back by the bank. They put it back on the market in June at $749,000 but after three months with no takers they slashed the price to $575,000 on September 2 and got a contract 4 days later. It closed on Tuesday for $550,000 which is well below the county’s assessed value of $588,727.
This week’s new contract is on another bank-owned property, a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 947 square foot gulf front townhouse which the MLS says went under contract on Tuesday, although the listing agent told me back around the 9th that it was under contract. Not sure why it took that long for the change of status to show up since our MLS rules require all status changes to be updated within 48 hours. It was originally listed in August for $254K but dropped not long thereafter to $214,900. There are contingencies to be met so no posted closing date yet.
This is turning out to be a banner week for bank owned properties as my pick of the week from our seven new listings is – you guessed it – bank owned. This lot is a little over a third of an acre and is located just outside the state park entrance. From the looks of this aerial, it seems there should be a decent gulf view. Last sold in January 2005 for $380,000, the county now has its assessed value at $192,000, so with a list price of $99,000 this property should go under contract quickly.
My pick of the week from our seven price changes isn’t bank-owned, but it is definitely priced to sell. This property is located in one of the nicest subdivisions in the area, Jubilation, which features a gulf-front pool, ribbon curbing, architectural street lighting and landscaped common areas. There are some very lovely homes here as well of the classic Florida coastal style. As you can see from this aerial, you should have awesome gulf views when you build. Last sold in August 2004 for $320,000, the county has it assessed for $290,000, and this week the seller lowered the price to $169,000 to get it sold. This is a beautiful homesite.
As you can see, there are some great values on the market right now and with the stock market being as uncertain as it is, real estate is still your safest, surest long term investment, and here’s where you’re getting the chance to once again buy low. Call me at 850-227-7891 or shoot me an email to [email protected] if you’re interested in finding out more about any of these properties or exploring other real estate investment opportunities.