Andrea was quite the lady and brought us only a bit of much needed rain which lasted just a few hours, followed by early afternoon with beautiful bright blue sunny skies and cooling breezes. Her passing through our area had no dampening effect on our market, as we had a great week, with four sales, seven new contracts, four new listings, three price changes, (once again, two of which are price increases), and four properties that had either expired or had contracts that failed came back on the market. With all that activity, our inventory took a nice little dip, closing down by nine, ending the week at 268, with 89 homes and 179 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Lots to cover today, so let’s get started.
The first of our four sales is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,400 square foot gulf front beach cottage on Jamaica Drive which is the road just to the south of the Tradin’ Post on the Cape. It went under contract in January as a short sale for $350,000, and according to the county records, it last sold in April 2005 for $1,077,000. As low as the list price is, the county has it valued even lower at $299,256. The MLS lists the effective age date of 2002 for the year built, which is what the county records indicate as its effective age, but that’s because it went through a major renovation shortly after it sold in 2005. The house was actually built in the early ’80s on the adjacent lot, and subsequently relocated onto this property and turned sideways to accommodate the lot’s dimensions. This week it sold for $325,000.
On the south side of the Cape in San Blas Plantation (where my office is located), our next sale is on a mixed use commercial/residential lot that went under contract just two weeks ago with a list price of $39,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $50,000. The sellers have owned it since 2000 when they bought it for $32,500, and my lucky buyers picked it up this week for $35,000.
Virtually right across the street from that sale, our next closing was in Eventide where this bay view lot went under contract on Tuesday with a list price of $39,900 and closed on Friday with a check for the county’s assessed value of $25,000. The seller bought it from a bank in late 2011 for just $10,000.
Our fourth and final sale is a 100′ wide lagoon front lot out on C-30 which showed up in the MLS this week as a comparable sale and was never an active listing. It sold on Wednesday for $20,000 cash. The sellers bought it in January of 2000 for $28,300, and the county has it valued at $25,000.
The first of this week’s seven contracts is on a gulf front lot described as having either 67′ or 74′ of waterfront in Avalon, a micro-subdivision just south of Rish Park. It last sold in mid-2012 for $120,000 as a bank-owned sale. The current seller has it listed for $267,000, just a bit above the county’s assessed value of $250,000.
About a mile further south in Seagrass our next contract is on this 90′ by 120′ “X” zone gulf view lot listed for $139,900. It has an interesting sales history, having been sold by the developer in January 2004 for $225,000, re-sold just four months late in May 2004 for $335,000, and then again in January 2005 for $505,000. Today the county has it assessed at $75,00. There are no contingencies to be met on the contract, so this one should be closing pretty quickly.
On Sea Dunes Drive, a road near The Tradin’ Post, this next one is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,248-square foot gulf-view cottage, “X” zone, listed for $245,000. The sellers bought the vacant lot in 1995 for $13,500 . The county’s assessed value is $171,337.
Just a little bit further south on Aruba, this next contract is one-half of a duplex, which has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 square feet and located in the “X” zone. The sellers bought it in April 2004 for $260,000 and have it under contract with a list price of $199,900. The county has it assessed at $151,974.
We’re stopping next down by Stumphole, the area by the rocks, where this 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 1,876-square foot gulf front home went under contract with a list price of $439,500. The county has it assessed at $238,336.
Back on the south side of the Cape, our next contract is on this 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,780-square foot gulf view home in Cape Dunes, one of the earliest developments on the Cape, started in the early 80’s. The owners have it under contract with no contingencies with a list price of $249,000, and since they’ve owned it since 1994 when they picked it up for $68,900, they should be fine. The county has it assessed at $165,277.
Our seventh and final contract takes us over to Indian Pass for the first time today, to Indian Summer, where this third of an acre lot measuring 98′ by 169′ went under contract on Monday with a list price of $109,000. The sellers bought it from the developer in late 1997 for $39,500, and today the county has it valued at $75,000.
Competition in the market now for properties is palpable. Since the first of this year, the list-to-sale price in our market (Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, C-30) for single family homes has averaged 91%; for lots 85%. Getting an offer accepted with a deep discount on the list price has definitely become the exception and rather than the rule. You now have to adjust and start structuring your offer with the mindset that if a particular listing has caught your interest, there’s a better than average chance it has caught someone else’s, too, and you should assume you might not get a chance to make a second run at it. Make a good, sound, strong offer right from the start if you seriously want a particular property. If you’re interested in buying or selling, call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] and we’ll get started. There are still great values out there but they won’t last forever. Someone’s going to get them – might as well be you. Have a great week, and hope to hear from you soon.