Scallop season is off to a great start with everyone I’ve talked to reporting the scallops are plentiful and they’re getting their limit in no time at all. Interest in real estate is plentiful as well, as our steady flow of sales continued unabated this week with five closings and one new contract. The inventory of active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market remains basically unchanged though at 407, down only two from last week, with 161 homes and 246 lots. In other activity we have seven new listings, eight price changes, and seven expired unsold. Let’s start by taking a look at who went to closing.
All five of our sales were either bank owned foreclosures or short sales so that pretty much defines our current market. There were three lots, a single family home and a condo. I’m just going to take them in the order in which they closed. On Tuesday one buyer picked up two lots at bargain basement prices, the first of which was a 1.71 acre bay view lot in the Eventide subdivision on the south side of the Cape. Listed at $109,000 and assessed by the county at $90,000, our savvy investor snapped it up for a mere $23,650 cash. I literally don’t know what year it was when a lot out here on the Cape sold in the mid-20’s. I think you’d have to go back to about 2000.
The second lot he got a great deal on is in nearby Piney Woods subdivision where he picked up a corner lot listed for $119,000 and assessed at $100,800 for $46,200 cash. Forget William Shatner – this guy’s the real Price Line Negotiator! Both of these subdivisions were done by the same developer, Parvey Development who, according to county records, was still the owner of record when the bank forclosed on them.
Our next stop is not far from the last two sales, over at Dunes Club, a condominium on the south-facing beach at the Cape. This 1,176 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath gulf front bank-owned condo sold for its $225,000 list price on Tuesday. It last sold in January 2005 for $440,000 and is currently assessed by the county at $$230,344, impressively close to list/sale.
Now we’re heading off the Cape traveling east along the C-30 Corridor past the Indian Pass Raw Bar until we reach this 83′ by 350′ lagoon front lot listed for a very enticing $49,900. I say enticing because this is well below the county’s assesssed value of $74,700, and less than half of the $110,000 it last sold for in August 2003. As enticing as the list price was, our buyer thought even that wasn’t quite good enough, offered $45,900 cash, and the bank said. “ok – SOLD”. This gets my attention when we start seeing sales below 2003 prices.
Back to the Cape for our fifth and final sale of the week where this 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,856 square foot gulf front home with a list price of $444,900 sold on Thursday as a short sale for $400,000. The seller had owned it since 1998 when he bought it for $240,000 so I guess it served as an ATM for awhile. The county has this one assessed at a low $334,802.
Our solo new contract of the week is on a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath 1,647 square foot gulf front condo at Sea Cliffs on Cape San Blas, just north of Barrier Dunes by the state park. The sellers have owned it since 1987 when they bought it for $133,000, and have been trying to sell it for over three years, first listing it in February 2006 for $750,000. They adjusted that downward as the market cooled, to a final list price of $450,000 a year ago in June. (The county has this one assessed at $354,711). They finally got a contract this week and since there are contingencies to be met no note yet as to when it is scheduled to close.
It’s a lackluster week as far as finding any knock-your-socks-off bargains among our seven new listings and eight new price tags, so no tiaras this week in either of these categories. It’s especially hard to get excited about list prices in a week like this where we’ve seen such incredible deep discounts given up by the banks just to move properties off their books.
If you’d like info on these or other properties please feel free to give me a call on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . I’ve really been enjoying hearing from so many of you and look forward to helping you find that special property at a terrific price. Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by today.