Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - May 3-9, 2008

Spring is the season of renewal and growth and unfortunately that’s exactly what our inventory did this week after holding steady for the past three. It grew nearly 2% with a total of 466 (up from 458), with 174 houses (vs. 171) and 292 lots (vs. 287).  There was a fair amount of activity; no sales, but we do have three new contracts, thirteen new listings, thirteen new price tags, and five expired unsold.

So what’s selling? Our three new contracts were on two houses on Cape San Blas and the gulf front lot on Indian Pass that was reduced to $335,000 which I sent out an e-blast about last week.

Some savvy hombre celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Monday by putting a contract on this 3-bedroom, 3-bath gulf-view home on Polaris Lane .  Built in 2002, its list price is $399,000 even though the sellers paid $569,000 for it in June 2005. Ouch. Somebody’s going to get a good deal here, just not the Sellers. Sounds like there might be an ARM about to mature next month.  Curious to see what it actually closes for.

Our second home under contract this week is this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1700 square foot gulf front home in Beach to Bay subdivision on the Cape with a list price of $1,079,000.  The Sellers gave $710,000 for it in early 2003 so they should be ok. That was well before the market peak in late 2004.

Our third contract was on this gulf front lot on Indian Pass and someone is definitely getting a good deal on this.  The seller has been trying to sell this lot since January 2006 when he listed it for $1.285M. No takers, so in February 2007 he slashed the price drastically to $695K thinking no doubt surely that would entice someone to step up to the plate.  Nope. He waits seven months more and still no takers, so he goes firesale deep to $450,000. Still nothing. At the end of April he goes to $330K, gets a flurry of offers but no contract, so on Tuesday he jacked the price back up to $375,500 and goes under contract two days later. Go figure. Can’t wait to see what it actually closes for. He paid $150,000 for it in 1999 so he can still more than double his ROI.

Are there any comparable deals within our thirteen price changes? You bet.

If it’s gulf front you want you can’t go wrong with this lot on Canoe Lane which was $675K and now only $435K.  It’s 75′ wide, not in the CBRA zone so FEMA flood insurance will be available when you build, and it sits well off the highway.

  If you’re more a bay person than gulf, here’s one for you. That bay front home with a dock in Peninsula Estates which was listed only a few weeks ago this week changed the price from $650K to only $575K which is like buying a bay front lot and having the house thrown in for free. If you recall this is a 100′ wide lot with a firm sandy beach. Should sell quickly at this price.

  If you’re into bay front living but would like a bit more room and a few more frills, check out this 3,376 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath beauty with lots of extras, including a brand new in-ground pool, dock with 2 boat lifts, detached garage, fireplace and more.  Here’s the description from the MLS:

Beautiful bay front home with private boat dock including two boat lifts and a private inground screen-enclosed swimming pool. The spacious open floor plan features a large, entertainer kitchen and large living room and dining room. There is a full apartment on the lower level with full kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath and private entrance. The sunrise view from the porch was recently featured in Atlantic Southeast Airlines travel magazine. The decks, porches and views galore make this a truly special home.

I’m very familiar with this beautiful home and if you love to entertain and relax in style and comfort, this is one you won’t want to miss.  

That about does it for this week. Prices are getting back into the truly attractive range with more and more really good buying opportunities.  If you’d like info on these or any other properties, give me a call at 850-227-7891 or shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com.  Thanks for stopping by today.

How You Can Help Our Fire Department

Our volunteer fire department, the South Gulf County Volunteer Fire Department, has been trying for three years now to find a mere one acre piece of land on which to build a fire station to protect the residents of and visitors to the northern section of Cape San Blas.  Many of the homes they’re responsible for are as far as 11 and 12 miles from their current station.

The nearest hospital to this community is 65 miles away in Panama City, well over an hour drive. The nearest EMS ambulance is 17 miles away in Port St. Joe. The average response time from the time a 911 call is placed until an ambulance reaches us out here is 25 minutes. Our lives literally depend on our first responder-trained volunteers being able to reach us as quickly as possible to administer whatever help they can.  The overwhelming majority of the call outs they respond to, probably more than 90%, are EMS calls, not fires.

Our volunteer firefighters are almost all in their 50’s and 60’s and they work many long hours to ensure our safety and they shouldn’t have to have to also struggle this long and hard just to find a small parcel of land on which to build.  They have funding available, all they’re in need of is a parcel of land that someone will allow them to purchase to use.

There are two state-owned parks here and neither one of them will let the fire station be built on their land which to me just seems wrong. Rish Park would be ideal, because it is centrally located within the coverage area, and the north-west corner of the road-front land on the bay side of the road is never used anyway. 

T.H. Stone Memorial Park has nearly 3000 acres and a station at the southernmost tip of it would not impinge upon the character of the park in any way. These parks belong to the people of the State of Florida, we pay for them with our tax dollars, so it only seems right that if the State’s citizens need to use some of that land in order to protect the general welfare, then those lands should be appropriated.

You can help by writing our elected officials and asking them to please allow the station to be built on State-owned property. If you want to copy and paste the above info please feel free to do so. Every voice counts, so please take a moment and help out.  Here are links to the contact info for our area representatives:

Governor Crist

Congressman Allen Boyd

Representative Jimmy Patronis

Senator Mel Martinez

Senator Bill Nelson

Florida Senator Al Lawson

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - April 26-May 2 Cont’d

Yesterday we looked at what sold, so today we’ll start off by looking at our three new contracts. One is the Camp Palms lot at Indian Pass which closed on the 30th, so I’m not sure what the deal is with that. The other two are homes, one a single family home in Treasure Shores the other a townhouse in Barrier Dunes.

The Treasure Shores home is a 3-bedroom, 3-bath gulf front home built in 1992; was listed back in the first week of November and is currently priced at $875,000. The Seller paid $332,000 back in ‘98 for it so it’ll be interesting to see how much they cling to list price.

The Barrier Dunes townhouse is a 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath gulf view unit listed for $349,000 which the sellers paid $295K for in 2003.  This is one of only a handful of Barrier Dunes units located in the X flood zone so that’s working in the Seller’s favor.

There’s a whole slew of new listings this week, nineteen in all, with lots outnumbering homes more than 2 to 1, with 13 lots and 6 homes.  There is so much competition among and so little interest in lots that that’s where we’re really beginning to see pricing pressure downward and three of these new listings illustrate that point perfectly.

One is a bayside lot in Ovation listed for only $247,500 even though the Sellers paid $355,000 for it in Nover ‘05. Not many things you can find in this market for under $100K, but here’s one: a roadfront lot on C-30 for only $99,500. The Seller gave $40K for it in 2003 so it’ll be interesting to see how negotiable they end up being on this price. This same Seller has also listed a well-priced lot in the gated South Beach subdivision at only $209,500.  According to the MLS, the last lot sale in South Beach was back in early 2005.

A dozen price changes this week, but there’s one in particular I really like, this first tier townhome (2 units; looks like a duplex but is technically a townhouse) at Cape Shoals lowered from $375K to $355K. 

There are terrific views from this home (this one’s from the deck)  and it has a strong rental history. Little perks like the hot tub on the deck overlooking the gulf only add to its appeal. This really ought to attract a buyer at this price.

That wraps it up for this week. I’d love to start seeing more weeks like this one with lots and lots of activity.  If you’d like info on these or any other properties, just give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com .

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - April 26 - May 2

April showers bring May flowers and this week it brought the most buyers and sales activity we’ve seen since I started this blog back in September. Lots to cover (about time!) so let’s just jump right in.

Inventory is holding steady for the third week in a row, completely unchanged from last week with a total of 458 properties for sale in the Cape San Blas market with 171 homes and 287 lots.  The best news is we had a record 4 closings, 3 new contracts, 19 new listings, 12 prices changes and 16 expired unsold.

Our four sales this week consisted of three homes (two gulf front, one interior) and a 100′ by roughly 1,000′ deep gulf to lagoon lot on Indian Pass.  Since lot sales have been so rare we’ll begin with that. 

 Camp Palms is the original subdivision on the Pass and it consisted of a series of 100′ wide lots which stretched from the Lagoon to the Gulf. The old Indian Pass Road used to run along the lagoon front but was later relocated to its current position when the owners agreed to grant the government an easement to run across their lawns resulting in what appears to be gulf front lots and lagoon front lots. Unfortunately, some owners have subdivided their lots in just that manner and these full size lots are becoming rarer.

This seller had originally listed this as three parcels: 2 50′ gulf front lots and one 100′ wide lagoon, so I was glad to see this sale close as one intact lot.  The seller purchased the lot in 1995 for $115,000 so with a closing price of $850,000 it earned him about $56K per year. Nice ROI.

The highest priced of our three home sales this week is this beauty on Haven Road on the Cape which was listed for $1.95M and sold on Tuesday for $1.6M, or 82% of list. This was a bit of a complicated transaction as noted in the MLS:

Total sale consists of 4 parcel sales, one with conventional financing, one with an owner note, and two cash transactions. For comp purposes you may want to go to property appraiser’s site which will show three gulf front lot sales at $525K, 550K and 575K.

The second gulf front home sold on the Cape was listed at $989,000 and sold for $940,000. This 5-bedroom, 5-bath home is located just past the rocks at Stumphole, and was purchased by the Seller in 2002 for $719,900, so he had about a 23% ROI or about $36+K per year for the past 6 years. Not bad at all.

 Our fourth and final sale this week was our on-again/off-again contract on this interior home in Boardwalk on the Cape, listed at $290,000 and sold on Tuesday for $272,500, or a very respectable 94% of list. The Seller bought the home back in ‘01 for $150K, so he essentially got paid $17,500 per year to live at the Cape. That’s good work if you can find it!

So much to look at this week I just want to savor it. Tomorrow: what went under contract this week, and what didn’t. Also, my picks of the week for best new deals on the market.  See you then!

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - April 19 - 25

It all depends which side of the fence you’re sitting on whether the Cape San Blas real estate market is improving or not. Sellers would say “no”, but buyers are starting to say “yes”.  One encouraging sign in this market correction is that our overall inventory continues to go down, albeit in little tiny baby steps, with two fewer total this week at 458, 171 homes and 287 lots. The inventory has come down 15 1/2% since I started tracking back in September, and as Martha says, “That’s a good thing”.  Prices are also coming back down and they’re getting to a point where they’re beginning to attract attention.

Those lower prices sparked a noticeable increase in buyer activity this week with more calls and emails from people looking for good investments. A few stepped up to the table as we have a record five new contracts since last Saturday, the most we’ve logged in one week since I started this blog back in August. All of our other activity happened in sixes: six new, six expired, and six price changes.

Lack of interest in lots continues with all of our five new contracts being on homes: two townhouses at Barrier Dunes of which one is a short sale, and the other three single family detached homes. Three were on the Cape and two on the C-30 Corridor.

Of course our big price change of the week was the gulf front lot on Indian pass which was cut to $330,000 that I wrote about on Thursday.  That caused quite a commotion, and isn’t under contract yet but there is an offer in negotiations.  Of the other gems among this week’s six price changes , the two I like most are both lots.

The first one is this lot in Treasure Bay on C-30 which was reduced this week from $149,000 to $125,000.  According to the county records, the seller bought it in July 2004 for $162,500. Here’s a brief description from the MLS:

One of the largest lots in Treasure Bay, this property qualifies for federal flood insurance, has very nice foliage and views throughout, and is surrounded by state owned preservation land (only one neighbor to the south side of property). Beautiful 0.62 acre wooded lot with deeded bay access and only a short drive to public beach access via Salinas Park.

The other lot is one we’ve seen before, this bank owned lagoon front lot also on C-30, about a mile and a half past Indian Pass Raw Bar, which went from $102,600 to $99,900.

 County records indicate the seller prior to the current bank owner, bought the lot in December 2004 for $259,000. Ouch. That’s enough to make you quit believing in Santa Clause. The lagoon views from this lot would be awesome.

That about wraps it up for this week. If you’d like more info on these or any other properties, jst give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com.

Indian Pass Gulf Front Lot Slashed to $350,000

It’s like a Christmas gift in this morning’s Hot Sheet: a 75′ gulf front lot on Indian Pass slashed from $450K to $330K , or only $4,400 per waterfront foot. Unbelievable.  Here’s the MLS description:

1+/- ACRE GULF FRONT PROPERTY. 75 FEET OF WATER FRONTAGE. Beautiful property with great wide beach. This area has great fishing, beautiful,beautiful wide beaches, just a short distance to St Vincent Island. This is the BEST PRICE in the area for GULF FRONT. GREAT LOT, the beach keeps getting wider and wider. Owner said price it to sell now!

This is the view from the waters edge looking back toward the lot:

And here’s a late afternoon shot of the beach:

At this price I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s under contract by sunset today. Call me at 850-227-5197 or email me at sherri@sherridodsworth.com today if you want to snap this up for your portfolio.

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - April 12-18, 2008

 The one question I hear more than any other is “has the market reached bottom yet?”. I believe that the past is the best predictor for the future and therein may lie our answer. Looking back we can clearly see that the local market peaked in late 2004, but robust sales and increased prices continued unabated well into 2005. The game of musical chairs had come to an end but a lot of people thought they could still hear the music. They’re the ones singing the saddest songs today as three-year ARM’s are maturing throughout 2008 and many of those properties aren’t appraising for the hyperinflated prices they paid for them making refinancing expensive or even impossible.  These are the properties bringing prices back down and the word is apparently getting out because I have had more inquiries from investors this past week than I’ve had in months. My colleagues are reporting the same thing. So, we might just be at that turning point where demand starts increasing to reverse falling prices.

Our inventory certainly seems to have stabililzed as it continues holding steady at 460 listings with only a shift in the allocation. Four more houses (174 vs. 170) and four fewer lots (286 vs. 290).  It’s been a good week in that we had one closing and one new contract. Eight new listings were added to the mix, an equal number were withdrawn  (including our Ovation lot featured as one of last week’s price change picks), ten properties are sporting new price tags, and three expired unsold.

Our sale and new contract this week are one and the same, an interior lot on Seminole Street in Indian Pass Beach subdivision.  The sellers bought this lot in February 2005 for $350,000, have had it listed since November for $170,000, went under contract on Saturday, and closed on Tuesday for $155,000 cash, or less than 50 cents on the dollar.  Sounds like that old Kenny Rogers song, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em”.

We have ten price changes, and believe it or not two of them are price increases! That’s something you don’t see much of any more.  Once again we have some really tempting and attractive offers. My pick of the week, though, has to be this gulf front duplex on Indian Pass.

I love the views of the gulf and St. Vincent Island from the deck.

Both sides of this duplex are on the market and have been priced at $595K and $545K but reduced this week to $495K and $455K respectively.  What a great opportunity to own a gulf front home in a quiet and secluded section of beach.  You owe it to yourself to check this one out.

If you’d like to know more about these or any other properties give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . It’s a great time to buy - make sure you don’t miss out. Thanks for stopping by today.

Important Update on Beach Stairs, Walkovers & Sand Fencing

Beach restoration is well underway, beginning near Eagle Harbor in the park and working its way steadily southward, already nearing Secluded Dunes. With as long as this project has been in planning you would think the county would have already notified beach front owners of what they needed to do with their sand fencing, stairs or walkovers. You would think so but you’d be wrong.

The Beach Advisory Committee, volunteers all and truly dedicated hard workers, has just received those requirements from the county and have forwarded it to as many owners as possible.  I want to help them whenever I can so I’m posting that notice here to make sure everyone affected knows what needs to be done to help ensure maximum success of our restoration project.

We’ve updated our blog entry from Monday on the subject of what to do to prepare your property for the beach restoration project.  The photos in the gallery have been amended to reflect the recommendations for the various properties based on the information outlined below.  Since we are not sure everyone would see this updated information, we felt it was important enough to send an eblast out.  The information below was provided by our engineer and gives you the specifics on what to do. 

Please be sure to allow enough time to get things done before the project reaches your property.  Also, if you are unsure whether your gulf-front neighbors receive these eblasts, we would appreciate it if you would share this important information with them! 

A couple of things we would add — REMEMBER TO REMOVE ALL SAND FENCING.   With regard to your steps, walkovers, etc., review the information below.   A good rule of thumb is consider removing steps or walkovers if they extend beyond the vegetation line.  To get the best possible result for your property, when in doubt, take it out!   Finally, please read #9 below.  Failure to prepare your property will slow down the project, which is something none of us want.  Please help keep us on schedule!

1.  The contractor was hired by the County to dredge and place sand at the specified grades — except where described below.

2. The contractor will not remove any dune walkovers, boardwalks, sand fencing, buildings, or other man-made structures.  This is the responsibility of the property owner3. The contractor will remove tree stumps or washed up debris within the beach fill limits

4. The contractor will NOT bury dune walkovers, boardwalks, sand fencing, buildings, or other man-made structures – except where described herein or described in the provided photos

5. Per the project specifications, if dune walkovers, boardwalks, sand fencing, or other man-made structures are not removed, the contractor will place sand up to and around these items.  SOME sand MAY be placed under walkovers and boardwalks, but there is no guarantee how much or if this will occur.  Thus, the subject property owner may not receive the maximum amount of sand they would have received without the presence of the structures and/or sand fence or other items

6. If these structures or other man-made items are not removed (depending on its location and how far landward of the dune), it is possible that there will be less sand placed on either side of the structure due to the grade of the placed sand

7. THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION:  If the bottom of the stairs are within the footprint of the beach and dune fill, only the bottom 2 to 4 feet of the stairs MAY be buried.  Otherwise sand will be placed in accordance to #5 above

8. Sand WILL be placed (in the form of a dune) around the homes that are located further seaward (and ON the beach) than the rest of the structures located along the project limits.

9. Not removing the man-made items listed in #2 above will slow down the contractor thus delaying the completion of this project.

 

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - April 5-11, 2008

 Sorry for the delay in getting this week’s market wrap up done but the weather was just so fine this weekend that I took two vacation days and spent the entire time outside in the fresh air and sunshine loving being on the Cape. So now it’s Monday and back to work totally revitalized and ready to go.

Just a smidgen of movement in our inventory last week, up three to 460. Housing units still sit at 170, and we’re up three lots to 290. Overall we have eight new listings, seven withdrawn, six expired unsold, and sixteen sellers trying a change of price.  No closings, but we do at least have one new contract.

  So which property was lucky enough to attract an interested buyer this week? Turns out it’s one we’ve seen under contract before back in the first week of March, a 2 bedroom, 2 bath interior home located at Boardwalk on Cape San Blas. Originally listed for $399,000 in March of last year, the Seller dropped his asking price 25% in January to $299,900, and once again he has a contract.  There are contingencies to be met on this one just like last time so no word yet on when they are scheduled to close. Our Seller has owned the place since 2001 so he should come out ok.

Let’s take a look next at our sixteen price changes to see what bargains may abound there.  I have four favorites this week, a gulf front home, a townhome and two lots.

  I thought the days of finding a gulf front home on the Cape for under a million were long gone but happy days are here again for shoppers because here’s a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1560 square foot single family gulf front home built in 1999 dropped from $815K to only $692K, which is 11% below the $775K the sellers paid for it in May of ‘04.  Here’s a view of the beach from the deck:

 I could get used to that view! What a terrifc front row seat for sunsets.

  The townhome is a lake front, 3 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath Barrier Dunes unit built in 2004 listed since July and reduced from $425,000 to $350,000, which is $20,000 less than the sellers paid for it back in 2004.  This is a perfect example of what was going on back then. According to the tax rolls, these owners bought it in August 2004 for $370K from a couple who had bought it only two months earlier for only $207K!  I’m not sure why one would think a property had appreciated 78% in just two months, and I can’t imagine getting financing at that price because I just can’t see it appraising, but hey - that’s what it was like back in 2004.

The phrase ”affordable waterfront properties” is no longer an oxymoron with a variety of gulf and bay front properties coming back down out of the stratosphere to prices mere mortals can get their wallets around.

  The first of the two lots I like this week is a terrific example.  It’s a 50′ wide gulf front lot on Indian Pass, just next door to the popular and picturesque Turtle Beach Inn, reduced in price from $439,000 to $425,000 even though a neighboring lot sold in June 2007 for $535K.

  My second pick of the week for lots is in Ovation, for a second tier gulf view lot near the club house and pool, which was priced at $295,000 and reduced this week down to $249,900, which is exactly half of the $500,000 these owners paid for it in August 2005. These people really want to sell this lot.  So call me, make an offer, and let’s see what they’ll take for it.

Of our eight new listings, there is one in particular I really like, a bay front home in Peninsula Estates for only $650,000. This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1344 square foot home sits on a 100 foot wide lot with a wonderful dock and sandy beach front. Located less than a mile south of the state park, the property also comes with deeded gulf access.  Check out this view:

  So whether your waterfront preference is gulf front or bay front, you can once again find a home on either for under $695,000.  If you’d like info on these or any other properties pick up the phone and give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com .

Cape San Blas Real Estate Week In Review - March 29 - April 4, 2008

 We finally have a healthy 5% drop in our inventory size this week after several weeks with little or no change. We end the week with a total of 457 lots and homes listed for sale in the MLS for the Cape, Indian Pass and C-30 corridor market, down from last week’s 480, with a 6% drop in homes, 170 vs. 181,  and with 287 lots, down from 299.  Sure would be nice if that reduction was the result of some 20+ sales, but sadly, no. Let’s take a look at what did happen since last Saturday.

No closings this week, but we did have three new contracts. Ten new listings joined the fray, twenty-one expired unsold, and nine sellers tried dropping their prices  to truly tempting new lows.

Let’s take a look at our three new contracts. Two are adjacent 50′ wide gulf front lots on Indian Pass listed for $400k each. There are contingencies to be met so we don’t know the proposed closing date yet.

 The third contract was on a gorgeous gulf front home on Haven Road on the Cape listed for $1.95M since November. According to the MLS data it’s scheduled for a quick close by April 18, so sounds as if it’s a cash deal. This will be interesting to watch to see how close to list the sellers get with this one as we need some good, current comps for the Cape.

Time for some bargain hunting to see if there’s anything truly tempting in this week’s nine price changes and the answer is a resounding yes. It’s as if we’re having an end-of-season clearance sale with prices slashed to bargain basement lows.

 Remember our bayfront house at Old Saltworks that we’ve seen several price cuts on recently? Well, they’re back again this week down another 100 grand to $499,000! This originally came on the market in late 2006 at $1.25M! This is priced below comps even for the lot alone so somebody needs to step up and grab this great deal.

Seems our Sellers are getting very, very serious about moving some properties if the price reductions this week are any indication. When was the last time you saw a 116′ wide gulf front lot for only $399,000?

And take a look at these two lots in Ovation which the Seller has dropped from $355k to $250k and from $450k to $285k - and get this: in October 2005 he paid $355k and $455k for them respectively.

Those are my picks of the week. Time to start padding your portfolios with some of these offerings. If you’d like more info on these properties or want to find out what else is available, call me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . Thanks for checking out my blog today - stop back soon.