Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

Four-dollar-a-gallon gas made for a fairly quiet Memorial Day weekend out on the bay as the cost of filling those boat engines climbed into the triple digits. It’s been anything but quiet in real estate activity, though. Definitely starting to see a bit of a pickup in activity.

Our inventory is slowly creeping upward again, up to 470 from 466, with 175 homes (vs. 174) and 295 lots (vs. 292).  No new contracts this week, but we did have three closings. There are eight new listings , nine price changes, and three each withdrawn and expired.

Sorry, lot owners, but all three of our sales this week were homes, two single family and one townhouse at Barrier Dunes. I don’t typically plug my own company in this blog but I am proud to say that two of the three sales were Boardwalk Realty listings. We’ll start with the townhouse.

  This is the view from the deck off the living room of this 2-bedroom plus a loft, 2 1/2-bathroom unit which was one of my picks of the week back in March.  Originally listed in July of last year for $430,000, the sellers dropped the price incrementally every couple of months, finally reaching $349,000 which was all it took to attract a buyer, and it closed on Friday for $337,700 with the sellers giving an additional $4K credit towards the air conditioning unit. They may have only gotten 78% of their original asking price, but they only paid $295,000 for it in 2003, so you could say they earned $8,540 per year to have a great place to play at the beach. Can’t have that much fun with treasury notes.

  Next up is a short sale over in Money Bayou on a 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath gulf first tier home listed for $520,000 which sold on Thursday for $455,000.  This was sold by the builder and sits on a lot which according to the tax rolls he paid $75,000 for in 2003.  If this was a short sale at $455K, it sounds as if this place might have been used as an ATM along the way. 

  Finally, our third sale this week was this gulf front home we looked at on May 6 when it went under contract. The sellers bought it back in April 2003 for $710,000, then less than two years later listed it in February 2005 for $1,695,000, or a nearly 140% increase. We shake our heads in disbelief now but this made sense to people just three years ago. Anyway, he’s had it on the market ever since and has been racheting down the price, finally reaching $1,079,000, which was enough to get a buyer to step up to the plate and make an offer. He closed this week for  an even $900K, which is a nice 27% return on investment over a five year period, or about 5.3% per year. Not breathtaking but still twice the interest banks are paying.

There are two properties in the new listings that caught my attention. One is a gulf front lot in Indian Pass for, get this, $399,000 and the other is a bay first tier on the Cape for only $165,000, both short sales.

  The gulf front lot is 48′ by 408′, just a smidgen shy of half an acre,  and comes complete with fully engineered plans and DEP permits for a 2,700+ square foot 4-bedroom,  4 1/2-bath home with private gulf front pool. Here’s a map showing its lovely secluded location:

The bay first tier lot for only $165,000 includes a dock shared by three adjacent lots.  This is a great place to launch from and it’s also a prime scalloping area.

  The lot is 100′ by 240′, a little over a half acre, and is located one mile north of Scallop Cove BP on the bay side of the road. These are both terrific values.

  My pick of the week among the price changes is on the lowest priced gulf first tier home on the Cape in Peninsula Estates which the seller dropped on Friday from $549,000 down to $499,000. The views from the deck of this three-bedroom, two-bath home are gorgeous. The large, deep deck which spans the length of the front of the home just screams “party central”.  Located only a few minutes south of the boat launch at Eagle Harbor in the state park, it also comes with deeded gulf and bay access.  There is plenty of room to park your boat under the house, too.

That does it for this week.  If you’d like to make one of these sweet deals your own, give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth. As always, thanks for stopping by.

The lazy, hazy days of summer arrived right on schedule this Memorial Day weekend here on the Cape with gorgeous weather, mid to high 80’s but with a steady, cooling breeze and lower than normal humidity at 68%. After taking a play day off yesterday I’m ready to get back to work to see how the local market heated up this week as well.

Our inventory remains virtually unchanged up only 1 to 467 (one more house than last week) with 175 homes and 292 lots. Two new contracts  and one sold, so that’s always good to see. We have seven new listings, eleven price changes and five expired unsold.

Our one sale was the lot in Sunset Pointe that went under contract just a week ago Friday on May 16. I think everyone did well here. The sellers bought it in February 2004 for $309K, listed it for $339K, and sold it this week for $316K cash. Sunset Pointe is a nicer-than-most gated subdivision up by the park and this was a second tier lot.

Our two new contracts are both homes, one a single family detached in Sea Grass and the other a Barrier Dunes townhouse.

The second-tier gulf view home in Seagrass was originally listed by the builder in September 
2005 for $1,099,000, and when it went under contract this week they had incrementally reduced it all the way down to $789,000.  It’ll be ineresting to see what they finally accepted for this 3200 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath home.

 This 1888 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath Barrier Dunes townhome was has good gulf views and a decent rental history. The sellers are the original owners having bought it in late 2000 for $180,000, had it listed for $419,900, so they should do fine. Both contracts have contingencies to be met so no info as to when they are scheduled to close.

In this week’s eleven new prices there’s only one that really catches my attention and that’s a gulf front townhome on C-30 reduced to only $299,900. Check out the view from the balcony off the master bedroom:

That’s a great view for a great price. Here’s what the MLS notes say:

PRICED TO BUY TODAY!!! Looking for that perfect vacation/retirement home? See this beach front corner unit townhouse in a 12 unit community. Just steps from the pool and a wide, white sandy beach. This 2 BR, 2 1/2 BA offers great views of the Gulf from the upper and lower screened porches. Home Owner’s Association dues INCLUDE FEMA flood insurance, trash pick up, and maintenance (that covers grounds, pool, and pest treatment once a month). Kitchen and floors updated. Ready to move in or keep on rental program.

Never thought I’d see gulf front lots let alone a gulf front home for anywhere near $299,900 again. Somebody’s going to get a terrific new vacation home.

That about wraps it up for this week’s review. Thanks for stopping by today. If you’d like more info on these or any other properties, just shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com or call me on my cell at 850-227-5197. Have a great holiday weekend and don’t forget to take at least a few moments to remember those who gave their all to give us our freedom.

More indicators we may be near or at the market bottom in the news this week.  Data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors show that in former housing-boom hot spots like Florida, Nevada and California, single-family home prices dropped 20% to nearly 30% in the past year. (See the NAR data.) NAR figures show that nationally, home prices fell 5% in the first quarter from the first quarter of 2007, with drops of more than 10% in places in California, Florida, Tucson, Ariz., and Boston.  Locally, price changes continue to top the list in MLS activity and we’re seeing a bit of an uptick in consumer interest as prices become more affordable.  Today’s post includes one local home down 40% from its mid-2005 price.

Our inventory level remains unchanged, at 466 total, with 174 homes and 292 lots. No closings again this week, but we do have one new contract. There are ten new price tags, nine new listings and six expireds.

We haven’t seen much sales activity recently with lots and most of the homes sold have been gulf front, so our one new contract is an encouraging trend bucking sign in that it’s an interior, gulf view lot. Located on Cape San Blas in Sunset Pointe subdivision which is adjacent to the state park, this lot has amazing views as clearly seen in this photo. This picture is taken from 35 feet up on a boom truck.  The sellers paid $309K for it in early 2004 and listed it for $399K, so I’m really curious to see what it closes for.

That lot contract is especially good news since lot listings led the way 2-to-1 this week with six new lots and only three new homes. Speaking of prices coming back down to earth, if you thought the days of snapping up a lot on the Cape for under a hundred grand were long gone, check out this new listing in Peninsula Estates for only $99,000. This lot offers great bay views and is adjacent to the north side of Ovation, and includes deeded beach and deeded bay access just a short stroll away.

That’s my pick of the litter for new listings, now let’s see what tempting new offerings there are in our ten price changes. The first one that catches my eye is this 3-bedroom, 2-bath gulf-front condo in a 4-unit building for only $309,900  , well below the $315,000 the sellers paid for it in, you guessed it, 2005. Sounds like somebody’s ARM payment recently went way, way up. Here’s the view from the front deck.  Looks to me like the perfect setting for some serious afternoon blender sports.

There’s a lot to like in this week’s price changes and if you’re into waterfront bargains this is your week. Remember when we saw this newly listed bay-front home just a few weeks ago for only $650,000?  This is apparently one seriously motivated seller because he dropped the price already to $575,000, which would be a great price for just the 100′ wide lot alone. I wish I’d been born rich instead of so darn sarcastic because I’d snap this puppy up in a heartbeat.

My final pick of the week is also one we’ve seen before, a sweet little Key West-style gulf first tier home in Money Bayou, listed originally for $389,000, reduced this week to $379,000, down 40% from the market top.  If you recall this is really a sad one as the seller paid $630,000 for it in July 2005. 

That’s a wrap for this week’s review. If you’d like to learn more about these of other properites give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . Time for me to head on over to the Salt Air Farmers Market in town.  If you haven’t had a chance to visit, it’s open every other Saturday from 10  til 2, and it’s a wonderful new addition to our area which I hope everyone will support so it can continue to grow.  

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.

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

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 .

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!