Unfortunately, the MLS links gremlin is back – the work-around solution I had figured out last week is no longer working. I think it may be an Internet Explorer 8 issue. I apologize for the inconvenience; it will let me email links but not post them online. Go figure. I have people looking into it and hope to have it resolved ASAP.
Our mini market rally continues along the Forgotten Coast with prospective buyers slowly but steadily making inquiries and looking at property. Our inventory dipped ever so slightly this week, which is a good thing, ending with 408 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market, down 2 from last week, with 158 homes and 250 lots. We had one sale, two new contracts, and we welcome six new listings (one of which is already umder contract) and six new price tags.
Our one sale was a bank-owned 3400 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath home on Cape San Blas Road just north of the old Anchor office not listed in the MLS prior to sale, but entered for comp purposes on Monday after it closed last Friday. According to the property appraiser’s info, the prior owner purchased the home in 2004 for $757,300. They put it back on the market in March 2006 with a list price of $1.295M but had no takers and lowered the price incrementally down to $950,000 which is where it was when the county records indicate the Clerk of the Court issued a certificate of title deed to the bank. It sold on Friday for $545,000, 28% less than it’s 2004 selling price, but still slightly above the county’s assessed value of $506,756. This is a beautiful home; here is an apt description from the MLS notes:
4 BR 3 1/2BA, Spacious Entertainment Home. 3rd level great room/DR/ kitchen has heart pine floors, custom beadboard trim, spectacular gulf/bay views. Level 2 master suite and 2 bedrooms have private entrances and decks. Ground level includes tile entrance, office, elevator and master suite with private outside entrance. Home has finished garage, in-ground pool, fully irrigated/landscaped/fenced 1/3 acre in the ‘X’ flood zone.
This is a lot of home for the money. Somebody just got themselves a very good deal.
Buyers were looking for a variety of things, and we ended up with contracts on both a gulf front lot on Indian Pass and a gulf front home on the Cape under constructon. We’ll start with the lot which was a short sale listed for only $199,000. If you’re familiar with Indian Pass, it’s located shortly past where you make the big left curve on the main road. According to the county records, the seller purchased the propety in March 2005 for $725,000. Since there had been a minor replat done to the parent parcel I checked the clerk’s records to see if maybe this was the price paid for the entire parent parcel, but apparently not as the warranty deed describes just this lot. So the list price alone is only 27 cents on the dollar of what it last sold for, and even that is above the $174,000 at which the county has it assessed. Amazing. The contract has contingencies so we’ll have to wait and see what the closing date will be and what it actually goes for.
Next up is a mammoth 3,295 square foot, 6-bedroom, 4-bath gulf front bank-owned home under construction on the Cape on Louisiana Lane, in Beachside, the gulf front subdivision seaward of Surfside Estates (next to Loggerhead Grill/Beachcombers Pizza). The tax rolls say the 50′ wide lot itself sold in May 2007 for $867,000; even with the new construction the bank put it up for sale this week with a $449,900 asking price and it went under contract Friday, no contingencies, scheduled to close by the end of the month. The county has the land valued at an even $300,000.
My pick of the week for best priced new listing is a no-brainer; how can you not go for an 83′ wide lagoon front lot on C-30 for only $49,900? We’re being consistent today in that this, too, is a bank-owned sale with Suntrust having foreclosed on it in January. The lot last sold in June 2004 for $220,000, exactly twice the $110,000 it had sold for just ten months earlier in August 2003. That was so typical of what the market was doing during that period. Demand was that strong.
I’m not finding anything that can compete with that among our six new price tags. so I’ll hold onto our pick of the week for best new price tag blue ribbon until next week.
The market is definitely starting to move again and I’m hearing it from all areas of the local housing food chain. I had both an insurance agent and home inspector tell me this week they’ve done more business in the past month alone than they have in the previous six. And it makes sense; when you have gulf front lots back down to $199,000 and lagoon front at $49,900, it’s bound to cause a stir. Now is a good time to buy because the clock is ticking away for inflation to kick into gear with the Treasury presses burning up printing all that money Washington is flooding the market with. I will be glad to help you locate property that will work well for your particular situation. If you’re interested in an income-producing property, ask me for a cash flow analysis. My direct line to my cell phone is 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . I sure appreciate your stopping by today, and look forward to hearing from you.