Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

It’s been another busy week around the Cape with lots of people in to look at property. I did manage to sneak away for a few hours, though, and get in some much needed kayaking and fishing on Thursday. Good to be reminded of why we live here. Apparently a few folks decided they want to be here as well, as we had two sales and two new contracts this week. Our inventory nudged down by two ending the week with a total of 405 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 market, with 157 homes and 248 lots for sale. Only three new listings, but thirteen new price tags.

Both of our sales this week were houses on the Cape, one a gulf front duplex and the other an interior single family home. Let’s start with the gulf front which is one half of a duplex on Cancun Drive,  just a little north of Scallop Cove.

This is a bank-owned 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1120 square foot bona-fide fixer-uppper listed for $210,000, even though it last sold in early 2005 for $519,800.  The bank clearly wanted to move this one off its books as they let it go on Monday for $170,000 cash. I was in this place several months ago and it needs some serious TLC. This listing was not in our MLS but was added for comp purposes upon closing.

Our second sale is an interior property up in Peninsula Estates, just south of the state park, and this place is in good shape, not at all a fixer upper. It’s a 1,660 square foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath home built in 1987 listed for a very reasonable $217,000 and sold on Wednesday for $184,000 with seller financing and the buyer paying all closing costs. I think our seller did ok here for the most part, having just bought it in March 2007 for $190,000. We’ve seen worse.

Both of our new contracts were also houses, and they couldn’t be more different from one another. One is an estate-quality bay front beauty on the Cape, the other is a modest classic slab on grade cinder block throwback to the fifties over in Money Bayou, and that’s where we’ll start.

Someone’s going to have fun restoring this cute little place and have themselves a great weekend getaway only a short stroll from the beach. Located just past the little bridge in Money Bayou on C-30, it’s a good size 2,113 square foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath home built in 1955 and listed as a short sale at $140,000. Since it’s a short sale there are contingencies so no projected closing date noted.

Now to the totally opposite extreme for our second contract of the week. This is a stately 3,455 square foot, 3-bedroom, 4- bath bay front beauty of a home situated on 2+ acres on Cape San Blas, with 130 feet of bay front. It’s across the street from Seagrass subdivision, or about 3-miles south of the state park entrance, 1 mile north of Scallop Cove. Here is a detailed description from the MLS notes:

This home features an elevator, two master suites, 10′ ceilings, a bunk room, a media room, a weather station, Corian counters, 2 fireplaces, and 2 living rooms. Storage galore with apprx. 1000+ sq. ft. for boat & related water sports gear. Easily accessible to the shared dock on the Bay. Local architect designed the south master suite. The home also features two master bedroom areas each with large tiled bathrooms with double sinks, whirpool tub, large walk-in closets, and abundant natural light. Storage througout the house with great closets, and a dream kitchen. Built-in grill in the sun-room overlooking St. Joseph Bay. Ample parking for at least 4-5 cars. The entire lot is 2 acres plus with room on the road front for a guest cottage or small shop. The screened porch is tiled and fully decorated, and features a fireplace. The quality and space in this home is unique for our area.

The sales data on the property appraiser’s page is inaccurate so I don’t have a record of what it actually last sold for, but it’s current list price is $925,000. This contract also has contingencies to be met so no estimated closing date.

Only three new listings this week and none of them launch with prices that blow my socks off, so we’ll look instead to our thirteen new price tags for excitement, and there we definitely have a Pick of the Week contender, and it’s one we’ve seen before as a pick of the week.

  My pick is this 59′ x 473′ gulf front lot in Curve at the Cape, a small subdivision on C-30 just east of Cape San Blas Road, which was listed for an already attractive $224,900 and goes to an even sweeter $220,000 this week. I’m mystified as to why this lot hasn’t sold yet. It originally sold in September 2003 for $490,000, then resold to our current owner in April 2004 for $640,000. The MLS doesn’t say this is a short sale, though. The county has it assessed at $356,700. You can get yourself a real deal here so call me.

That does it for this week. If you’re interested in buying or selling, or just wanting to know the best spots for scalloping,  give me a call at 850-227-7891 or email me at Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com .  I’m enjoying hearing from so many of you. I hope you have a terrific weekend (my schedule is filled with back-to-back appointments for showing property both days).   As always, thanks for stopping by.

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 Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com . 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.

  We had a water-logged start to the week with heavy rain all day Monday, Tuesday and the better part of Wednesday, but the rain apparently wasn’t enough to dampen buyers’ appetites for real estate as we managed to have a respectable showing, with one closing and four new contracts. I was sorry to see our inventory jump right back up to 409, where it had been hovering; seems our dip below 400 to 398 last week was brought back up by sellers renewing a slew of listings which had expired at the end of June.  Anyway, we end the week with 163 homes and 246 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market.  In other activity, we add eight new listings, and have ten new price tags. Now that we’ve finished with roll call, let’s see what folks were interested in.

First up is our solo sale of the week. Somebody got a great gulf view lot up by the State Park on the Cape for a great price. This roughly 0.46 acre lot last sold in February 2004  for $265,000 and came back on the market in May 2006 with a list price of $450,000. No takers at that price so they took it off the market for three years, finally relisting it this past February for $150,000. When that didn’t do the job either, they dropped it to $99,000 in mid-April and that was enough to get them a contract, on which they closed Tuesday for $80,000.

Our first of four new contracts actually went under contract on June 30th but didn’t appear in the MLS until after last weekend’s update. It’s a 38′ wide gulf front lot on Cape San Blas in Barefoot Trace listed for $239,000.  It used to have a duplex on it some years ago, and is currently permitted for that use as well. There were initially contingencies which have apparently been met as its status changed to pending this week with a projected closing date of July 30. With the 9 1/2′ side set backs which have to be met, without buying the adjacent lot and rebuilding a duplex, the most you could build at this width would be a 19′ wide shotgun style home.

We head just a few blocks south to just north of Scallop Cover where this bank-owned 50′ wide bay front property listed for $180,000 went under contract on Tuesday with a projected closing date of August 31. This is one to watch to see what it actually sells for as the county has it assessed at a surprisingly low $101,120.

  Over on the south facing beach at the Cape in the lovely Two Palms subdivision this short sale 3100 square foot, 4-bedroom, 4-bath first tier home with a list price of $567,000 went under contract on Thursday. The sellers bought it in January ’04 and first put it back on the market in July of the following year for $1.19M. Since it’s a short sale there are congencies to be met so no estimated closing date yet.

We leave the Cape and cruise east on C-30 about a half mile past the world famous Indian Pass Raw Bar where we’ll find our fourth and final new contract, a 97′ wide lagoon front lot with a very attractive list price of only $85,000, a price well below the county’s assessment of $100,800. The waterfront lots along this stretch have such incredible views.

My Pick of the Week from our eight new listings takes us back to my neck of the woods where my neighbors at Ovation have just listed this interior lot with gulf and bay views for only $110,000. I like it because it has so much going for it: it’s located in The premier subdivision on the Cape, there are so many amenities which come with ownership, such as access to the stunning bay front club house with its infinity pool overlooking St. Joe Bay, exercise room, gulf side pool, tennis courts and more. (It’s worth noting that the county apparently is calculating a lot of value into those amenities as well since they’ve assessed this 0.12 acre interior lot at $130,000 while assessing the 0.88 acre bay front lot we looked at earlier for a much lower $101,120). Ashwood Development has done a commendable job in maintaining this project despite completing it just as the market tanked. Some lovely homes have already been built to the architectural standards of the covenants. This lot last sold in October 2005 for $235,000.

  My Pick of the Week from our ten new price tags finds us back over at Indian Pass where this 48′ wide is being offered as a short sale for $279,000, once again below the county’s assessed value of $300,000. According to the MLS:

Beautiful gulf front lot comes complete with fully engineered plans and DEP permits for a 2,700+ sq ft 4BR 4.5BA home with private gulf front pool. Feel confident that you can get that pool seaward of a house on this lot.

If you’re familiar with the Pass, this lot is just up the beach from the beautiful Turtle Beach Inn.

That does it for this week. I hope you enjoyed your visit and that you’ll make yourself a regular here. If you’d like additional area real estate information, please feel free to call me at 850-227-5197 on my cell, or shoot me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com . Thanks for stopping by.

Freddie Mac has posted a video on YouTube I thought might be helpful.

 Quite a busy week here around the Cape what with Scallop Season getting underway on Wednesday and folks pouring in for the 4th of July celebration this weekend. But even with everything else going on, some folks still found time to work some real estate deals and we had another good week with three sales and four new contracts. In other activity we have fifteen new listings and eighteen price changes. Our inventory finally dipped back below the 400 mark again for the first time in quite a while, ending the week with 398 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market, down six from last week, with 162 homes and 236 lots.

On the south facing beach of the Cape our first sale is this 6-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,295 square foot gulf front home which was foreclosed on during construction.  The 50′ wide lot sold in May 2007 for $867,000 and then the county records show the owners giving a warranty deed to the bank with a transaction value of $1,094,000 in October last year.  The bank listed it at the beginning of May for $449,900, a price which included a full set of the house plans. It went under contract two weeks ago, and closed on Monday for $303,000 cash, which is right at the county’s assessed value of $300,000.

Moving down the beach just a bit we have our second sale at Cape Dunes where this 3-bedroom, 3-bath 2,066 square foot home built in 1984 sold for $255,000, well below its final list of $299,000, but still above the county’s assessed value of $224,797. This home last sold in December 2003 for $265,000. The sellers first put it on the market three years ago in July 2006 with an initial list price of $579,000.

Our third sale is also on the south side of the Cape at the Dunes Club condominiums where this bank-owned 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,176 square foot gulf front unit went for its full list price of $245,025 cash. It last sold in July 2005 for $595,000, and is currently assessed by the county at $230,344.

Now onto this week’s batch of new contracts, beginning up in Peninsula Estates just south of the state park where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,660 square foot circa 1988 home went under contract with a list price of $217,000. The seller hasn’t had it very long, having only bought it in in March 2007 for $190,000. Currently the county has it assessed at $148,729. It’s supposed to close by the 22nd of this month.

Our second contract takes us about 2 miles further south on the Cape to Ocean Haven, to this 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,957 square foot bank-owned spec home which is listed for $499,000 and went under contract on Monday with a projected closing date of August 10.  Ocean Haven is adjacent to Seagrass where we have seen several other large spec homes foreclosed on.

Our third sale is yet another bank-owned property, this time a 108′ wide bay front lot just south of Ocean Haven.  This property overlooks Pig Island and last sold in May 2005 for $595,000. It went under contract on Tuesday with a list price of $199,000 and since there are contingencies to be met, there is not projected closing date noted in the MLS.

We’re heading off the Cape and over to Money Bayou for our fourth contract of the week, and this one will look familiar to regular readers as we’ve seen this house before. It is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,251 square foot first tier home  with a list price of $359,000. It is a short sale, having last sold in December 2004 for $675,000. This one, too, has contingencies so we don’t know when it may close.  Short sale contracts tend to have a high mortality rate.

No problem deciding on my pick of the week this time – when was the last time you saw a 50′ wide gulf front lot on the Cape, NOT at Stumphole, for roughly $5,000 per front foot? It’s been awhile. This lot on Clipper Way came on the market Wednesday sporting a $260,000 price tag, which is well below the county’s assessed value of $300,000, and not even half the $550,000 it sold for in mid-2004.  This one’s worth looking into.

If you just want a place at the beach to get away from the asphalt jungle when you need to recharge and refuel for a few days, I think the view from this week’s price change pick of the week should convince you that for only $214,000, this 1-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath 1164 square foot townhouse at Barrier Dunes just might do the job.  It’s being sold fully furnished, too, so all you need to add is your margarita maker and you’re good to go.  This was at $240,000 before they dropped the price on Friday, and $214,000 puts it real close to the county’s assessed value of $205,668.

That’s a wrap for this week. Time to fire up the grill and burn some burgers and hot dogs. I hope you have a fun-filled Fourth and don’t forget to slather on the sun screen. If it’s too hot out there and you head inside to cool off, pick up the phone and give me a call and let’s talk real estate. Call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me and email to Sehrri@SherriDodsworth.com . Take care.

No new listings but there was one sale at Barrier Dunes since my last update on the 19th, and we also have a number of price changes.  A 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath townhouse in the back on Parkside listed for $218,000 sold on the 23rd for $204,500.  There are currently 14 active listings in the MLS ranging in price from $184,500 for a townhouse by the state park, to a gulf front unit for $625,000.

   Today is my birthday which each year is celebrated locally with the opening of scallop season.  :  )  Luckily, the weather forecast looks good for people to get out in the bay and play.  If you’re new to scalloping, here are a few guidelines to get you going.

First of all, you’ll need a current Florida fishing license. If you don’t have one you can pick one up at Scallop Cove BP here on the Cape. Stop by the bait and tackle shop and they’ll fix you right up. You’ll also want a mesh bag to put your bounty in and a good scallop knife to shuck ‘em afterwards. If you’re not sure how to clean scallops, here’s a link to a great step-by-step lesson with photos.

Most seasons you’ll typically find the greatest concentrations of scallops in the southern part of the bay; around Black’s Island is usually pretty good. The best way to hunt for them is to snorkel over grass beds. They’re easiest to spot on a bright sunny day with very little surface wind.

    This early in the season you’re going to find a lot of really small ones. Please, resist the temptation to go for quantity vs. quality. The little ones aren’t worth shucking and they need to stay in the bay to mature. The best time to go scalloping is really late August or early September when the majority have grown to decent size. 

There is a daily limit of 2 gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or 1 pint of bay scallop meat per person during the open season.  In addition, no more than 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or one-half gallon of bay scallop meat may be possessed aboard any vessel at any time.  The Marine Patrol is pretty active this time of year and the fines are hefty.  

If you do head out, happy hunting and be sure to slather on the sunscreen.