Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

 We welcomed the arrival of autumn this week and look forward to a little cooler weather as it has been another hot, summery week, though thankfully sunny again after all the drenching rains of late. The market hasn’t cooled off yet, either, as we managed to have another three closings and three new contracts. In other activity we have nine new listings and eleven new price tags. Our inventory is still hovering around the 400 mark, closing up four from last week with 403 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market, with 143 homes, and 260 lots.

All three of our sales were homes, two gulf front and one bay view. Let’s start on the Cape with the first gulf front home which is in Secluded Dunes, the northernmost subdivsion in the Cape peninsula, adjacent to the state park.

This is a bank-owned 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,700 square foot home built in 1990 and situated on a spacious 112′ wide gulf front lot. The previous owners gave a warranty deed to the bank in September 2006 with a recorded value on the property appraiser’s records of $1,695,700, after which the bank put it on the market for $1.048M two months later. By the time it went under contract several weeks ago, that list price was down to $699,000.  On Friday it sold for an even $600,000, way below the county’s assessed value of $999,599.

This is a bank-owned 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,200 square foot fixer upper situated on a 50′ wide gulf front lot not far from Scallop Cove which came on the market just this month on the 6th for a mind-popping price of $225,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $247,630. Not surprisingly it went under contract almost immediately, and the parties closed on Thursday for the full list of $225,000. These buyers pounced on this as it showed up in the MLS late in the afternoon and by morning was under contract. The bank took quite a hit on it as it last sold in May 2005 for $1.15M.

Our second sale is a bay view home over in Simmons Bayou right near Presnell’s Boat Launch. The building used to be on the bay side of the street and served as the offices for Newman Construction until it was sold and moved to its current location about four years ago. Unfortuantely, those owners had it foreclosed on. This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,620 square foot home was recently renovated and sold on Thursday for full list price of $199,000, a good bit above the assessed value of $110,431.

The first of our three new contracts is on this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000 square foot roadfront home on Cape San Blas Road with terrific views throughout of both the gulf and the bay. With a list price of $299,900, it is a lot of house for the money. There are decks on both living levels which completley encircle the home so you can always sit right where the breeze is coolest and enjoy those views. This house was also moved just a few years ago, having previously been located on the gulf where Turtle Dunes subdivision is now. The assessed value of $294,447 is real close to its list price. The contract has contingencies to be met so no indication as to when it may close.

Our second new contract has no such contingencies and is slated to close next week on the 30th. Sounds like a cash deal to me. It’s an interior 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,364 square foot townhouse up at Barrier Dunes listed just this week for $248,000, not too far above the assessed value of $214,573.  The property appraiser’s office has been busily adjusting values downward to better reflect the current market; this one last sold in May 2006 for $325,000 so it has come down quite a bit.

  Our third and final new contract is on a comfy country cottage along the C-30 Corridor which went under contract on Friday with a list price of $215,000, below the $220,000 it sold for in 2003, but still above the county’s assessment of $185,815.  It is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,152 home with lots of custom cabinetry and paneling throughout nestled on a quiet woodsy lot in Treasure Bay, not far from the turn off onto Cape San Blas Road. There are no contingencies to be met and the projected closing date is mid November.

My Pick of the Week from this week’s crop of new listings is a first-tier gulf-view home in Peninsula Estates, less than a mile south of the state park. In the spirit of full disclosure, this is my listing. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,058 square foot home with awesome gulf views and deeded gulf and bay access. You can stow your lawn mower as the landscaping is natural xeriscaping. A short sale listing at $299,000, it is the lowest priced first tier single family home on the Cape currently listed for sale.  I have had a lot of agents showing interest in this listing in the past few days.

My Pick of the Week from our eleven price changes is this bank-owned interior lot up in the gated Sunset Pointe sudivision by the state park which goes from $69,000 down to $46,900, giving it the distinction of becoming the lowest-priced property in our inventory of 403 listings.  It’s also only about 60% of the county’s assessed value of $78,500.  You’d basically be getting this lot for 10 cents on the dollar with it having last sold in the summer of ’05 for $440,000. Here’s an aerial showing its location which is only a short stroll to the beach:

Thanks for taking time to stop by today and check out what’s going on around here. My sense is that we’ve weathered the worst and the market is bouncing off the bottom as we’re seeing such an increase in (as in some return of) interested buyers. I’m also encouraged by the fact that the buyers I’m seeing (can’t speak for all my colleagues) aren’t just speculators which was what fueled this problem in the first place, but people purchasing for the right reasons, i.e. long-term investments, not just to flip. If you’re interested in selling or buying, please give me a call either at my office, 850-227-7891, on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com . Have a great weekend.

  Like most of the rest of the southeast, we’ve been inundated with rain, rain and MORE rain again this week. As I woke up on Tuesday to yet another rainy morning, I wondered if I had somehow been transported to Seattle. All this liquid sunshine has done little to dampen the appetites of buyers, though,  as we managed to have another banner week, with three closings and three new contracts. Yea! We still have a hefty inventory of properties for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market hovering right around the 400 mark, this week ending up four from last week at 399, with 142 homes and 257 lots for sale in the MLS. New listings are down, with only four, but prices continue to adjust, with twelve price cuts.

I’ve been encouraged lately by the variety of properties going under contract and closing, a good mixture of homes and lots, and this week continues that trend, with a single family home, a townhouse and a lot.  Let’s take a look at them in that order.

  First up is this bank-owned home on C-30 over in Treasure Shores First Addition, which is on the north side of C-30, making it a second tier home. Designed by architect Gordon Mock whose impressive work can also be seen at Windmark,  this is a three-bedroom, 3-bath, 1800 square foot home which last sold in December 2005 for $695,000. The owners put it back on the market in early 2007 for $645,000, but were never able to attract a buyer, and the bank took it back just a few months ago.  They listed it for $359,900 and closed on Tuesday for exactly that amount, a loss of 48% in value since 2005. The county had this one assesssed at a low $296,669.

Back to the Cape for our second sale of the week, and this is one half of a gulf view duplex at Cape Sands Landing, about half a mile north of Scallop Cove. It’s a 2-bedroom, 2-bath 1600 square foot home built in 1985 and it has good gulf views from both its decks. The sellers have owned it since 1998 when they bought it for $95,000. They listed it several months ago for $199,900, dropped it recently to $174,900 at which price it went under contract almost immediately. They closed on Thursday for $165,000, well below the assessed value of $192,753. Somebody got a great deal here.

  Our third and final sale of the week is also on the Cape, this one a lot on Sumerhouse Lane at the entrace to San Dunes subdivision. It’s roughly a third of an acre, a corner lot fronting Cape San Blas Road also, and measures 85′ by 170′.  They should have good views of both the bay and the gulf when the new owners build. This property last sold in April 2007 for $300,000, the county currently has it assessed at $189,000, and some savvy buyer bought it for $169,000. They’re not wasting any time either as they have already put in pilings and started to build.

All three of our new contracts are on homes, one at Indian Pass and two on the Cape. They’re also all listed as short sales. The Indian Pass home is the largest of the lot so let’s start with it.  This is such a beautiful home situated on a lush gulf front lot over an acre in size. Here’s the MLS description:

This Key West style historic home (Circa 1903) was relocated on a 92′ wide Gulf Front lot and carefully restored. The home contains heartpine floors throughout, original stained glass windows, 12’6″ ceilings, and original adjustable transom windows. The custom designed gourmet kitchen features floor to ceiling cabinets, top of the line stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and a ceramic apron farm sink. The home also features six fireplaces, including one in the kitchen and the master bathroom. Custom Bahama shutters cover the windows. There are over 1,000 square feet of screened porches with a huge 6′ x 11′ tiled spa and waterfall (the computerized spa is chlorine-free). The lot has been professionally landscaped with native vegetation. X Flood.

It’s a short sale with a list price of $799,900 having last sold in September 2004 for $1.65M. Youch. It’s currently assessed for $828,285. It’ll be interesting to see what the bank does with this one.

  Over to Two Palms on the south side of the Cape for contract number two, and it’s on a house we’ve seen before as both a pick of the week and for a previous contract which didn’t work out. It’s a large 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 3100 square foot first tier home with terrific views of the gulf. The sellers bought it in early 2004 for $518,000 and put it back on the market 18 months later with a $1.195M price tag. No takers. It’s currently at $567,000 which is still a good bit above the county’s assessment of $468,248, but the bank will be the final decision maker on what they’re willing to let them sell it for.

Our third and final new contract is up at Barrier Dunes, just outside the state park, where this 3-bedroom, 3-bath 1312 square foot interior townhouse went under contract on Friday with a list price of $220,000, below the $227,748 county assesment. This is on Parkside so it’s not a view home. I’m not sure about this sales history, but from the county records it looks as if it sold in June 2004 for $207,000 and then again just two months later in August for $370,000.  That seems odd to me even by mid-2004 standards.

There may be only four new listings but I’ve got a Pick of the Week anyway when I see a lagoon front lot on C-30 just past the Indian Pass Raw Bar for only $67,000 and it’s not a short sale. Here’s an aerial which seems to show a section of wetlands crossing about the middle of it, but it’s a deep lot (100′ by 599′ for about 1.3 acres) and appears to have plenty of dry room on the front part for a nice home with terrific views.

Another easy Pick of the Week from among the twelve new price tags, this one a gulf front lot on the Cape for only $279,000. No typo there – it’s $279,000 for a 62′ by 100′ lot on White Sands Drive just north of Ovation, and less than a mile south of the state park entrance. This property last sold in the summer of 2004 for $650,000, so it’s a short sale, but according to the MLS the bank has already approved this list price so it shouldn’t take long to close. Doesn’t this look like a Florida postcard?

Well, it took several days for me to put it together with everything that’s been going on but we finally made it, albeit late Monday afternoon. Thanks so much for checking back, and hopefully we’ll have next Saturday’s update to you on time. These buyers are keeping me busy and trust me, I am NOT complaining!  If you’re considering buying or selling, please give me a call at 850-227-7891 or send me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . I’d welcome the opportunity to earn your business. Have a terrific week, and if you live here in the southeast, I hope you’re staying dry.

Our building was without internet all day today – maybe all the rain lately????? Nearly 6 inches in the past 48 hours alone. Fairpoint finally got it restored shortly before 5. I’m showing property in the morning so the weekly update will be out late on Sunday afternoon.

  Summer may be officially over but luckily our buyers apparently didn’t get that memo as they were still here snapping up great real estate deals.  It’s been another good week, with three closings and three new contracts. Only four new listings and eight new price tags. Unfortunately, though,  our inventory’s inching back up, adding nine more than last week, ending at 402, with 146 houses and 256 lots listed for sale in the MLS for the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market.

  It is a healthy indicator for our market when all three of our sales are lots. They’re all on the Cape, and the first is a gulf front property in Dolphin Beach to Bay subdivision, located about three miles south of the state park. This is 54′ on the gulf, a little over half an acre, and last sold in early 2002 for $390,000. The sellers listed it in January for $549,000, had it down to $439,000 by the time it went under contract, and picked up a check at closing this week for $400,000.

Our second sale is just a few blocks away on Sea Horse Lane not far from The Tradin’ Post. It’s a really nice gulf view lot, good elevation and with awesome views of the beach.  It was listed just a few weeks ago for $139,000 and that’s what it closed for on Friday. The sellers had owned it for quite some time so there’s no pertinent sales data on file, just the assessed value of $180,000.  Again, price it right and it will sell.

  Our final sale was an interior lot in San Blas Plantation on the south side of the Cape.  This roughly quarter acre lot last sold in December 2004 for $240,000 and was put back on the market in early 2006 for $349,000 but never had any takers, and was eventually foreclosed on by the bank. They listed it for $89,900 this past January, have been whittling the price down since then, finally reaching $44,000 in early August, and it closed this week for $37,500. Talk about a comp killer – even the county had it assessed for $124,000.  Ouch.

Our three new contracts include one house and two lots.  Let’s start with the house, which is a bank-owned single family fixer upper gulf front home just north of Stumphole.  This listing showed up on the MLS late Wednesday for the give-away price of $225,000 and was under contract with no contingencies by Thursday morning with a projected closing date of September 25.  This one’s going to be yet another comp killer at this price. It last sold in 2005 for $1.5M so the bank is taking a huge soaking here. Kudos to Kes, though, as the county already had it assessed at $247,630. Real curious to see what it actually closes for.

Our first lot is also a gulf front, this one over at Indian Pass. It’s not a short sale or foreclosure but you’d think so with a list price of only $269,000 for 61′ on the gulf. It has been in the family for some time so no pertinent sales data is available; I guess they just really want to sell.  Since it’s part of a larger parcel the county doesn’t have an assessed value on just this piece.

Our third and final new contract is on an interior lot up in Sunset Pointe at Cape San Blas, adjacent to the state park with a list price of $89,000.  This property last sold at the height of the market in mid 2004 for $195,000. They tried to flip it a year later putting it back on the market for $435,000 but by then buyers had disappeared. According to the MLS this is not a short sale requiring lender approval; the sellers are taking the sacrifice here. They have it priced very close to the county’s assessed value of $78,500.

My pick of the week I had lined up from this week’s four new listings has already gone under contract, the gulf front house mentioned above listed for $225,000. I do have a winner, though, among our eight price changes.

This comfy cottage at Cape Dunes on the south side of the Cape is priced to sell quickly, with the sellers dropping the price this week from $279,000 to $229,000, real close to the county’s assessed value of $191,286. This is a good deal for a great weekend get away or vacation rental. Here’s of snapshot the beach at Cape Dunes which is only a short stroll out the front door:

This 3-bedroom, 1,259 square foot home built in 2001 has a custom interior by Tiffins Interiors and is being sold completely furnished. It has a large deck overlooking the bay, and an open deck off the living area for sunning. Plenty of parking for several cars and boats, plus a large storage room/workshop space, too.

That does it for this week. I’m working this weekend so if you’d like more info on these or other properties pick up the phone and give me a call: 850-227-7891, or send me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com . I also got a stack of brand new For Sale signs in this week so if you’re interested in selling, I’m ready. Just let me know. I’d love to be your listing agent.

It’s Labor Day Weekend and that means we’re counting down our final five days of Scallop Season 2009 as it draws to an end on Thursday, September 10. This upcoming week should be pretty busy as people hurry to stock their freezers with several last bags of the succulent little bivalves. No sign this past week that we’re drawing to the end of our recent resurgent real estate bargain-hunting season, as we had four closings and two new contracts.  We also had nine new listings and eleven price changes. Our inventory of active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor remains unchanged at 393, with 139 homes and 254 lots.

Our four sales were all on the Cape: two lots, a town house and a single-family house, two bank-owned, two short sales. Let’s start with one of the short sales which is one of only a few single family homes to have been built up at Barrier Dunes just outside the state park entrance.

This 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath 2,325 square foot house is a spec home built in 2006 that never sold. The builder bought the lot in early 2005 for $495,000. In October last year it was put in the MLS for $599,000, was down to $399,00 when it went under contract, and closed on Tuesday for $375,000, substantially below the county’s assessed value of $404,211.

Our second sale was also a short sale at Barrier Dunes, this one a custom-built 5-bedroom, 3-bath, 2600 square foot model currently assessed by the county at $334,895. The sellers bought it in October 2007 for $382,500 and flipped it back on the market just six months later for $499,000. When it went under contract it was down to $315,000 and sold on Friday for $290,000. That’s a lot of house for the money.

A little further south on the Cape our third sale was a bank-owned bay front lot measuring 108′ by 529′, or roughly 1.3 acres,  overlooking Pig Island. This is another example of someone getting a really sweet deal. This lot last sold in October 2006 for $850,000 after having sold just a year and a half before in May 2005 for $595,000.  The bank foreclosed on it earlier this year, put it on the market for $199,000, and some savvy shopper snapped it up on Monday for merely $152,500. Nicely done.  The county was way off on this one, overshooting the mark at $216,000.  These banks are just killing waterfront values with comps like this and the ripple effect across the local economy is going to continue to be huge.

Our fourth and final sale of the week was in nearby Ocean Haven where this bank-owned lot is all about the views, both of the gulf and the bay. Located on Cape San Blas Road, it measures 66′ by 215, or roughly a third of an acre, and was a developer-owned property which never sold and foreclosed on last December. It debuted in the MLS in August 2005 with a hefty $649,000 price tag, but after languishing on the shelf unsold for four years by the time it went under contract it had been marked down to $155,000.   Somebody went to closing this week and picked it up for $117,500; I want to hire that guy to negotiate my next auto purchase. I’ve got to give Kes some credit here as he almost nailed this one. He had it at $112,000.

We travel just a couple blocks further south on the Cape for the next property we’re going to take a look at, and it’s really a “two-fer” as I had pegged it as my Price Change Pick of the Week before it went under contract on Thursday.  This is the 2-bedroom gulf view duplex in Cape Sands Landing which was a New Listing Pick of the Week when it entered our hit parade at only $199,000 not too long ago and it was a shoe-in for price change pick when they dropped the price at the beginning of the week to an eye-popping $174,900. I figured it would go fast at that price, but admit I didn’t think it would be that fast. These sellers should be in good shape having purchased it in 1998 for $95,000.

It was all Cape all week, as our second new contract was just a little up the road on Seahorse Lane, where this beautiful, high, gulf view lot with great vegetation and awesome views went under contract just 15 days after entering the MLS with a real-world list price of $135,000, well below the county’s estimate of $180,000. Price it right and they will buy. I showed this lot just a few days ago and the couple remarked the area reminded them of their native Cape Cod from years ago. It’s a gorgeous setting. No contingencies and the projected closing date is just a week away on September 11.

My Pick of the Week from among our nine new listings is a no brainer, in fact it’s two no brainers.  Check out these two bank-owned lots near the point of Indian Pass overlooking the beautiful wildlife preserve of St. Vincent Island.

They make a grand entrance into the MLS with list prices of $299,000 each, but with one of the other gulf front lots in this same tiny subdivision having sold at the end of June for just $135,000 I don’t know how they expect theirs to comp at over twice that price. At prices like this why not buy one to keep and one to share? Christmas is just around the corner . . .

It’s hard to beat the $174,900 duplex on Aruba I had planned to go with as our Pick of the Week from our eleven price changes, but there is one lot in Ocean Haven subdivision on the Cape which goes from $195,000 to $125,000 as a short sale, and I think is worthy of the title.

This is an area of the Cape which has filled in with very nice homes, and with its nature-filled views and easy access to the beach there’s a lot to like.  Ocean Haven is about 4 miles south of the state park entrance so you’re not far from the boat launch at Eagle Harbor.  This lot last sold in January 2004 for $235,000 and has been on the market since January ’08 with an original list price of $250,000. The county has it assessed for $112,000 and I think that’s a realistic price range based on what we’ve been seeing. Again, this is listed as a short sale so ultimate arbiter will be the bank.

That’s a wrap for this week. If you saw something today you’d like more info on I hope you’ll give me a call at 877-512-9366 or send me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com. Things have started to move again so if you’re considering selling, I’d love to work with you and will be glad to provide you with a comparative market analysis to help you get an idea of what your property might bring in the current market.

Have a safe and fun-filled Labor Day weekend. Hope to see you back here soon. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hard to beleve it’s Labor Day Wekend already but it is, and since today is the first Friday of the month it’s time to take a look at what’s the latest with Barrier Dunes. Currently there are thirteen townhouses listed for sale, ranging in price from $184,500 for a park side unit, to $625,000 for one on the gulf.  My pick of the litter?  I don’t see how you can miss with this gulf front 3-bedroom 3 1/2 bath gulf front unit for the give away price of only $449,900.

The views from this place are like sitting in a Florida post card.

She seems to be in good shape overall, just needs some fresh lip stick and wardrobe; nothing that a few trips to Target and Lowe’s or Home Depot’s paint department wouldn’t take care of.

Call me toll free at 877-512-9366 or send me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com if you’d like to schedule an appointment to see any of these or if you are interested in selig your Barrier Dunes property.