Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear . . . “  I’ve been hearing that Buffalo Springfield line running through my head a lot this week as I and my colleagues try to figure out what has sparked this sudden burst of activity. Everyone I’ve talked to the past few days is wondering the same thing.

Good news: our inventory shrank a bit since last Saturday, down by eight ending at 416, with 152 houses and 264 lots in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets.  It’s been a banner week for sales, with five people going to closing, and we managed to write up two more new contracts.  In other activity, there were nine new listings and also nine new price tags.

Our first sale is a relatively new 4-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath 2,657 square foot home built in 2008 at Turtle Dunes on the Cape. It was originally listed back in June for $1.32M, but more recently reduced to $899,999, and on Thursday it sold for $790,000.  That’s still more than the county thinks it’s worth; they have it assessed at $506,999.

Our second sale on the Cape was this gulf and bay view lot on Cape San Blas Road in the Ocean Haven subdivision which was listed for $119,900. This first came on the market in June 2005 with a $649,000 price tag, just a little above the county’s current assessment of $112,000. This was a foreclosed property which sold on Friday for $110,000.

We’re leaving the Cape and heading west along the C-30 Corridor over to the Gulf Pines neighborhood where this 100′ by 257′ first tier lot with a list price of $219,000 sold on Tuesday for an amazing $165,000 with the buyer paying all the closing costs except the broker’s commission. Kes wasn’t far off on this one, either, having it assessed at $157,500. This property last sold in late 2003 for $300,000 and was put back on the market in early 2004 for $375,000.

   A little further west along the C-30 Corridor over in Money Bayou the MLS just recorded this For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sale on the 26th of this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,032 square foot first tier home which was pre-foreclosure.  The county has it assessed at $444,157 but the seller opted to avoid foreclosure and instead accept $364,113 to be free of it.  Talk about a comp killer.

Our fifth and final sale is this lovely gulf front lot over on Indian Pass measuring 61′ by 460′  not listed as a short sale but most attractively priced at $269,000 and which went to closing on Thursday for $230,000.   This parcel was first listed in April 2007 for $1.1M, again just a smidgen above the county’s current assessed value of $360,000.

Both our new contracts were on homes, the first being this first tier, 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath 1724 square foot home built in 2004 and currently listed for $411,000, well below the county’s assessment of $472,495. This last sold in August 2004 for $699,000, and was put on the market four years later for a more modest $599,900. This was not listed as a short sale. There are contingencies to be met so no known closing date yet.

  Our second new contract is on a forclosed home in Seagrass back over on the Cape. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,882 square foot gulf view home in the Seagrass neighborhood listed for $550,000, a little below it’s original list price back in early 2006 of $1.25M. The county has it at $437,101 (wonder what the $1 is for???) so I’m curious to see what it finally goes for.

I choose a Cape San Blas lot as my Pick of the Week from our nine new listings. It’s a foreclosed lot in Cape Breezes for only $64,900, a little more than half the county’s assessment of $100,800.  I thought those days were long gone. I’ve been in both of the homes on either side of this lot and they have terrific gulf and bay views. Price includes deeded gulf and bay access, too.  This one should go pretty quickly.

Looking through our nine price changes this lagoon front lot caught my eye and picks up my Price Change Pick of the Week award.  This great view lot on Indian Pass Lagoon along C-30 is now only $62,000, down from $67,000, way below the county’s assessed value of $90,000. It measures 100′ by 599′ so it’s a good size parcel.

That wraps it up for this week. As you can see, there are some terrific values out there so if you’d like to take advantage of this market get in touch with me either by calling me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shooting me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . In the meantime, have a great week and hope to hear from you soon.  Thanks for stopping by today.

 (My 5-year-old+ laptop finally called it quits and I’ve been switching over to a new computer system since Friday - most of my programs and files are now playing together nicely but still have a few glitches to work out. The MLS doesn’t want to give me the links I usually include which is what I’ve been wrestling with and why this update is appearing on Sunday rather than in its usual Saturday time slot. In the interest of putting this post to bed I’m giving up on the links for now and will try to have things ironed out by next Saturday.)

Not much going on this week and the continuing growth in the inventory reflects that, increasing by eight with 424 MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market,  153 houses and 271 lots. Nobody went to closing, but we manaaged three new contracts, nine new listings and twelve price changes.

Our first contract is on this serious fixer upper on the Cape at Cape Sands Landing.  It’s one side of a duplex and needs to be completely renovated inside and out to be habitable. The place went under contract almost immediately when it enterd the MLS this week sporting a list price of only $75,000. One contractor estimates it will take about $110,000 to bring it back.  There are contingencies so no closing date noted.

Our second contract is also on the Cape, yet another lot at Piney Woods Beach located on the south side of the Cape. There have been a number of sales in this nice gulf front subdivision this year. This is a bank-owned property foreclosed on in December 2007. When it was last listed in 2006 it sported a $425,000 price tag, but when the bank put it on the market last year they started at $229,000. The county has it assessed for $100,800 and the bank dropped it below that last month to $95,000 and now they have a contract. Interesting that both of our contracts on the Cape this week were listed below $100,000. It’s been quite a few  years since I’ve seen that.

We’re heading over along the C-30 Corridor to Gulf Pines for our third and final new contract, which is on a first tier lot listed for $219,000. It’s a good size lot, a little over half an acre, measuring 100′ by 257′ and has fantastic gulf views.  It last sold in October 2003 for $300K and went back on the market in early ’07 for $375,000. The county thinks it’s worth $157,500, and it’s under contract with a list price of $219,000, scheduled to close on the 26th, which sounds like somebody just whipped out their checkbook and stroked a check.  I’m curious to see just how loudly cash in hand spoke on this one.

No trouble selecting a Pick of the Week from our nine new listings. I love cottage style so this cottage at Barrier Dunes is talking to me, especially at $309,000. Here’s the MLS description:

Charming 3BR/3BA cottage in exclusive Barrier Dunes, a beachside gated community on Cape San Blas. Located on the pond, this home has tile flooring in the living, dining and kitchen area, tropical decor, fireplace, flat screen television, new appliances and separate laundry. There is also a bedroom on this level that has its own entrance onto the spacious deck overlooking the pond. There is also a full bath on this level. On the second level is the master bedroom with a private bath and french doors leading onto the screened deck overlooking the pond. The master is large and has a king bed, two chest of drawers, nightstands and private full bath. The second bedroom also has french doors leading out onto the screen deck. The spacious deck that surrounds 3/4 of the house provides lots of privacy. This is truly a must see!

  My Price Change Pick of the Week is a no-brainer, too – how can you go wrong with this gorgeous Cape San Blas first tier lot at prestigious Ovation slashed from $552,000 down to $249,000? That’s below the assessed value of $252,000, and this is a lot which last sold in August 2005 for $775,000. Oh, and it’s X zone, too. 

That does it for this week.  Hopefully we’ll be back on track next week and I’ll get this out on time and with more contracts and some sales to tell you about. If you’re interested in finding out more about these or other properties please email me at Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com or call me at 850-227-5197.  Have a great week and thanks so much for checking back today.

  Autumn has arrived and the temperature has finally cooled with a forecast high today in the low 70′s.  Very nice indeed. Our market also cooled a bit this week with only two sales and one new contract. Sorry to report, though, our inventory continues its slow creep back upward closing at 416, with 144 homes and 265 lots listed for sale in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We also  have six new listings, ten price changes, and three expired unsold.

   Our first sale is this Cape San Blas 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,176 square foot first tier home with in-ground pool on White Sands Drive about a mile south of the state park. It last sold in early 2002 for $210,000, was listed in September 2005 for $1.15M, and just four years later the county gives it an assessed value of only $391,527.  It went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $599,000, and sold on Friday for $515,000. 

   It’s  about time this gulf front lot at Curve at the Cape on C-30 near the turn off onto Cape San Blas Road sold. It came on the market in mid 2008 with a list price of $399,900 and after numerous price reductions, finally reached $220,000 this past July which was just the price point it took to elicit an offer, and on Friday it closed for $212,000 with the buyer paying some closing costs. With 59′ of gulf frontage, that’s roughly $3600 per waterfront foot, and like time travelling back nearly a decade. Poor ol’ Kes our county property appraiser missed this one by a country mile, coming in at $356,700.

   Our lone new contract is on a pre-construction package for a lovely 4-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath 2,100 square foot home on a gulf front lot on the Cape with a list price of $699,000. The home will be situated on a 50′ by 350′ lot just a little north of Scallop Cove. There are contingencies to be met so no projected closing date noted.

My New Listing Pick of the Week from our six new listings is really a new re-listing with a new bank-approved short sale price of just $425,000 but the place is a beauty, no doubt about it. This is a modern 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,985 square foot lovely bay front home on the south side of Cape San Blas with in-ground pool and elevator. This is a LOT of home for this price and a lot of land, say 2.24 acres, basically right at the county’s assessed value of $420,403, and less than half the $980,000 it sold for in late 2005. Check out the view from the front deck off the living area:

Nothing to write home about in our ten price changes this week so once again not going there.

Despite this week’s lull in activity to report about, my week has been hectic as all get out, with a lot of people looking at and wanting info on listings, owners requesting market reports, offers coming and going across my desk . . . in short, change is in the air. If you are interested in either acquiring or selling now may be the time to talk. Give me a call at 850-227-7891 or shoot me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com and let’s see what we can put together for you.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello. My office is located at 1252 Cape San Blas Road.

Here’s something you don’t see every day. Spotted this little fella, about 3 to 4 foot in length, in the retaining pond at Sea Cliffs up by the state park while I was out showing property.

  Did someone say summer is over? You’d never know it around here as the thermometer seems stuck around 90. While some parts of the country will see their first dusting of snow this weekend, we’ll be heading to the beach which is where I think most of our buyers must have gone this week as they sure weren’t doing much in the way of real estate. After several consecutive fairly active weeks, we had only two closings, no new contracts, two new listings and seven price changes.  Unfortunately what did change was our overall inventory, which continues to creep back up, this time by five, to end the week with 411 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market, with 144 homes and 265 lots. I hope this isn’t a reversal of the downward trend we’ve seen in the inventory since 2007.  We’ll want to keep a very close eye on this.

Interesting that both of our sales were at Barrier Dunes, one a townhouse the other a lot for a single family home. Let’s start with the townhouse which is one of only two one-bedroom units in the complex. It has a very pleasant tropical view from the living area.

This 1,164 square foot unit was built in 1986 and last sold in November 2005 for $380,000. It went under contract with a list price of $214,000 and sold on Monday for an even $200,000, impressively close to the county’s assessed value of $205,668.

If you read this update regularly you’re probably having a deja vu moment about now thinking didn’t I just see this lot? Well, yes and no. You see it here today as our second sale of the week, but you also saw it just last week as one of our new contracts. Talk about a quick cash deal. This bank-owned lot on Lakeshore Drive at Barrier Dunes went under contract with a list price of $220,000 and closed this week for, get this, $99,000. Amazing. It went to the bank in September 2008 with a county recorded value of $314,300, and was originally listed back in December 2004 for $450,000. Old Kes thinks even this $99K was too high; he figures $63,000 would have been closer to the mark.

There may be only two new listings but one of them is an eye-catcher. I like this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200 square foot lagoon front home on C-30 built in 2008 which enters the market at an affordable $199,000. It seems like only yesterday the lot alone would have sold for more than that. It’s a pretty home with great water views located in a quiet country setting. What a peaceful weekend retreat.

I couldn’t find any gems among our seven price changes worthy of my Price Change Pick of the Week, so we’re not going there today.  I can’t remember the last time we’ve had such a brief update; it’s a trend I definitely prefer not to continue.  Personally I’ve had a very active week showing a lot of property to a number of people which will hopefully turn into some new contracts soon, so there is activity our there, just not any sense of urgency.

I hope you have an active and productive week, and if this is a three day weekend for you, make it count. Get out there and have one last summer hurrah. If you want in on some of the good real estate deals we’re seeing here locally, give me a call on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com. I love hearing from my readers, a group which I’m happy to say is growing to a steady number right now of about 150 daily. Thanks for stopping by today and hope you’ll check back soon.  

Autumn’s in the air and it has been another glorious week here in paradise. The air’s a bit drier, the nights a little cooler, and the sunshine has returned. Buyers also returned bringing a flurry of sales activity with five closings and three new contracts. We end the week with our inventory at 406 up three from last week, with 142 homes and 264 lots listed in the MLS for Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and the C-30 Corridor. We have 14 new listings, only four price changes, and eleven expired unsold.   We have a lot of territory to cover today so let’s get started.

The first of our five closings is this bank-owned, first tier home on Haven Road on the Cape. It’s a spacious 4-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 2,547 square foot spec home with gorgeous views of the gulf from throughout. It was built in 2007 and made its market debut with a $1.25M dollar price tag which has been repeatedly marked down ever since.  The home finally went under contract when it reached $595,000, and sold this week for $547,000, impressively close to the county’s assessed value of $535,985.

Our second sale takes us up to Barrier Dunes where a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,364 square foot interior townhouse with a list price of $248,000 closed for $213,000.  It last sold in mid-2005 for $325,000. Kes nailed this one almost exactly, assessing it at $214,573. I’m having a hard time getting used to sale and assessed values being so close after years of the two being miles apart and the idea of selling anything for its assessed value was a joke. Welcome to the new norm.

Practically next door to Barrier Dunes up at Sunset Pointe our third sale is an interior lot listed for $89,000 that sold for $65,000. Kinda makes my Price Change Pick of the Week from last week which was a similar lot in Sunset Pointe listed for $46,900 look that much sweeter, doesn’t it? As I write this it’s still available, but I’ve had a lot of inquiries about it so you need to step up to the plate real soon if you want to snag it.

Our fourth closing was on a beautiful gulf front lot on the south side of the Cape in Jubilation. This 1.27 ace property last sold in January 2005 for $1.1M. It recently went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $475,000, and this week it closed for $425,000, well above the assessed value of just $312,000.

Our fifth and final sale takes us out along the C-30 Corridor over to Simmons Bayou where this modest 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,244 interior home listed for $179,900 sold for $149,000. This home was recently very nicely renovated and the county’s assessment of $74,463 better reflets its pre-renovation value. It was built in the early ’90s out on the Cape north of Stumphole and was moved over to Simmons Bayou a couple of years ago.

OK – moving right along let’s see what people wrote contracts on since we last met. Our three new contracts inlude one house and two lots. Let’s start with the house which is the above home located in Turtle Dunes subdivision on the Cape. It’s a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,657 square foot jewel built just last year and placed on the market as a rental property. The sellers paid $700,000 for the lot alone in early 2005, and the home goes under contract with a list price of $899,999, quite a bit above the county’s assessment of $506,999. Here I think the sellers are closer to actual market value  than the county, but we shall have to wait and see.

Our second contract is on this gulf front lot in Camp Palms at Indian Pass listed for $269,000. It’s a little over an acre with 61′ on the water and about 460′ deep. This is the gulf front portion of a parent lot which extends from the gulf to the lagoon and has belonged to the sellers family for years, so there is no sales history associated with it. The property appraiser’s office doesn’t show an assessed value for just this portion yet.

Our third and final contract is on a road front lot in the single family residential section of Barrier Dunes back on the Cape by the state park. Several very nice homes have been built in this area. This particular lot is bank-owned with a list price of $220,000, 3 1/2 times more than the county’s assessment of $63,000, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets it closest. The developer never sold this lot so no prior sales history is associated with it.

On to the fun stuff. There are fourteen new listings and we have a winner for My New Listing Pick of the Week. I’m liking this totally renovated gulf front Cape San Blas townhouse for just $389,900.How’s this for a view from your living area?

Not too shabby. Here’s the dexcription from the MLS:

This Gulf front townhome was recently remodeled to reflect a fresh beachy atmosphere. The upgrades include a new metal roof, replacement windows, exterior siding, turtle lights, wood laminate flooring, fresh paint, new tile, and light fixtures. In addition, the kitchen cabinets, appliances, washer and dryer were replaced. Located on the pristine beaches of Cape San Blas this unit would make the perfect second home, and you can also supplement your income with the rental proceeds. This home has been on the rental program only a short time with great results. Enjoy the best of both worlds, the beach at your feet when you’re ready to visit, and a supplemental income when you can’t be here.

This place sold in early 2005 for $450,000, but suffered from neglect and ended up being foreclosed on. By the time the bank sold it in early 2008 she was a bona fide fixer upper, and the current owner picked it up for $207,000 and has put a lot of time and money into it.

We only have four new price tags this week and none of them give me a Chris Mathews-like tingle running down my leg so we’ll save the Price Change Pick of the Week tiara for next Saturday.

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend with family and friends, and appreciate your taking a few minutes out to stop by. If you’re interested in making one of these properties your own, or if you have property you’d like to sell, please give me a call at 850-227-7891 or write to me at Sherri@SherriDodsworth.com . Ciao for now.