Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

I’m hoping what we’ve been seeing here the past few weeks might be the new normal as our recent trend of banner weeks continues with our best week of all. We closed six sales and wrote four new contracts, added only four new listings and made eight price changes. Even so, we end the week up one from last week, closing out at 386, with 116 homes and 270 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s take a look at what caught buyers’ attention.

We’ll start our review of the six sales up on the north end of the Cape at Barrier Dunes. This sale’s a happy one, as the sellers bought it in December 2009 for $265,000 so they would have their own place to spend more time here and to share with family and friends. They ended up spending so much time here they decided to move here permanantly, bought a steal-of-a-deal on a gorgeous bank-owned gulf front home and put this one back on the market. It’s a terrific 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,364 square foot lake-front Key West style cottage, one of only a handful at Barrier Dunes, built in 1993. It was reasonably listed for $265,000, and unreasonably assessed by the county for $197,591. On Monday it sold for a very attractive $240,000.

Our second sale was also at Barrier Dunes,  just around the corner. Someone picked up a great deal on this lake front 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,172 square foot townhouse with a list price of $179,500 that they got on Friday for just $135,000. Sweet!. That’s well below the county’s assessed value of $162,131, and way below the $210,000 the seller paid for it in early 2003.  Even so, this wasn’t a short sale; just a seller dealing with the reality of the market being what it is.

We’ll travel about two miles south on the Cape to Catamaran Drive right around the Cape Tradin’ Post for our next two sales, the first of which is a 101′  by 143′ one-third acre first tier lot listed for $120,000 which sold on Thursday for $110,000. Both of these lots are pending a minor replat as they are being carved from a gulf to road-front single parent parcel.  The second of these lots was a 101′ by 143′  third-acre lot road front lot listed for $40,000 and it sold on Thursday for just that.  Both of these properties are in “X” zones adding to their value.

So many good deals were snapped up this week, and our fifth sale is no exception. We’ll head over to Indian Pass to this 50′ wide gulf front lot, listed for $180,900, which sold for $180,000 on Wednesday. The MLS didn’t list this as a short sale which is interesting as the seller paid $959,000 for it in January 2006. Here’s another one of those sales which perfectly illustrate the nature of the real estate bubble from which we’re recovering. This lot sold in 2000 for $180,000, then again in mid-2003 for $410,000, and finally to our seller just three years later for the aforementioned $959,000.  Note that this week’s sale price of $180,000 is right in line with the county’s assessed value of $175,000.

For our next sale, we’ll head all the way over to Neptune Street on Indian Pass where this neat little 2-bedroom, 1 bath, 1,288 square foot home went under contract in June with a list price of just $169,900. Not really a gulf view home but still just a short stroll to the beach, and in this neighborhood federal flood insurance is available. This was an estate sale and unlike most home sales in our area was sold unfurnished.  On Monday it sold for $135,000.

Now on to our four new contracts, starting with  two developer lots under contract at Ovation, both good corner lots with terrific bay vews, and both in the coveted “X” flood zone.  They’re listed attractively at $50,000 each, below the county’s assessed value of $65,000. There are still other “X” zone lots available here so if you’d like to pick one up, let me know.

Next up is a gulf front home about a half mile north of Scallop Cove which goes under contract with a list price of $405,900. This one may look familiar as it has been under contract before, last time in mid-June, but didn’t quite make it to closing. The sellers paid $510,000 for it in 2001, so depending on what the offer is, it may or may not be a short sale. They’ve been trying to sell it for some time having it on and off the market since the summer of 2005 when they initally listed it for $1.189M. It’s a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 1,980 square foot home built in 2001. The county has it valued at $374,249 which is probably pretty close to what it will go for.

All of our new contract action this week was on the Cape, and our final contract is a gulf front lot in Clifton Beach, a small sub-division in the vicinity of Scallop Cove. This 50′ by 796′, 0.8 acre “X” zone property went under contact on Wednesday. This one’s another bubble market classic; it sold for $575,000 in October 2003, and those owners flipped it one year later in October 2004 for roughly twice that, $995,000. Those sellers got left holding the bag and have it under contract now with a list price of just $399,900. As rough as that sounds, that’s still more than twice what the county thinks it’s worth, with them having it assessed at just $175,000.

I have a New Listing Pick of the Week from our four new listings - there’s a lot to like about this well-maintained 2-bedroom, 2-bath 1,216 square foot townhouse at Barrier Dunes which enters the market as a short sale with a list price of $169,000.  It’s located on Sandpine Drive, and from the master suite you have a pleasant view of the gulf. The living area and kitchen have been tiled. UPDATE – Aug. 3, 2011 - The MLS has been corrected to reflect that this home is NOT in the “X” zone as previously reported; it is in AE so your lender will require you to carry private flood while you have a mortgage on the home.  Here is the view from the master bedroom.

There are also some great values among our eight price changes, but my Price Change Pick of the Week goes to this 66′ by 396″ gulf front lot at Indian Pass which has a large bluff overlooking beautiful St. Vincent Island.  This is half of the lot located at 2484 Indian Pass Rd, MLS #241224, and the tax ID number is for the parent parcel. A minor replat will be recorded upon contract. The sellers lowered the price this week to $269,000 from $279,000, and will also sell the entire 132′ wide parcel for $575,000.

That’s a wrap for this week.  As you can see, there is a lot going on and if you want to get in on the action and pick up one of these great values, let’s talk. Call or text me on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . I’ll be glad to help you with your shopping.   I enjoy hearing from so many of my readers and helping them become beach owners. Thanks for taking time to stop by today and I hope you’ll come back again soon.

WOW!  And the hits just keep on coming. We had a record-breaking week, logging four sales, penned an amazing nine new contracts, added six new listings, and cut prices on nine others. With all that, our inventory dipped a little, closing down by three from last week, with 385 MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market, with 113 homes and 272 lots.  Once again, we have a lot of territory to cover, so let’s get right to it.

The first of our four sales is this lovely gulf front home on Haven Road on the Cape between Sea Grass and Ocean Haven.  My New Listing Pick of the Week when it debuted the first week of June, I love this awesome 5-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,911 square foot gulf front home with a list price of $789,000. Built in 2009, it’s situated on 50′ of waterfront in a micro-subdivision of  four homes. The lot alone sold in early 2008 for $575,000. This is a high-end vacation rental with impressive GRI of $91,345 in 2010, and already has over $80,000 on the books for 2011, expecting to exceed 2010′s GRI.  The buyers got a great deal on Tuesday when they picked up the keys at closing for $760,000. 

Our second sale takes us to the south side of the Cape to San Blas Plantation for an estate sale of a third-of-an-acre, first tier lot. The representative listed it for $89,900 and sold it on Friday for $54,000 cash. I’m not sure why, but the county had this one up at $135,000. The last time this property sold was back in 1990 when it went for $20,000.  

Our second sale is a bank-owned lagoon front lot out on C-30 almost to the Franklin County line. It’s about three quarters of an acre, measuring roughly 83′ by 405′. The previous owners paid $325,000 for it in February 2005 and turned around a year later and put it back on the market at a modest markup of $339,000. No takers came along and the property eventually went to the bank, who set a fire sale pist price of $24,900, resulting in a sale this week for exactly that amount.  That’s about bang on the money with the county’s assessed value of $24,000.

Our fourth and final sale is out on C-30 over in Money Bayou where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,140 square foot bath gulf front  front town house in Cape Villas was listed for $195,000. It wasn’t a short sale even though the sellers paid $339,000 for it in August 2008.  Cape Villas is a cute little complex of 12 units located on the gulf west of the little bridge at Money Bayou. There is a shared community pool overlooking the beach.  The parties went to closing on Thursday with the buyers picking up the keys for $183,000, not too much above the county’s assessed value of $153,609.

Now on to our banner crop of nine new contracts, heading back to the  north end of the Cape to Sunset Pointe  where this quarter-acre first tier lot listed as a short sale for $99,000 went under contract on Thursday.   The seller paid $525,000 for it in the summer of 2004, so he and the bank have some negotiating to do.  He’s been trying to sell it ever since 2006 when he first listed it for $699,500.  The current list is well below the county’s assessment of $120,000.

Our second new contract is in nearby Barrier Dunes, where this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,172 square foot lake-front townhouse went under contract with a list price of $179,500. There have been a couple of 2-bedroom units on the lake which recently sold in the $125K range, so I’m thinking this one will probably close at around $135K or so. It’s one of the newer units in this complex, having been built in 2003, when it sold to the current owner for $210,000.   The county has it assessed at $162,131, which I think is high.

About three miles further south on Cape San Blas Road just shy of The Tradin’ Post our third contract is another one of the several lots on Catamaran Drive which went under contract simultaneously last week.  This week the agents penned yet another contract on this third tier, half-acre “X” zone lot listed for $60,000, a smidgen of the assessed value of $80,000.

Lots of action on the Cape  and our next contract takes us a few blocks further down the road to this  50′ wide roughly half-acre gulf  front lot listed for $265,000 which went under contract on Monday. This is part of a minor replat the seller is in the process of completing, so they’ll need to wait for that in order to close.  It’s being carved from the parent parcel, a 100′ wide gulf to road lot, that the county has assessed for $350,000. The other 50′wide gulf front lot in this parcel is still available as I write this, so let me know if you”re interested.

This next gulf front lot on the Cape is an odd duck, as my grandmother used to say; a 37′ wide piece zoned for  construction of a duplex, which is about all you could fit into this foot print what with side setbacks being 9.5′each.   I guess you could squeeze an 18′ wide shotgun-style home but that’s as wide as you could go.  The sellers have owned it since 1984 when they bought the previously existing one side of a duplex there at the time, paying $95,500 for it.  I forget which storm took the duplex out. They’ve been  trying to sell this lot since the summer of ’07 when they listed it for $395,000. By now that list is down to $139,900, below even the county’s assessment of $146,300.

Our seventh contract and we still haven’t left the Cape. We’re back down on the south side again for this one, in Boardwalk,  my Price Change Pick of the Week from just last week. It’s a pleasant, long-established subdivision off Cape San Blas Road about a half mile from C-30.   We’re looking at a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,656 square foot home built in 1990. The sellers bought it in early 2005 for $405,000 and subsequently did some major renovation work on the interior, so they have a good bit invested in it.  Unfortunately, it went under contract this week as a short sale with a list price of  only$215,000.

OK – we’re finally leaving the Cape and heading back out onto C-30 heading towards Indian Pass stopping at this bank-owned lovely 6-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,348 gulf front home built in 2008 as a spec home and now listed for a mere $590,000.  The owner bought the lot alone in February 2007 for $926,5000, then built this lovely home, so they were very heavily invested into it, and tried to market it as early as the summer of ’07 when they listed the home for $1.825M.   They eventually lost it to the bank who is selling it ‘”as is”" with some interior finish work still needing to be completed.

A little further up the beach in the Money Bayou subdivision of Sweetwater Shores someone wrote a contract on another gulf front lot, this one a beautiful half-acre parcel with 50′ of waterfront. The sellers bought it in January 2005 for $795,000 and tried to flip it just 2 months later listing it for $1.130M, a nice 40% markup.  That train was long out of the station by then and they’ve ridden the market all the way down to it going under contract on Tuesday as a short sale with a list price more in line with today’s market, $250,000.  Two similar lots at the other end of this street sold at the turn of the year in the $200,000 range so I won’t be surprised if that’s close to what this one closes for eventually.

Could this really be our ninth and final new contract? It is, and it’s another gulf front home, this  time over on Indian Pass. A couple of buyers liked the looks of this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,670 square foot home built in 2000, listed right with a $549,900 asking price. The sellers are the original owners so this will be an arms length transaction with no short sale involved.

We have some great looking deals in our six new listings, all of which are lots, and one of which has already gone under contract, so I’m making it a package-deal New Listings Pick of the Week – check them all out!

From our crop of nine price changes, there are several I like but I’m recommending two as Price Change Picks of the Week: check out this gulf front lot at Jubilation on the Cape now just $265,000, and this gulf front townhouse on C-30 now $249,000.

That’ll do it for this week. Glad to have so much activity going on as people are snapping up these bargain-basement great deals on premium properties. If you’re looking for terrific values, there’s no time like the present to start searching, and I’ll be glad to help you with that. Simply call or text me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or use good old reliable email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . Get in on the sales action here at the Cape where the only thing hotter than the weather is our real estate market. Have a terrific week, keep cool, and hope to see you back again next week. Thanks for stopping by today. Take care.

Happy to report we logged another banner week with sales still as sizzling hot as our beaches. We closed three sales, wrote seven new contracts, listed just two new properties and posted four price changes. With all that activity, we managed to trim our inventory by three, closing at 388, with 118 homes and 270 MLS lots listed in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Once again we have a lot of territory to cover, so let’s jump right in.

We’ll begin our look at the three sales in familiar territory, up at Barrier Dunes by the State Park, where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,172 square foot townhouse built in 2003 sold on Friday for $125,000, well below its list price of $169,500, but well in line with recent comps. The seller bought it in late 2005 for $425,000, but even so, this wasn’t a short sale. The county has it valued at $162,131.

We’ll travel off the Cape and out onto the C-30 Corridor almost to Indian Pass for our second sale, a bank-owned 5-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 3,348 square foot beauty listed recently for just $590,000. On Friday the lucky buyers went to closing and picked up the keys for $539,000. According to the buyers’ agent, they’ve been trying to buy this place for almost three years now and have had to endure seemingly endless delays and roadblocks dealing with the banks involved. The previous owner paid $926,500 for the lot alone in January 2007 and never quite finished this house on the inside, so the new owners still have a good bit to do for it to be move-in ready, but it’s on a great stretch of beach, on a 50′ wide lot in an area where FEMA flood insurance is available. If right about now you’re saying to yourself, “Darn, I wish I had made a move on that” you have a second chance as a home in this same stretch with pretty much the same story is still available, so take a look at it if you’re interested.

Our third and final sale is also on C-30, but much further to the north of Treasure Bay. It’s a 103′ by 217′, half-acre, bay-view lot listed for $44,900 that the seller let go for just $21,000. It wasn’t a short sale even though he paid $119,000 for it in 2008.  This one’s interesting in that it sold in late 1995 for a mere $9,600, and then nine years later in 2004 re-sold for $112,500. Our sale price is pretty close in line with the county’s assessed value of $25,000.

We’re ready now to take a look at our seven new contracts, beginning way up on the north end of the Cape at Secluded Dunes where our first contract is on this beautiful gulf front lot. With 75′ of waterfront on one of the most coveted stretches of beach on the peninsula, it’s listed at $400,000 as a short sale, having last sold in 1995 for $440,000. That sounds as if some equity may have been cashed out along the way.  Even so, the county thinks its value is more like $233,100.

Just next door in Sunset Pointe our second contract is on a quarter-acre, first tier lot also listed as a short sale for $99,000, having last sold in mid 2006 for $699,500.  That owner made a nice profit, having bought it just two years prior in mid-2004 $525,000.  In today’s world, the county thinks it’s worth $120,000.

We’re working the north end of the Cape this week, heading next over to Park Point, adjacent to Sunset Point. This one’s an interior lot with a glimpse of the bay listed as yet another short sale for $28,900 with the sellers having paid $350,000 for it in October 2004, despite the fact it had sold only six months earlier in April 2004 for $225,000.  We’re looking at another less-than-10-cents-on-the-dollar sale with this one. The county’s feeling generous, having it valued at $50,000.

Still working the north end of the Cape, we’ll stop next at Barrier Dunes for our next contract, our first non-short sale contract of the week. This sale’s a happy one, as the sellers bought it in December 2009 for $265,000 so they would have their own place to spend more time here and to share with family and friends. They ended up spending so much time here they decided to move here permanantly, bought a steal-of-a-deal on a gorgeous bank-owned gulf front home and put this one back on the market. It’s a terrific 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,364 square foot lake-front Key West style cottage, one of only a handful at Barrier Dunes, built in 1993.  It’s reasonably listed for $265,000, and unreasonably assessed  by the county for $197,591.

About three miles down the road near The Tradin’ Post, our fifth contract is one which may look familiar to long-time readers as it’s been under contract before. This 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,258 square foot gulf view home sold in May 2004 for $670,000.  The owners have been trying to sell it since March of 2006 when they listed it for $1,249,000 but were never successful in attracting a buyer, and on Wednesday it went under contract with a far more modest list price of just $475,000. The county’s a bit more pessimistic, having it valued at $270,282.

We’re finally leaving the Cape and heading all the way over to near the tip of the Indian Pass Peninsula for our final two new contracts, starting with this handsome 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,945 square foot gulf front home situated on 50′ of waterfront.  The sellers bought it in October 2002 for $575,000 and put it back on the market four years later in early 2006 asking $1,275,000. On Monday it finally went under contract with a list of $529,000, a bit below what the sellers paid for it. The county has it valued at $348,810.

Our seventh and final new contract is on this scenic and tranquil lagoon front homesite in Mystic Palms. It’s an irregularly shaped, one-third acre, bank-owned property the offer on which the bank approved Monday.  The history of this lot is reflective of the real estate bubble, having sold in April 2004 for $350,000 and then again the following April for nearly twice that at $675,000. Our buyer thought the bank’s current list price of $79,000 was appealing, submitted his offer which was finally signed off on, and as soon as the bank is ready, to closing we will go. We’ll have to wait and see how close that closing price is to the county’s assessed value of $61,000.

I want to do a little more research on the lagoon front lot in the two new listings before granting it New Listing Pick of the Week status, but among our four price changes, my Price Change Pick of the Week goes to this r remodeled home in Boardwalk on the south side of the Cape which this week goes from $225,000 down to $215,000. 

It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,656 square foot home built in 1990 extensively remodeled in 2005.  The MLS notes describe it well:

SHORT SALE! Beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home located in The Boardwalk subdivision on Cape San Blas. This lovely home wascompletely remodeled inside and out in 2005. The floor plan is open, spacious and inviting. The cathedral ceiling is dramatic and the hardwoood floors complement the living dining and kitchen areas. A wood-burning fireplace is featured in the living area. Two bedrooms and a bath are also on the living level. The master bedroom and bath are on the 3rd level providing privacy and seclusion for the owner. Outside, a wrap-around deck offers ample room for relaxing and entertaining. A storage room on the lower level provides a space for all of your beach toys. At the end of the street, enjoy the community gulf front pool and hot tub with a great view of the ocean as well as a private beach walk and beach access.

That’ll do it for this week. We’ve covered a wide variety of properties today, and as you can see, there are a lot of good values to be had.  If you’re interested in seeing what you might be able to pick up for yourself, please call or text me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com. Have a terrific week, and thanks so much for taking time out to stop by today.

I have corrected the link to the price changes which earlier linked back to the new listings. I apologize for the inconvenience – hat tip to alert reader Liz F. who notified me of the problem.

WOW! What a week! All of a sudden the only thing hotter than our above-average temps is our real estate market. We had a banner week with three sales, nine new contracts, eight new listings and twenty-three price changes.  Even with all that activity, our inventory still only closed down by four at 391, with 120 homes and 271 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets. Let’s see what the feeding frenzy was all about.

We’ll start up at Ovation where there’s been so much action lately for the first of our three sales. It’s an over-sized bay-view corner lot listed by the developer for $65,000. According to the MLS notes, the contract they had was for that full price, but when they dropped their prices on similarly situated lots to $50,000, they went ahead and let this one close for $50,000 as well. Class act. The county still has it at $65,000.

Our second sale takes us all the way down to the south side of the Cape almost to Salinas Park where this bank-owned 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,432 square foot home in need of a good bit of TLC sold below its list price of $150,000 closing Friday for $146,000.  That’s well below the $265,000 it last sold for in December 2001, and way  below the county’s assessed value of $306,637.  Those owners put it on the market in late 2008 asking $679,000 but were never able to sell it, and unfortunately eventually lost it to the bank.

Out on the C-30 Corridor as you head towards Indian Pass from the Cape our third sale is a first tier lot listed for $99,000 which went under contract just last Monday with no contingencies, cash, and closed this Thursday for full list price. That price is not too far off the county’s assessed value of $70,000. It’s a quarter acre lot measuring roughly 65′ by 150′, and in early 2005 it sold for $575,000.

We’ll begin our look at our nine new contracts back up at Ovation where it’s all happening lately. This one’s a beautiful bay front lot recently listed by the developer for the very attractive price of just $125,000, and they have it under contract within eight days at that price. No wonder. Ovation is a gorgeous community. This particular lot is right next door to the bay front club house with its infinity pool, fitness center, and owners community room.

Now on to our nine new contracts, four of which are related as they had been listed as part of a group of six contiguous lots on Catamaran Drive by the Tradin’s Post which the owners had wanted to sell as a single package and listed together under one MLS number. Agents got creative and lined up individual buyers who agreed to a coordinated closing day so they have now been entered into the MLS as individual lots and immediately put into under contract status. Two of them are these side-by-side 50′ wide gulf front lots each of which is listed for $220,000.  I’m not sure why the county has them valued at a low $175,000.

The adjacent first tier lot is a good sized homesite measuring 101′ by 143′ for about a third of an acre. It is listed for $120,000, above the county’s $100,000 assessment.

The fourth lot in this group sale is this road front lot measuring 101′ by 143′ feet, listed for $40,000, well below the county’s assessment of $60,000.  All of these lots are X zone properties.

About a mile or so down the road near Scallop Cove our next new contract is on a 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,064 square foot bank-owned gulf front home listed for $374,900.  This is one of five homes all built in 1999 and finished with stucco exteriors, a finish which has proven to be problematic over the years. One  which recently sold had to do about $100,000 in repairs and renovations just to undo the damage.   This home last sold in late 2004 in a combined sale with the adjacent home for an estimated value of $880,000 each. The current list is not too far off from the county’s assessed value of $332,392.

For our eighth new contract we’ll head off the Cape over onto the C-30 Corridor heading towards Indian Pass to this first tier lot at Cottages at Indian Summer which went under contract on Tuesday as a short sale with a list price of $59,900. This 50′ by 220′ quarter-acre lot last sold in April 2004 for $375,000.  The county is far more optmistic than the seller; its assessed value is $90,000.

We have finally made it to our ninth and final new contract of the week, and for this one we head over onto the Indian Pass peninsula where this 50′ wide by 400′ deep bank-owned gulf front lot went under contract with a list price of just $139,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $179,000. This property last sold in late 2004 for $640,000. Those owners applied for and received DEP permitting for building a home, and they put it back on the market in early 2006 for $829,000 but were never able to find a buyer.  There are no contingencies to be met so this one should close pretty quickly.

That’s a wrap for this week. There is a lot of interest in property this summer. If you’d like to explore opportunities for picking up a piece of coastal property of your own please let me know. Call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and I’ll help you with your search. Thanks for hanging in there today – there was a lot of territory to cover, and thanks for taking time out of your schedule to stop by. Hope to hear from you soon.

Local businesses are having a wonderful Independence Day Weekend as most rental companies have every single one of their properties booked, the bay is filled with boaters and scallopers, and restaurants are serving record numbers. Such a welcome change from last summer. Our real estate is booming, too, with one sale and four new contracts.  Unfortunately, our inventory exploded like fireworks, too, adding a record forty-eight new listings, and thirty-four price changes, most of which are Ashwood Development unleashing a new wave of their properties at Ovation and drastically reducing prices on them. That’s just shy of a 10% hike in the inventory, as we end the week up 34, with 117 homes and 278 lots listed in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets. Let’s take a look at what’s selling.

Our single sale was up on the northern end of the Cape in Sunset Pointe where this quarter-acre lot tucked away on the NE corner by the state park went under contract just a couple weeks ago with a list price of just $49,900, essentially the $50K the county has it pegged at.  The seller paid $235,000 for it in April 2004 but it wasn’t listed as a short sale. On Thursday it sold for $35,000 cash. That’s a steal. Sunset Pointe is a pretty gated subdivision, very private and secluded, with abundant greenery and wildlife, a community pool, and gorgeous beaches.

Now on to our four new contracts, the first of which is this handsome 3-bedroom, 3- bath, 1, 1484 square foot home on the south end of the Cape, right by the rocks at Stumphole, an area of beach with a historically very high rate of erosion. The sellers have it listed as a short sale for $399,900, having paid $400,000 for the lot alone in August 2008. The county has it assessed for $271,194.  Since it’s a short sale it will likely be some time before we know what it actually closes for.

Our second new contract is also on a gulf front home, this one a bank-owned 5-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 3,348 square foot beauty listed recently for just $590,000.  The previous owner paid $926,500 for the lot alone in January 2007 and never quite finished this house on the inside, so the new owners still have a good bit to do for it to be move-in ready, but it’s on a great stretch of beach, on a 50′ wide lot in an area where FEMA flood insurance is available. If right about now you’re saying to yourself, “Darn, I wish I had made a move on that” you have a second chance as a home in this same stretch with pretty much the same story also came on the market this week, so take a look at it if you’re interested.

Just next door to that is a first tier lot listed for $99,000 which went under contract Monday with no contingencies, cash, scheduled to close by July 9. That list is not too far off the county’s assessed value of $70,000. It’s a quarter acre lot measuring roughly 65′ by 150′.

Our fourth and final new contract is on yet another gulf front property, this one out on Indian Pass. It’s about 0.62 acres, measuring roughly 50′ by 538′ and goes under contract with a list price of $189,899. This one’s history is reflective of just how the market ran up so quickly in the early 2000′s. In July 2000 it sold for $180,000. Then almost exactly three years later in June 2003, it resold for $410,000. Then again, another three years later in July 2006 it sold once again for $959,000. Those were the ones left standing as the music had stopped by then and they haven’t been able to find any buyers to pass it on to until this week. So it looks as if this one will be going for below it’s 2000 value, which, adjusted infor inflation, would probably put it more accurately in the 1997 or 1998 value range.

My Picks of the Weeks for our forty-eight new listings and thirty-four price changes will be all of the great new values on the lots at Ovation the developer has just put out there at deeply discounted prices. You just can’t go wrong. Select your favorite location, let me know and I’ll send you further info. When you’re purusing the new listings you’ll probably be stunned by the four new gulf front lots listed for $115,000 each and wonder why those aren’t a slam dunk choice for Pick of the Week. I’m just very concerned with these lots as they’re in an area of historically high erosion and there have been wetlands issues with this area as well. I would proceed with extreme caution on these and make any offer contingent upon your being able to get county, DEP and Corps of Engineer permits and blessings in hand to build before committing to closing.

That’s it for this week. Let’s go celebrate our independence!  I hope you have a terrific holiday weekend with family and friends and enjoy the blessing of living in a free nation. There’s a little grill action on the horizon, good eats and good times.  Thanks so much for taking time out of your weekend to stop by for awhile. If you’d like futher info on any area properties, let me know – just call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com .