Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

A number of people capped off their summer vacations this week with the ultimate beach souvenir: a place at the beach to call their own. We closed four sales, wrote two new contracts, listed five properties (one of which is already under contract) and tried on eight new price tags. In what I believe is a first in the four years I’ve been writing this blog, our inventory remains exactly where it was last week, at 403, with 119 homes and 284 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We have a nice variety of properties to review today so let’s get started.

The first two of our four sales are on the Cape up at Ovation where those recent developer price reductions are having their intended effect and they’re finally selling a lot of lots again. They closed on two more this week, both good sized corner lots overlooking the bay. Each was sold for full list price of $50,000. These are both “X” zone lots with awesome bay views. They’re a terrific value at $50K, which is below the county’s assessed value of $65,000. There are only a few of these left with several others also being under contract so if you’ve been considering purchasing one of these let me know soon because they’re going quickly now.

We’ll head off the Cape and out onto the C-30 Corridor for our other two sales, both gulf front homes, heading towards Indian Pass stopping first at this bank-owned lovely 6-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,348 gulf front home built in 2008 as a spec home and 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 it for $1.825M. They eventually lost it to the bank who sold it ”as is” with some interior finish work still needing to be completed. On Thursday it sold for $551,000, which is not far off from the current assessed value of $517,344. If you think this was a deal, wait til you see our next one.

Our fourth sale is on one of my favorite homes which I’ve featured before as a Pick of the Week. It’s a gorgeous craftsman-quality gulf front stucco home in Money Bayou listed as a short sale for $649,900, having last sold in 2006 for $1.25M. The county has it at half that, for $567,295. This is so much home for the money, especially considering it sits on a 50′ wide stretch of stable beach front, is FEMA eligible and has no HOA fees. It has 2,172 square feet under heat and air with spacious decks on both levels for a total of 4,300 square feet. Under contract since the beginning of April, the bank finally approved the deal, and on Friday it closed for the unbelievable price of just $525,000. Talk about a serious comp killer . . . .

It’s tastefully decorated and sold furnished.

The spacious kitchen features custom-crafted cabinetry throughout, gleaming granite counter tops, and high end appliances.

Somebody was handsomely rewarded for driving a hard bargain.

We’ll head about a mile west for the first of our two new contracts which is on this immaculate bay front home on Sandbar Drive in Treasure Bay, also along the C-30 Corridor. It’s a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,953 square foot home on 100′ of waterfront in a FEMA flood insurance eligible community. Built in 1996, our sellers have owned it since December 2002 when they bought it for $295,000. They’ve had it on the market since May when they listed it for $309,000, but didn’t really generate a lot of interest until they reduced to price recently to $286,000, which attracted a good number of people scheduling to see it, and last Saturday one of them wrote an acceptable offer and we’re waiting to close. Price it right and they will come.

It’s been all about the the C-30 Corridor today, and our second new contract is on the lagoon, about 2 miles past the World Famous Indian Pass Raw Bar. This one was listed not too long ago, but then withdrawn when it went to the bank in early August. They listed it this week at $99,900 and the following day it went under contract. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200 square foot home built in 2008 currently assessed at $88,923, and it last sold in late 2008 for $425,000. This place has awesome views overlooking its 100′ of waterfront.

Our five new listings all look pretty good, so take a look at all of them. There are actually only four left to consider since one looked so good it’already under contract (the little house on the lagoon for $99,900).

My Price Change Pick of the Week from our eight price changes is easily this bay front cottage at Scallop Cove on the Cape which was reduced from an already attractive $169,000 to a truly tempting $159,900. This place has so much going for it. It’s bay front with a boardwalk out over the bay, totally renovated in 2003, well furnished and tastefully decorated with a colorful beach-themed decor, ceramic tile floors, gleaming granite countertops, all electric appliances, roomy screened-in porch, and large open deck for sunbathing or picnicking. Check out the view – this picture was taken on the front deck.

There is also a dedicated easement to the beach across the street with a gated walkover. Here’s the beach at Scallop Cove.

There are six of these cottages in all, and they have a hugely loyal following of people who have been staying in them each season literally for years and years. Because of the bay acess, they are extremely popular with the scalloping and fishing set. Properly managed, this cottage should easily produce a gross rental income of $20K-$21K which, at this price, when you crunch the numbers easily cash flows at roughly a 5 or 6% cap rate. Not a lot of properties out here can do that. And don’t forget, under current tax law you can use the home up to 14 days per calendar year and claim business expenses for maintaining your investment. That’s pretty sweet. Email me for details.

That’s a wrap for this week. Our price points have gotten to where properties are moving at a good clip again as it’s taking fewer and fewer dollars to acquire premium properties. If you’re interested in finding out more, please call or text me on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and I’ll be glad to help you explore possibilities. Until then, have a terrific week, be safe, and as always, thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to stop by today.

 The kids in Georgia have all gone back to school now, so we’ve had far fewer visitors around here this week. Not surprisingly, things slowed down a bit after several back-to-back weeks of frenzied activity. We managed only one sale and two new contracts, six new listings and seven price changes.  Unfortunately, our inventory closed back over 400 at 403, up seven from last week, with 119 homes and 284 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s take a look at what’s moving.

For our single sale we’ll head south along the C-30 Corridor to Waters Edge, the first subdivision on your left after you turn right off of Cape San Blas Road heading towards Indian Pass. It’s a bank-owned, irregularly shaped roughly one-third acre lot that sold in June 2004 for $199,000. They put it back on the market the following May listing it for $325,000, but were never able to attract a buyer. Times change and two weeks ago it went under contract with a stunningly low list price of $17,000, roughly half of the county’s assessed value of $32,000, and on Wednesday it sold for $20,000 cash.

The first of our two new contracts is on  this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,532 square foot home situated on a 51′ wide gulf front lot on Clipper Way on the Cape. Built in 1989, it has an interesting recent history, having sold in late 2004 for $772,000, and then again the following winter for $1.188M. That’s a little bit above the $291,400 the county currently has it assessed for. It went under contract Monday as a short sale with a list price of $499,900.

Our second contract is on a C-30 lot in Treasure Bay listed for $29,000.  It’s roughly half an acre, measuring 103′ by 217′, and has deeded bay access almost directly across the street from it. The sellers bought it in 2001 for $23,500, which is pretty close to its current assessed value of $25,000.  There are no contingencies to be met so we should know pretty quickly what it goes for.

We have an unusually fine crop of six new listings this week so I encourage you to look at each of them. Two very interesting gulf front homes and a 3 1/2 acre lagoon front parcel on Indian Pass look especially intriguing. 

Among our seven price changes, for my Price Change Pick of the Week  I’m going with this gulf front townhouse at Money Bayou on C-30 which was lowered to $199,900. At that price it’s a short sale, having last sold in early 2003 for $230,014. The sellers originally listed it in late 2005 for $625,000.  If you’re looking for a comfy place at the beach for a reasonable price, you need to take a look at this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,140 square foot home located in Cape Villas. This twelve-unit complex also has a community pool overlooking the gulf.

That does it for this week. I apologize for the late posting of this update, but I once again had techinal problems with WordPress, the program I use to do my blog. It wouldn’t let me save anything I added. Finally discovered this morning the program has developed some issue with my home computer as it works just fine on my office computer. Not sure what that’s about. Anyhow, we’re back on track now and looking forward to a fantastic week. If you’re interested in finding out about any of these properties I’d love to hear from you. Please call or text me on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . Thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

All the rain we had this past week sure didn’t dampen buyers’ spirits as we turned in another strong week, logging four sales, two new contracts, twenty-six new listings and five price changes. Naturally with all those new listings our inventory shot up, up by 23, closing at 396, with 115 homes and 281 lots listed in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s check out what’s moving.

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The first of our four sales is a 50′ wide gulf front lot on Cape San Blas not far from The Tradin’ Post. It’s part of a larger parcel which has been subdivided into 6 smaller lots. The seller asked $220,000 for this one, and on Friday that’s exactly what he got for it.

More gulf front action on the Cape, this time on a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 1,980 square foot home on a 50” wide lot listed as a short sale for $405,900. The lot alone sold in September 2001 for $510,000. On Friday the home sold for $380,000 cash, with the buyers also paying for state doc stamps and title insurance. That sale price is on target with the county’s assessed value of $374,249.

Up next is 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 bought the 100′ wide, 1+ acre lot in 1991 for $53,000. Hard to believe, isn’t it? On Monday they went to closing and picked up a check for $510,000, significantly higher than the county’s estimate of $434,668.

Our fourth and final sale is on this scenic and tranquil lagoon front homesite in Mystic Palms. It’s an irregularly shaped, one-third acre, bank-owned property. 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 on Tuesday he closed for $69,000 cash. On the county’s books it’s assessed for $61,000.

Now on to our two new contracts, beginning with this bay view lot at Ovation where we’ve seen so much action lately since the developer brought prices down to irresistable levels. The views from this property are simply wonderful. I was looking at some of the original sales flyers for Ovation recently and saw that when first released, the asking price for this property was $295,000. They’re now asking a far more humble $50,000, so my buyer decided to celebrate his birthday by treating himself with the gift of a wonderful site for a coastal retreat. The new list price is well below the assessed value of $65,000.

Our other contract is on a gulf front 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 976 square foot townhouse listed as a short sale for $199,000, having last sold in October 2007 for $285,000. This home is located in Cape Shoals where they have fought an ongoing battle for years against erosion, having had water wash up under them a number of times requiring significant repairs to the units, and tons of sand to be hauled back in at great expense to the owners. They have definitely benefitted from the beach renourshiment program. The assessed value on this one is $161,785.

That’s a wrap for this week. I hope you’re enjoying the final few weeks of summer as we wind down for another tourist season here on the Cape. If you’re interested in finding out more about sales opportunities for coastal properties, 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 think buyers have finally figured out that while weak dollars aren’t buying much groceries, gas, or gold these days, those dollars do have super strong buying power right now with real estate. Our recent trend of super-hot weeks continues as we closed another three sales, wrote eight more contracts, listed only ten properties and posted three new price tags. All that action had a healthy impact in our inventory, whittling it down by 13 or roughly 3 1/2% to close at 373, with 114 homes and 259 lots listed in our MLS for the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Sit back and make yourself comfortable as we get underway taking a look at what buyers were in the mood for this week.

A noteworthy sign of the times is that all three of our sales this week were cash deals, the first of which is on Cape San Blas at Ovation where this steal of a deal came on the market in early April and went under contract almost immediately. It’s a bay first tier lot listed by the developer for a very attractive $125,000, well above the county’s assessed value of $71,500.  Interesting aspect of this transaction is that the contract was for the full list price of $125,000 when it was penned, but when the developer subsequently lowered their prices on the other bay-side first tier lots, they accepted the new list price of $95,000 at closing for this lot. There were no contingencies to be met so not sure why the parties waited four months to close.

Our second sale was on a gulf front lot towards the southern end of the Cape and it’s a bit out of the ordinary; 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 the the time it went under contract three weeks ago that list was down to $139,900, well below the county’s assessment of $146,300, and on Friday it closed for $115,000.

For our third and final sale of the week we’ll head over to the Indian Pass peninsula where this 50′ wide by 400′ deep bank-owned gulf front lot went under contract in early July with a list price of  $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. This week it found a new owner for $125,000 cash.

  On to our eight new contracts, beginning as we so often do up in Barrier Dunes where this lake-front 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,140 square foot townhouse went under contract on Monday with a list price of $173,500. Built in 1985, the sellers have seriously renovated the interior, making such changes as replacing the carpet and vinyl in the main level living area with wood floors. When I first started in real estate in 1995, this was one of my first listings, and believe me, it looks a lot different today than it did sixteen years ago. The owners picked it up in early 2007 for $154,000. In May 2005, it sold for $350,000.  The current assessed value is $137,563.

More action at Ovation as people step up to the plate to take advantage of the irresistably new low developer close-out sale prices on premium lots in this fine beach to bay community. My favorite lots, being the huge bay fan that I am, are the lots lining the crescent overlooking the verdant common area and beautiful St. Joe Bay. I thought these were a terrific value at $125,000 but when Ashwood dropped the prices recently to $95,000 they went straight to the top of the list of my favorite lots on the Cape. This week two savvy buyers wrote up contracts on lots 44 and 45 along this stretch.  If you’ve been mulling over picking one of these beauties up I encourage you to make a move as there are only a few of these completely in the “X” zone still available.  The county has these assessed at $71,500 but don’t dream of getting one at that price from the developer as they simply are not negotiating on the price and terms since they reduced them.

And the parade of bargains continues as we head about two miles south on the Cape to Ocean Haven where this road front gulf and bay view lot went under contract on Thursday as a short sale with a list price of $59,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $72,000. In November 2003 this 215′ by 65′ wide one-third acre “X” zone lot sold for $235,000. They’ve been trying to sell it since mid-2006 when they listed it for $385,000 but were never able to find any buyers and sadly are now facing a short sale.

   Over on the C-30 Corridor near the old Treasure Bay Lodge, our next contract is on this 76′ by 218′, one-third acre bay view lot which went under contract on Monday as a short sale with a list price of $20,000. Here’s another bubble example: it sold in mid-2001 for $35,000, then again in early 2005 for $195,000, and finally in May 2006 for $300,000. I’m interested in seeing if this one closes below that low list price, because it also sold in 1994 for $9,600, which equals $14,622 in inflation-adjusted dollars so this would put the new comps for this stretch of the corridor in the mid-1990′s price range again.

From Treasure Bay we’ll head south along the Corridor about a mile or so to our next stop at Waters Edge,  the first subdivision on your left after you turn right off of Cape San Blas Road heading towards Indian Pass. This one’s a bank-owned irregularly shaped roughly one-third acre lot that sold in June 2004 for $199,000. Times change and on Tuesday it went under contract with a stunningly low list price of $17,000, roughly half of the county’s assessed value of $32,000.

We wrap up our new contract marathon over near the tip of Indian Pass in the wonderfully eclectic Indian Pass Beach Subdivision where this great little gulf view home, with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 1,368 square feet under heat and air went under contract less than a month after it was listed right at $289,000.   The sellers have owned this since 1998 when they bought it for $129,000 which in inflation-adjusted dollars is way above the $137,000 value the county has it assessed for.

That’s a wrap for this week, as there are so many values among  the ten new listings and three price changes there’s no way to pick out just one, so take a look at them all. If you’re interested in finding out more about these or any other properties, let me know by calling or texting me on my cell phone at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and I’ll be glad to help.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope to hear from you soon.

I think buyers have finally figured out that while weak dollars aren’t buying much groceries, gas, or gold these days, those dollars do have super strong buying power right now with real estate. Lots of action to cover so I will be posting this week’s review probably mid-day on Sunday rather than the usual Saturday posting. Be sure to stop back – we’ll have at least three sales and nine new contracts to take a look at and you won’t believe some of the prices.