Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

I picked a heck of a week to schedule my vacation here on the Cape, what with Debby blowing into town before I could even get my beach gear dusted off and ready to go. Oh, well. She may have rained on my plans, but she didn’t cast a cloud over our real estate market as in the past two weeks we closed eight sales, penned six new contracts, entered nine new listings and marked down prices on eleven others. Our inventory inched up by three, closing out at 347, with 103 homes and 244 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s see what buyers have been up to since last we met.

The first of our eight sales is up at the north end of the Cape in Sunset Pointe. The sellers bought this 80′ by 110′ quarter-acre lot with an “X” zone LOMA in late 2009 with plans to build there. They just couldn’t resist the recent super savings at Ovation, though, and they snapped up two adjacent lots on the bay. Now they’re planning to build there so they put this one up for sale with a $44,900 asking price. I had a buyer who had asked me just days before to let him know if any “X” zone lots became available in Sunset Pointe so the day this showed up in the MLS I called him, he submitted an offer, seller accepted, and on Tuesday we closed for $33,000 cash.

Practically next door to Sunset Pointe in Barrier Dunes our second sale is a 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, townhouse that went under contract in mid-May with a list price of $165,000. That’s less than half of what it went for in mid-2006 when it sold for $379,000. Even so, it wasn’t listed listed as a short sale, and on Friday it closed for $140,000, well below its assessed value of $178,627.

Ovation’s developer is continuing to move lots off their rolls, and this week they closed on two more, each for full list price, beginning with this bay front lot which sold for $74,500 . . . .

. . . and this bay view lot on the crescent listed and sold for $54,000.

Lot of action along the C-30 Corridor lately beginning with this 1-acre bay front lot over by the St. Joseph Bay Buffer Preserve, (formerly the Treasure Bay Lodge for you old-timers out there). The previous owners bought it in 2000 for $160,000 and started trying to sell it in 2008 when they listed it for $279,000. They weren’t able to attract a buyer, and eventually lost it to the bank at the beginning of 2011, who listed it shortly thereafter for $139,000. They had to finally lower it to $85,000 to generate an offer, and it sold last Friday for $76,000, roughly half of its assessed value of $140,000.

Our next sale is a first tier lot with this lovely gulf view located in a little subdivision on C-30 called Curve at the Cape, which is the first project on your right after leaving the Cape and heading towards the Raw Bar. The sellers bought the lot in late 2002 for $210,000 and have been trying to sell it since mid-2010 when they listed it for $150,000. They’ve had it at $140,000 for a while, and this week they sold it for $125,000. The county has this one way low at $66,000.

Over on the Indian Pass peninsula, our next sale is is a 4-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 3,076 square foot gulf front home which went under contract on May 30 as a short sale with a list price of $599,000. It was originally listed in mid-2007 for $1.395M. I’m not finding meaningful sales history on the property in the county records. The property appraiser has it valued at $495,392, roughly $30,000 below the $525,000 it sold for on Thursday. Thirty days from contract to close is lightning fast for a short sale.

Our next sale takes us just a few blocks down Indian Pass Road to The Reservation, a land-boom development that no one has ever built in. This sale was a bank-owned road-front, gulf-view lot that sold in April 2005 for $370,000. Those owners started trying to sell it the following spring, listing it for $435,000, but no takers. It finally went to the bank who listed it last fall for $49,500. They withdrew the listing in April, and sold it one week later for $12,000. Those buyers put it back on the market in early May with a list price of $37,000, exactly 10-cents on the dollar of that 2005 sale, and they attracted a buyer with that price who took title to the lot for $33,500.

The first of our six new contracts is on a road front lot on the north end of the Cape on Sea Cliffs Drive which is the road you turn left on just past Coneheads Restaurant to head out to Barrier Dunes. It’s a bank-owned third-acre lot with 100′ on the road and 161′ deep, with deeded beach access easement. They’ve listed for $38,000, well below the county’s assessment of $60,000.

We’ll travel about 2 1/2 miles south on Cape San Blas Road to Jamaica Drive, the road beside The Tradin’ Post, to take a look at our next contract. It’s one of several tiny beach cottages built in the late eighties back behind the store. This 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 520 square foot package is listed for $159,900, way above the assessed value of $115,348. The sellers bought it in the summer of 2003 for $145,000.

Down near the rocks at Stumphole the next contract is on a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bath, 1,084 gulf front townhouse which went under contract with a list price of $164,500, below the county’s assessment of $188,640, and also less than the $178,000 the sellers paid for it in late 2003. The townhomes at Sunrise Sunset are really nice inside but unfortunately its their location that’s problematic in that this is an area that has experienced extreme erosion just in the 18 years I’ve lived here. Several times high surf has washed under them causing the cement parking pads to collapse, and the north set of buildings started to tilt towards the gulf several summers ago necessitating heavy equipment to be called in to jack them back up. The beach restoration is in place now and hopefully that will buy them some time.

Our fourth contract is out along the C-30 Corridor on Money Bayou. It’s 2-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath, 1,140 square foot gulf front townhouse at Cape Villas that went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $180,000. In mid-1998 it sold for $120,000, and those owners basically doubled their money in just four years, selling it in early 2002 for $230,014 to the current owners. They’ve had it on the market since the summer of ’05 when they initially listed it for $475,000. The county has it valued at $153,609 which is probably pretty close to what I imagine it will likely go for.

Our fifth contract is in Treasure Shores, a home on the north side of C-30. It’s a clasic Florida beach cottage with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, and 1148 square feet of charm. Back in 2000 the sellers purchased the lot for next to nothing and relocated the home onto the property and then did a thorough renovaiton. It goes under contract with a list price of $199,900, considerably above the assessed value of $138,470.

We have been moving some bank-owned properties, and our sixth and final new contract is on yet another one, this one a 1,200 square foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath waterfront home situated on Indian Pass Lagoon just about a mile or so past the world famous Indian Pass Raw Bar. The home sold in late 2008 for $425,000, apparently as an invesment property, since according to the MLS it has never been occupied. The bank went under contract with a list price of $99,900, which sounds low, but the county has it valued even lower at $88,923.

And that does it for today. Good to see that just like the postal service neither rain nor hail nor even tropical storms is slowing the delivery of great real estate values to buyers here along the Forgotten Coast. If you’re looking for a coastal retreat to call your own, let’s get together and talk. Call or text me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com, and I’ll be glad to help. I love hearing from my readers and helping them become neighbors. Have a great week, and thanks so much for stopping by.

I am on vacation and will return next week tanned, rested and ready for real estate. Please check back next Saturday – we’ll have a lot to cover! Have a terrific week.

It’s nice to return to a sunny, breezy and pleasantly cooler Cape San Blas after a soggy, rain-drenched week; we really needed the rain but we’re happy to have the sunshine back. It didn’t rain on our real estate parade, though, as we closed six sales, wrote seven new contracts, listed seven new properties and lowered the prices on seven others. Unfortunately, our inventory headed in the wrong direction, adding another three, closing at 344, with 106 homes and 238 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s see what kind of great deals buyers snapped up this week.

The first of our six sales is an out-of-the-ordinary listing, a lot in Sea Cliffs on the north side of the Cape measuring just 18′ by 60′, the footprint of a townhouse. It’s a bank-owned property that was listed for $25,000, well below the county’s assessment of $45,000. I looked at its location on the plat map and it appears to be for an end unit so it will be interesting to see if the new owner decides to build soon or waits for others to buy up the adjoining lots before getting underway. This week it went for $23,000.

We have another bank-owned property next door in Barrier Dunes for our second sale. This one’s a lake front 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,377 square foot unit with a history that is a prime example of what happened during the real estate bubble. In 2003 it sold for $309,000, and just 15 months later in September 2004 resold for $417,500. In April of this year it was foreclosed on and the bank listed it for $174,900, in line with the county’s assessed value of $179,719, and on Friday it closed for very near that at $167,500.

In nearby Ovation we have the first of our post-Ashwood May Madness Sale where they cut the prices so low on a large part of their inventory. That sale period officially ended, and the lots they’re releasing since then are sporting higher price tags, such as this bay front beauty listed for a still very attractive $74,500. I’ll say one thing about this seller; they don’t budge on their list prices and on Friday they sold this one for that full list of $74,500. That’s a nice 11+% increase in appreciation for two of my recent buyers savvy enough to have gotten their bay front lots while the sale price of $67,000 was in effect.

Next up is a distinguished beauty, this handsome 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,591 square foot gulf front home on Haven Road. The sellers bought the 55′ wide lot in late 2000 for $255,000 and built in 2003. They’ve had it on the market since last April when they listed it for $869,000, and it went under contract last month with a $799,000 price tag. On Friday they turned over the keys at closing for an effective value of $655,000 after closing concessions were met.

A little further south of Haven Road, our next sale is a gulf view lot that was listed for $69,000. It’s about a third of an acre and measures 100′ by 140′. This was part of a group sale of lots from a minor-replat of a larger parcel, so no sales history on this lot alone. On Thursday it closed for $53,500.

We’ll head off the Cape and over along the C-30 Corridor to Gulf Pines for our sixth and final sale, a 100′ by 257′, .59 acre first tier lot that went under contract in early April with a list price of $159,000, about double the county’s assessed value of $85,000. In October 2003 it sold for $300,000, and then again in October 2009 for $165,000. On Friday it closed for $119,500.

OK – now on to our seven new contracts, heading back to the north end of the Cape to Sunset Pointe where our first contract is on an 80′ by 110′ quarter-acre lot with an “X” zone LOMA. The sellers bought it in late 2009 with plans to build there until they couldn’t resist the recent super savings at Ovation where they snapped up two adjacent lots on the bay. Now they’re planning to build there so they put this one up for sale with a $44,900 asking price. I had a buyer who had asked me just days before to let him know if any “X” zone lots became available in Sunset Pointe so the day this showed up in the MLS I called him, he submitted an offer, seller accepted, and on Tuesday next week we’re going to closing.

We’re back at Barrier Dunes for our next two contracts, beginning with this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,845 square foot townhouse listed as a short sale for $199,000. The sellers bought it back in mid 2005 for $440,000, basically quadruple the $111,900 it had sold for just 5 years earlier in late 1999. The county has it assessed at $194,723.

Just down the street is our fourth new contract, another 2-bedroom, this one with a terrific straight-one view of the gulf down a green way. The sellers are the original owners who bought it from the developer in 1999 when they paid $118,200 for it. They’ve maintained this home very well and it’s in excellent condition. They’ve listed it for $239,900. My buyers were looking for a reasonably priced gulf view rental home and this should fill the bill very nicely.

Our next contract is a 2-bedroom bay front cottage at Scallop Cove listed for just $156,000. Sweet. It’s one of six cottages on 200 feet of waterfront which includes a shared pier on the bay and deeded beach access directly across the street. Originally built in the mid-80′s, the cottages were totally refurbished in 2003 and outfitted with new metal roofs, tile floors, granite counter-tops, new front decks, and all new appliances and furnishings. After the renovations were completed, the owner sold this one for $160,000. The county’s assessed value on this one seems way too low, coming in at just $97,772, with the last recorded sale of one of the other cottages having been $150,000.

We”e heading back off the Cape again over onto the C-30 Corridor, first turning left towards the Buffer Preserve stopping at Treasure Bay where this bank-owned lot measuring 138′ by 254′ (0.8 acre) went under contract with a list price of $59,900. That’s well below the county’s assessed value of $77,000, and less than a quarter of the $269,000 it last sold for in mid-2004.

Bringing up the rear this week with our seventh and final new contract is yet another bank-owned lot, this one on Canoe Lane near Indian Pass. It’s a 74′ by 244′, 0.4 acre FEMA-eligible property that last sold in September 2006 for $550,00. Wow. The bank has it listed for $61,600, pretty close to the county’s assessment of $60,000.

That does it for this week. As you can see, this stepped-up pace of sales has become the new norm. Your dollars may have less buying power in almost everything else you encounter, but when it comes to real estate your buying power is stronger than it has been in years. Now’s a great time to diversify. To get started, call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com. Have a terrific week and I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

Our brisk pace continued this week with buyers stepping up to the plate and writing offers, and we also continue to see a lot of the Ovation lots closing. Overall a very good week, with eighteen closings, seven more contracts, nine new listings, and ten price changes. Our inventory remains virtually unchanged, as we end the week with 341 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market, down just one from last week, with 106 homes and 235 lots.

Of our eighteen sales, fourteen were Ovation lots and the other four were elsewhere, and those are the four we’ll look at today, beginning as we so often do up in Barrier Dunes where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,209 square foot model that went under contract the first week of May with a list price of $144,000, below the county’s just value of $155,245. The seller has owned it since 2000 when she bought it for $124,500, and this week she let it go for $138,000.

About two miles south of Barrier Dunes, our next sale is a third-acre gulf view lot that was listed for $69,000. It’s about a third of an acre and measures 100′ by 140′. This was part of a group sale of lots from a minor-replat of a larger parcel, so no sales history on this lot alone. On Friday it sold for $53,500.

Next we’ll head about a mile further south to Aruba Drive in Cape Sands Landing where this beautifully renovated 4-bedroom, 3-bath, gulf front duplex went under contract in early March with a list price of $359,000. A buyer picked up the keys at closing on Wednesday for $293,000. When this home was built in 1985 there were three homes seaward of it, two of which were relocated to nearby lots and the other lost to Hurricane Opal in 1995.

We’ll head off the Cape out onto the C-30 Corridor travelling east past Indian Pass Raw Bar to a lagoon front lot which went under contract in March as a short sale with an attractive list price of $49,900. It has a sales history illustrative of the real estate bubble, having sold in August 2003 for $135,000 then reselling the following year in October 2004 for $260,000. Today the county has it valued at less than 10% of that, at $24,984, just $16 shy of the $25,000 it sold for on Friday.

Let’s move on to our seven new contracts returning once again to Barrier Dunes where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,216 square foot townhome with a terrific gulf view went under contract on Friday with a list price of $239,900. The sellers are the original owners who bought it from the developer in 1999 for $118,200. They’ve had it on and off the market a number of times, listing it for the first time in August 2005 for $489,000. The county has it assessed at $173,012.

Our second contract is one-half of this gulf front duplex on Tobago Lane, near the Cape Tradin’ Post. It’s a 1,190 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bath home built in 1983 with 60′ of waterfront. The seller has owned it since the summer of 2002 when she paid $301,520 for it. It went under contract on Thursday as a short sale with a list price of $239,000, a bit below the county’s assessed value of $263,057.

Down on the south side of the Cape in Piney Woods subdivision is where we’ll find our next contract. It’s a 2010 model 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,224 gulf view home in an “X” flood zone listed for $278,800. Curious to see what this one goes for as that list is more than twice the county’s assessed value of $126,373.

We’ll head back off the Cape onto the C-30 Corridor and travel east a few hundred feet to Waters Eddge, the first subdivision on the left side of the road. Someone penned a contract on a bank-owned 68′ by 246′, 0.38 acre interior lot listed for $24,200. That’s well below the assessed value of $32,000, and only a fraction of the $165,000 it last sold for in June 2004.

Our next two contracts take us out to the Indian Pass peninsula stopping first at The Reservation, a land-boom development that no one has ever built in. This contract is on a bank-owned road-front, gulf-view lot that sold in April 2005 for $370,000. Those owners started trying to sell it the following spring, listing it for $435,000 but no takers. It finally went to the bank who listed it last fall for $49,500. They withdrew the listing in April, and sold it one week later for $12,000. Those buyers put it back on the market in early May with a list price of $37,000, exactly 10-cents on the dollar of that 2005 sale, and they attracted a buyer with that price on Friday.

Our seventh and final new contract is on a gulf front lot near the tip of Indian Pass, a one-third acre lot in St. Vincent Point which the sellers bought in November 2001 for $670,000. They started trying to sell it in early 2006 when they listed it for $799,000, but were never able to find a taker. On Wednesday it went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $109,900 and county assessed value of $112,500.

That does it for this week. There are still some very attractive opportunities on the market so if you’re toying with the idea of calling a piece of coatal property your own, it’s time to start looking. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get started. Have a terrific week, and thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

We’re in full summer mode with lots of visitors having fun at the beach and out on the bay. Several took a break from the sun and surf long enough to buy some of that coastal property, closing on eight lots and penning just two new contracts. We added eleven listings to the inventory, and lowered prices on three others. Our inventory grew by six, ending the week at 342, with 107 homes and 235 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market.

Our final sale is on the south end of the Cape, an interior lot with a bay view in Surfside Estates. It’s a quarter-acre lot measuring 92′ by 122′ located in the “X” flood zone, and last sold as recently as January 2011 for $50,000. The county currently has it valued at $45,000, and two weeks ago it went under contract with a list price of a mere $26,900, but not as a short sale. On Friday it sold for $25,000.