We slowed down just a bit this week compared to last week’s banner activity, but for mid-January we still had quite an impressive showing, closing three sales and writing up five new contracts. We also entered seven new listings, changed prices on six others, and four properties came back on the market. We end the week with our inventory at 254, down two from last week, with 79 homes and 175 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s see what bargains buyers found out there since last we met.
The first of our three sales is this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,377 square foot townhouse on the north end of the Cape in Barrier Dunes that went under contract just last week with a list price of $195,000, just a smidgen above the $184,500 the sellers paid for it in 2002 when they bought it brand new from the developer. They’ve been trying to sell it since mid-2005 when they first listed it for $440,000. The county has it valued at $114,943. They closed Thursday for $187,500 cash, with the buyer paying for title insurance, documentary stamps on the deed, and attorney’s fees.
We’ll head off the Cape and out along the C-30 Corridor for our next sale which is located in Greenhill, a little subdivision of five lots just a bit past Waters Edge on the north side of the road. This is a bank owned lot, measuring 77′ by 200′, or about 0.42 of an acre. In late 2002 it sold for $75,000, and is currently assessed at $50,000. It went under contract earlier this month with a list price of $32,900, and sold this week for $25,000.
A few miles further east along the C-30 Corridor our third and final sale is a bank-owned lagoon front lot listed for an unbelievably low $14,900. In the summer of 2004 when it went for $230,000. This past September Bank of America took it back and listed it well below the county’s assessed value of $20,750. Their strategy worked as it has only been on the market since the 8th of October and on Tuesday they let some lucky buyer pick up the title at closing for just $13,900.
This week’s crop of five new contracts finds us first up in Secluded Dunes, the northernmost subdivision on the Cape, where this 100′ wide gulf front lot is listed as a short sale for $230,000, having last sold in mid-2004 for $1.2M. The county has it assessed at $315,000. It was under contract in August but that one didn’t work out and it came back on the market in mid-October.
This one may look familiar as it was under contract in December but returned to active status two weeks ago, and is now back under contract. It is a bank-owned home on White Sands Drive in San Blas Shores, the oldest subdivision on the Cape adjacent to the north side of Ovation. This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,208 home was built in 1985, and has pleasant gulf views and a pool. It needs a little TLC. In early 2005 it sold for $680,000, a far cry from the bank’s list price today of $195,700.
About a half mile down the road our third contract may also look a little familiar, having been under contract back in mid-December, but activated again this week and immediately back under contract with a new buyer. This 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,904 square foot home is situated on a St. Joe Bay with 103′ of waterfront. It was built in 1975, and so is grandfathered in for FEMA flood insurance coverage. The sellers bought it in 1997 for $110,000, and this week it went back under contract with a list price of $299,000.
We’ll head down to the south side of the Cape for our next two contracts, stopping first on McCosh Mill Road in Piney Woods subdivsion. It’s an irregularly shaped 0.17 acre X-zone lot three lots off Cape San Blas Road listed as a short sale for $21,900, not too far off the county’s assessed value of $20,000. County records don’t record what the seller paid for it in 2005.
Our fifth and final new contract is just a few hundred feet east of Piney Woods and it’s quite a large parcel, 4.82 acres of gulf front with 140′ of water front and a depth of 1500′. The sellers bought it in early 2003 for $1.55M and now have it under contract as a short sale with a list price of $454,000. The county’s not too far off on that, assessing it for $415,800.
That does it for this week. I think the marked up-tick in sales activity may be due to the number of people who liquidated assets by the end of last year with the impending tax law changes kicking in this year, and that capital is now looking for a place to park. Today’s dollar doesn’t buy as much gold, fuel or groceries as before, but the one place your dollars have very strong buying power right now is Cape San Blas real estate. Call me to take advantage of current low prices. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] and we’ll get started. Have a great week, and thanks so much for taking time to stop by this afternoon.