Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

No let up in sales activity this week, as we closed yet another five sales, wrote up six new contracts, listed ten properties, and changed prices on two others. Two properties that had either been under contract or expired came back on the market. Our inventory swelled by five, closing the week at 264, with 84 homes and 180 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s take a look at some of the great properties buyers have been snapping up.

We’ll begin our review of this week’s five sales where we so often do, on the north end of the Cape in Barrier Dunes where this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,216 square foot townhouse went under contract on the 25th of March with a list price of $225,000, attractive enough for it to have gone under contract in less than three weeks. The sellers bought it in August of 2000 for $128,700, and closed on Friday for $192,000 so they should be ok.

Our next sale is this 101′ wide by 494′ deep, 1.14 acre bay front beauty located a few blocks north of Scallop Cove. It went under contract in late March with a list price of $129,000. The seller bought it in 1999 for $120,000, and on Friday it went for $119,500.

We’ll travel all the way down to the south side of the Cape for our next sale, a road-front, bank-owned 131′ by 130′ gulf view lot that went under contract the last week of March with a list price of $48,000. I didn’t find any sales data in the county records on this property. It’s assessed at $60,000, and on Monday it closed for $45,000.

Our last two sales are out along the C-30 Corridor to Gulf Pines, stopping first at this 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,700 square foot first tier home that went under contract last July as a short sale with a list price of $299,990. In 2000 it sold for $185,000. The sellers bought it in April 2005 for $711,000 and put it back up for sale less than a year later asking $875,000. Today the county has it valued at $232,612, and on Friday the bank signed off on $275,000.

Just across the street, this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,932-square-foot gulf front home went under contract in August with a list price of $549,000. Built in 1994, it last sold in late 2007 for $898,000, and is situated on a lovely 100′ wide stretch of waterfront overlooking a wide expanse of beach. The buyers picked up the keys at closing on Friday for $495,000.

And the beat goes on. Posting later than usual this weekend as my schedule has been filled to the brim with buyers anxious to see what good deals are still available.  It was yet another action-packed real estate week here along the Forgotten Coast closing four sales, writing up five new contracts, listing eleven properties, changing prices on eleven others, and three that had either been under contract or expired came back on the market.  Even with all that, our inventory barely budged from last week, increasing by just one to close the week at 259, with 83 homes and 176 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We have a fair amount of territory to cover today so let’s get right to it.

To begin our review of this week’s four sales, we’re heading up to the north end of the Cape to Seacliffs, where this lovely 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,458 square foot end-unit townhouse went under contract the first week of February with a list price of $259,900, below the county’s assessed value of $287,104. It is being sold completely furnished, and has terrific gulf views. The sellers bought it for $344,900 in early 2002 and have added many nice upgrades since then, such as granite counter tops and beautifully tiled showers, and on Tuesday they passed the keys to new owners for $235,000.

We have several out-of-the-ordinary property reviews in our line up today, beginning with this one, a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) entered into the MLS for comp purposes as a Realtor brought the buyer to the transaction. It’s a 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,078 square foot gulf front home on Belize Drive which is roughly mid-way between Scallop Cove and The Tradin’ Post. The sellers bought it in the summer of 2000 for $485,000 and listed it in early 2006 for $2M.  The county now has it assessed at $393,881; on Tuesday the sellers accepted $418,750 for it.

We’ll go on down to the south side of the Cape for our next sale, checking in at Jubilation where we have a short sale, an irregularly shaped 0.11 acre interior that also went under contract the first week of February with a list price of  $26,000, roughly half the county’s assessed value of $45,000. It sold for $260,000 in mid-2004, and then again the following fall in late 2005 for $350,000. The sellers listed it just two months later for $460,000 and now seven years later they’ve gone to closing receiving $32,000 for it. Competition for properties has returned with this one closing 23% above the asking price.

Next stop is Indian Pass where at the first big curve to the left this next sale is on the lot on the right hand side at the corner of Indian Pass Road and Painted Pony Road. It’s an irregularly shaped piece fronting what’s called a canal. I couldn’t find any recorded sales data on it but from what I can gather the seller has been trying to move it since late 2004 when he listed it for $250,000. It went under contract last week with a far more modest list price of just $20,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $63,000, and on Friday it sold for just $15,000.

Turning now to our five new contracts, we’ll head back up at Seacliffs with another of our out-of-the-ordinary offerings. No, this isn’t Stonehenge on the Cape; it’s four 18′ wide by 60′ deep bank-owned contiguous lots offered at $15,000 apiece for an aggregate price of $60,000 . There are no contingencies to be met so this package deal should close pretty quickly.

Our next contract is on another unique offering, a 21-acre subdivision on the south side of the Cape offered for $2.19M.  Villa del Sol, which spans from the gulf to the bay,  has 51 of its 58-total lots up for sale.

Our next two contracts are in Two Palms, just a couple of blocks away from Villa del Sol. First up is this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,618 square foot gulf view home listed for $449,900.  Interesting sales history on this one, with it having sold in early 2005 for $740,000, then again in mid-2006 for $331,000, and finally to the current owners in December of 2011. Since then they’ve made a number of improvements, including painting the exterior.

The other Two Palms contract is on a road-front, bank-owned 131′ by 130′ gulf view lot listed for $48,000. I didn’t find any sales data in the county records on this property. It’s assessed at $60,000.

Our fifth and final new contract of the week takes us all the way out onto the Indian Pass peninsula to Indian Pass Beach subdivision where this 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,744 square foot gulf view home went under contract last Saturday with a list price of $389,900, which in inflation-adjusted dollars is way less than the $351,900 the sellers paid for it eleven years ago in 2002. $389,900 in 2013 dollars is equivalent to $454,136 in 2002 dollars.

That does it for this week. I need to reiterate that competition for properties is really intensifying. It happened again today when I presented an offer on a bay front lot only to find the seller had received another one earlier this morning. If you have your heart set on a particular property, chances are it’s looking good to others as well, so it’s time to step up and stake a claim on it. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get to work.  Have a great week, and thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to stop by today. Hope to hear from you soon.

The rest of the country may be wrapped up in March Madness but around here the name of the game has been Market Madness, with visitors busy buying up real estate. A truly banner week, closing eight sales and writing up thirteen new contracts (one of which has already closed!), adding seventeen new listings (one of which someone has already put under contract), and changing the prices on four others. With all of that, I was surprised to see our inventory basically unchanged from last week, shedding just one closing out the week at 258 with 85 homes and 173 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Lots to see today so let’s get right to it.

Our review of this week’s eight closings takes us first up to the north end of the Cape to Sunset Point where we have a 79′ wide gulf front lot that went under contract in mid-February with a list price of $259,000, but not as a short sale despite the sellers having paid $836,000 for it in mid-2004. The county has it assessed for $250,000, and on Thursday it sold for $240,000.

Our next two sales are in nearby Barrier Dunes, beginning with this two bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1377 square foot townhouse that went under contract last October as a short sale with a list price of $249,000. This home is one of only about a dozen or so at Barrier Dunes situated in an X flood zone. The sellers purchased it in June 2007 for $375,000, and sold it on Thursday for $193,000. The county has it assessed just a bit low at $157,863.

Our other Barrier Dunes sale is a bank-owned 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,377 square foot unit overlooking a pond on Parkside Circle, listed for $134,500 and the new owners picked up the keys at closing this week for very near that, $133,000, not far from the $129,000 it sold for in 2001.  This same unit sold in 2004 for $325,000.

We’re doing things by twos this week, with our next two sale both being in Seagrass, a very nice subdivision down the road about two miles from Barrier Dunes. The first one is an irregularly shaped first tier “X” zone lot that sold in February 2004 it sold for $215,00, and then resold a little over a year later in May 2005 for $345,000. They put it back on the market the following year for $589,000 and had it listed as a short sale for $77,000 when it went under contract the first week of February, and that’s exactly what it sold for this week. The county has it assessed at $90,000.

Our second Seagrass sale is also one of our new contracts – this one went under contract on Monday with a list price of $89,000 and closed on Friday for $78,500. That price pales in comparison to the $215,000 it sold for in January 2004 or the $335,000 it sold for in October 2007.

Our next sale is a bank-owned gulf front lot just south of Scallop Cove. This third-acre lot sold for $529,000 in June 2004, and then resold one year later in September 2005 for $815,000. It went to the bank in January 2012 who listed it for $250,000, exactly double the county’s assessed value of $125,000, and on Monday it sold for $175,000.

We’ll head on down to the south side of the Cape for our next sale, a bank-owned corner lot in Surfside Estates listed for $25,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $45,000. The previous owners purchased it as part of a package deal of 9 lots in the subdivision for $108,000. The bank acquired it this past November, and on Thursday they accepted $22,000 for it.

We’ll wrap up our eight sales with this bank-owned lagoon front lot on C-30 down the road from the Indian Pass Raw Bar listed for an unbelievably low $21,500. No typo there. $21,500. Consider that in 2003 it sold for $155,000. On Friday they sold it for $19,000, actually less than the $19,500 it fetched all the way back in 1998.

Now on to our marathon review of this week’s crop of thirteen new contracts, beginning with this gulf front lot up in Secluded Dunes, the northernmost subdivision on the Cape and which adjoins the state park. It’s a beautiful area, one of the earliest subdivisions out here having been a project of Langdon Flowers (of the Flowers Bakeries family fame) who also developed Barrier Dunes, both projects done in the early ’80′s.  This lot has 58′ feet on the water and is just shy of half an acre. It was listed for just $285,000, a bit above the  $250,000 the sellers paid for it in late 2010, and well above the county’s assessment of $200,000.

In nearby Seacliffs, our next contract is on this 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 2,007 square foot townhouse listed for $225,000. The sellers bought it in the summer of 2002 for $336,900, and listed it in early 2010 for $355,000. The county has this one priced above recent comps at $284,960.

Lots of activity in Barrier Dunes this week as we return there for or next contract which is on this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,216 square foot townhouse listed for $225,000. The sellers bought it in August of 2000 for $128,700 so they should come out ok.  They have it priced to sell, as the only listed it last week on the 16th. The county has it assessed at $284,900.

We’ll head about a half mile down the road to Peninsula Estates where someone penned a contract on this pleasant little 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,058 square foot gulf view beach cottage on Cape San Blas Road. The seller has owned it since the 80′s so no county prior sales info on it. Peninsula Estates properties all have deeded gulf and bay access.

Another two miles down the road just north of Scallop Cove is this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,680 square foot gulf view home listed as a short sale for $278,000. The lot alone sold in mid-2005 for $350,000.

We’re doing things in twos again, this time with two back-to-back bay front lot contracts, beginning with this 101′ wide by 494′ deep, 1.14 acre beauty located a few blocks north of Scallop Cove. It was listed this week for $129,000 and it was snapped up just three days later. The seller bought it in 1999 for $120,000.

The other bay front beauty is on the south side of the Cape, roughly across the street from Villa del Sol. It’s bank-owned 75′ wide by 300′ deep, half-acre lot listed for $80,000, which is exactly what it sold for back in 2000. That price doubled by 2003 when it went for $160,000, and those sellers flipped it in 2005 for $500,000. That buyer lost it tot he bank at the end of 2011.

We’re heading back off the Cape onto C-30, turning left and driving just a short way until we reach this little bungalow on the right side of the road that went under contact last Sunday with a list price of $197,500. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,380 square foot home with a lot of character inside. The home has a secluded boardwalk that leads to a private screened-in gazebo under the trees and room for a hot tub!! Inside there are 75 yr old wood floors in the living area and 2 of the bedrooms. The seller bought it in early 2007 for $185,000.

Now for something a little different. Heading east on C-30 we’ll stop at the lot on the corner of Gulf Pines Drive for our next contract. This piece is mixed commercial and residential. It’s bank-owned and listed for $50,000, just a smidgen below the county’s assessed value of $60,000. It last sold in mid-2004 for $239,900.

We’ll head on down Gulf Pines Drive for our next contract which is on this beautiful 100′ wide, three-quarter-acre bank-owned gulf front lot listed for $400,000.  In February 2005 it sold for $1,225,000, and today the county has it assessed at $300,000.

Next stop is Indian Pass where at the first big curve to the left this next contract is on the lot on the right hand side at the corner of Indian Pass Toad and Painted Pony Road. It’s an irregularly shaped piece fronting what’s called a canal. I couldn’t find any recorded sales data on it but from what I can gather the seller has been trying to move it since late 2004 when he listed it for $250,000. It went under contact last weekend with a far more modest list price of just $20,000, which is well below the county’s assessed value of $63,000.

Last but certainly not least, we’ll wrap things up with a gulf front lot on Indian Pass in The Reservation. It’s a 51′ wide bank-owned property listed for $136,000, quite a far cry from the $830,000 it went for in September of 2003, and even below the county’s $160,000 assessment.

As you can see  the pace is picking up significantly, so if you’re ready to get in the game let’s get started. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com. I hope you have a pleasant Easter weekend with family and friends, and I appreciate your taking time out to stop by today.

Not quite as hectic this week but still good and steady. We closed two sales, wrote contracts on three others, added eight new listings, changed prices on three others, and five listings which had either been under contract or expired came back on the market. With all that, our inventory inched up by five, closing the week at 259, with 89 homes and 170 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 off the shelves.

The first of our two sales is up on the northern end of the Cape in Seacliffs where there was a whole lot of action this week beginning with the sale of this 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 1,944 square foot townhouse that went under contact in late February with a list price of  $234,900, below the $302,700 it sold for back in 2000. Those buyers sold it to the current owners in late 2003 for $380,000. The county has it assessed for $279,623. and on Monday it sold for $220,000.

Our second sale takes us out along C-30, heading north and stopping at the second subdivision on our left, Treasure Bay, where some savvy shopper penned a bid on this lovely bay front lot just last week. It features 100′ of waterfront on the eastern shore of St. Joe Bay, encompassing 3.7 upland and bay bottom acres . The sellers owned the property since mid-1996 when they purchased it for $42,000. The county assessment is $110,000, and the buyers picked up the title at closing on Tuesday for $96,000.

More excitement back on the Cape returning to Seacliffs where two of our three new contracts were written, beginning with this 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 1,944-square foot townhouse that went under contract on Wednesday with an asking price of $239,000, pretty much right on the money with the county’s assessed value of $234,681.  The sellers are the original owners who bought the land from the developer in 2001 for $60,000 and subsequently built.

Just a few doors away our next contract is on a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,007 square foot model built in 2001 and listed for $249,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $284,960. The sellers paid $495,000 for it in July 2004.

Back off the Cape again heading this time over to Gulf Pines, located between the Cape and Money Bayou, where this first tier 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,634 square foot home went under contract on Monday with a list price of $479,000. In late 2002 this home sold for $379,000, and the current owners purchased it in early 2005 for $760,000. They’ve had it on the market since January 2009 when they listed it for $585,000, and after all that time, this week more than one buyer decided to submit an offer, so once again, we’re starting to see competition for properties more regularly.

That does it for this week. If you’ve had your eye on a particular property, now’s the time to stake a claim on it before someone else beats you to it, because we’re seeing that more and more these past few months.  Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get started.  Have a great week and thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

Spring Breakers weren’t the only visitors enjoying our gorgeous beaches this week, as a number of buyers decided on picking up the ultimate vacation souvenir, their very own coastal retreats. We closed four sales, wrote up four new contracts, added six listings, and changed prices on two others. No change in our inventory, closing the week once again at 254, with 86 homes and 168 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s check out what’s moving.

Two of this week’s crop of four sales are up in Secluded Dunes, the northernmost subdivision on the Cape, beginning with this 100′ wide gulf front lot 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, and on Tuesday it went for $195,000.

Next up is this half-acre gulf front lot measuring roughly 75′ by 280′ that went under contract Christmas week as a short sale with a list price of $305,000. The sellers have owned it since early 1995 when they bought it for $440,000, just about double its current county assessed value of $233,000, and on Tuesday they sold it for $230,000.

We’re heading out along C-30 travelling east over to the Cottages of Indian Summer for our third sale, a bank-owned second tier half-acre lot that went under contract just last week with a list price $25,000, below the county’s assessed value of $27,000. Even that assessed value is less than ten-cents-on-the-dollar of the $274,100 it last sold for in 2006. I helped my buyer negotiate a deal with the bank last Friday, and exactly one week later he picked up the title at closing for $20,000.

Let’s continue our travels on over to the Indian Pass Peninsula for our fourth sale, a gorgeous 131′ by 301′ gulf front lot overlooking St. Vincent Island. It’s a good-sized building site, just a little shy of a full acre. The sellers were asking $524,000 for it, but this week accepted $399,000, with the buyer paying all closing costs associated with the sale, plus a 5% real estate commission.

We’re back on the north end of the Cape for the first of our four new contracts, this time starting in Seacliffs, where this bank-owned 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,051 square foot townhouse went under contract on Friday with a list price of $223,500. This unit previously belonged to the developer who lost it to the bank in early 2012. The county has it valued at $278,926. The gulf views from the top floor living level are fantastic.

We’re on the south side of the Cape for our next contract which is on a bank-owned corner lot in Surfside Estates listed for $25,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $45,000. The previous owners purchased it as part of a package deal of 9 lots in the subdivision for $108,000. The bank acquired it this past November.

In nearby Villa del Sol, our next contract is on another bank-owned lot, this one a 50′ by 92′, 0.11 acre lot that last sold in May 2005 for $550,000. It went under contract on Friday with a list price of $33,800, a good bit below the county assessment of $45,000.

Our fourth and final new contract takes us back out along C-30, this time heading north and stopping at the second subdivision on our left, Treasure Bay, where some savvy shopper penned a bid on this lovely bay front lot. It features 100′ of waterfront on the eastern shore of St. Joe Bay, encompassing 3.7 upland and bay bottom acres . The sellers have owned the property since mid-1996 when they purchased it for $42,000. Today the county has the land assessed at $110,000.

That does it for this week. The pace has definitely changed here in the past two months so if you’re interested in buying, it’s time to get in the game. I’m continuing to see increasing competition for properties. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get started. Have a great week, and thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

The new weekly norm is quickly becoming lots of sales and contracts, a trend which continued this week, as we logged six more sales, penned three new contracts, added four listings and changed prices on three others.  A number of expired listings renewed, inching our inventory back up by four, closing the week at 254, with 86 homes and 168 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market.  Let’s check out what’s moving.

Our review of this week’s crop of six sales begins on the southern end of the Cape in Tucker Shores, the little subdivision down by the rock wall at Stumphole, with this 4 bedroom,  4 1/2 bath, 3,618 square foot gulf front home with an in-ground pool. The sellers bought it at the end of 2003 for $888,000 and have had it on and off the market since 2006 when they initially listed it for $1,499,900. It went under contract in early January with a far more modest list price of $650,000, and on Monday they let it go for $585,501.

Our next closing was on a bay-front home, one we’ve seen a number of times in this blog  over the years as it has been under contract several times as a short sale but never able to seal the deal with the lender.  It went under contract again in November 2011, yes – over 15 months ago – and has just now managed to make it to the closing table. Patience pays with these short sales.  This is a lovely circa 2004  2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,095 square foot home with dock and in-ground pool on the bay on the south side of the Cape listed as a short sale for $425,000, having last sold in late 2005 for $980,000. It’s assessed value is $336,880, and now new owners are calling it home at last having negotiated one heck of a deal, getting the bank to sign off on $290,000.

We’re leaving the Cape early on today to head over to Treasure Bay for the sale of a half-acre lot on C-30.  This one is an at-arms-length sale with the seller having owned it since early 1990 when he picked it  up for $9,200. He had it listed for $28,900, well above the county’s assessed value of $18,000, and got $21,000 for it at closing on Friday.

We’ll travel east on C-30 over to Sweetwater Shores in the Money Bayou area for our fourth sale, a 68′ by 195′, third-acre second tier lot listed for $22,000, less than 10-cents-on-the-dollar of its December 2004 sale price of $225,000. As was not uncommon in that time period, it sold the year prior in early 2003 for $100,000, and on Wednesday it closed for $21,000.

There has been a lot of activity in the Cottages at Indian Summer recently, such as this next sale,  a 50′ by 228′ one  listed as a short sale for $39,000, having last sold in 2003 for $250,000. This is a FEMA eligible neighborhood. On Friday someone got a steal of a deal picking up the title at closing for $32,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $40,500.

Our sixth and final sale is on the eastern end of the Indian Pass Peninsula. It’s a beautiful 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,945 square foot gulf front vacation rental home with this million dollar view:

This home sold in March 2001 for $442,800, and then again to the sellers in late 2002 for $575,000.  The county has it valued way too low at $331,900, and on Friday, my buyers finally got the lender to finish signing off on the sale for a very attractive $440,000.

Now let’s take a look at our three new contracts since last we met. First up is a bay view lot in Eventide on the south side of the Cape, an irregularly shaped property that the seller acquired from a bank in late 2011 for $8,000. He got a contract on it on Tuesday with a list price of $39,900.

We’re leaving the Cape again, this time travelling east along C-30 over to Gulf Pines where this 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,932-square foot gulf front home went under contract with a list price of $549,000. Built in 1994, it last sold in late 2007 for $898,000, and is situated on a lovely 100′ wide stretch of waterfront overlooking a wide expanse of beach.

We’re back over at the Cottages of Indian Summer for our third new contract, a bank-owned second tier half-acre lot listed for $25,000, below the county’s assessed value of $27,000. Even that assessed value is less than ten-cents-on-the-dollar of the $274,100 it last sold for in 2006.  I helped my buyer negotiate a deal with the bank on Friday, and since there are no contingencies to be met, we hope to close next week.

That’s a wrap for this week. Properties are moving at a brisk pace and I had more calls this week where I’ve unfortunately had to tell people the properties they’ve been considering have gone under contract. If you have your eye on a special place, you need to step up and stake a claim on it or you very well may miss out. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll make a move on it.  Thanks for taking time to stop by today and I hope to hear from you soon.

  Happy to report there was no let up in activity again this week turning in another strong showing, closing seven sales, writing up five new contracts (one of which has already closed), listing three new properties and changing prices on three others. With all that, our inventory trimmed away another six, closing the week at 250, with 83 homes and 167 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Lots to look at today so let’s get started.

We’ll start our review of this week’s seven sales on White Sands Drive in San Blas Shores, the subdivision on the north side of Ovation on the gulf side of the road. Here we have  a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,440 square foot gulf front home circa 1990 that went under contract at the end of January with a list price of  $279,900, down significantly from its original list price of $349,900 when it entered the MLS last September. The sellers bought it in 2004 for $359,000, and on Thursday they let it go for $250,000.

Our next two sales are just next door in Ovation, starting first with a bay view lot along the crescent which went under contract last week with a list price of $69,000, and closed within a few short days for $65,000 cash. The sellers had only owned it since May of last year when they picked it up for $54,000 during the developer’s clearance sale. The county has it valued at $78,650.

Our second sale is also on the bay side of Ovation,  this one a 57′ by 85′ bay view lot that went under contract in early February listed for $38,500, and this week they turned over the title to a new owner for $35,000. The county’s assessor hasn’t caught up with all the sales in Ovation from last summer as they still have it valued at $45,000, even though the developer sold it in May for $22,500. 

Our next sale is not far from the Trading Post, an “X”-zone first tier lot in Dolphin Beach to Bay listed for $115,000, not far off the county’s assessed value of $100,000. The sellers bought it in 2005 for $748,000, and sold it on Wednesday for $93,000.

We’ll head off the Cape and out on to C-30 for our next several sales, stopping first in a little subdivision of five lots called Greenhill, just a bit past Waters Edge on the north side of the road where this half-acre, FEMA eligible lot went under contract the first week of January with a list price of $39,900. It sold in early 2003 for $85,000, then again in June 2004 for $195,000, and on Friday it settled for $32,750.

We’ll head over to Money Bayou for our next sale,  a nice 50′ wide by 430′ deep gulf front lot listed for $219,000. I wasn’t able to discern the sales history on this piece, but the bank acquired it in September 2011 for $60,000, and let it go on Wednesday for $190,000. There are houses on either side of the lot, and it’s in a VE flood plain, but federal flood insurance is available in this area.

Continuing along C-30 we’ll head on over to The Cottages at Indian Summer where our next sale was a quick close on two bank-owned contiguous second-tier lots that went under contract on Monday and closed on Friday. The bank had three of these lots each listed for $25,000, and agreed to take $40,000 for these two.  The county has them assessed at $27,000 apiece. This little subdivision is in an area eligible for FEMA flood insurance.

Now on to our five new contracts, only one of which is on the Cape, and its a bank-owned gulf front lot just south of Scallop Cove. This third-acre lot sold for $529,000 in June 2004, and then resold one year later in September 2005 for $815,000. It went to the bank in January 2012 who have it listed for $250,000, exactly double the county’s assessed value of $125,000.

We’ll leave the Cape and head towards Money Bayou on C-30 stopping at Cape Villas at this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,140 square foot gulf front townhouse listed for $199,000. The sellers bought it in July 2011 for $183,500, so they’re not asking much of a markup.  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.

 Our next contract has us continuing our drive eastward along the C-30 Corridor on past the Indian Pass Raw Bar, not stopping until we each this 100′ by 298′, 0.69-acre bank-owned lagoon front lot listed for $21,500, a bit below the county’s assessed value of $25,000. The last time around it sold for $155,000 in October of 2003. The bank acquired it in mid 2001.

We’ll circle back and head on over onto the Indian Pass Peninsula for our fourth and final contract, which is on this gorgeous 131′ by 301′ gulf front lot overlooking St. Vincent Island.  It’s a good sized building site, just a little shy of a full acre.  The sellers are asking $524,000 for it.

That does it for this week. Glad to see this renewed interest in our market.  Things are definitely heating up so let me know if you’d like to find something of your own. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get started. If you’re in our area this weekend and looking for something fun to do on a chilly Saturday, check out the St. George Island Charity Chili Cook-off for a great time, great cause, and, of course, great show.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by today and hope to see you back real soon.

And the hits just keep on coming. We turned in yet another banner week, closing four sales and writing up eight new contracts. We added five new listings and changed prices on eight others, once again roughly half of those price increases.  I’m seeing another indicator this ship might be turning around: multiple offers. I’ve had four instances in the past week and a half of submitting offers only to find there are others under consideration as well, or that a contract has just been signed.  Much as anyone hates to miss out on a great deal, it does, however, reflect well on the improving health of the market. Our inventory also took another nice dip, shedding six, closing out the week at 256, with 83 homes and 173 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. To give you an idea just how far we’ve come, when I began writing this blog in September 2007, those numbers totaled 555 listings, with 200 homes and 355 lots, so we’ve brought it down by over 53%.

We’ll begin our review of this week’s four sales on the Cape up in Park Point, the northernmost interior subdivision on the peninsula. First up is this bank-owned quarter-acre lot listed for its county assessed value of $30,000. Classic real estate boom history on this one, having sold in September 2003 for $135,000 and then flipped just six months later in March 2004 for a $50,000 profit at $185,000. It went under contract last week and for $27,500.

Our next sale is in nearby Barrier Dunes. It is a 2-bedroom layout pond front unit on Parkside Circle offered for sale at $199,000, essentially what it sold for in 2002 when they bought it from the developer for $192,300. On Monday someone picked up the keys at closing for $175,000.

Our next sale is in Seagrass where this quarter-acre first tier lot which sold in early 2004 for $225,000, and then again in 2010 for $125,000,  went under contract and closed this week, once again for $125,000. The sellers had it listed for $140,000, and the county has it assessed at $105,000.

Down near the rocks at Stumphole, our fourth and final sale is a gulf front home, a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 3,488 square foot model with 41′ of water frontage. In 2003 it sold for $900,000, and three years later, in January 2006, one of the owners sold an interest in the property for $907,500. It went under contract in mid-December with a list price of $479,000, and on Thursday it closed for $445,000.

Now on to our eight new contracts, returning to the north end of the Cape, this time stopping in Sunset Point where this stunning 78′ wide gulf front lot went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $250,000, which is also what the county has it assessed for. The sellers bought it from the developer in early 2003 for $826,000. This lot has been on the market since 2006 when it was listed for $1.395M.

Our second contract is next door in Seacliffs and it’s on a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 1,944 square foot townhouse listed for $234,900, below what it sold for way back in 2000 when it went for $302,700. Those buyers sold it to the current owners in late 2003 for $380,000.  The county has it assessed for $279,623.

Less than a mile down the road our next contract is in Ovation, and it’s on a bay view lot along the crescent listed for $69,000. The sellers have only owned it since May of last year when they picked it up for just $54,000 during the developer’s clearance sale. The county has it valued at $78,650.

Next up is another lot, this one on Cape San Blas Road in Paradise Bay, one of the older subdivisions on the Cape, located near Cape Palms Park. This is a lot still owned by one of the developers and they have it listed for $32,900. It’s an “X” zone property measuring 96′ by 199′.

We’re travelling down to the south side of the Cape for our next contract which is on a first tier, quarter-acre lot in Lantana by the Sea, listed as a short sale for $29,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $60,000. The sellers bought it in late 2005 for $465,000.

In nearby Boardwalk our next contract is on a quarter-acre, “X” zone corner lot listed for $53,000, below the $60,800 it sold for in 2001. The current owners bought it in late 2007 for $230,000.

We’re leaving the Cape for the first time today for our final new contract which is on another first tier lot, this one a 50′ by 228′ one in the Cottages at Indian Summer, which is a FEMA eligible neighborhood. It’s listed as a short sale for $39,000, having last sold in late 2003 for $250,000. The county has it valued at $40,500.

That’s a wrap for this week. It’s time to get in the game if you’re hoping to take advantage of today’s low prices on prime coastal real estate.  There are more and more buyers shopping for fewer and few properties so if that trend continues, the pressure will start pushing prices back up again. Great for sellers, not so great for buyers.  If you’re ready to get started, call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and we’ll get to work.  I hope you have a great week, and I really appreciate your taking time out to stop by today.

Forget the Year of the Snake – 2013 is shaping up to be the Year of the Real Estate Rebound, as we continued with another week of serious sales activity. We closed six more sales, wrote six new contracts, added five new listings, and changed prices on six others, half of them price increases. With all that, we trimmed our inventory by four, closing the week at 262, with 86 homes and 176 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s see what’s catching buyers’ attention.

We’ll begin our review of this week’s six sales about a quarter-mile south of the state park entrance on the Cape with an irregularly shaped gulf front lot adjacent to the north side of Peninsula Estates. It’s about 1.74 acres of a larger parcel in the process of being re-platted into two smaller ones. The seller has it listed for $439,900, and agreed to take $369,000 for it on Thursday.

Our next sale is a bank-owned home on White Sands Drive in San Blas Shores, the oldest subdivision on the Cape located adjacent to the north side of Ovation. This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,208 home was built in 1985, has pleasant gulf views and a pool. It needs a little TLC at this point. The last time this one was on the market was in early 2005 when it sold for $680,000. Today the bank has it essentially right at the county’s assessed value of $195,700, and on Valentine’s Day it sold for just shy of that, $193,700.

About two miles down the road our next sale is a 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,904 square foot home 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, it went under contract in mid-January with a list price of $299,000, and on Friday it closed for $290,000.

The remaining sales were all off of the Cape, so we’ll head out onto the C-30 Corridor heading first towards town, stopping first at this bay view lot located shortly past the bay side subdivision of Treasure Bay. This is a half-acre lot measuring 103′ by 217′ listed for $22,900. The sellers have owned it since 1990 when they bought it for $8,000, roughly $14,100 today in inflation-adjusted dollars, only a bit below its current assessed value of $18,000. On Monday it went for $11,000.

We’ll head the other direction now on C-30 Corridor for our next sale, a Key West style 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,702 square foot house on 27′ of gulf front listed for $315,900 in Brighton by the Sea. The sellers owned the home since 1999 when they purchased it from the developer for $269,900. This little community of eight homes was built in 1998. They share a community pool, and are located in a FEMA-eligible area. On Friday the buyers picked up the keys at closing for $280,000.

We’ll travel on over to Indian Pass Road for our next sale, a roughly half-acre lagoon view lot in Mystic Palms listed for $49,500. Street lights, central sewer and a gulf front pool with bath house are just a few of the amenities this subdivision has to offer. This is a developer sale so there’s no previous sales info. The county has it valued at $20,000, and on Monday it sold for $42,500.

All six of this week’s crop of new contracts are on lots, with five of them on the Cape, the first two of which are located up in Park Point, the northernmost interior subdivision on the peninsula. First up is this bank-owned quarter-acre lot listed for its county assessed value of $30,000. Classic real estate boom history on this one, having sold in September 2003 for $135,000 and then flipped just six months later in March 2004 for a $50,000 profit at $185,000. But now the bank has it and the contract has no contingencies so it should close pretty quickly.

The other Park Point lot is a short sale listed for $28,900. It has a similar history, selling in April 2004 for $225,000, and then flipped just six months later for $350,000.

Sunset Point is adjacent to Park Point, and here we have a 79′ wide gulf front lot under contract with a list price of $259,000, but not as a short sale despite the sellers having paid $836,000 for it in mid-2004. The county has it assessed for $250,000.

We only have to cruise about a half mile down the beach for our next two contracts, both of which are in Ovation, the first of which is a gulf-view, second tier lot under contract as a short sale with a list price of $55,000, having last sold in August 2005 for $500,000. Today the county has it assessed for $45,000. The views from this property when a house is built on it will be amazing. The lot is entirely in an “X” zone.

The other Ovation contract is on a lovely bank-owned bay front lot listed for just $78,000, a far cry from the $625,000 it fetched in late 2005, and well below the county’s assessed value of $115,000. It measures 45′ wide by 175′ deep, or roughly 0.2 acres.

We’re back over along the C-30 Corridor in Treasure Bay with a contract on another half-acre lot not far from the one that sold on Monday for $20,000 that we looked at earlier. This one is an at-arms-length sale with the seller having owned it since early 1990 when they picked it up for $9,200. They have it listed for $28,900, well above the county’s assessed value of $18,000.

That does it for today. Glad to see we’re whittling away at our inventory of lots which have been kind of stalled for some time. If you’re toying with the idea of purchasing some coastal property, let’s get started. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com and I’ll be glad to help you find a good fit. Have a great week and thanks so much for taking time to stop by today.

 What a difference a week makes! We are back in the booming business mode with all kinds of sales activity on the upswing.  We had a stellar week, closing seven sales, writing up eight new contracts, listing ten more, changing prices on eleven others (and not all of them are price reductions),  and nine listings which had been under contract or expired came back on the market. With all that, our inventory grew by four, ending the week at  286, with 84 homes and 182 lots listed in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. A lot of people are finding great deals, so let’s see what they are.

The first of our seven sales finds us on the Cape about half a mile north of Scallop Cove on Belize Drive where this 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,824-square foot first tier home that went under contract in late November with a list price of $399,000, sold this week for $360,000. The sellers bought it in the spring of 2003 for $460,000, and listed it last April initially asking $449,000.

Our next sale is a gulf-front home in Tucker Shores which is that micro-subdivision of six homes down near the rocks at Stumphole. This one’s a bit unusual in that it sold in January 2010 for $433,000, and then again later that same year to the current owners for $550,000, which is what they now have it listed for. It’s a nice home, 2,642 square foot with 5 bedrooms, 5 baths and an in-ground pool.  It went under contract in early January and on Tuesday it went for $500,000 even.

Our next sale is down on the south side of the Cape in San Blas Plantation where this irregularly shaped first tier corner lot went under contract just last week with a list price of $79,900. The sellers bought it in 2000 for $64,500, sadly close to the county’s current assessed value of $67,500, and let it go on Monday for $57,500.

We’ll head down to the end of Cape San Blas Road and turn left onto C-30 for our next sale, which is a bank-owned lot located just past that curve in a little subdivision called Marnie’s Island. It was listed as a bay front lot for $26,500 but it’s not waterfront you’d be launching your deep V from as it’s a shallow marshy area better suited for photos than fishing. The seller picked it up as a bank-owned sale in December 2011 for $12,500 and turned a nice profit on Tuesday selling for $22,000, close to the county’s assessed value of $20,000. In 2006 it went for $225,000.

Our next sale is a circa-1983 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,344 home on 100′ of gulf front beach over in Gulf Pines. The sellers bought it in 1991 for $129,000 ($218,600 today in inflation-adjusted dollars), and it went under contract on the first of the year with a list price of $424,900, in line with the county’s assessed value of $435,280. When this home first came on the market in 2005, that list price was $1.8M. The HOA fees for Gulf Pines are only $200 per year, and the neighborhood is eligible for FEMA flood insurance.  On Friday the new owners picked up the keys at closing for $390,000.

All the way over to Indian Pass for our next sale which is a first tier lot that also went under contract this week and closed within three days for cash. It’s a bank-owned property listed for $80,000, but on Thursday a buyer with $70,000 cash picked up the title at closing.

For our next sale we’ll leave the Pass and turn right, heading out along the C-30 Corridor in the direction of Apalachicola to this mobile home on a large 1.2 acre lot not far from the Gulf County line. The 2-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath circa 1984 home needs a little TLC but the lot itself is very nice. The last time it sold was in 1994 when it went for $22,000, and on Monday it sold for $45,000.

To begin our review of this week’s crop of eight new contracts, we’re heading back to the north end of the Cape to Seacliffs, where this lovely 4-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 2,458 square foot end-unit townhouse went under contract on Thursday with a list price of $259,900, below the county’s assessed value of $287,104.   It is being sold completely furnished, and it has terrific gulf views.  The sellers bought it for $344,900 in early 2002 and have added many nice upgrades since then, such as granite counter tops and beautifully tiled showers.

In nearby Ovation, our next contract is on a 57′ by 85′  bay view lot listed for $38,500. The county’s assessor hasn’t caught up with all the sales in Ovation from last summer as they still have it at $45,000, even though the developer sold it in May of last year for $22,500.

Down the road about a mile and a half or so our next contract is on an irregularly shaped first tier “X” zone lot in Seagrass. In February 2004 it sold for $215,00, and then resold a little over a year later in May 2005 for $345,000. They put it back on the market the following year for $589,000 and now have it  listed as a short sale for $77,000, below the county’s assessed value of $90,000.

We’ll go on down to the south side of the Cape for our next two contracts, stopping first in Jubilation where we have another short sale, this one an irregularly shaped 0.11 acre interior lot listed for $26,000, roughly half the county’s assessed value of $45,000. It has an eerily similar history to the Seagrass lot in that it sold for $260,000 in mid-2004, and then again the following fall in late 2005 for $350,000. The sellers listed it just two months later for $460,000 and now seven years later finally have it under contract.

Only a few blocks away in Surfside Estates our next contract is on yet another short sale, a quarter-acre interior lot on Polaris listed for $23,900, again roughly half the county’s assessed value of $45,000. The sellers picked it up in August 2004 for $225,000 and have had it on and off the market since summer of 2005 when they listed it for $400,00.

We’re back out on the C-30 Corridor for this next one, a Key West style 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,702 square foot house on 27′ of gulf front listed for $315,900 in Brighton by the Sea. The sellers have owned the home since 1999 when they purchased it from the developer for $269,900.  This little community of eight homes was built in 1998. They share a community pool, and are located in a FEMA-eligible area.

We’ll head over to Money Bayou to wrap up the week with two bank-owned properties, the first of which is a nice 50′ wide by 430′ deep gulf front lot listed for $219,000. I wasn’t able to discern the sales history on this piece, but the bank acquired it in September 2011 for $60,000.  There are houses on either side of the lot, and it’s in a VE flood plain, but federal flood insurance is available in this area.

And last but certainly not least, we’ll finish with another bank-owned property, this one a 68′ by 195′, third-acre second tier lot listed for $22,000, less than 10-cents-on-the-dollar of its December 2004 sale price of $225,000. As was not uncommon in that time period, it sold the year prior in early 2003 for $100,000. There are no contingencies to be met with this contract so it should close fairly quickly.

That’s a lot of territory to cover together so I thank you for hanging in there til the end. So many great values to be had and they’re moving quickly again, so if you’ve been thinking about picking up some of these gems, it’s time to get in the game. Call or text me at 850-22-5197 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 out to stop by today.