"I read Shakespeare and the Bible, and I can shoot dice"

"That's what I call a liberal education"  Tallulah Bankhead

Storm damage from Sandy, these palms were just planted!  Just kidding, glad no damage.

We have changed a lot concerning storms, schools were closed Friday, Ada and I were having lunch at The Mango Tree on Friday and the owner said that they had 50% cancellations of dinner reservations.

On a somewhat positive note, a friend from NY called to say he had a spritual awakening while on the Cocoa Beach Pier watching the waves coming in from Sandy but then he tells me the awakening happened when they were leaving and he saw the hot weather girl from NY coming out of the gift shop.  His name is withheld to protect the innocent namely his wife.

Good day to stay inside, cook a pot of chili and root for the Gators!

This picture is from Frances in 2004!  That was not a good year!

Jim Bagwell
 

"Time is on my side"

"Yes it is"  The rolling stones. The Stones going on tour again, I think at some point the walkers are going to get in the way.

Time is of the essence!  This is never more true than in Real Estate.  One of the requirements of an offer on Real Estate is the offer is presented in a timely manner.  It drives me crazy when a agent presents an offer to the listing agent and it could be another day or two before they present.  This is totally unacceptable.  Another thing is fax machines.  We do a lot of short sales and most banks won't even look at faxes, it has to be scanned and emailed.  This method is much more effecient and more readable.

Still only 8 active listings in our 4 complexes.  Windward East has been reduced to $239,000 which is a fair price.

Jim Bagwell

"Beer is proof"

"the good Lord loves us"  Benjamin Franklin

In our four complexes there are now only 8 active listings.

2100 Towers 305 closed for $168,000, the unit was listed at $168,500. No view but 1400 square feet with 2 bedrooms 2 baths and showed great.

Windward East 208 has been reduced to $239,000.  2 bedrooms 2 baths, updated with southern ocean views.  Don't wait!

Attached are the numbers for September and as you can see everything is up except for affordability index, Homes for sale and months supply of inventory.  I think this is positive for everyone except we need more listings.

Enjoy the cool!

Jim Bagwell

"I would give a thousand furlongs"

"of sea for an acre of barren ground." Shakespeare
Yes I can quote Shakespeare but only pertaining to Real Estate.

Picture is of the beach access on a piece of land that we have listed on Ocean Beach Blvd.  This piece of property is .71 acre of buildable oceanfront land.  The property is zoned multi-family and currently is approved for 7 units.  The lot has been cleared and ready to build.

The property was puchased by a very successful local developer in 2006.  At the time of puchase there were 2 apartment buildings on the property facing north and south.  The developer demolished the buildings and cleared the lot.  Unfortunately as we all now know this was the worst possible time in the Real Estate market.  The purchase price in 2006 was $2,600,000.  The property is now bank owned and listed at $950,000.

My thoughts are as follows;  Almost all experts agree the Real Estate market is coming back slowly.  If a buyer could get this property for $900,000 and held it for 5 years then I feel there is a strong possibility that the lot would be worth $1,200,000 or a 30% return on your investment, much better than the stock market or bank interest.  There also is a complex about 1/4 mile south of this lot that was developed around 2006.  This complex contain 8 units that are upscale condos on the ocean. The units have been on the market since completion and a few have been sold.  The creative thing the owners did was obtain a variance from the city and converted the building to weekly rentals and are now renting the units out by the week to acquire cash flow until the market catches up with the complex.  Precedent may have been set in order to build weekly rental complex on the bank owned lot which could prove to be a cash cow.

Strong Possibilities

picture of lot.

Thanks
Jim Bagwell

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"

Albert Einstein

The weather is getting nice enough to sit outside at Heidi's and have lunch or dinner.

This was a great idea for allowing Heidi's to do this with outside dining and it seems it requires a great deal of perserverance to acheive change.
There was a great push for the mixed use amendment for Cocoa Beach and it finally was approved.  If you will notice there have been very few changes.  A local businessman is planning on building a mixed use building on N. Orlando that will have a business on the bottom and an apartment on the 2nd floor with a balcony over the sidewalk like you would see in Key West or Charleston.  I think that will look great.

The city elections are coming up and it seems the parties are getting rather intense on both sides.  Cocoa Beach is a very small town and as in every small town the local politics are limited to a distinct group of people who have been around a long time.  It seems strange for me to say this but a realtor is running for mayor and I have conflicted views on this.  I, being a realtor, feel that I would want to make sure that all decisions made for other people are unbiased and made for the majority.  I just feel that there would be too many opportunities for a conflict of interest.

Just one fool's thoughts

Important thing is just to vote!

Go Gators

"Only good girls keep diaries."

"Bad girls don't have time." Tallulah Bankhead

Walker Bagwell Properties listed and sold unit 207 in Windward East in 55 days.
The condo is a SE corner with 3 bedrooms 2 baths.  Listed at $349,000 and sold for $335,000, I love it when the buyers and sellers are happy.

In addition to unit 208 with a list price of $247,000 reduced we have unit 408 listed at $245,000.  Both units have nice southern views with 2 bedrooms 2 baths.  Both units are in Windward East.

The most popular search for a condo in Cocoa Beach is a direct ocean with 2 or 3 bedrooms on the 3rd floor or higher and priced between $270,000 to $365,000.  Right now there are 10 of these in Cocoa Beach but really 3 of these are side views that are called direct ocean.  The average price is $339,000 but buyers today are much more knowledgeable about associations and what it takes to get a mortgage.  The fees of the active units run from $300 monthly to $525 and some associations don't have reserves or insufficient reserves to acquire a mortgage.  A lot of lenders today have their own questions for associations and in addition the prospective buyers have 10 days to examine documents, budget and financials.  2 of the active listings are in The Mark and The Crossway which are very hard sells because of their 60's style construction.  It used to work but not so much now.

Have a good one and vote!

Jim Bagwell