Could be, might be a one time opportunity

Nothing new in our complexes to report, we need a good listing before the season passes us by.

The picture is of the community pool at Bayport Condos in Cape Canaveral. This complex is on the Banana River side. Some views are good some are limited. There have been 23 units come on the market as short sales. These units all have over 2000 square feet and are priced according to floor, view and if they are end units. These units are priced from $139,900 to $219,900. The majority are priced at $139,900.

Now for the indivdual that means that you could have a condo with 2000 square feet for $139,900. For the investor or group of investors that means you could have 23 condos with over 2000 square feet each for a total of between 3-4 million depending on negotiation.

These are currently rented by the developer for between $1100 and $1500 depending on the unit. The leases are long term and non-furnished. The condo fees are $410 monthly which has became standard for our area depending on amenities.

I believe with the right deal, the return on investment would be acceptable for a few years awaiting on the cash out. I have never seen a block of units come out like this as short sales. They usually come out by the lender like Mystic Vistas as foreclosed offerings. This could be genius or insanity.

Just food for thought!

Jim Bagwell

Real Estate misinformation

Picture is of our son Jason who is contracting in Afghanistan. He will be home next week for 2 weeks for a wedding and back for 2 more months. After that we hope he will be home for good and studying for the bar.

As far as our title goes it is only natural to think that most information that is false comes from Realtors but actually it comes from web sites that you would think are accurate. Web sites like Brevard County Property Appraiser and Zillow.

We were helping a buyer with a short sale the other day and she went to the Brevard County Property Appraiser site and looked at the assessed value which of course was considerably lower than the list price. She then made a offer based on that information and of course the bank would not look at the offer. To give you a idea of what this information is based on The Diplomat short sale that recently closed assessed value was $70,500 in reality the list price on this unit was $88,500 and sold for $80,000. A unit in The Meridian which is a high end complex on the ocean recently closed for $599,000 with an assessed value of $484,020, this unit was sold with a conventional mortgage and was appraised at the sold price. Please keep in mind that assessed value has nothing to do with the actual appraised value. Brevard County does not do an appraisal on your property and as a property owner you don't want them to do that or your taxes would go up.

Zillow is a very popular site that sellers like to go on to find the value of their home. This site makes their money mainly from Realtors who advertise with them. A few states have ongoing law suits with Zillow because of their misinformation. There are no Zillow employees in Cocoa Beach and they know nothing of the area. To give you an example, there is a unit in the Highland house that is listed at $56,000 with no offers so far. This is a well kept small complex with a community pool. The unit is a 2 bedroom 1 1/2 bath and 945 square feet and needs restoration. Zillow has a value of $97,400 and if the seller had looked at this they would have no chance of finding a buyer.

Nothing new in our complexes.

Enjoy the day!

Jim Bagwell

"and I don't want the world to see me"

"cause I don't think they'd understand"
"when everythiing's made to be broken."
"I just want you to know who I am" The Goo Goo dolls
This is a beautiful song regardless of the artist or the genre.

This is a picture of ducks in a window of London's China town. Ada and I ended up there on Christmas day and the lines were so long that we didn't get into a restaurant.

Well 2 more front units in The Diplomat have closed. One was a short sale listed at $88,500 and closed at $80,000, the other was a upgraded unit listed at $114,900 and closed for $102,500. The only other front listing is under contract with a list price of $94,900.

A interesting unit on the market is a Stonewood on the 10th floor, great views and over 1300 sq. ft. This unit is priced at $255,000 now that will hurt your feelings and won't last long.

New statistics are out from our MLS system and they show that the number of months inventory we had in Brevard County in 2010 was 11.9 months, it is now at 5.2 months. Average sold price is slightly up and with the inventory so low especially on beachside it is a very good time for realistic sellers and it has been a long time since I have been able to say that with a bit of confidence.

Have a good one!

Jim Bagwell

"How many seas must a white dove sail"

"before she sleeps in the sand?" Blowing in the Wind Bob Dylan

Please forgive my absence in the blog world! Ada and I spent Christmas in London and what an exciting time. Pictures are of the occupy wall street people in the garden of St. Pauls Cathredal, the other is of St. Pauls cathredal.

So far in 2012 there have been 27 new listings of condos in the beach area. Of these 17 are under $200,000 but of course not oceanfront.

There have also been 8 condos closed this year. One of these was a front building in Windrush, this unit was listed and closed in no time. Listed at $159,900 and sold for $151,000, this was a win for the seller.

A lot of people are ready to call the bottom. I tend to think that there will be a final wave of foreclosures this year and then I think we will see a stabilization of the market at the end of this year or early next year. I totally understand why Real Estate people want to call the bottom but I am not ready to give that advice. Look for prices to be steady on the beachside and maybe next year you will see the prices inch forward but never to the point of where they once were, denial serves nobody.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year!

Jim Bagwell

"look like nothing's gonna change"

"Everything still remains the same" The late, great Otis Redding It is hard to believe that it has been 40 years since Otis died in a plane crash. He was 26 years old when he died and look at the hits he had already created.

In our complexes the one bedroom in Windward East on the 4th floor listed at $179,900 closed at $165,000. This was a win win for buyer and seller. The Windrush that we talked about in the last post in Windrush that we said was a good deal as it was a 2/2 end unit on the 1st floor is now under contract with a list price of $159,900. Our listing in The Diplomat listed at $99,000 has closed at $86,500.

Other good deals

The Constellation in south Cocoa Beach is now foreclosed and listed at $333,500. This unit is a 3/2 with 2126 sq. ft. and is on the 5th floor making for great ocean views and river views.

Driftwood Villas north of SR520, this was a developer unit which was created by combining 2 units together, the unit now has 3 bedrooms 3.5 baths with 2507 sq. ft. and located on the top floor with great views. List price is $389,000.

Happy Holidays to all!

Jim Bagwell

"Spend eighty percent of your time on the opportunities"

"of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday" Brian Tracy

This is a balcony view of a single family home we have listed for rent. Pool home, 2 story with huge boat dock and listed at $2000 a month.

In Windward East the 1 bedroom 1 bath unit on the 4th floor is under contract. The list price was $179,000 and had been updated to a certain extent, I will let you know what it closes for when it closes.

In Windrush there is a new listing that is on the 1st floor SE corner that is a 3 bedroom 2 bath unit and priced at $265,000. This could be a good buy.

In 2100 Towers the unit that has been under contract for awhile closed for $148,000 with a list price of $189,500. This unit has 1200 sq. ft. with 2 bedrooms 2 baths.

In The Diplomat our listing is now under contract with a list price of $99,000 and that only leaves the oceanfront listing in the complex.

A couple of good buys that I noticed are a unit in Emerald Seas with 3 bedrooms 2 baths 2027 sq. ft. with a list price of $297,500. There is also a new listing in Stonewood on the 10th floor, this unit has 1317 sq. ft. 2 bedrooms 2 baths with a list price of $270,000.

On the investor owned macdaddy units in Villa Verde that we mentioned last post, 5 are now under contract including the penthouse. Price it and they will come!

Jim Bagwell

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"

Albert Einstein

Picture is of the family room in Villa Verde in south Cocoa Beach


Still not much going on in our complexes except for The Diplomat. The short sale and one other listing is under contract. It also looks as though we have a meeting of the minds on our listing so that only leaves the oceanfront listing available in The Diplomat.

Villa Verde is the green building that is gated in south Cocoa Beach. There are 6 units now on the market being sold by the investor group that took them back from the developer. They range in price from $345,000 to $399,000. These units all have 2875 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. They all have all the upgrades and all the technology features like one touch control of lights, AC,shutters and built in TV in the kitchen. The penthouse is not on the market as yet since the owners are deciding whether to divide into 2 units. This unit is the entire top floor with 5750 sq. ft. This could be a opportunity for the right investor especially if they went for the building.

Have a great Sunday!

Jim Bagwell