Condos in Gulf Shores Blog

If you are, you need to take a look at this one!  This is a two bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse in Gulf Shores in the West Beach area.  Enjoy the Gulf view from two balconies.  One of the lower density condos in Gulf Shores, Gulfside Townhomes has only 40 units.  This unit has a great custom built cabinet area for tons of extra storage, tile floors in the kitchen and living area and two full baths upstairs.  Each unit has a lockable storage area underneath and covered parking.  The complex has a perfectly manicured courtyard area with outdoor pool and a Gulfside deck.  This will be a great second home or a strong rental investment.

Please feel free to call me at 251-978-7118 or email me for more information!

This is a great 3 BR coastal cottage with natural finsih pine floors, plenty of room, full size washer and dryer, screen porch and a five minute walk to the beach. The complex has boat and trailer storage, swimming pool and tennis. Just a few minutes drive to restauants, 2 golf courses and a full service marina. POTENTIAL SHORT SALE. All offers subject to lender approval.  Check out a Virtual Tour Below:

If you would like further information on this property or any other Gulf Shores area real estate listing, give me a call at 251-978-7118 or e-mail me.

As we move into the fall season, I thought it would be interesting to do a recap of the first 9 months of the Condo Market in the Gulf Shores area. I know that my business has been better this year and the statistics bear out that the same was true for the market as a whole.

The 2009 numbers reflect a 36% increase over 2008 while the average Days on Market remained almost identical. You will notice that I included two Average Sold Price entries. One for all of the Gulf front listings and another figure in which I backed out the Phoenix West sales. Phoenix West is an upscale Gulf front complex that completed construction in 2008. The developer began closing units in 2008 and has continued into 2009. While these are certainly legitimate sales, most are pre-construction transactions that were agreed upon 3 years ago. There were 7 Phoenix West sales listed in MLS in 2008 and 25 in 2009.

I found it interesting that the Average Sold Price of Gulf Front Condos (without Phoenix West) has only dropped about $31,000 in the period. Gulf front condos have closed at about 93% of list so far in 2009.  It is anybody’s guess if prices will continue to go down in the condo market in the Gulf Shores area.  When I look at the prices in which some of the properties have been closing lately, it is hard to imagine that they can go much lower.

If you would like to discuss these figures or get specific information regarding properties in the Gulf Shores area, please give me a call at 251-978-7118 or shoot me an e-mail.

As I went through my list of people who have requested to be notified when I update the Market Watch page of my website, I was reminded how many people e-mail and call about looking at foreclosure listings in Baldwin County.

While foreclosures are a significant part of the market, I always try to remind prospective buyers that they are not the entire market.  In fact, contrary to what you may think, traditional sales still make up the majority of the transactions in Gulf Shores real estate.

Here is how it breaks down as of September 15, 2009 for the Pleasure Island area:

So here’s the point.  Our real estate market does not totally consist of foreclosure listings in Baldwin County.  In fact, there are many sellers that are motivated enough price their properties aggressively enough to compete with the foreclosures.

If you, as a buyer, limit yourself to looking at foreclosures alone, I think you may miss some good buys.

If you would like to learn more about foreclosures or the real estate market in general, I hope you will give me a call at 251-978-7118 or shoot me an e-mail.

I have five or six neighbors and prospective clients that ask me from time to time what is going on in The Peninsula.  The Peninsula is one of the best golf course properties in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Yesterday when my neighbor asked what the market was doing at The Peninsula, I thought “Duh, why don’t you blog about it?”  So here goes!

The Peninsula, like most real estate in Baldwin County and the rest of the country for that matter, has been affected by slower sales and falling prices.

Pretty interesting, huh?  One note to keep in mind is that these figures do not include the many custom homes that were built and closed that never hit the Multiple Listings.

2009 seems to be shaping up to be a better year for sales but the prices are still dropping.

Four closed sales as of today March 12, 2009 but the average price per square foot is $138.  There are currently 23 homes listed in The Peninsula ranging in price from $299,900 to $1,225,000.

As I said earlier, I think this is indicative of Baldwin County real estate as a whole and if you are interested in a golf course property in the Gulf Shores area, 2009 is the year to buy.

If you would like to learn more about The Peninsula Golf and Tennis community, visit this link or give me a call at 251-978-7118.  It’s a wonderful place to live!

It has been 3 & 1/2 weeks since the auction at the San Carlos Condominium took place and I have found the interest generated since the event both interesting and maybe even encouraging.

The auction company’s web site reports that 62 properties were sold on auction day with a sales volume of $20,405,000.  Fifteen of those units actually closed on auction day.  You know what that means, right?  That means at least 15 people (24 percent) showed up that day with the conviction and the wherewithal to pay cash for a $265,000 plus condominium.

Now, back to what has happened since February 7th.  There were eleven units that were not sold on auction day.  All eleven units were three bedroom interior units that were either 1407 or 1419 square feet.  The seller subsequently decided to list the remaining units at a price of $330,000.  They came onto our MLS on Tuesday February 24th.  I took a look at the MLS yesterday and 10 of the 11 units that were listed a week ago are showing that they are under contract.  Wow!!  Ten units in which offers were written and accepted.  That’s pretty strong in this market.

I reported in my January Market Watch page that only 14 Gulf front condominiums closed in the month of January.  While I don’t have all of the information to post last months numbers yet, I can say that at least 26 Gulf front units closed in the month of February.  Quite a change in a months time!

While one month does not a market make, you must admit that it is encouraging.  If you have any questions about the auction at San Carlos that I haven’t addressed here or if you are interested in getting further market information, e-mail me or give me a call at 1-866-978-7118 and we’ll talk about real estate!

Do you think the full moon had anything to do with it?

Back in my former life, I had a guy that worked for me by the name of Bill Freeman.  He also called himself the “Midnight Cowpoke” because he worked midnight to 6 AM at a country music radio station.  Bill always told me that people would act different (sometimes even crazy) when there was a full moon.  That may have been the pot calling the kettle black but we won’t go there.

Bill’s assessment of human behavior was the first thing I thought of when I saw the full moon on the night before the auction here in Gulf Shores at the San Carlos condominiums.    It had all the potential to be a big auction.  The auction company had spent a significant amount of money promoting the event for over a month.  Real estate agents all over the island were calling clients to generate interest.  It was a beautiful weekend with a high on Saturday of 70 degrees.  They even had it catered with free chicken, soft drinks, wine and beer.  The auction finally started at about 1:30PM – I’ve been to a few of these things and I have never seen one start on time.

They started the bidding on the five available penthouses.  Those units sold from $360,000 to $480,000 in pretty short order.  The next group of units were 3 bedroom 1568 sq. ft. corner units.  The first winning bidder paid $370,000 and the selling prices went down from there until the last 3 bedroom corner unit sold for $315,000.  Some quick math told me that the last unit would net the seller about $201 per square foot.  I really thought that the seller would call the auction off at this point and I’ll tell you why.
I made a listing presentation to this seller in October of last year.  They asked me what price I thought it would take to get the majority of the units sold within 6 months.  I told them it would take some number between $200 and $225 per square foot.  They assured me that they could not accept anything less than $275.  Our conversation ended shortly after that.

Now it’s time to open the bidding for the 3 bedroom interior condos.  The first one sold for $285,000.  The next one sold for $275,000, then $260,000.  Then the next one, after many attempts by the auctioneer to get higher bids, sold for $250,000 and that was the flashpoint.  Bidders rushed the podium waving their paddles to get in on the $250,000 price but the seller stopped the auction at that point.  I think they sold a total of five units at $250,000 which is $176 per square foot.  Did I mention that it was a full moon?

The seller authorized the bidding to open again at which point they sold 10 more units at $275,000 and then several more at $285,000.  There were a total of 53 units sold when I left at about 3:30PM.

It was a very interesting day at the auction in Gulf Shores.  The Mobile newspaper said the attendance was 1,400 people with 269 bidders from 30 states.  One of the television stations said the sales volume approached 20 million dollars.

If you would like further information on this auction or other Gulf Shores real estate, please feel free to give me a call at 251-978-7118 or contact me here.

Let’s take a look at what happened last year in Gulf Shores area real estate sales compared to 2007.

The first graph you see is a 2007 / 2008 comparison of the number of condominium / multifamily (duplex) units sold.

Notice that the total number of units sold was down about 7.5 percent or 55 units.*  A couple of things caught my eye.  Sales of the less expensive units (less than $250,000) were almost identical.

The $250,000 to $450,000 price range showed a significant 27 increase over 2007.  The next three price categories posted significant decreases as the purchase prices got more expensive.  This drove the average sold price down nearly $50,000 from $392,685 to $343,310.

I would have bet you money that the average Days on Market (the number of days a property is listed) would have gone up but it didn’t.  Both years figures were between 6 and 7 months.

The next graph contains Single Family Homes in Gulf Shores’ area real estate.

I thought it was significant that in 12 months of sales in the Gulf Shores area that the number of transactions in 2007 and 2008 were almost identical. Days on Market was very similar to the condo numbers – between 6 and 7 months.  Average sold price dropped on Single Family Residences also but not as sharply as condos.  This number went from $425,887 in 2007 to $397,253 in 2008.

*  One thing to note – the MLS actually shows that there were 767 not 660 condominiums sold in 2008.  The difference in this number comes from one thing.  One developer has posted the closings of 107 pre-construction units in 2008.  I believe this skews sales figures because although these were closed in 2008, they were actually “sold” approximately 3 years ago.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this buyer’s market, call me today at 251-948-1234 or email me at John@JohnRicks.com.

Choosing the right real estate agent to sell your home is a big decision. You need a professional who you trust to help you get top dollar for your home. Not only will you will work closely with your agent for anywhere from several weeks or several months, but you will also pay them for their work. Here’s what you can expect from your Gulf Shores real estate agent while selling your home:

1. A comparative market analysis. Your agent should complete a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a price range for your home. The CMA compares your home with similar homes that have recently sold. This report gives you an idea of what other people were willing to pay for a home like yours so you can set a realistic asking price.
2. Suggestions for improving your home. Your agent is a Gulf Shores real estate specialist who knows what buyers look for in homes. You should expect them to offer suggestions to make your home more appealing to buyer. This may involve repainting rooms, installing new carpet, or completing minor repairs to make your home look as good as possible.
3. A marketing plan. Your agent’s primary responsibility is to market your home, and you should know beforehand exactly how they plan to do that. This should include a “for sale” sign in your front yard, a listing in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), advertising in newspapers and home magazines, professionally designed fliers and brochures and internet exposure on multiple web sites.
4. Negotiation assistance. Your agent should deal directly with buyers and their Gulf Shores real estate agents to discuss the sale price and terms of the sale. They should also coordinate the closing for you by working directly with the title company to process the necessary documents.

Don’t let an amateur sell your most valuable asset. Work with me to sell your home faster and easier. Call me today at 251-978-7118 or email me at John@JohnRicks.com.

A vacation home is a great way to create lasting memories with your family. It gives you the chance to have your own dream vacation each year with all the comforts of home. However, a vacation home can also quickly become a nightmare. Here are some important ideas to consider before you buy a Gulf Shores vacation home.

• DO buy a home in one of your favorite vacation spots. If you like to spend time in a certain location, it is probably a good place for you to buy a vacation home because you already know the community.
• DO make sure you buy a Gulf Shores home you like. Keep in mind that your vacation home is more than an investment. It is a retreat for your family.
• DO hire a property management team to help you rent your vacation home. Renting a vacation home requires a lot of work. Keeping track of a calendar, maintaining the property, and collecting rent can quickly become overwhelming. Leave the details to professionals so you can enjoy your home.
• DON’T buy a vacation home thinking you’ll make money from it. Many people think they can cover the costs of their vacation home by renting it to others. While renting your vacation home is usually a good idea, you cannot count on that income or expect the home to pay for itself.
• DON’T buy a vacation home you cannot afford. Loans for second homes tend to be more costly. Add this to common maintenance costs, management fees, and insurance premiums to determine if you can truly afford the property.
• DON’T buy a vacation home if you won’t be able to spend time in it. The reason you own a vacation home is to ensure you will take regular vacations. Make sure you will be able to enjoy your new Gulf Shores home.

Start creating vacation memories with your family. Let me help you find your new Gulf Shores home. Call me today at 251-978-7118 or email me at John@JohnRicks.com.