Helen Spohrer - St. George Island Florida Real Estate

National Veterans Memorial Comes to Apalachicola

07/07/08

Dedication of the Three Soldiers, Detail will be held on July 12 at 10:30 am in Veterans Memorial Plaza at 230 Market Street in Apalachicola, Florida. This partial replica of the Three Servicemen Statue, Frederick Hart's bronze masterpiece on the Mall in Washington DC, will be unveiled for the first time at the ceremony.

This is the only replica of a major Washington monument to be placed outside of Washington DC. The new park will be a regional site to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War and all American Wars.

Video Marketing for Real Estate Sales on St. George Island

04/15/08

Real estate marketing has undergone an amazing transformation over the past several years due to the accessibility of digital video. Video marketing is now an important part of real estate sales. Successful sales agents use video to promote themselves as well as the properties they represent.

Videos are popular because of how they?re viewed: Computers, cell phones, iPODS and other Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or any hand held device supported by wireless broadband. You can watch them anytime, anywhere, at your convenience.

Forgotten Coast real estate is in a buyer?s market, which means there?s more supply than demand. If you?re selling your property, video is an excellent method of showing your property to viewers all over the world. And savvy real estate agents are using video as key part of their marketing campaigns.

Video can be used in a variety of ways:
1.        Email
2.        Newsletters
3.        Presentations
4.        Internet
5.        Websites
6.        DVDs
7.        Business cards
8.        TV

I?m Helen Spohrer, and this is The Real Estate Report.

Prepare Your Home to List for Spring: Coastal Properties

03/30/08

If you plan to put your St. George Island, Apalachicola, Carrabelle or Forgotten Coast home on the market, or if you?re already listed, now is the time to get your property ready for spring. Historically, in our area, the most real estate contracts are written in April, May and June.

While it?s still a buyer?s market, activity has increased this spring, and buyers are here looking at property.
We know that over 84% of all buyers use the Internet to search for homes, and over a third of these go online first. So the photos and videos of your home are extremely important, as well as the general curb appeal.

What can you do to catch a buyer?s eye? For the house and any structures: Paint, Clean and Repair. For the yard: Cut, Clear, Plant.

Check with your Prudential Resort Realty real estate professional for specific ideas for your home.

Helen Spohrer
hspohrer@stgeorgeisland.com

Veterans Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola - Three Servicemen Statue South Groundbreaking Ceremony

03/23/08

Over 250 people attended the official groundbreaking ceremony for the site of new Vietnam War memorial - The Three Soldiers, detail statue. Apalachicola's statue will be a significant detail from the original molds of renowned artist Frederick Hart.

Apalachicola's statue will be installed and dedicated later this year. Three Servicemen Statue South is a non-profit organzition founded by Jimmy Mosconis, an Apalachicola native, to honor the veterans of all wars.

For more information, call 850-653-1318. Personalized, engraved bricks may still be purchased for $250 each which will surround the statue.

TOP PHOTO: Founder & President Jimmy Mosconis

MIDDLE PHOTO: An onsite overview of the event

BOTTOM PHOTO: Three Soldiers, Detail

St. George Island Chili Cookoff

03/02/08

The final numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like this year's SGI Charity Chili Cookoff was a huge success. The weather was glorious and the crowds were large. This event is not only a lot of fun, but it is the primary fund raiser for the St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department.

Prudential Resort Realty handled the Crock Pot Chili Competition, as it has for a number of years. This is the amateur version of chili cooking where anything goes. Rose Drye, LaDonna Ingram, Steve Harris and I coordinated the event. Our judges this year were: Denise Roux, Frances Ingram, Angela Osborne and John Spohrer.

Crock Pot Competition Winners were:
    First Place: Dewey Rains, Many, Louisiana
    Second Place: Bill Bassett, St. George Island
    Third Place: Phil Calandra, St. George Island

New Bank Ordered Auction for SGI Beach Houses

02/26/08

I'm happy to announce a new bank ordered online only real estate auction on St. George Island. Like the successful auction in January, this one also features two beachfront homes, this time on the East End of the island.

The auction is going on right now and ends on Wednesday, March 5 at 2:00 pm. If you're interested, go to my website www.forgottencoastforeclosures.com and click on Bank Ordered Auctions to see the information and watch the video. Then, call me or your Prudential Resort Realty sales associate for the registration information.

You never can tell with auctions. Someone may get a terrific bargain.

TOP PHOTO: "Dream On"-1248 East Gulf Beach Drive, 6 BR/6.5 BA, 5138+/- sf

BOTTOM PHOTO: "Ocean Motion"- 1424 East Gulf Beach Drive, 3 BR/3 BA, 1800+/- sf

Sales Activity on St. George Island

01/16/08

After several years of very little sales activity, I am happy to report that the market has picked up. Prices are still low with properties actually selling at 40% to 60% BELOW the peak values of 2004-05. The buyers are people who are looking for a place at the beach - true end users. While they are savvy about investment value, the primary reason for buying is to have a beach house.

The profiteers are gone, and people who want to be part of a great community like St. George Island are coming back. Several prospective buyers are people who used to own property on St. George Island back in the 1980s or early 1990s.

There are numerous foreclosures pending, but the real deals are those properties listed where the seller bought a while back and can compete with the foreclosures.

If you've wanted to good deal on a St. George Island beach home, now is the time to buy.

Bank Ordered Auction - St. George Island Beachfront Houses

12/21/07

Two recently foreclosed beachfront houses in St. George Plantation have been scheduled for an online auction by the bank. The online auction is scheduled for January 15-29. These two houses have attracted quite a bit of attention over the past few months, and someone may get a bargain at this auction.

For more information, call Prudential Resort Realty at 800-974-2666. Your sales associate can help you with details if you're interested. The auction will be formally announced very soon.

TOP PHOTO: 1556 Seaside Drive, Lot 2 Nick's Hole, St. George Plantation.

BOTTOM PHOTO: 1724 Lilac Lane, Lot 37 Turtle Beach Village, St. George Plantation

Real Estate Activity

12/13/07

December is turning out to be an excellent month for real estate sales here on St. George Island and the Forgotten Coast. My company Prudential Resort Realty is having the best month we've had in years. The reasons: low prices, many choices, pent-up demand, foreclosures on the market. It's the time for smart buyers to move.

One-acre beachfront lots in St. George Plantation are listed as low as $999,000.

You can also buy a Carrabelle riverfront home for $450,000. 3 BR, 3 BA, 1190 sf, deep water boat dock & lift. SEE PHOTOS.

Apalachicola River Water Wars

11/28/07

Today, we sent out our weekly newsletter and talked about a meeting to be held in Apalachicola this Friday to solicit input from our community. Boy, did we get some feedback!

We were praised and thanked; we were admonished and castigated.

Where ever you live along the River and in the ACF Basin, it is important that something be done. Get involved! Our politicians have fooled around for over ten years with this and now we're all paying the price.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will take comments in Apalachicola on Friday, November 30 at 11:00 am at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex.

Prudential Resort Realty Still Leads Real Estate Market Share

10/31/07

Wow! Our sales have been so slow this year that I was surpised to see that my company Prudential Resort Realty is still the market share leader on the entire Forgotten Coast.

And we have a huge market share on St. George Island!

We have the largest market share in the dollar volume of transactions in the entire MLS with over 10%. Our market share on St. George Island is 42% with our nearest competitor at 31%.

Our market share in our primary sales areas of St. George Island, Apalachicola, Eastpoint & Carrabelle is 28% with our nearest competitor at 22%.

Activity may be down, but we're still here and going strong.

Real Estate Market Still Down on the Forgotten Coast & St. George Island

10/25/07

Market Statistics for 2007 Compared to 2006
PERIOD: January 1 through October 23

The Market: Transactions & Volume Down

The real estate market on the Forgotten Coast is still declining with 2007 numbers down significantly from 2006, according to data from the Multiple Listing Service of Franklin and Southern Gulf Counties. The total number of transactions this year to date through October 23 is down 18% from 521 last year to only 425 this year.

Commercial Market Recovering: The bright spot on the Forgotten Coast is the commercial real estate market. The numbers of transactions in 2007 nearly tripled over the same period in 2006. There have been 14 commercial transactions this year compared to only 5 last year. And commercial dollar volume doubled from $2,392,000 in 2006 to $5,024,500 this year.

The numbers of residential transactions are down 10% and the dollar volume of transactions is down 13%. The numbers of lots & land transactions are down 36% and the dollar volume is down 46%.

Florida Foreclosure Statistics

09/19/07

Realty Trac Inc. reports that during the month of August Florida had one foreclosure filing for every 243 households for a totat of 33,932 filings. This is up 77% from July and more than twice the total from last year.

There are at least fifteen pending foreclosures in Franklin County.

Investor Sale at Gulf Shores with GO Zone Tax Deduction

09/16/07

GO Zone IRS Tax Deduction Eligible - 50% 1st Year.

$550,000 for 3 condos, 28% below 07 sales, Only 13 packages.

Friday I drove over to Gulf Shores, Alabama to look at a condo project called The Enclave at Oak Hill. I hadn't planned on being impressed, but I was. We hear about all the condos along the Gulf Coast that are overbuilt and sitting vacant. But this project is different.

The Enclave at Oak Hill is away from the beach in a quiet residential area. The location on Fort Morgan Road is fantastic. You're high on a ridge about a mile inland from the beach as the crow flies. You are within five minutes of several golf courses, about ten minutes from the public beach area even in traffic and you're just down the road from Fort Morgan with a large public marina and dry storage available.

The construction of this project is superior to most condos. You really have to see it to believe it. All units have 10-ft ceilings, granite countertops, tile floors and balconies. There's a large pool, spa and club area.

GO Zone IRS Tax Deduction: In areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, the Go Zone deduction allows investors to take a 50% of purchase price deduction the first year. The property must be put on the market for rental. Apparently, you can go back either two or five years with this deduction or forward up to ten years. I don't know all the details, but there are CPAs who are very well informed and can provide you with more information. I do know that these condos are eligible.

The buyers who have contracted for the packages so far are doing so for two reasons: 1) The Go Zone tax deduction and 2) The condos are an excellent long term investment.

Each package has a 1 BR/1 BA (800 sf) unit, a 2 BR/2 BA (1239 sf) unit and a 3 BR/3 BA (1371 sf) unit. You must contract quickly for this investment and close within 30 days.

I am not acting as a real estate broker on this, but will be happy to talk to you about it and get you in touch with the Seller, Ken Gordon.

Property Taxes-St. George Island, Apalachicola, Carrabelle, Forgotten Coast

09/09/07

Monday, Sept 10 is the deadline for filing petitions to challenge the assessed value of your property per the TRIM notices mailed last month. Many of us are disappointed that the values often reflect prices higher than actual comparable sales this year in 2007. But, Florida's guidelines for county assessments clearly state that only arms length comparable sales during 2006 may be used to determine value. If there were none, then the value from the previous year stands.

Doris Pendleton and the Franklin County Property Appraiser's Office have done a great job in working with callers who questioned their assessed values. The employees were well-informed, courteous and tried to work with property owners within the limits of the law to reduce the values.

While our market activity is very low at this time, buyers are still buying for the same reasons they have always bought property on the Forgotten Coast. Only the profiteers and speculators are gone, but we may still be a few more years recovering from their activity.

2007 Property Tax Notices Mailed!

08/21/07

If you're a Forgotten Coast property owner, your annual notice of proposed property taxes has just been mailed. You should carefully look at your notice. The tax rate is applied to the assessed value of your property.

This year, VERY FEW properties show a reduction in assessed value even though the real estate market has fallen to much lower levels. The local property appraisers must only use closed, comparable sales for the year 2006. If there were no transactions in a particular category, the appraiser may continue to base assessed value on the last sale in 2005. No 2007 sales may be used.

This means very little tax relief for most.

If you wish to challenge the assessed value of your property, you must first call the county property appraiser's office. If you are unable to resolve the values, you may file a petition. The petition forms are available from the property appraiser's ofice and MUST BE FILED on or before September 10, 2007.

To complicate matters, the property appraiser recently shut down Franklin County's public website due to "severe budget cuts." However, the site can still be accessed through: http://qpublic.net/franklin/index-search.html

Foreclosures & Bank-owned properties on St. George Island

07/27/07

We are starting to handle some bank-owned properties and foreclosure situations here on St. George Island and the Forgotten Coast. Customers frequently ask me about rumors of foreclosure in our area.

Many think that the best deals can be had only after the bank has foreclosed and owns the property. This is not necessarily true, especially if the property is prime waterfront or a nice beach house. Both of these property types are always popular. Frequently, the seller and his lender will both work with a serious buyer to prevent a foreclosure which is bad for both.

If you look at our listing inventory, you'll see a wide range of prices for comparable properties. For example: In the category of Plantation beachfront lots, 100-ft wide, the lowest listing is $1,250,000 and the highest is $2,200,000. These two lots, priced nearly a million dollars apart, are comparable. The difference is in the sellers' motivation.

Don't wait until you hear about foreclosures and great deals. By then, the best deals will be gone. Smart buyers purchase before everyone else and are already in the market when the "recovery" starts.

MY PICKS TODAY FOR GREAT DEALS ON ST. GEORGE ISLAND:

TOP PHOTO: BEACHFRONT CONDO
Villas of St. George H-2, 2BR/2BA: $475,000

MIDDLE PHOTO: BEACHFRONT LOT
Plantation, 1-acre, 11 Pelican Beach: $1,250,000

BOTTOM PHOTO: COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL LOTS
8 25'x 135'homesites only $140,000 each: $1,120,000

Summer on St. George & in Apalachicola, and Real Estate is Hot!

07/12/07

After two years of little activity in real estate here on the Forgotten Coast, the last two weeks have been hot! Buyers are back, looking at property on St. George Island, on the rivers and in historic Apalachicola. They aren't quite buying yet, but they sure are interested.

Nearly all of my sales associates have been out showing property to real buyers, not speculators or profiteers. We're near the bottom of the market and the savvy buyers should start making offers between now and the end of the year.

Price is the primary factor when a prospective buyer is looking at property right now.

Some great deals:

TOP PHOTO: A REEL Deal - $1,995,000. MLS 202429.
SGI Plantation beachfront home, 4 BR/3 BA, 3552 sf

MIDDLE PHOTO: A Cut Above - $595,000. MLS 201000.
SGI Plantation bayview home, 3 BR/3 BA, 2243 sf

BOTTOM PHOTO: Oh, Cabana Boy! - $799,000. MLS 202987.
SGI first tier beach home, 2 BR/2 BA, 1152 sf.

Forgotten Coast Nature Photography Exhibition in Apalachicola

06/28/07

My husband John Spohrer will have a two-day exhibit of his nature photography on July 6 and 7 in historic Apalachicola at the Cotton Exchange at 86 Water Street (corner of Avenue E and Water Street).

The Cotton Exchange was recently restored by internationally acclaimed designer Lynn Wilson. It's fantastic and a great place to hold an exhibit.

John will do a presentation at 6:00 pm on Friday, July 6 on "Photographing the Forgotten Coast." He'll talk about his images and the stories behind them.

Another treat will be biologist Chuck Hess, speaking at 7:00 pm on "The Endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker."

There's no admission. Please come out and join us.

FRIDAY, JULY 6: 5 pm to 9 pm

SATURDAY, JULY 7: Noon to 6 pm

Apalachicola, Florida
Cotton Exchange
86 Market street

St. George Island: Adopt A Pet

06/25/07

The fundraiser for the Franklin County Humane Society at Harry A's on St. George Island last Saturday was a big success. Thanks to everyone who participated.

PICTURES:

TOP: Abby is about 6 months old and came to the Humane Society along with her 5 brothers and sisters. She is a real love and would make someone a fantastic best friend! She plays well with most others but is sometimes bossy with her toys but we are working with her to overcome this. She?s the first to run after the balls or jump into the swimming pool. She has been leash trained and loves to take long walks. Abbie is spayed, current on all vaccinations and is ready to find her forever home!

MIDDLE: Bruno is almost 2 years old and has been at the Franklin County Humane Society for most of his life. Bruno is a great dog with lots of personality that just has not been given his chance. He loves to take long walks or just hang out with his humane friends. Bruno get along great with other dogs, and doesn?t seem to mind the playful felines. Bruno has survived heartworm treatment and is now heartworm free, healthy, neutered, current on vaccinations and ready to be part of your family!

BOTTOM: This is the Artful Dodger, and he's mine. John and I rescued him in early 2000. Dodger is not available!