The 4th of July is upon us!! 2011 has been a positive year for the coastal area and that trend has continued with tons of activity during our peak season. More and more people are coming to visit and are falling in love with the area. Articles like this one from Yahoo Travel calling Mexico Beach : “A Great American Beach Town” and comparing it to towns like Santa Cruz and areas like The Virgin Islands continue to bring in a steady stream of new visitors that have never heard of our area. I'm working with a number of buyers right now that hadn't heard of this area 6 months ago.

The 4th of July always brings the largest crowds of people to our area. With tourism way up in 2011, I’m expecting to see one of, if not the largest crowds we’ve ever seen in the area. The Mexico Beach CDC always do a great job with their fireworks show on the night of the 4th and have big plans again. Port St. Joe also has a nice fireworks show each year and individuals put good shows on the Cape, Indian Pass, and St. Joe Beach. It’s a great day to be in the area that’s full of fun events for the whole family. This year’s festivities start off with the Sandy Shoes 5K at 7am CST. I haven’t been staying in great shape and there’s a 50/50 chance (at best) that I run in the race this year. There are events going on throughout the day and Mexico Beach will be having the kid’s fishing tournament in the canal again this year. Still, the #1 activity will be sitting on that soft white sand and enjoying the beaches.

The only downside to an extremely active real estate market is that I’m not fishing or diving much these days. Here’s a description of the properties I personally have under contract: A high end beachfront on the North Cape listed at $789,000, a beach front foreclosure on Indian Pass listed at $590,000, beach front duplex in Mexico Beach listed at $449,000, a gulf view home in St. Joe Beach, an Indian Pass lot, two gulf view lots in St. Joe Beach, a Casuna lot, and FOUR condos in Mexico Beach. 98 Real Estate Group has a total of 24 properties currently under contract. That’s hopping for this little area and I’m proud of the success of our hard working agents. We opened in February and are getting more property sold right now than any of our competition. There are a total of 75 properties under contract from Mexico Beach to Cape San Blas right now: http://www.rafsg.net/RAFSGReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=2061092744

“Short sales” continue to have a number of the most attractive asking prices and can’t be ignored. They are usually everything but short and take months to work out, but the buyers often get great deals at the end of the day. Foreclosures are much easier to work with usually, but the better priced ones are getting multiple offers when they are listed. It’s certainly a myth that you can only get a good deal on a short sale or foreclosure. There have been 196 sales so far this year and only 77 have been foreclosures or short sales. Regular sellers know they have to price according to market conditions and often provide some of the best deals of the year. The best deals from Mexico Beach to Windmark were updated today on the TOP 25 and TOP 15 lots at http://www.mexicobeachsales.com/.

Here's link to show some of the best deals on houses from Port St. Joe to Cape San Blas: http://www.rafsg.net/RAFSGReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=2061092761

Best Lot Deals from Port St. Joe to Cape San Blas: http://www.rafsg.net/RAFSGReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=2061092770

This link will show the 70 closings that have occured since 5/1/11: http://www.rafsg.net/RAFSGReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=2061092757

The interior subdivisions in the Mexico Beach/ St. Joe Beach/WindMark area have had a number of recent sales and there are a fair number of people looking to build. Casuna, Sunset Village, and WindMark have all had some life breathed into them this year and prices have started creeping up. In these subdivisions, the best deals have sold and others have been willing to pay a little more as they are more comfortable with others buying and starting to build.
Earlier this month, 3 of 98 Real Estate Group's agents participated in the Wounded Warrior Fishing Tournament. All of the wounded soldiers involved had a great time and so did we. This was a great event to be a part of. Below are a few pictures I took from our boat as we pulled out of Port St. Joe Marina.

Scallop season opened June 25th and there were tons of people out on the bay enjoying a wonderful day on the water. You will notice lots of extra activity in the Bay and on the Cape with people anxious to get out and snorkel around for some tasty scallops. This is really an easy and fun experience. Below is a picture taken by Debbie Hooper on opening day. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July.

Take Care,
Zach Childs
Broker/Owner- 98 Real Estate Group
Email: zach@mexicobeachsales.com
Cell: 850-819-0833 Fax: 888-382-9608
WWW.MEXICOBEACHSALES.COM
WWW.98RealEstateGroup.com