PALM COAST & FLAGLER BEACH, FLORIDA WATERFRONT REAL ESTATE

   Ahhhhhh... There's not too much to match walking out on your deck with your morning coffee - and taking in the Atlantic Ocean view!  How about the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway twice-annual "boat migration parade?"  Maybe you prefer one of our ICW access Saltwater Canals, with your private, protected boat dock and lift?

   In Florida, "Waterfront" is a magic word and buyers seek it like the Holy Grail!  However, if you want "Ocean Front" in Miami, or "Gulf Front" in Naples, you need to belly up to the bar with somewhere from $10,000,000 to over $100,000,000!!!  In Fort Lauderdale, most of the upscale Saltwater Canal homes are in the $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 range!  Yikes!!!

   So, that brings us here to Flagler County, Florida, where Waterfront homes in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach are surely a bargain, compared to other markets in Florida.  Consider this:

• There are currently 101 homes (not including condos) on the Atlantic Ocean, the Intracoastal Waterway, or our beautiful "Intracoastal access" Saltwater Canals, for sale here.
• They are priced from a $219,000 home on a canal, to the top priced home on the Atlantic Ocean, at $4,999,000.
• There are 14 canal front homes under $300,000.
• The least expensive home on the Intracoastal is at $450,000.
• The least expensive Oceanfront home, located on Florida State Road A1A, is at $700,000.
• The "median" waterfront home shares these stats:
• $549,000
• 2,600 square feet, under A/C
• $210/square foot
• 136 days on the market

 

   If "Living On The Water" is something you wish to pursue, please check our website at www.SellPalmCoast.com.  You can email me at frankzedar@gmail.com or cell/text me at 386-931-1987.  Or you can contact my partner (also wife:-) Maritssa at 386-986-9270.  We are at Parkside Realty Group and our new office is located in the Palm Coast Town Center, next to City Hall, at 145 City Place, Suite 104, Palm Coast, FL 32164.

July/August, 2016 - 

     Well, it's time to re-vitalize this blog!  Admittedly, it has slipped as a priority, this past year.  However, I've been told that when I was posting frequently, people actually read it... and liked it!

I've been a seriously active Real Estate Broker now, for (gasp...) 30 years!  The first 15 years were in the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC market (talk about a tough place to compete!)... and the past 15 years have been here in Flagler County, Florida (Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell).

     It's been a real roller coaster ride, with two scorching "hot" markets and two "bubble bursting" markets... and now we are 2 years into a "healthy recovery" market.  From 2000 to 2006, we were on fire here in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach.  We were even "The Fastest Growing County in the USA" for 2 years in a row.  But, how the giant crashed...  From 2007 through 2013, we were barely scraping by.  For most of those years, 60% of our total inventory was "Short Sale" business, followed by a rash of "Bank Repossessions."  Ah, but now we are seeing a normal market, increasing steadily & slowly.

     Here is a quick peek at the current market, here in Flagler County, FL:  

Single Family Homes:

• 718 Available
• Priced between $59,900 and $3,250,000
• Median price of $289,900
• Average days on the market of 154 

Condos:

• 279 Available
• Priced between $62,000 and $2,550,000
• Median price of $339,000
• Average days on the market of 228

Building Lots (does not include commercial/industrial or large acreage parcels):

• 1,488 Available
• Priced between $4,000 and $1,498,000
• (high dollar lots are almost all Oceanfront or Intracoastal frontage)
• Median price of $36,500
• Average days on the market of 457

     We think now is a really great time to purchase a home.  Our sense is that we have suffered greatly and are now climbing out at a healthy rate.  Buying now should be rewarded with a great entry price and increasing equity.  And then there is that great tax break!  If your mortgage is $1,500/month and $1,000 of that is interest, you get to deduct $12,000 "off the top" of your taxable income (very rough example, but you get the point).  PLUS, you're not throwing the money at "never to be recovered rent." 

     My wife and real estate partner, Maritssa Vazquez, and I are available to answer any of your questions about the market.  Visit our website at:  www.SellPalmCoast.com 

You can email me at: frankzedar@gmail.com, or call/text me at:  386-931-1987.

Thank you!!!

Frank Zedar

Broker Associate, Parkside Realty Group

Palm Coast - Flagler Beach, FL

JULY 2015 - REAL ESTATE TRENDING POSITIVE!!!

     Things in real estate were scary, from 2006, through 2012.  If you bought a home in 2005 and were needing to sell in 2010, you got the surprise of your life!  Let's see, "You're telling me that I can get $350,000 for my house?  The one I bought 5 years ago, for $500,000?"  
     If you were a Realtor, those were belt tightening times.  My wife and I are thankful we were prepared to weather that storm.  Distressed properties were saturating the market, as owners found themselves owing the bank far more than their home was worth.  Banks played the role of "bad cop" very well and were reluctant to work with people to re-finance.  Here in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, FL, "short sales" represented 60% of our market for several years running.  These short sales, an attempt to preclude foreclosure proceedings, destroyed values for Mom and Pop "normal" sales.  To say the least, it was a mess!
     As we moved into 2013, we knew the bad stuff was over, as we started a long, slow climb out of a very deep hole.

     To say that we are in a "hot market" would be a stretch, but compared to those bubble busted years, we'll take it!  This July, 2015, shows these very positive trends:

• Foreclosure filings (the beginning of the bank's process to take the house back) are way down from previous years.
• Actual repossessions (the final step for the bank)  are up.  The good news here is that distressed inventory is clearing out of the market, allowing true value to be re-established.
• Values are rising at a sustainable rate.  It's slow and steady, but the trend is heading positive.
• Homes that are well priced and fixed up (staged well) are selling quickly.
• Mortgage money is beginning to be more available.  For a few years it was quite odd, in that it seemed like the banks wanted to make buyers suffer... for the mess the banks created!!!

So, if you are ready, it really seems safe to say:

*** IT'S A GOOD TIME TO BUY ***