Updated my condo in Sarasota. (Siesta Key: sales, real estate, foreclosure)

[saxondale351]

I had a renter move out of our condo. He paid us two months rent to break the lease and I got a new renter for 150 more a month so I had the extra cash to go in and paint all the walls, and put in granite in the Kitchen. I fixed all the small things that was left behind not up to snuff by the last renter. I put in a full week of painting and cleaning scrubbing all the tile grout with soft scrub and a brush. But it looks like new. All in I have put in 2500 for the Granite, paint and small things like a new valve cartridge in the bathroom shower and sink drain plugs that were missing.

I want to rent it out till mid winter or as much as one more year till the season after this one, then sell it. I paid 80 grand for it, was offered 130 which was a bit low right now and was wondering what anyone who knows Sarasota area the value and or potential value of a condo off of clark road about 4 miles from Siesta key will be worth in the near feature. I know trying to read the tea leaves, but I was just trying to get some idea on what others who invest and or realtors may think. Thanks

[FLSnowbirds]

What intersection is it near on Clark ?

How many square feet approx ?

Carport or garage(s) ?

How many bed & bathrooms ?

Is there a pool and/or Club House ?

Any other amenities?

[saxondale351]

Its Mediterania off of Sawyer just off Clark behind the Sunoco gas station. My condo does not have a garage, its gated, and has a pool with club house. Its kind of a small unit with 6 buildings two levels and my upper level is a 3 bed two bath about 1200 SF. Two parking dedicated with some guest parking also.

[FLSnowbirds]

Originally Posted by saxondale351

Its Mediterania off of Sawyer just off Clark behind the Sunoco gas station. My condo does not have a garage, its gated, and has a pool with club house. Its kind of a small unit with 6 buildings two levels and my upper level is a 3 bed two bath about 1200 SF. Two parking dedicated with some guest parking also.

Maybe one of the realtors on here ,can get a comp or 2 for you , to see what they've sold for, since you bought yours, if there are any comps or similar units. Good Luck !

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Here is a long story that explains why I think your place will appreciate suddenly and unexpectedly.

My theory is that California real estate is ahead of Florida in the recovery cycle. There is no inventory here and people are trying to buy before rates go up. Their is a real feeding frenzy going on here.

Our condo had followed everyone elses down the real estate slide and had lost 20% of its value. Between April and June it recovered that 20% based on a refi appraisal. It is up another 5% in the last month based on the pre market offer we got tonight. We are trying to decide whether to accept this offer for the convenience or actually list and probably get 5% more just because it will add some time to the selling cycle. I am tracking sales in our little neighborhood through public access to the mls and it is truly shocking how quickly prices are rising.

We have a rental condo we bought for $115,000 at the bottom of the market in 2010. When we listed a week ago, realtors told us we couldn't get more than $140,000 based on comps in our complex. We listed for $200,000 anyway. Today we got an offer for $200,000 and there is supposedly another one on the way.

No offense to any of the wonderful realtors on this site, but we can see that California realtors are having a hard time shifting gears. I think the realtors here have had to work so hard to lower sellers expectations in the recent ugly market, that they have not mentally adjusted to a market driven by cash buyers that don't care about comps and what things sold for last year or last month--they just care about getting in.

In know that Florida is still working through a lot of foreclosure inventory. But when there is nothing much on the market, get ready for prices to shoot up like a rocket and for a run that nobody sees coming. My advice, hang on to your unit til that happens.

[bbronston]

I was curious to see if I could offer some useful info so I took a look at the MLS. You have a very tough property to price. In your condo development, there have been no new sales since 5/12 and those were about the same amount you paid. I looked for similar properties sold in the past six months within a mile of your property and, again, there were no comps. The next step (the way I do it) would be to look at all condos sold within that same radius and try to make adjustments to see where yours would fall but I don't know your condo and I wouldn't know the condos that fall in that area so I'd only be taking wild guesses.

That someone offered you $130K does say something but I don't know the circumstances of the offer so it is difficult to say.

[saxondale351]

Originally Posted by bbronston

I was curious to see if I could offer some useful info so I took a look at the MLS. You have a very tough property to price. In your condo development, there have been no new sales since 5/12 and those were about the same amount you paid. I looked for similar properties sold in the past six months within a mile of your property and, again, there were no comps. The next step (the way I do it) would be to look at all condos sold within that same radius and try to make adjustments to see where yours would fall but I don't know your condo and I wouldn't know the condos that fall in that area so I'd only be taking wild guesses.

That someone offered you $130K does say something but I don't know the circumstances of the offer so it is difficult to say.

Thanks. Its kind of a hidden treasure. I think I was the last person to buy in. I bought from a seller that had 4 of them and sold two. I bought the last one. He kept two and then bought on Siesta Key as a reinvestment. I have been told that there is a list of people who want to buy in as its close to beaches, walking distance to restaurants and other amenity's but as its gated and has an 8 foot concrete wall around it its quiet. My realtor thinks its worth about 140 to 145 right now, but she brought me a buyer that only could spend 130. I decided to rent it for another year and then sell. I have to see how to get around the cap gains tax. 1031 ex. or some other way. The person who rented it loves it and asked some questions that leads me to think she may want to buy it.