August 2013

Found 7 blog entries for August 2013.

Real Estate sales have been on a significant upswing in 2013.  Our local beach communities including Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, AL and Perdido Key, FL have had a 3.1% increase in sales and neighboring Mobile, AL has seen a 4.7% increase.  Nationally, prices has risen 12.6% when compared to May of last year.  New construction is up 7.4% according to Mike Cranston of Re/Max in Orange Beach, AL.  A contributing factor, according to Mike, is the considerable jump in prices of finished lots which is up 30 to 50 percent.  People who owned larger homes are downsizing to smaller homes.  The availability of foreclosed properties is down and now is a great time to buy considering the aforementioned areas (primarily a resort area) have not experienced large price

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Phoenix West II condominium has been under construction for some time now.  The inauspicious start is a subsequent result from Katrina.  The newest development from Brett Robinson was simply ill-timed.  The first Phoenix West building which was finished prior to the storm is one of the nicer developments on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, perhaps on surpassed by the Turquoise Place towers.  Phoenix West II is the companies second project with elaborate amenities such as its lazy river.  One thing is for sure - when the building is finally completed and the certificate of occupancy is issued, it will be one of the great residences in an area already full of of beautiful condominiums.

In 2011, BP agreed to pay the development company 37.2 million dollars

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On Saturday, August 10th, the Wharf hosted the second annual "Top of the Hops" beer festival in Orange Beach, AL.  Crowds lined the streets waiting for the festivities which began at 4:00 p.m. officially, but we suspect some of the patrons had a head start.  Once inside guests of the event were treated to 175 different beers from 52 breweries.  The event took place under 4 large tents on the marina lawn.
Fairhope Brewing Company, Blue Pants brewery and Back Forty brewing Company were the in-state breweries featured in the Cask Garden serving unfiltered brews.  The Cask Garden was billed as the place where brewers could experiment with unfiltered, small batches and Dan Murphy from Fairhope Brewing Company served a cucumber juice beer that was probably the

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Not everyone has beach fever.....many of the vacationers and especially local residents would rather be on the water.  Whether you're just cruising the back waters or fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, here is information for some of the better condos with deep water access.  We'll start in the Fort Morgan area and move East toward Perdido Key, FL.  You can view pages with all of the condos using thumbnails and brief descriptions for location using the following links:  Gulf Shores condos with boat access | Orange Beach condos with boat access | Perdido Key condos with boat access.

Approximately 17 miles down state hwy. 180 or Fort Morgan rd. is Navy Cove and the Rookery, which is actually a group of cottages on Mobile Bay and only minutes from the Gulf of

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Turquoise Place condominiums consists of 400 units in two towers on the Gulf of Mexico in Orange Beach, AL.  The towers are the tallest on the Alabama Gulf Coast spanning over 400 ft.  The property is over 13 acres and features a 90 ft. corridor accessing the beach.  The towers stand out enclosed in turquoise glass featuring an amenity package that further separates it from any other condominiums in the area.  All of the units directly face the gulf and have balcony amenities that no other condos in the area can claim.

Turquoise Place is obviously and upscale development and is pricey, but you get what you pay for.  Many of the condos are used strictly for second homes and beach getaways, but the owners who rent the units are bringing in around $100,000

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When the Lighthouse condominium was released for pre sale, there were over 1,000 people vying for 253 units.  Needless to say, there were a lot of disappointed investors that day.  Shortly after the release, the fortunate few that reserved units began to list them for sale to make a quick profit.  This was a great opportunity to pick up a condo with plenty of time left in the construction phase, hold on to it for a while and sell it before closing.  This is referred to as "flipping" and was an extremely popular idea at the time.

When the Lighthouse was finished, price per square foot was around $500.  Currently, the price per square foot is under $300 which is a seven year low.  With proper exposure and a little effort, cash flowing is not that

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The Alabama / Florida Gulf Coast is home to a variety of properties.  We'll discuss some of the better investment condos in this article.  The majority of the best pure investment condos are in Alabama;  Perdido Key is more of a second home market with many of the condos being rent restricted.  We'll consider the primary criteria for an "investment condo" as cost versus annual rental income generated.


We'll start with the West Beach area of Gulf Shores, AL which is rich with great income producing gulf front condos.  Some things to consider are the amenities.  An indoor pool for example, is a great amenity because off season guests like to have the opportunity to swim and most of the gulf side pools and the gulf are too cold for swimming.  Crystal

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