I just got back from our monthly Realtors tour of new listings in Destin. Early Tuesday morning Realtors would meet and drive in a caravan to see 10 of our new Destin listings. It’s a great time to quickly see new listings, but also to network with other Realtors and find out their opinions on the market and your listings. I find it quite helpful.

On this tour we again saw some amazing properties. The bargains out in Destin are unbelievable. Realtors toured a two bedroom waterfront condo in Destin with amazing views across the bay for under $300,000. A beautifully updated three bedroom condo directly on the gulf, with the white sands and green waters for the amazing price of $675,000. The bargains go on and on. My personal favorite was a cute bungalow only two blocks from the beach in Destin. Just walk there whenever you want and it was priced at below $400,000. It was fully furnished with a comfortable beachy motif and had its own little pool. There was also a $2 million beach house that was to die for! I even had a little home that was built in 1984, three bedroom in the center of Destin for $159,000.

The inventory of what is on the Destin market now has never been better and Realtors are more than willing to show them to you. So many great deals and the sellers have priced them to sell. They are willing to deal. I feel if only more people knew about what is now available in Destin and at these prices, more would be seriously ready to buy. Destin Realtors can help you at any time.

I know many of my Destin buyers keep saying that they will buy when the market hits bottom, but for some properties, bottom is already here. And of course we won’t really know when bottom is until the Destin market turns upward. By then, you will have missed the bottom!

Our snowbirds are getting ready to leave our Destin area and fly north. No, they are not the fine feather friends you often think of, they are the Canadians and others in the northern regions that come to our beautiful town of Destin to escape the cold and enjoy our beaches, rentals, and warm weather. They are the ones that keep our Destin rentals full and our business going during the “off season”. I put that in quotes because in reality, we don’t have any off seasons anymore. We seem to have a steady stream of visitors year round in Destin.

We are fortunate to have something for everyone here in Destin. When our Canadian friends leave, we get into the Spring Break season. For about two months, from March to April, we have the Spring breaker come to find Destin rentals. They are not just college students anymore either; we often get families with school age children who also want a break from school and also want to hit the Destin beaches and stay in their rentals before summer. Luckily for us, the school systems throughout the southeast stagger their spring breaks so we have more of a steady flow come to Destin rather than a deluge.

Of course we all know Florida is best in the summer when you can enjoy our white sands and Emerald green waters of the Gulf. All this is to say that those smart real estate buyers that purchase a Destin condo for their own vacation use have the added benefit of rental income when they are not using it. With the downturn in prices over the last 3 years, many are finding that they can actually pay for their condo out of their rental income, or as we say, have a positive cash flow from Destin rentals. In essence, they are vacationing for free in Destin. Wow, smart people! Yes, positive cash flows use to be a thing of the past, but are actually a reality now for many rental properties. I have several rentals on the market in Destin now!

Hi all. I have been in Florida real estate for over 4 years and it has been a roller coaster. We all know that Destin real estate is in a significant downturn. That is great news for the Destin Condo market. The deals have never been better. It is interesting to talk with buyers looking for the good deal in Destin. They want to know when the market will hit bottom. I tell them that it has hit, especially for some particular condo complexes here in Destin.

A Sundestin Condo sold in 2004 for $417,000, is now on the market for $299,000. A Sterling Shores unit that sold in 2004 for $550,000 is now on the market for $369,500. And the list could go on and on. There are beautiful Gulf front condos that are an absolute steal!

We are seeing some smart buyers recognizing that fact and are starting to jump back into the market. They look at the stock market and banks and deciding that investing in real estate is where they need to be for now. With these historic low interest rates and low prices, anyone that has investment money is re-looking condos and vacation properties.

Destin, being within a 5 hour drive from Atlanta and neighboring areas, has always been a top vacation spot. We all know it is so much easier and more economical for vacationers to pile into the family car than get on a plane. That’s why Destin’s location on Florida’s Panhandle, has always been more convenient than points farther south in Florida. Owning your very own condo is now extremely affordable too. The season is just starting. We have Spring Breakers just around the corner. It is time for our coast to be rediscovered once again!