You may have read the Wall Street Journal article recently that touted a lot for sale for just $1 in the upscale golf community of Colleton River Plantation, in Bluffton, SC. Why so cheap? It’s because absentee owners of property at Colleton River are on the hook for about $15,000 in annual club dues and other fees. When we reported here last April on that same $1 lot, we observed that such properties should be especially attractive to golfing couples ready to build their retirement home in a well-organized and accessorized community like Colleton River. [Click here to read our original article article.]

        We are pleased to report that one couple I have been working with saw the wisdom in that approach and recently purchased a stunning lot in Berkeley Hall Plantation, just up the road from Colleton River and a few

Berkeley Hall features 36  holes of beautifully landscaped golf by Tom Fazio

miles from Hilton Head Island. Berkeley Hall, which we visited and reviewed a few years ago [click here for the article], features two Tom Fazio courses and homes that range in price from the high $300s to the millions. Undeveloped lots begin at a few thousand dollars. For a selection of current homes for sale in Berkeley Hall, visit our companion web site, GolfHomesListed.

        The property our customers bought looks out across a lake to a green on one of the two Fazio courses. It was originally priced in the $300s, but the owners of the lot had listed it extra aggressively in order to get out from under the obligation of the annual golf club dues, which at Berkeley Hall are mandatory and tied to the property, not to the owners. Of course, homeowner association fees are also attached to any property inside the gates of a golf community, which adds to the financial burden. Our customers were able to acquire the beautiful lot (see below) for just $45,000 a couple of months ago, then quickly hired an architect and builder; the couple are looking forward to moving into their new house early next year.

        If you are ready to retire and to build your own dream home, such bargain lots are still available in some of the South’s finest golf communities, at the coast and in the mountains. But the supply is drying up as more and more baby boomers gain confidence in both the real estate and stock markets. We have established a network of top real estate professionals throughout the southern U.S.; they know where the best, most reasonably priced lots are located. And they can tour you through some of the finest homes in their respective golf communities. For an introduction, please contact us.

RandySmithlot

This will be the view from the back of the house our customers will build at Berkeley Hall Plantation in Bluffton, SC.  Originally priced at $300,000, the lot sold for just $45,000.  (Photo courtesy of Hilton Head Island Multiple Listing Service.)

        Economists and other housing industry watchers tend to look at inventory levels for a signal of where the real estate market is going. Typically, the boundary between a buyer’s and seller’s market is around a six-month supply of homes for sale. Now, according to latest sales figures, three Florida Gulf Coast counties have reached “seller’s” market status, a reliable sign that the Sunshine State housing rebound is in full throttle.  How often have we read words like these from Sarasota's Herald Tribune just a few days ago:  "...a lack of available inventory remains the most pressing problem that real estate agents face for the balance of 2012..."

        According to an article published in yesterday's Herald Tribune, the supply of homes for sale in the Gulf Coast counties of Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte was just 5.1 months in July, a figure, the newspaper

Including pending home sales, inventories between Sarasota and Ft. Myers have dropped to just a 4.2 months supply.

indicated, mimicked the “real estate boom” year of 2005. The three contiguous counties extend from Bradenton on the north end to just north of Ft. Myers and comprise such golf rich towns as Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Venice and Port. Charlotte. The dozens of golf communities along the Gulf Coast have long provided a cost-effective alternative to Florida’s Gold Coast and Palm Beaches on the Atlantic side of the state.

        Although the supply of homes for sale in the three Gulf counties rose to 5.1 months from 4.6 in June, the latest figure represents a dramatic change from a year ago, when the supply was at 7.6 months. And when you subtract from the inventory totals the number of homes with sales pending, July’s supply is just 4.2 months. Such a relatively slim inventory of homes for sale should exert upward pressure on prices, as well as encourage builders to open new developments across all price ranges.

Buyers searching for luxury properties –- typically defined as $1 million and above –- might take some comfort in the slowdown in homes sold in that category during July. Such sales were down 39% from June and down 34% from a year ago. But, according to the Herald Tribune, pending sales in the luxury category were strong, an indication that the supply of upscale properties may be shorter than apparent.

Prestancia2approach

Many of the homes in the Sarasota/Bradenton area effect a Tuscan style, as they do behind the 2nd green at the TPC of Prestancia.

 

        I recently completed a one-week visit to the Sarasota and Bradenton areas and toured the best golf communities with local Realtor Dennis Boyle, who specializes in the area’s golf developments. You can read my overviews of Sarasota golf communities by clicking here. You can also check out current golf homes for sale in Sarasota and Bradenton at GolfHomesListed.com, our companion web site. While you are there, sign up for our free Golf Home Finder KitTM, which provides you with information to help you make the smartest possible buying decision.

        If you have any questions about Sarasota golf homes for sale or would like a free personal consultation about your search for a golf home anywhere, please contact me.

 

-- Larry Gavrich, Founder & Editor, Home On The Course, LLC

LakewoodRanch5approach

If this is Florida, there must be sand...and water.  The approach to the par 5 5th hole at one of Lakewood Ranch's three golf courses.