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| Introduction | They came to South Walton from various places over the years. Like many of us, they found the beauty and charm of the area so appealing they decided to stay for a while. They have built successful businesses, survived hurricanes and weathered economic cycles. Five of South Walton's top real estate professionals take time to share their thoughts with 30-A.COM about the local real estate market. |
 Aerial View of the "Emerald Coast" |
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| Roundtable Participants |
> Holly Doin,
South Walton Beach
Realty |
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Thank you for taking the time to participate in our roundtable. We would like to begin by asking each of you how long you have been living in South Walton County. |
 Dune Level View |
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| Alice | I have been living in the South Walton area since 1984. | |||
| Susanne | I have been living in the area full-time for 2 1/2 years. We had a second home in Santa Rosa Beach for 4 years prior to that. | |||
| Bill | Since 1992. | |||
| Holly | I grew up in Florida and have lived in South Walton since 1995. |
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| Priscilla | I moved here almost 15 years ago. | |||
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What attracted you to the area? |
Real Estate Directory |
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| Alice | The beaches. We came on vacation several for years before moving here. My husband was retiring and we had been in Chicago for 4 years. Being from Birmingham (Alabama) I was ready to get back South. My husband asked me where I would like to live and I said, " Why not at the beach in Seagrove?" We lived in Cassine Garden Town Homes, which was the only place to live back then because nothing else was built. We later bought property in Point Washington, near Tucker Bayou and Eden State Park, and built our home there. We were the first permanent residents in Eden Estates at that time. Now there are 35 homes in the Eden Estates subdivision. |
 West Indies Style Cottages at Rosemary Beach |
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| Susanne | We came here because of the beautiful beaches, convenient driving proximity and the warmth and genuineness of the locals. |
 "Crow's Nest" at Stallworth Lake |
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| Bill | After getting out of the service I was going to go to Vo-Tech. I had been a flight instructor at Fort Rucker. I needed a change of scenery after all the stress and strain. I had flown over the area many times and thought it was very beautiful. | |||
| Holly | The breathtaking beauty and the sense of community. The sense of community has really bonded me to the area. | |||
| Priscilla | My husband and I were taking a vacation in Panama City Beach. We took a drive down a desolate looking highway called "30-A." I felt as if we had gone back in time. |
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When did you get into the real estate business? |
 Stunning Architecture in Seaside |
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| Alice | I got started in 1984. | |||
| Susanne | Too many years ago to remember. | |||
| Bill | 1993. I started out in Seaside and later branched out into other areas. | |||
| Holly | In 1995, just two months before Hurricane Opal hit. | |||
| Priscilla | March of 1995. | |||
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Please describe the real estate industry when you first got into the business. | |||
| Alice | In 1984, Gulf front one-bedroom condos were
$60,000 and we could not even sell them. Several projects went under and
had to be auctioned off. Things have changed now. I started working at a local real estate office in Seagrove Beach, which was owned by the developer of Seagrove Beach, C. H. "Cube" McGee. He and his father developed Seagrove back in the 1940's. I would cut grass, clean condos, answer the phones, do whatever was needed at the real estate office. It was very quiet back then. Many times I would take a book to work because after Labor Day there was absolutely no one in town. The area was left only to the locals. At that time, there were very few of us living here. That winter I decided to go to school for my real estate license since it was so slow in the winter. I passed the exam and started making small sales whenever possible. Not much was selling then. No one knew about this area and Seaside was just getting started. The next year was slow again so I got my broker's license. |
 Alice Forrester 30A Realty |
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| Susanne | When I first began my career in real estate, we used listing books that were as thick as telephone books. There was no such thing as MLS. | |||
| Bill | Seaside was the best thing happening in the area. It was the new frontier, the catalyst that really got things going down here. |
 Deer Lake State Park |
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| Holly | Hurricane Opal hit right after I got started in real estate. People were talking gloom and doom but in 1996, after all the repairs were made, things boomed. | |||
| Priscilla | In 1995 (after Opal) everyone, and I mean everyone, wanted a fixer-upper. There just weren't any really cheap deals around. Gulf front lots were $4,500 a front-foot. Afterwards, houses were being built all over the place. |
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How has it changed over the years? | |||
| Alice | Slowly through the 1980's the South Walton area was discovered because of the Seaside publicity. Business started picking up, new condos were being built and the Seagrove real estate office started hiring more sales people. After several years, I became the sales manager and worked there for 11 years. |
 Gulf Front Home |
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| Susanne | The biggest change has been in technology. We can immediately access information regarding current listings, sales and comparables. | |||
| Bill | It has become a lot more sophisticated. Intrawest, for example, has raised the bar as far as marketing. Just take a look at the Greg Norman Golf Course in Panama City Beach. | |||
| Holly | In 1995, it was mostly second homes and retirement homes that were active - lots of pre-construction. But now, we are selling more first time homes. The baby boomers are also moving into larger homes. Technology has changed the marketplace. In 1995, hardly anyone used client management software like in other major industries. The concept of a sales team was also new. By 1997, I had an assistant, a computer and software to transform the way I did business. |
 Holly Doin South Walton Beach Realty |
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| Priscilla | Foreign investors began coming to the area. After Opal the market took off. | |||
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The South Walton real estate industry seems to be fragmented, with a lot of small to mid-size players. What do you think? |
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| Alice | In the early 1980s, there were only a few small real estate companies along Highway 30-A, one for each area, Dune Allen, Grayton, Seagrove Beach and Seacrest. These smaller companies have thrived even though bigger companies have moved in. In our case, we are interested in people and customer service. We will help anyone, whether they are interested in a $4,000 lot or a $2,000,000 piece of Gulf front property. I still hear from people I met in the early 1980s who call just to see how we're doing. |
 Back Yard on Choctawhatchee Bay
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| Susanne | I think the market is somewhat more fragmented here than in larger cities. Many people retire here at a relatively young age from their stressful jobs in larger areas. They think the real estate business will be "fun and easy" and that they can do it on their own time schedule. Our company is only interested in professionals who focus full-time on their clients' needs. | |||
| Bill | This is a very service-oriented area. We can compete with the larger companies. In fact, last year we were #2 in sales volume. I believe we will always have the small companies. | |||
| Holly | I look at it a little bit differently. I think the word "fragmented" has a somewhat negative connotation. There are some very large companies around here, who started out small like me. They worked very hard and stayed committed to what they were doing. This is how they got to where they are today. They did not come in with large corporate backings. They rose through the ranks and made it on their own. The large companies that have moved in here are not making a significant impact on the market. Real estate is a people business; people doing business with people, trusting your agent, the knowledge your agent has and the commitment and services they provide to their clients. It does not matter if realtors are working for large corporations or small companies. They can still provide the same level of knowledge and service. There is nothing a large company can offer their clients that I can't. That is what this country is supposed to be all about. I think the real estate industry on 30-A is a very good example of the opportunities we have in America; to be whomever and whatever we choose to be. Every single one of us out here has the same opportunity. |
 Cottage in "Old Seagrove"
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Would you be willing to share a memorable real estate story? |
 Stallworth Lake meets Gulf of Mexico |
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| Alice | I went to a realtor luncheon in 1987 and sat at a table with some sales agents from one of the big companies. They wanted to know where I worked and I told them in Seagrove Beach. They asked, "Why would anyone work out there? There is nothing out there." I told them, "That's right, you stay in Destin." Sure enough, they started coming this way and setting up offices. | |||
| Holly | Max Matthews and I did a project behind Goatfeathers in the Dune Allen area a few years ago. That land had been sitting there for a long time. There was an original group of developers that put in one house and a pool with no landscaping. Nobody could make it sell. We took that project on and had 27' wide lots to work with. We had a piece of desolate property that did not even have one tree. Everyone said, "You'll never do it. Nobody wants to be in houses, everybody wants to be in condos. You can't do anything with a 27' wide lot." We had an architect develop six house plans for us. The contract to purchase the land was in my name to keep the project quiet in spite of repeated inquiries about who bought it. I didn't even tell my broker. These houses were small cottages but they were cute. We sold 36 in one year. Everyone said we couldn't do it on 27' wide lots. This is one of the most highly sought after communities in South Walton right now, Old Florida Cottages. We beat every goal we set for that project. My sales manager told me I would never make it happen. The houses are selling now in the $400,000 range and they started out around $200,000 in 1999. |
 Carillon Beach |
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| Priscilla | Four days after Hurricane Opal hit I was alone in the Century 21 office on 30-A. I was just about to go home when a motor home pulled in and two unshaven, very tired men entered the office. I was startled by their appearance. They had driven all the way from Miami. Their goal was to purchase distressed properties damaged by Opal. They wanted to make written offers on a few select properties. I wrote five offers up ranging from $75,000 to $400,000 and contacted the property owners. Not a single owner was ready or willing to sell. The Miami guys got discouraged and decided to go back to Miami. |
 Priscilla Ethridge Century 21 Bch Realty |
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Do you have any stats on what property values have done during last 5 to 10 years? |
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| Alice | I have been here almost 20 years and have seen Gulf front property go from $3,000 a front-foot to $20,000 a front-foot. Our market here continues to increase every year from 10% to 20% and sometimes more, depending on the location of the property. |
 Cerulean Park in WaterColor |
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| Bill | Last year, they grew more than at any other time. I would say approximately 18 - 20% per year; higher for Gulf front property. | |||
| Holly | Property values have been on the rise, but I believe there may be some misunderstanding when people talk about an overall market. I encourage my clients to pick a property apart and look for specifics as they pertain to that property. That is the way I think it should be done. | |||
| Priscilla | After Hurricane Opal Gulf front lots were going for $4,500 a front-foot in South Walton. A 50' lot was $225,000. A year later it had gone up to $5,500 a front-foot. The same property sold for $12,500 a front-foot two years later. The real estate market was changing drastically and so was my life. | |||
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What do you think will happen to real estate prices during the next 3 - 5 years? |
 Gulf Front Condos in Santa Rosa Beach |
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| Alice | This market has continually been a smart investment for those looking for a good 3 - 5 year investment property return. With the building of Seaside and now WaterColor and WaterSound (Arvida developments) there is an increased interest in investment properties. | |||
| Susanne | I think real estate prices in our area will triple in the next 3 - 5 years. With the new hospital and baby boomers nearing retirement (which by the way is the richest generation) our area is the perfect place to enjoy a fabulous lifestyle. | |||
| Bill | The market is going to do extremely well. It will probably level out when the building stops. Activity breeds activity. | |||
| Holly | I just don't see this market stopping. God isn't making any more beachfront property and everyone wants a piece of it. There are a lot of people who are able to come and live at the beach because of the type of careers they have or because they are retiring. Some people look at our prices and say, "Oh gosh, how much higher can they go?" Go out to Colorado and you'll see how much higher they can go. Go out to California. Our prices are not that outrageous when you compare them to other resort destinations and highly desirable living destinations around the country. |
 Community Pool at Seacrest Beach |
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| Priscilla | The prices here continue to rise. The stock market, with its ups and downs, has been so unstable for the past several years that the savvy investors have chosen to put their money in a market that is reliable which, of course, is real estate. | |||
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If you had $1 million to invest in South Walton real estate today, where and what type of property would you buy? | |||
| Alice | If I were buying property here in South Walton and had a million dollars to spend, I would buy Gulf front property. You can't go wrong with that and the time is now. Next year it will increase by another 10%. |
 A Highland's House B&B in Blue Mtn Beach (that's for sale!)
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| Susanne | If I were spending any money on real estate in South Walton, I would get as close to the beach as my budget would allow. | |||
| Bill | Buy as much vacant land as I could afford. | |||
| Holly | If I had a million dollars (and this is what I tell my clients) I would not put all my eggs in one basket! I look at real estate investing very similar to stock market investing. Let's diversify what you have. Buy a condo and a house, one on the beach, one off the beach. You should diversify because the market changes all the time. I would look at buying a relatively new two-bedroom condominium on the beach, something like the Dunes of Seagrove. I would then buy a house off the beach in a community where I could put a garage in. I would buy a town home with a garage, like the ones at Dune Breeze. Someone could live in that type of unit long-term and might be able to rent the garage out short-term. I would keep my options open and buy several things, but I would keep it all on Highway 30-A. | |||
| Priscilla | If I had a million dollars to invest in South Walton I would probably buy property in Inlet Beach, on the south side of U.S. 98. What a million dollars will buy today will very likely be worth $5 million in five years. There isn't a better place in America to be living and fishing. So don't put off your dream, move to South Walton. The air is better and you can't go wrong investing in real estate. |
 Winter Sunset in Seagrove Beach |
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Thank you all very much for sharing your thoughts and experiences about the South Walton real estate market. |
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| About this article |
This Real Estate Roundtable
was designed and edited by Steve Saenz, founder and president of
Emerald Coast Media Partners /
30-A.COM. The article was compiled by
Scott Jackson, a freelance writer and photo-journalist, based on
interviews conducted with the participants. You can access this article
online at
www.30-A.com/articles/rrr.html A printer-friendly version is available at www.30-A.com/pdfs/rrr.pdf |
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