Gulf Shores Alabama Real Estate Blog - Orange Beach Alabama Real Estate Blog

Orange Beach, Alabama - YES! Alabama has 32 miles of coastline!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:53:18 -0600

Gulf Front Condo For Sale in Orange Beach, Alabama
The Broadmoor #704...
This 2 bedroom 2 bath condominium offers panoramic unobstructed Gulf views, a HUGE master suite with sitting area, a large master bathroom, upgraded tile, beautiful granite, plantation shutters, wet bar, covered parking and of course, an incredible Orange Beach location. Don't miss this one! See the splashy beach décor in the photos below.

Click here to see a video of Broadmoor #704 on Youtube.com

#704 Broadmoor is a non-rental and in pristine condition.

The condo market in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, AL is very favorable to buyers. There has never been a better time to invest. Condos are 40-50% off what they were several years back. In some cases you can get a condo at 2002 prices! We have gorgeous beaches, golf courses, fishing, tennis, boating, shopping, sailing, jet skiing, diving, terrific restaurants, parasailing... and the list goes on and on. Join us! The Alabama Gulf Coast attracts the investor who is looking for all of this and more...

Something magical happens when you visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama. The moment you arrive, the world starts to fade away. Maybe it's the sound of waves gently lapping the shore or the smell of coconut oil. Perhaps it's our white sand Gulf Coast beaches and sparkling emerald water. Suddenly building sandcastles moves to the top of your "to-do" list. You remember just how much fun your spouse is. You linger over a succulent, fresh seafood dinner at one of the waterfront restaurants in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where nobody rushes to get away from the table.

The Alabama Gulf Coast is more than you may realize. It is more than just a beautiful place, more than just the friendly people who live and work here. It is more than sand and sun and waves rolling onto 32 miles of sugar-white beach. The Alabama Gulf Coast is all these things and more. Taken together, these unique attributes create a region with a welcoming sense of place, perfect for families, investors, retirees and growing businesses. The Alabama Gulf Coast has been a family destination for many generations. Ask both visitors and residents, and you'll find that most folks down here have memories of the Alabama Gulf Coast that stretch back to childhood. Many parents recall visiting area beaches with their parents. Now they want to share that same fun with their children. As the area grows, the same family-friendly atmosphere that makes the Alabama Gulf Coast such a special place to visit makes the region a desirable permanent home. The past decade has witnessed significant growth in our area. As upscale residents and business owners relocate to the region, they bring with them increased services, commercial opportunities and a growing sense of community pride. From schools that continually score above the state averages to investors who pump dollars back into the local community, the Alabama Gulf Coast offers the best of all worlds. Come visit us. When you realize all that Gulf Shores and Orange Beach offer, you'll want to stay forever....

If you are interested in owning a beach condo in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach, I would be happy to speak with you. My experience, training, market knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm can help you accomplish your objectives, should you be considering the option.

Want to come to the area to have a look? Rent our Beach Club condo here.

Want to be updated about deals?

Tax credit extension passes House and Senate

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:50:48 -0600

WASHINGTON - Nov. 5, 2009 - The $8,000, first-time homebuyer tax credit has not yet been extended beyond its Nov. 30 end date, but it's very close to gaining a longer life.

The extension was added as an amendment to an existing bill, HR 3548, that extends unemployment benefits. The U.S. Senate passed that bill on Wednesday and, after debate, the U.S. House passed HR 3548 this afternoon. It now needs only President Obama's signature to become law, and the White House has indicated it will sign it, perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Until the president signs the bill, however, it is not law.

In addition to extending the tax credit for first-time homebuyers under the current rules, the bill adds a smaller tax credit for move-up homebuyers who have lived in the house for five of the past seven years. The bill also increases the income limits of homebuyers from $75,000 (single) to $125,000; and from $150,000 (married) to $225,000.

Florida downpayment assistance

After the president signs the bill and extends the tax credit, the Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program - a downpayment and closing costs assistance program relating to the federal tax credit -automatically gets extended too. The state still has about $28 million available for homebuyers. The money is essentially a loan to first-time buyers; they receive it upfront, use it for a downpayment or other costs, and pay it back once they get their federal refund.

For more information on the Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program, visit the Homebuyer Center on floridarealtors.org: http://www.floridarealtors.org/AboutFar/homebuyercenter/index.cfm

Also check floridarealtors.org for updates as they're released; and, after the tax credit extension becomes law, details on the new program.

© 2009 Florida Realtors®

Gulf Shores, Alabama. White Sandy Beaches and Emerald Green Water

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:47:32 -0500

Alabama Gulf Coast Condominium Market Update...
The condo market in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, AL is very favorable to buyers. There has never been a better time to invest. Condos are 50% off what they were several years back. In some cases you can get a condo at 2002 prices! We have gorgeous beaches, golf courses, fishing, tennis, boating, shopping, sailing, jet skiing, diving, terrific restaurants, parasailing... and the list goes on and on. Join us! The Alabama Gulf Coast attracts the investor who is looking for all of this and more...

CLICK HERE to receive WEEKLY UPDATES of Gulf Shores, AL and Orange Beach, AL foreclosures. I offer updates for condo buyers looking for Alabama Gulf Coast real estate.

Alabama Gulf Coast Beaches....
Something magical happens when you visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama. The moment you arrive, the world starts to fade away. Maybe it's the sound of waves gently lapping the shore or the smell of coconut oil. Perhaps it's our white sand Gulf Coast beaches and sparkling emerald water. Suddenly building sandcastles moves to the top of your "to-do" list. You remember just how much fun your spouse is. You linger over a succulent, fresh seafood dinner at one of the waterfront restaurants in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where nobody rushes to get away from the table.

Want to come to the area to have a look? Rent our Beach Club condo here.

Thanks!
Scott Myrick
Re/Max of Orange Beach
251-269-3114
www.tinsleymyrick.com
Scottmyrick@yahoo.com

Crystal Shores 906 in Gulf Shores, AL

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:24:17 -0500

Market Update from RE/MAX of Orange Beach

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:34:37 -0500

by Tinsley Myrick, September 9, 2009

The following information was shared at the RE/MAX of Orange Beach sales meeting yesterday by Patrick Daily, Broker/Owner.

Patrick recently attended the RE/MAX Owner meeting and brought us back this interesting info given by David Linegar, founder of RE/MAX in 1973, and Carter Murdock, Bank of America's Economist:

•Savings is at its highest level. People are saving and not spending.

•The economy is already beginning to improve. It's going to recovery slowly.

•Unemployment is REALLY at 11-12% right now.

•Have to get more people working before people will start spending again.

•Small businesses will lead us out of the recession. However, there are no incentives for small businesses right now so the recovery will be slower than it has to be. All the help is going to large corporations rather than small businesses.

•Linegar's staff is been asked to bring solutions to the White House regarding the housing market (ie: where to go with it). The current administration knows they need real results and that they have made mistakes.

•Another real estate boom is coming in 2011 & 2012!

•Where a severe recessions starts (the US), it will be the first recovery.

•Loan markets are going "back to the left."

•Markets with the largest growth percentage will recover the quickest. This is great news for Baldwin County where projected growth is 40% over the next 10 years!

•It will be good for the economy when oil is $40-$80 a barrel.

•Mortgage rates have to go up for market to recover. We are seeing the best rates we are going to see. Therefore, NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY! THESE RATES WON'T LAST!

GENERATIONAL MARKETING INFO I FIND FASCINATING:

Matures (Ages 65+): Have one more real estate transaction in them!

Baby Boomers (Ages 45-64): Have 3 transaction left. Most are downsizing. Typically haven't been savers but pretty good investors. There are 80 million Boomers.

Gen X (Ages 29-44): They have low birth rates. Not having as many kids as the Boomers. There are 48 million Gen Xrs. They are buying and selling real estate. Very tech oriented.

Millennials (Ages 15-29) (aka Gen Y): These guys will probably have similar habits as the Boomer, however, they will be wiser. They will have more kids than the Gen Xrs. There are 74 million of the Millennials. Very tech oriented.

David Linegar told everyone that agents that are unable to relate to clients with tattoos, piercings, torn jeans, etc, will get left behind when the Millennials start buying and selling! Also, we must be able to communicate to the Gen Xrs and Millennials in the ways THEY want to communicate (text, email, Facebook, etc).

Fortunately, Scott and I are in good shape with this. We are 1st and 5th year Gen Xrs. We have Baby Boomer work ethics but we do the work like Gen Xrs!

All for now.

Tinsley

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, AL- Deals, discounts fuel resort market in

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:41:58 -0500

Deals, discounts fuel resort market

Realtors say both sales and rentals at Gulf are brisk at bargain prices Sunday, August 16, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

Realtor Steve Neitzel has already sold five condominium units in August and predicts his best months will be this fall.

"We've cut half of our inventory because of the great deals," said Neitzel of Brett Robinson Real Estate in Gulf Shores.

Prices in the current market can be summed up as "what someone is willing to pay," said Neitzel, who sold a large Gulf-front unit in Phoenix 9 in Orange Beach for $700,000, a half-million less than the original asking price.

Summer brought increased sales and rentals at the Gulf, but with sales prices 35 percent to 45 percent less than listing prices of two to three years ago. Most condos have sold from $260 per square foot up to $350 per square foot, Neitzel said.

The rentals were as good as last summer, and agencies said they are gearing up for what's expected to be a busy Labor Day weekend. But like the drop in condo prices, the rental agencies are offering discounts.

"There were more visitors this summer, but folks were taking shorter vacations, and the average daily rate was down," said Sarah Kuzma of Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores, which manages rentals for 1,600 condo units and 300 houses at the Gulf.

"It takes more effort," Kuzma said. "We know that once they come and visit, they are hooked."

She said Meyer is offering Labor Day specials - rent a condo unit and stay the third night free or a rent a beach house and get the fourth night free - and for the Shrimp Festival weekend in October will offer to provide a free week's stay for every week booked.

The national reports say folks are willing to travel, but they want a bargain, Kuzma said.

The discounting started last year and has escalated, with reduced rates offered even in the peak rental month of July, according to Bob Stuart, owner of Sugar Sands Realty & Management in Gulf Shores. In the spring, people called to cancel summer reservations, half because one or both spouses lost a job, he said.

Renters bring potential buyers, agents said. For example, many of the buyers that have stayed in the past at one of the 2,057 units managed by Brett Robinson are now buying units due to affordable pricing, according to Neitzel.

Most of the agents at the Gulf are selling properties under $400,000, and many are in the $200,000 range, according to C.B. Brierty of Realty Executives in Gulf Shores. "We've had some good sales this past year. We're not making money like we did in the heyday, but we're working with people who are buyers."

High insurance costs continue to hinder sales, Brierty said. And buyers today can't expect a cash flow from renting their units. "I was working with a couple who were going to pay 50 percent down, and there still was not a cash flow with all the fees."

Most of the sales at Sugar Sands Realty have been at $400,000 or above, according to Stuart.

"We've had a lot of activity from Louisiana," he said. "Where they have traditionally purchased in Destin and Panama City, we're seeing more and more of those folks buy here. Our pricing is better and the property taxes in Florida are a lot higher."

Not everyone is discounting. Developer Larry Wireman has finished his second gulf-front building at Turquoise Place on Alabama 182 in Orange Beach, and plans to start closing the units soon. More than 120 units presold at prices starting around $1.25 million in the 227-unit building.

All but 38 of the 173 units in the first Turquoise tower have sold, he said. The units average 2,300 square feet and start at $1 million and go up.

"We sold several units at full price, some for over $2 million after the first of this year," he added. "People try to compare us to units that are selling for $200 per square foot. We can't sell the units for that."

/cut/3/cBILL STARLING/ Staff PhotographerBeach lovers enjoy the summer sun and surf on the condominium-lined beach at Gulf Shores. Condo sales in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach were up in the summer, and rentals were as good if not better than last year, according to Realtors, who hope the upbeat market continues into the fall.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach - Condo prices at Gulf may be leveling off

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:19:26 -0500

Condo prices at Gulf may be leveling off

Auctions, distress sales, buyers with cash chipping away at bloated inventory at Gulf, agents say Sunday, August 02, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

Condominium prices may be leveling off as auctions, distress sales and buyers with cash are reducing some of the inventory at the Gulf, according to agents.

The recent auction sale of 31 units at Escapes! To The Shores in Orange Beach, which netted more than $12 million, "makes a statement of what our rock-bottom prices are right now," said Tina Maynard of RealtySouth in Orange Beach.

The two- and three-bedroom units sold for under $200 per square foot, which included the 10-percent buyer's premium. That's less than half what comparable properties brought in the hot market just before 2004's Hurricane Ivan.

Some three-bedrooms at Escapes! sold at $168 per square foot. The units sold for $290,000 to $600,000, not including the buyer's premium, at an auction held by The National Auction Group.

The steep monthly maintenance fees at Escapes! - from $1,000 to $1,500 - prevented some people from buying, Maynard said. She and other agents predicted the fees will go down once a homeowners association is formed.

Today's buyers are typically end-users who do not plan to sell for four or five years, and most are looking for a deal, whether it's a foreclosure property or a motivated seller, agents said.

While there are some sales in the $700,000 and up range, most buyers are looking to spend $400,000 or less.

"They are buying with a lot of cash," said Patrick Daily, owner of REMAX of Orange Beach. Daily said he was surprised the Escapes! developers stopped the auction after 31 units sold when there were so many people in the crowd with cash.

"I think the developers took a beating," Daily said. "They wanted $200 per square foot and didn't get it." Still, he said, the buyers got nice, large units with wonderful amenities.

The auction buyers were typical of today's purchasers - educated, even comparing insurance costs at other buildings prior to the auction, he said.

"Everybody is looking for the best quality construction at the best price," Daily said.

"Cash is king, especially with the financial situation going on," said Robbie Jaeger of Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores. Most lenders require at least 25 percent down, he said. "The deals are definitely out there."

"We have to get the inventory off the shelf and as the supply is reduced, it will drive prices back up," said Steve Jones of Kaiser Realty in Gulf Shores. But the prices won't be back to the "unreal" high prices of 2005 and 2006, he said.

More families are coming back into the buying market - these are buyers who couldn't afford a unit when the market was hot and prices were high, according to Maynard. "There are still enough people who made wise decisions and can afford to buy."

/cut/3/cBILL STARLING/ Staff PhotographerCondominiums line the beach at Gulf Shores in June. As inventory is reduced, condo prices appear to be leveling off, local Realtors say.

Orange Beach, AL approves design for Gulf-front resort hotel

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:20:40 -0500

Orange Beach approves design for Gulf-front resort hotel

Thursday, July 23, 2009 By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH - Developer K.C. Chiang's designs for a high-rise Gulf-front hotel and convention center won unanimous approval from the Orange Beach City Council, but now the panel must decide if it wants to grant the developer a tax abatement worth tens of millions of dollars to see the project come to fruition.

During a two-hour public hearing Tuesday night that preceded the council's vote on the designs, Chiang said that he and his partners - Chicago-based Centrum Properties and the Wyndham Hotel chain - need Orange Beach to share millions of dollars of revenue generated at the resort to secure their $160 million financing package.

Specifically, they are asking for half the sales and lodgings taxes for up to 30 years as well as the ability to levy additional taxes of up to 4 percent on the resort's rooms and at its restaurants and shops.

Chiang said he and Centrum have a pledge from Bank of America to loan them $110 million, but that arrangement is contingent on the developers raising $50 million in tax-free bonds. Those 30-year bonds, which would be issued through a special tax district set up on the property by the city, would be financed, in large part, by the resort's additional levies and the rebate tax.

The developers' lenders, Chiang said, "want to see more involvement from the city.

"This is something that is a new financial strategy that the financial world is requiring of us today. It's a different method of financing and I really don't have a lot of choice out there in order to make this happen."

Elected officials generally said Tuesday that they were willing to forgo for three decades half of the sales and lodgings tax generated there - estimated by the developer to be more than $30 million - in order to help Chiang realize his vision for the Wyndham & Winfield Resort Hotel and Convention Center.

"Unfortunately, the rules of the game have changed," said Mayor Tony Kennon. "In my research I believe this project can't get approved without abatements. It's just that simple."

Said Councilman Jeff Silvers: "None of us want to give away tax breaks, but what I want to do for our community is capture 50 percent of something instead of zero percent of nothing."

Plans for the Wyndham & Winfield call for nearly 500 hotel rooms housed in towers of 17 and 18 stories, convention seating for 1,200 and a theater that could double as a wedding chapel. There will also be a 20-lane computerized bowling alley to which Chiang said he will try to woo professional tournaments, a pair of restaurants, recreational features ranging from a roof-top tennis courts to a video game arcade and a 6,000-square-foot spa.

Should the council approve the revenue-sharing deal in the coming weeks, Chiang said he would start construction on the 9-acre tract in February. When construction starts Chiang will have to pay somewhere between $4.5 million and $5.5 million on sewer taps, building permits, impact fees and sales taxes on construction materials. The two-year project will create 800 construction jobs, and the resort will employ 300 once it opens, Chiang said.

Chiang, a Mobile businessman, said that all told the project could net Orange Beach more than $88 million in revenue over 30 years even after half of the sales and lodgings tax were refunded to finance the bonds. Chiang also told city officials that he would have financial incentive to repay the bonds, which will carry an interest rate nearly double the 4.76 rate on his $110 million loan, before they mature.

As such, he said he may only need the tax abatement for half the 30 years. City leaders, however, said they will base their decision on sharing revenue for the full 30 years.

Orange Beach, AL- Beach Front Condominiums For Sale. YES, Alabama!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:00:17 -0500

New Listing - White Caps 703 - Gulf Front 3 Bedroom in Orange Beach, AL - $374k

We have a National Seashore, a wildlife refuge, hiking trails, gorgeous beaches, golf courses, great tennis, boating, shopping, sailing, jet skiing, snorkeling/diving, biking, theme parks, shelling, surfing, wildlife viewing, spas, museums, restaurants, parasailing, swimming, windsurfing, fishing...... and the list goes on and on. Join us! The Alabama Gulf Coast attracts the investor who is looking for all of this and more...

You can also see it at VRBO.com here: http://www.vrbo.com/187960

Orange Beach, AL - plans for a four-star, Gulf-front hotel and convention center

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:44:59 -0500

Splashy Orange Beach resort hotel plans unveiled

Friday, July 10, 2009

By RYAN DEZEMBER

Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH - K.C. Chiang, a Mobile businessman, this week unveiled detailed plans for a four-star, Gulf-front hotel and convention center that would boast nearly 500 hotel rooms, a 20-lane bowling alley, convention seating for 1,200 and a theater that can double as a wedding chapel.

"The type of clientele we're bringing in are new blood, new revenue, a new kind of (visitor) we have not had," Chiang told the Orange Beach City Council on Tuesday.

On July 21, Chiang and his partners, Chicago-based Centrum Properties and the Wyndham Hotel chain, are scheduled to meet again with city officials to talk about the economic development incentives they believe will be needed to help finance construction.

City Administrator Ken Grimes said Thursday that in preliminary talks with municipal officials, Chiang and his team have said they want to create a special tax district on their 9.3 acres to allow them to collect special levies from customers and for Orange Beach to agree to share some of the sales and lodgings tax the resort generates.

Orange Beach agreed in 2004 to rebate to developers of The Wharf up to $25 million of the taxes generated at that mixed-use project.

City officials are willing to consider the developers' request, Grimes said, in an effort to help the project win financing from hesitant lenders.

"(Banks) are not getting behind projects like they once did," Grimes said. "They're looking for more public-private partnerships."

Proposed for what was once a cluster of 20 beach houses near the city's western edge, the Wyndham & Winfield Resort Hotel and Convention Center is the latest big vision for the property. In 2005, developers won approval to build a 30-story, 387-unit condo tower called Coral Reef.

That tower never came out of the ground and, like several unrealized condo projects along Baldwin County's beaches, has been redrawn as a hotel.

While high-rise hotels require the same type of multimillion-dollar construction loans to build as condo towers, their success is contingent not on luring hundreds of buyers but on finding companies to manage the hotels.

Chiang's project features two towers, one carrying the Wyndham Hotel flag and the other with his own Winfield Resorts brand.

Drawn up by architect Forrest Daniell, who has designed several high-profile projects in Orange Beach and Perdido Key, Fla. - including the Turquoise Place condominiums - the glassy towers share a curvy, three-story base.

Above two levels of parking are most of the resort's amenities and meeting space.

A pair of ballrooms will be able to be joined to create a single, 12,000-square-foot space big enough to hold more than a thousand people.

Beyond adjacent meeting rooms will be a theater to host dinners, performances or weddings. Two restaurants are planned - one fine dining; the other featuring a more casual atmosphere garnished with orchid gardens - as are a pair of retail outlets: a hotel gift shop and a bridal store.

Pools are proposed both indoors and out, and the designs call for rooftop courts for basketball and tennis. The Wyndham Hotel, rising a level above the 17-story Winfield tower, will be topped with a 6,000-square-foot spa.

But the grandest of all the recreational features is the computerized 20-lane bowling alley Chiang said he hopes he can use to lure professional tournaments to town.

The bowling alley, Chiang said, is a "driving force" behind the project, as much as the conference space. The lanes, he said, "will bring in a totally different breed of folks that are money spenders."

Gulf Shores, Alabama - Pier into the future: After five years, new Gulf State Park Pier set for July 23 opening

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:52:20 -0500

Pier into the future: After five years, new Gulf State Park Pier set for July 23 opening

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 By JEFF DUTE Outdoors Editor

Shortly after Hurricane Ivan destroyed the Gulf State Park Pier in September 2004, many fishermen began counting down the time until a new pier would be built.

On Tuesday, Alabama conservation department officials announced that the clock would officially reach 00:00 at 9 a.m. on July 23. That's when Gov. Bob Riley is expected to cut the ribbon to open the 1,520-foot-long pier after more than 18 months of construction and a bid cost of $16.2 million.

"As you know, good things come to those who wait. We had hoped to open the new Gulf State Park Pier this spring, but Mother Nature decided otherwise," state conservation commissioner Barnett Lawley said. "That said, the new pier will be the longest on the Gulf Coast and will reach more than 1,500 feet into the Gulf of Mexico.

"This facility will provide unparalleled educational opportunities for students and teachers alike to view and experience first-hand the intricate ecosystem that thrives on Alabama's coast. It will also give Ala bamians and visitors unequaled access to great sightseeing along our beautiful beaches and shore line. The wait will be well worth it."

That also appears to be the sentiment among fishermen who regularly fished the old pier, said David Thornton, who spent 35 years learning to catch fish along its weathered rails. Thornton said he has kept in touch with many of the people who shared those rails with him.

"I think the consensus is that it's been worth the wait," Thornton said. "But it sure has been a long time - more than four years - and that time hasn't gone by quickly.

"The pier will be a very consistent, accessible place to fish and there's a lot of camaraderie that developed over time on the old pier, and it's that social aspect of fishing on the pier that we've been missing, too."

Thornton predicts the pier will open up opportunities to catch fish species that were out of reach for the old pier, which had an end octagon in about 12 feet of water. The new pier's end will be in 26 to 28 feet of water.

"There are a bunch of us who are eager to give a shot and get a taste of what we knew we were missing. The old pier was always a good inshore pier because of the shallow water and there were good pelagic (migratory) opportunities at certain times of the year," he said. "Now, it's like there are two piers out there. We'll still have the good inshore fishing, but we'll also have a whole new pier outside that second (sand) bar."

A "soft opening" is planned a few days before July 23, said the conservation department's chief engineer, Terry Boyd.

"We don't want the governor and a thousand people to be out there and the drink maker doesn't work," Boyd said.

Boyd said parks personnel will begin the process of stocking the concession areas, putting up signs and doing anything else necessary to get the pier ready for fishermen. He added that the state transportation department also must install a stoplight at the intersection of State Park Road and East Beach Boulevard.

"The contractor may still be on site after Friday tying up a few loose odds and ends, but the contractor is not going to be a problem with opening the pier," Boyd said.

Prices to fish the pier have increased across the board, but Gulf State Park assist ant superintendent Trey Myers said it is still a great value.

"The cost of living has had an impact, but the facility is triple what we had with the size of the pier and the amenities out there now," he said. "The cost has gone up on everything, but the pier is still a great value."

Based on the new daily rate of $8, Myers pointed out that the weekly rate of $40 gives the angler two days of free fishing, the monthly rate of $80 results in two weeks free, the $160 semi-annual rate gives four months free and the annual rate of $320 affords a full eight months of free fishing.

Myers said the pier will almost certainly have an impact on the demand for the park's campsites.

"The cabins and cottages stay booked through most of the year, but I'm sure it'll increase the demand on our 496 campsites," Myers said. "With the camp store, new nature center, boat docks and pool and pool house under construction all in the campground, the pier will help re-establish the park as a vacation destination place for people from all over the country."

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama - Beach rentals brisk but last-minute

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:19:16 -0500

Beach rentals brisk but last-minute

Sunday, June 21, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

A two-bedroom, two-bath condominium unit on the beach in Gulf Shores that sleeps six: $1,500 to $1,900 a week.

A five-bedroom, five bath Gulf-front house in Orange Beach that sleeps 16: $4,800 a week.

Watching dolphins play in the surf from your balcony: Priceless.

Well, it's not exactly cost-free, but renters do have a great view of the dolphins, according to Sarah Kuzma of Meyer Real Estate, which manages rentals for 1,600 condo units and 300 houses at the Gulf.

It's summertime, and the race is on to keep the rental units booked. "We have 10 weeks to make it happen," Kuzma said.

Rental agencies are open 24-7 to accommodate guests who are following a national trend - booking rooms at the last minute.

"We've had some calling while driving on the interstate" to the coast, Kuzma said. "There are so many last-minute bookings, we can't stay ahead of the paperwork. We have walk-ins all during the night."

Twenty-five percent of bookings at Brett Robinson Real Estate & Development Co. in Orange Beach come within six days of arrival right now, said Brett Robinson's Marie Curren.

"We don't know why," she said, "if it's the economy and they are trying to save money, or just not thinking far ahead."

The peak July 4 weekend is booking now, when it used to book months in advance, agencies said. But no one is complaining, because occu pancy rates are meeting last year's full house.

"We're very excited that our June and July occupancy is equal if not better than last year," Curren said. "We had another building open, and that increased our inventory by 5 percent." Brett Robinson manages 2,057 rental units.

Discounts are available at most rental agencies all summer, ranging from 20 to 25 percent off the rental price.

"Our supply has increased, and our demand hasn't," said Connie Carlisle, director of reservations of Kaiser Realty in Gulf Shores, which has 650 rental properties, and 230 of those are houses. "When you have a lot of new things coming on the market, people are discounting them to get them known, and we have to discount some of the older units to make the rates competitive."

There are 14,090 condo units and 1,954 hotel and motel units in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan, according to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The summerlong Student Life convention at The Wharf's conference center in Orange Beach and a number of large sports tournaments have brought new visitors to the area, Carlisle said. "We are appreciative of the group business coming. We don't mind giving them a better rate to get future business."

Shorter stays

Erik Nist, owner of Alabama Beach Vacation Rentals or ALBVR.com in Gulf Shores, said his company is seeing shorter stays - three or four days rather than a week.

"With the current state of the economy, guests know what's going on, and some request a discount," said Nist, whose firm manages 92 properties. "And some are real bold. We had one offer $700 a week for a house that rents for $4,200 a week. We tell our owners we will do our best to book their unit, but we don't want to give it away."

Still No. 1

Alabama is still the No. 1 state for visitors to the Gulf, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee, agents said. This summer is also bringing more folks from Texas and Arkansas, according to Kuzma.

"We're seeing more who have never been here before, but heard about us. And the coast is also known for its repeat business. It's very important to get heads in beds. Once they are here, we've got them, and they will come back."

/cut/2/cBILL STARLING/ Staff PhotographerPeople crowd the beaches Monday in Gulf Shores. Renters this summer are following a national trend: booking at the last minute. But occupancy rates for the peak July 4 weekend are meeting last year's full house, so Alabama Gulf Coast rental agencies aren't complaining.

Gulf Shores, AL- Major development planned around Lulu's restaurant

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:16:35 -0500

Major development planned around Lulu's restaurant

Sunday, June 21, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

Mac McAleer recalls bringing Lucy Buffett to the 27-acre site near the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge and hugging the Intracoastal Waterway and saying it would be the home for her new restaurant.

"She said, 'Are you kidding me?'" McAleer said last week, smiling.

Lulu's at Homeport Marina opened five years ago. Last year, 200,000 people came through, and the restaurant did $13 million in food and retail sales, McAleer said. Folks wait up to three hours for a table, listening to live music while sitting at one of three bars or watching their kids play in the mega sandbox.

Sometimes, a visitor even catches a glimpse of Lucy's famous singer- songwriter brother, Jimmy Buffett. (He pilots his own plane to the nearby Gulf Shores Airport.)

"It's been a great partnership with Lucy," McAleer said of the deal with his ex-wife, whom he calls a close friend.

Ambitious project

Now he plans to parlay Lulu's destination status by surrounding the eatery with a 250-room hotel, five-story parking deck, 1,000-seat conference center and a casual fine dining restaurant, retail and office space on Ala. 59 and East 29th Avenue. A new ferry terminal, with room for two high-speed vessels, might eventually take 250 passengers to Biloxi casinos and bring them back again.

He would also like to put a lighthouse, similar to the Middle Bay Lighthouse in Mobile Bay, near the existing marina, and have a bar and deck extend from the lighthouse to the casual fine dining restaurant, which will be located under the Holmes bridge.

"Will it happen?" he asked. "That's my intention. Three groups of investors are presently doing their due diligence."

Partners in the project include his marina management team - son Joe McAleer III and Ken Carter. They plan to either partner with other developers or sell them land.

McAleer, a former top executive at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, leases the land to Lulu's restaurant and built the adjacent multimillion-dollar, 76-slip concrete floating marina, which is almost leased up.

He presold and planned to build 96 condominium units before Hurricane Katrina, but returned the buyers' deposits after the storm.

The new project has been dubbed Homeport, which was the name of the Buffett's family home on Mobile Bay, said McAleer.

Preliminary plans for Homeport are in front of the Gulf Shores City Council, which must approve a right-of-way relocation on the land.

Transportation epicenter

McAleer views the Homeport location as being an epicenter of transportation, with the nearby airport, the main highway and the waterway.

Gulf Shores Councilwoman Carolyn Doughty said the city rezoned property along the waterway from industrial to resort use several years ago with the idea of developing a tourist center not as vulnerable to Gulf storms as properties on the coast.

"It would give us an alternative," she said. "It would be like a second coast."

Meeting space is in demand at the Gulf, which lost about 45 percent of such space after 2004's Hurricane Ivan, according to Herb Malone, president of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau. He was glad to hear about the Homeport plans, adding, "We will be even more excited when it goes vertical. Lulu's is a tremendous asset to the area."

Charlie Williamson of Gulf Coast Commercial Realty in Mobile is working with McAleer to put the hotel group together and bring in financing and investor groups. Once the hospitality group is in place, he will work to bring in other venues to enhance the property, he said.

"The big thing was we already had a venue in place that was successful, and we didn't have to start from a piece of dirt," he said. "Lenders are not going to lend one dime on a land deal. He's already got the land, which is an unbelievably huge hurdle.

'Excited about timing'

"We're excited about timing on this," he continued. "We think in eight or nine months we'll see the hospitality industry get aggressive again."

Developers want to have plans finished and permits ready when the market turns, he said. The site engineering and project management is being done by Engineering Development Services in Daphne.

More venues at the Gulf mean more activity for everybody, according to Shaul Zislin, owner of The Hangout on the beach at Alabama 59 and 182 in Gulf Shores, which opened a year ago.

"If they can bring in 50,000 more people a year for their conference center, those guests won't eat at Lulu's every night," he said. "Whatever extra they can generate, we say bring it on."

/cut/p36.3/cPhotos by BILL STARLING/ Staff PhotographerTop: Lulu's at Homeport Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway is seen from the top of the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge in Gulf Shores.

Above: Mac McAleer plans to develop the property surrounding Lulu's. He also owns and leases the land for the popular restaurant. His plans call for a 250-room hotel and conference center as well as other venues. He is shown at one of the outdoor bars at Lulu's, which is owned by Lucy Buffett.

/cut/3/cRendering by Nimrod Long & AssociatesThis rendering shows the planned development of the Homeport Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway to be built around Lucy Buffett's popular Lulu's restaurant.

New town born in Baldwin County, Alabama

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:18:32 -0500

New town born in Baldwin County

Sunday, June 14, 2009 By CRAIG MYERS Staff Reporter

Perdido Beach is officially a town, according to Baldwin County Probate Judge Adrian Johns, and voters there are expected to choose their first mayor and council this fall.

The 2cm HALF-square-mile incorporated area between Palmetto Creek and Soldier Creek includes a full-time population of 558, reported a committee appointed by Johns that completed the count this month.

On Wednesday, Johns issued the order declaring a town of Perdido Beach "with all rights and powers granted by the laws of Alabama to such corporation."

How those rights and powers - including taxation, police protection and building oversight - will be exercised must wait until the seating of the town's first elected leaders.

In Alabama, a town can enact up to 5 mills of property tax and a local sales tax of 1 to 3 cents per dollar in most cases, along with business licenses and other fees. A mill is $1 in taxes per $1,000 in assessed property value.

Johns said the election of five council members and a mayor will probably be scheduled for a Tuesday in October.

"We need to sit down and look at the calendar," Johns said. "We just need to line the dominoes up. It's just a matter of putting it all together to include all events such as absentee voting. We could possibly do it in September, but tentatively it will be October."

The waterfront community voted 192-113 in an April 21 referendum to become the county's 14th municipality.

The turnout represented about 63 percent of the approximately 485 people who registered to vote by an April 10 deadline.

Supporters said that a town government would protect the 108-year-old community from encroachment by development interests and annexation-minded neighbors.

The Perdido Beach Property Owners and Residents Association led the effort on hold a referendum on the issue.

Association President Bob Gross said last week that an early October election sounded good and that he has heard from several potential candidates.

Meanwhile, a committee of 11 community members is preparing a list of council actions needed to begin government operations.

Gross said that the committee is "gathering data to be sure that when the time comes to do something, there won't be any question marks."

He said that Magnolia Springs officials have been a "tremendous help" to that committee. Magnolia Springs incorporated in 2006 as the county's 13th municipality.

Perdido Beach has enjoyed a community identity since 1901, when Col. LB. Hatch began selling property there, according to the group's Web site.

Over the years, it has had its own school, hotel, fish market, post office, ice plant, bottling works, boat-building industry, churches, stores, rental cottages and turpentine and sugar cane mills, according to the association.

Incorporation advocates have expressed concern that the community identity could be threatened if Orange Beach ever builds a bridge from Ala. 161 to a road heading north along the route of Baldwin County 95, just west of Perdido Beach.

Orange Beach officials have been working on financing but economic woes have put the road-and-bridge project on the back burner.

Orange Beach, Alabama developer settle on Turquoise Place public benefits

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:11:55 -0500

Orange Beach, developer settle on Turquoise Place public benefits

Ryan Dezember, Press-RegisterOrange Beach officials and the developer of the Turquoise Place condominiums have agreed to a public benefits package that will net taxpayers nearly 6.5 acres on Cotton Bayou as well as a public beach access and $400,000.

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- With the second Turquoise Place condo tower nearing completion, its developer and city officials have reached an agreement on the package of property and cash that will be given to the public in exchange for the zoning that accommodated the 300-foot-plus structures.

Under the agreement, developer Larry Wireman will give the city nearly 6½ acres on Cotton Bayou's southern shore, a 90-foot-wide public beach access on the west side of the towers, and $400,000 for capital improvements.

The council won't likely vote to approve the deal for two weeks after tabling the matter at its Tuesday meeting. The developer and his lawyer asked that it be delayed while minor issues regarding legal descriptions of the property and easements are worked out, said Vince Lucido, an engineer who is working for Wireman.

Before 2006, when state legislators approved a system for collecting impact fees from developers in Baldwin County, Orange Beach officials extracted "public benefits" from developers in exchange for flexible zoning that would accommodate projects that otherwise wouldn't fit local land-use laws.

Originally Wireman had planned four towers and promised up to 16 acres on Cotton Bayou, the beach access and money to build park improvements like bike racks, barbecue grills and bathrooms as well as a small fire station across Ala. 182 from Turquoise Place. In a slumping market, however, Wireman scrapped his plans for the second pair of towers, prompting renegotiation of his public offerings.

Orange Beach, Alabama Gulf Front Condominium For Sale at Phoenix VI

Sun, 17 May 2009 08:57:50 -0500

Orange Beach, Alabama Condominium for sale at Phoenix VI Custom condo-Gulf front w/Gulf front Master Suite. 8' double doors added as entrance to master, new windows/sliders, custom shower added to master bath, large whirlpool tub added to guest bath, upgraded appliances & kitchen/bathroom cabinets & fixtures, wet bar added, 14' ceilings. Proven construction, wireless internet, outdoor/indoor pools, tennis, racquetball, basketball, spa, huge beach, gated Something magical happens when you visit the Alabama Gulf Coast. The moment you arrive, the world starts to fade away. Maybe it's the sound of waves gently lapping the shore or the smell of coconut oil. Perhaps it's our white sand Gulf Coast beaches and sparkling emerald water. Suddenly building sandcastles moves to the top of your "to-do" list. You remember just how much fun your spouse is. You find yourself laughing at your son's "Knock, knock" joke, even though you've heard it a zillion times. You linger over a succulent, fresh seafood dinner at one of the seaside restaurants in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where nobody rushes to get away from the table. A great getaway is closer than you think. A visit to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores offers the perfect balance of non-stop activity and lay-around-doing-nothing time. Putter around a bit on one of our championship golf courses. Cast your line for deep-sea adventure on one of the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach fishing charters. Travel back in history with a visit to Fort Morgan, the site of the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay. Commune with Mother Nature as you hike wildlife trails gazing at shorebirds. Gulf Shores / Orange Beach is a place where you can slow down, let loose, rediscover yourself and savor your loved ones. It's the Alabama Gulf Coast, and it will cast its spell over you.

The Palms in Orange Beach, AL - Gulf Front Condo Along Alabama's White Sandy Beaches

Fri, 15 May 2009 08:45:31 -0500

The Palms in Orange Beach, Alabama

We have a National Seashore, a wildlife refuge, hiking trails, gorgeous beaches, golf courses, great tennis, boating, shopping, sailing, jet skiing, snorkeling/diving, biking, theme parks, shelling, surfing, wildlife viewing, spas, museums, restaurants, parasailing, swimming, windsurfing, fishing...... and the list goes on and on. Join us! The Alabama Gulf Coast attracts the investor who is looking for all of this and more... If you are interested in investing in a condo, I would be happy to speak with you. My experience, training, market knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm can help you accomplish your objectives finding just the right condominium, should you be considering the option. Tell me... 1.) What area would you like to receive listings in? Either Gulf Shores or Orange Beach or does it matter? 2.) How many bedrooms and baths would you like? 3.) What kind of special amenities would you like? On the beach? Gulf front? 4.) What is the MAXIMUM you would like to spend? 5.) How soon would you consider buying a condo?

Gulf State Park - Gulf Shores, AL

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:12:00 -0500

Riley signs bill for beach hotel at Gulf State Park

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 By GEORGE R. ALTMAN Capital Bureau

Gov. Bob Riley on Tuesday approved a compromise bill to bring a new, beachfront hotel and convention center to Gulf State Park, after years of court battles over the project.

But legal problems for the planned hotel may not be over.

Senate Bill 254 requires that room rates at the hotel, planned for public land, be reasonable in comparison with similar hotels.

"Because a four-star hotel's rates would not be reasonable to the public, if Governor Riley violates this section of SB 254, I will carry him back to court so fast it will make his head swim," former Conservation Commissioner Charley Grimsley said in an e-mail.

Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the hotel's rates will only need to be comparable to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort, which has rates that meet luxury standards set by a national hotel statistics organization. Sentell said it costs more to build a hotel on the beach, so the rates must be higher.

"You cannot put millions of dollars in the ground and then expect to build a Motel 6 on top of the sand," he said.

The planned hotel has been a subject of controversy for years.

After 2004's Hurricane Ivan destroyed the state's previous hotel in the park, the Gulf State Park Lodge, Riley backed a plan to replace it by subleasing land to the Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group.

Grimsley and other opponents sued, four years of litigation followed and the state's highest court ruled against Riley in late March.

Soon after that ruling, both sides worked out a compromise in the Legislature, through a bill sponsored by Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery.

The bill required legislative approval for the long-term lease or sale of other state beaches but allowed a lease for the former site of Gulf State Park Lodge. The bill also mandated that the lease be between 30 and 70 years, construction be competitively bid, state employees run the convention center, local governments enter into negotiations for paying maintenance costs, and the hotel's rates be reasonable.

Riley signed the bill into law Tuesday in Gulf Shores, but disagreements persist.

A clause in the bill refers to a state law, which mandates that contracts "shall provide for the reasonableness of the concessionaire's rates and charges to the public, and such rates shall be judged primarily by comparison with those rates or charges for facilities and services of comparable character."

Dixon and Sentell pointed to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort as a comparable facility.

For a single guest staying one night, the lowest available rate at Perdido is $191.86, as a seven-day average. Booking information from the hotel's Web site shows that the lowest available nightly rate this week ranges from $269, for a Friday check-in, to $159, for Sunday and Monday check-ins.

The average cost for Perdido is almost 2.5 times the average daily rate for the region and falls within the "luxury" price classification, according to information from Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based group that compiles statistics on hotels nationwide.

"Governor Riley wanted a four-star luxury hotel whose rates would be unreasonable to the public. SB 254 stops that by requiring reasonable rates," Grimsley's e-mail said.

Riley's office did not return messages seeking comment. Sentell said room rates would have to be low enough to draw visitors but high enough to pay for construction costs.

Dixon said he believes Grimsley will lose if he takes the matter to court again. He added that the most important part of his bill is that it protects more than 4 miles of beaches beyond the old Gulf State Park Lodge site.

"Basically, nobody has to worry about some developer getting hold of that beachfront from now on," Dixon said.

Turquoise Place in Orange Beach, Alabama renting 90 units

Mon, 11 May 2009 11:07:31 -0500

Turquoise Place renting 90 units

Developer says having portion off market makes 45 remaining condos easier to sell Sunday, May 10, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

The owners of 90 units at the 24-story Turquoise Place in Orange Beach have furnished and are now renting the brand-new units, according to Rich Richardson of Spectrum Capital, based in Jackson, Miss.

Spectrum paid about $45 million for 90 of the 181 Gulf-front units, according to court records.

Spectrum is the real estate arm of Yates Cos., the contractor that built Turquoise Place on Ala. 182 in partnership with developer Larry Wireman of Orange Beach, Richardson said.

About 46 units have been sold and the owners have moved in, Wireman said. The 90 are in rentals, and the remaining 45 units start at $1.2 million, according to Wireman, who also developed Caribe Resort in Orange Beach.

In 2005, the units presold for an average $1.5 million, with the 6,000-square-foot penthouses averaging $5 million.

Offering the 90 units for rent "is a good thing," Wireman said last week. "They are off the sales market. It makes the rest of the units a lot better. We're not sitting there with 100 units to sell."

"The condo market is changing, and we have to adjust with the times," Richardson said. "You are definitely not going to find ones to rent like this that are brand-new with Sub-Zero refrigerators, high-end appliances and hot tubs. The smallest unit is a three bedroom with 2,300 square feet and private balconies."

"The market is going to be back. This is a way for people to buy some time and go ahead and furnish it for people to enjoy and use," said Chuck Norwood of REMAX of Gulf Shores. "It makes good sense. The rentals will offset some of the expenses."

However, Norwood added, "It doesn't make sense to buy a unit there as a rental."

The units will be operated by Spectrum's resort management division, Spectrum Vacations, which has an on-site rental management team.

The rental prices are competitive for the area rental market, with a three-bedroom, 3cm HALF-bath unit leasing for $290 per night, according to Richardson.

The lushly landscaped tower's amenities include an indoor pool, outdoor pool, a lazy river on the fourth floor, steam room, sauna, 3,000-square-foot gym and high-speed glass-and-tile elevators. Views from the tower stretch from Pensacola Beach to The Beach Club on Fort Morgan.

/cut/1/cPress-Register file photoThe first Turquoise Place tower is shown in June 2008. The owners of 90 of the high-profile condo project's units have decided to offer them as rentals. The Orange Beach development has sold about 46 units; the 45 remaining units start at $1.2 million.

Alabama Gulf Coast Condo Business Stable

Sun, 03 May 2009 15:52:22 -0500

Condo business stable

Even with tighter lending guidelines, buyers are out there looking for deals Sunday, May 03, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER Real Estate Editor

Two weeks after broker Tammy Godbold listed 10 condominium units in Crystal Shores West in Gulf Shores, four were under contract, and she also sold two units in the nearby Crystal Tower, off the beach.

"This is a sign that people are ready, willing and able to buy," said Godbold, owner of Waterways Realty in Orange Beach. The two-bedroom, two-bath units in the 170-unit Crystal Tower were listed for $225,000 to $250,000; the three-bedroom, three-bath units in the 108-unit Crystal Shores West on the beach were listed for $382,250.

Buyers are coming back to the resort market, looking for deals, plunking down cash or financing condo purchases, according to Realtors.

"Condos are hot right now when the price is right," said Patrick Daily, owner of REMAX of Orange Beach. "If you find a two-bedroom, two-bath between $250,000 and $325,000 in a good building, it goes under contract immediately. The mortgage rates are awesome if you've got a little cash."

The mortgage lending crisis has lenders tightening guidelines on condo loans, but financing is available for qualified buyers, lenders and agents say.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require that about 51 percent of the condo building be owner-occupied. The theory is that investors would more likely let a unit go into foreclosure than a second-home owner, according to lenders.

Many of the newer condo developments have rent restrictions, such as a 30-day rental minimum, and that helps avoid rental issues when financing a unit, according to Amanda Landry of Amicus Mortgage Group in Gulf Shores.

Buyers often prefer Fannie Mae since the institutional lender typically offers the lowest interest rates, according to Landry, but "you have to do your homework" when applying because lending guidelines are constantly changing, she said.

Interest rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.78 percent this past week, according to Freddie Mac. A 15-year fixed loan was 4.48 percent.

Restrictions are a way for lenders to "slow things down and try to recoup" in a tough economy, according to Anthony Kaiser, sales division vice president at Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores. One of the toughest things to get around, he said, is the 20 percent down payment that many lenders require.

Meyer's agents have had very few loans turned down, he said. A third of the recent sales have been foreclosure properties, with condos sell ing at an average $300,000.

Joey Parker of HMC, Home Mortgage Co., in Gulf Shores, sends a 25-point questionnaire to condo owners associations to help determine if a borrower is eligible for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac lending.

"We do not have any problems," lending to condo buyers, Parker said. "You can still get very attractive financing terms. All the condos I do are on a 30-year fixed rate, and all have very attractive rates."

His business is up, with most of the activity in condos, Parker said.

"The market is absorbing short sales and foreclosure properties more than it did last year. And a lot of the units that developers kept back are selling."

The Merrill Co. decided to release most of the remaining developer-owned units in Crystal Shores West and Crystal Tower while there are buyers out there, according to Collier Merrill of the Pensacola-based company.

"People ask me if now is the right time to buy," Merrill said. "If you're investing and looking to flip it, I don't know. But if you're looking for something you want to use, now is the perfect time. You've got a lot of choices, you can use it and in 10 years it will be worth more than you paid for it."

Realtors are starting to see signs of the beach market reaching a bottom, according to Bob Shallow, owner of REMAX Paradise in Orange Beach. He said he's seeing second home buyers who can afford to spend $500,000 to $1 million on a unit that they don't have to rent.

Newer condo units are at 40 to 50 percent of the value they were a year or two ago, Shallow said. For example, a unit with a boat slip in Vista Bella on Ole River in Orange Beach is priced at $550,000 compared to the selling price of $1.1 million two years ago.

"People who want to sell and are realistic with the price, they now have an opportunity to sell it," Shallow said. "Two years ago, price didn't do it."

Windward Pointe in Orange Beach, Alabama

Sat, 02 May 2009 08:27:01 -0500

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Phoenix East II in Orange Beach, AL - Beach Front Condo For Sale

Sat, 02 May 2009 07:10:45 -0500

Gulf Shores, Alabama - Gulf State Park hotel supporters take case to Legislature

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:53:03 -0500

Gulf State Park hotel supporters take case to Legislature

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 By GEORGE ALTMAN Capital Bureau

MONTGOMERY - Backers of a plan, rebuffed by the Alabama Supreme Court, to put a private, luxury hotel on state-owned Gulf Shores beaches are taking their case to the Legislature.

For nearly 90 minutes of a House committee meeting last week, some of the state's most influential figures debated whether an unrelated bill should be changed to block the hotel or to fast-track its approval.

State Revenue Commissioner Tim Russell told the House Government Operations Committee that his department must take in $1 million per hour to keep agencies running, and a beachfront resort would mean big money.

"I'm here to say that, on behalf of the governor and the state, we think we need the state park (hotel) up and running to support the average citizen," Russell said.

Former state Conservation Commissioner Charley Grimsley said that building a high-priced hotel in Gulf State Park would be tantamount to telling average citizens to "ride on the back of the bus."

"I've heard people on this project say, 'Poor folks ought to go across the highway and sit on picnic tables, while rich people sip champagne on the beach,'" he said. "I don't think that's right. The state parks were built for all Alabamians."

The state once had a hotel in the park, but the Gulf State Park Lodge was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and never rebuilt.

Gov. Bob Riley proposed replacing that hotel with a private resort and convention center. His plan called for the state to arrange a long-term lease with Auburn University, which would then sublease the land to Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group.

Opponents sued, and the matter was in Alabama courts for four years, until the state's highest court ruled against Riley about a month ago.

Russell sees a bill concerning a separate parcel of Gulf Shores land as a quick way to get around the Supreme Court ruling.

"If we can get this amendment through, than we can move forward this term," Russell said.

But the bill's sponsor, Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery, said he doesn't want either side to "commandeer" his measure.

"They're talking about what they'll be able to do if they can take this bill, tear it up and give you their substitute," Dixon told the committee, as he ripped a paper copy of his bill in half.

Dixon's proposal would require legislative approval for the sale or long-term lease of state-owned beachfront land located about five miles west of the former Gulf State Park Lodge.

Development of that land could be difficult, as it has been designated a critical habitat for the endangered Perdido Key beach mouse, but Dixon said he wants to make sure the "pristine" beach is protected.

The House committee will again consider whether to alter or pass Dixon's bill on Wednesday.

While Grimsley and Russell argue from opposite ends of the spectrum, the powerful heads of the Alabama Education Association, or AEA, and the Alabama State Employees Association are working for a compromise.

AEA chief Paul Hubbert said he'd favor a new hotel, if state employees ran the convention center and building were limited to the site of the old hotel.

"Alabama obviously needs a convention center on the Gulf Coast," Hubbert said.

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Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:14:35 -0500

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U.S. realtors see some light at end of tunnel

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:03:17 -0500

U.S. realtors see some light at end of tunnel

Reuters - A foreclosed home is seen in Stockton, California in this May 13, 2008 file photo. Home sales in California ...

By Ed Stoddard Ed Stoddard - Tue Mar 24, 5:07 pm ET

CLEBURNE, Texas (Reuters) - Small-town Texan realtor Rick Cumins is going to see a paycheck in April -- his first since December.

"I've got two pending closings in April, one for a property worth $55,000, the other for $68,000. They'll pay the rent," he told Reuters in his modest office in the town of Cleburne, about 20 miles south of Fort Worth.

Cumins is not the only realtor who is starting to see some fleeting light at the end of a long and torturous tunnel.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose at their fastest pace in nearly six years in February, data showed on Monday, providing some good news for the recession-hit economy.

They rose 5.1 percent in February to a 4.72 million-unit annual rate, notching their largest gain since July 2003, the National Association of Realtors said. But about 45 percent of the sales were foreclosure or short-sale transactions.

"Yes, it is great news for everyone, but we've still got a lot of homes on the market and not a lot of qualified buyers," said Cumins, 54, whose own small real estate business is on the rocks just a year after he started it.

The North Texas real estate market has not been as badly affected as many parts of the country, thanks in part to a relatively sturdy economy and also to the fact that housing prices did not soar here as high as they did in some other regions.

But small time realtors like Cumins are still feeling the pain here in a sign of the overall gravity of the situation.

A crisis in the housing market sparked by a surge in delinquent "sub prime" mortgages was a key factor behind the U.S. slide into recession.

Now some realtors see the glimmer of a turnaround.

BUYERS EVERYWHERE

"It's like it's been raining buyers, when they've been the scarcest thing in town," said Joan Dodd, a realtor who has worked 30 years in the Phoenix Valley -- one of the areas most blighted by foreclosures as boom turned to bust.

"The buyers are just seeming to come out of nowhere ... We've had a long dry spell, but it seems to be over."

Dodd said she thought interest rates were "fabulously low," which had helped entice buyers back into the market. She further cited an $8,000 tax allowance for first-time home buyers -- a view echoed by others.

Janie Hudson, a Kansas City realtor who has also been in the business for 30 years, said she saw positive trends.

"It isn't great but I don't see any doom and gloom. If they are priced well they are starting to sell," she said.

Just this month, a three-bedroom ranch house, priced at $330,000, sold in its first week on the market at its asking price -- something she had not seen for some time.

Atlanta realtor Renee Kunkler said there were signs that things were starting to pick up and she expected the market to bounce back somewhat by the end of this year.

In recent weeks, Kunkler has seen increased numbers of buyers attracted by low rates and also a perception that there were good deals to be had.

She cited one example in which a buyer this week wanted to offer $600,000 on a house that had originally been priced at $799,000 before being reduced to $699,000.

"All buyers are just obsessed about getting the deal. Nobody cares about loving a house. They care about getting a deal, a foreclosure," she said.

Prices have fallen less heavily in Atlanta's prosperous northern suburbs inside the perimeter freeway than elsewhere in the city in part because of proximity to the city center.

Back in Cleburne, times remain tough for Cumins.

When he started his business a year ago, he owed $19,000 on his own home. "Now I owe $148,000," he said.

As a result of his business woes he has to sell some of his beloved guns from his collection of about three dozen.

"I didn't expect it to get this bad," he said as he sat beneath the stuffed heads of trophy bucks in his office.

(Additional reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Matthew Bigg in Atlanta; editing by Mohammad Zargham)