Lake Martin Voice Realty
Shady Bay on Lake Martin: Walking the Neighborhood
Last week we at Lake Martin Voice Realty announced the release of 14 new waterfront lots for sale in Shady Bay.
Below are some pictures I took as I walked up and down these lots:
If you’re interested in Shady Bay, we invite you to walk the lots, too, but bring your bug spray and perhaps a walking stick. These are not 100′ x 100′ feet city lots; they’re thickly wooded with all kinds of hardwoods and pines and they slope from Amber Drive down to the water. They are raw and untouched and ready for buyers to envision their perfect lake home. Buyers may bring their own builder and house plans, and covered boat docks are allowed.
If you’d like more info on Shady Bay, give me a call at (334) 221-5862, email me at [email protected], or click here to fill out a contact form. I can help you with Shady Bay and all properties on the Lake Martin MLS, regardless of the listing company.
Here’s a quick video tour of Shady Bay:
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Shady Bay Waterfront Lots for Sale
Lake Martin Voice Realty is excited to team up with Alabama Power and offer 14 new deeded waterfront lots for sale in Shady Bay.
Shady Bay is a waterfront neighborhood on the northeastern shores of Lake Martin. These are big, wooded lots with views looking south toward Young’s Island. They’re part of an already established neighborhood (entrance sign, paved roads, utilities, HOA), and they’re close to all the in-town conveniences of Alexander City and Highway 280.
Lake Martin Voice Realty is proud to be the Listing Agency!
The first phase of Shady Bay began in the early 1990′s. 32 of 33 waterfront lots were sold at that time, and now 14 more are available. There’s a lot of choice for buyers here: lots range in size from almost an acre to to 2.3 acres, and waterfront footage ranges from 130 feet to over 350 feet of shoreline per lot.
Another big perk for many buyers: covered boat docks are allowed in Shady Bay. That’s a big deal on Lake Martin.
Lot owners may bring their own builder and house plans in Shady Bay, and there is an 1,800 square foot minimum requirement for all homes.
For more information on these deeded lots, CLICK HERE, or give us a call at (334) 221-5862. We have plat maps, tax maps, photos, a video tour – everything you need to learn the lay of the land.
Shady Bay is on the northeast side of Lake Martin, so it is convenient to Alexander City, Atlanta, Auburn, I-85, and Highway 280. By car, drive east over the Highway 280 River Bridge. Then turn right onto County Road 40 at Lakewinds Golf Course. At the stop sign turn left, then take your first right on Shady Bay Drive. Then right into the Shady Bay Subdivision. Phase II lots are on Amber drive – the first right once you enter the neighborhood.
By boat, Shady Bay is 12 miles from Chimney Rock and less than a mile from Bay Pines Marina.
For a quick video introduction to Shady Bay, click below:
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Emerald Shores Time Lapse Sunset and Lot Sales Update
It’s hard to beat a Lake Martin sunset. I’ve been experimenting with this time lapse app on my iPhone, and the other week I recorded some pretty skies over Emerald Shores. The video below is the sunset view from Lot 18, a 1.26 acre lot with +/- 321 feet of shoreline that is still available for sale. For all the listing information on Lot 18, CLICK HERE.
Here’s an Emerald Shores SALES UPDATE, too.
As of April 23, seventeen of the twenty-nine lots that were released for sale by Alabama Property Company are under contract. Two additional lots are in negotiations. In thirty-eight days, sixty-five percent of the lots offered have gone under contract or are being negotiated (we at Lake Martin Voice Realty joyfully listed these lots on March 16, 2013). These are strong sales numbers, especially when you look in the Lake Martin MLS and consider that in the entire year of 2012, a total of 38 lots waterfront lots were sold on Lake Martin, by all agents, all brokerages, everywhere.
Like I’ve said before, if you’re interested in one of these lots, NOW is the time to call me. They’re moving quickly, but there are still some beautiful lots available.
Lot 18, featured in the time lapse video above, is a great example. It’s flat, wooded, and private. Alabama Property Co. has already installed a rip rap seawall, and that wall is included in the sales price. It’s also a flexible lot; there is a variety of ways to place and orient a home on this lot. Check out the pictures below:
I also really like the lots on either side of Lot 18 – Lot 17 and Lot 19. Big views. Pretty sunsets.
For more information, give me a call at (334) 221-5862, or CLICK HERE to email me. Lake Martin Voice Realty is the listing company, so we can answer all your questions.
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Emerald Shores: Lot Sales Update
Of the 29 Emerald Shores waterfront lots that were released on March 16 for sale, NINE are already pending, and SIX more are currently under negotiation.
As the listing agency for Emerald Shores, Lake Martin Voice Realty is excited about the public’s interest in these lots, and we want to make sure you have the latest information on this east side development.
CLICK HERE for listing information on Emerald Shores.
Contracts on these lots have been brought by our company, along with several other Lake Martin real estate companies. My point in telling you this (I know this sounds like typical Realtor barking) is that you really need to give us a call if you have any interest in a lot in Emerald Shores. Don’t wait until you get around to it because the lot that you want, in your price range, and with the view you like, may be gone.
Why all the interest in Emerald Shores?
Well, there’s clearly a demand for lots in a deed restricted neighborhood on this popular side of Lake Martin. And frankly, Emerald Shores has really pretty lots on the big water of Blue Creek. It’s an established community with homes already built, so there’s a history of sales and construction.
For more information, give me a call at (334) 221-5862, or CLICK HERE to email me. Lake Martin Voice Realty is the listing company, so we can answer all your questions.
Quick Video Tour of Emerald Shores:
Video Tour of the Blue Creek Area of Lake Martin:
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Emerald Shores Waterfront Lots for Sale
Lake Martin Voice Realty is excited to team up with Alabama Power and offer 29 new deeded waterfront lots for sale in Emerald Shores.
Emerald Shores is a waterfront neighborhood on the eastern shores of Lake Martin. These are big, wooded lots surrounded by the big water of Blue Creek. They’re part of an already established neighborhood (entrance signs, roads paved, utilities, boat ramp, common area trails), and they’re close to all the east side Lake Martin restaurants, marinas, and landmarks.
Lake Martin Voice Realty is proud to be the Listing Agency!
The first phase of Emerald Shores began in 2004. 17 lots were sold at that time, then six after that, and now 29 more are available. There’s a lot of choice for buyers here: lots range in size from 0.6 to almost 2 acres, and waterfront footage ranges from 115 feet to over 1,000 feet of shoreline per lot. At the center of Emerald Shores is a 17 acre wooded common area with a paved walking trail. A neighborhood boat ramp makes it convenient to launch your boat.
Another big perk for many buyers: covered boat docks are allowed in Emerald Shores. That’s a big deal on Lake Martin.
For more information on these deeded lots, CLICK HERE, or give us a call at (334) 221-5862. We have plat maps, tax maps, photos, a video tour – everything you need to learn the lay of the land.
Emerald Shores is on the east side of Lake Martin, so it is convenient to Atlanta, Auburn, I-85, and Highway 280. By car, take Highway 49 and turn onto Highway 34. Turn left onto Win Blu. At the stop sign, turn left onto Holiday Drive. Take 1st right onto South Holiday. Follow all the way to Emerald Shores entrance. By boat, it’s on the north side of Blue Creek as you drive toward StillWaters.
For a quick video introduction to Emerald Shores, click below:
And for a video tour of the Blue Creek area, click below:
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Lake Martin Real Estate Sales – 2012 Year End Review
Lake Martin waterfront home sales had the second best year on record in 2012. According to the Lake Martin, Alabama, area MLS, 239 waterfront homes were sold, compared to 207 in 2011.
This represented a 15.4% gain over the prior year!
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The Lake Martin Area MLS* gathers data from all its members, so this number includes every agent, every brokerage at Lake Martin. The previous best year for vacation home sales on Lake Martin was 2005, when 285 homes were sold. 2012′s total of 239 beats out the previous second place winner of 2006, when 235 were sold.
Here at Lake Martin Voice we had a really good idea that the Lake Martin real estate market would have such a sales report for 2012. In this post I wrote concerning waterfront home sales in November 2012, we knew that we were setting up for a very good situation, we just didn’t know how good until the December results were posted.
I also noticed that a few sales were added to prior months. If you go look at the November 2012 market report, that I wrote on December 10, 2012, you will see that 26 homes were reported as sold in September 2012. Since then, that number changed to 27. That is because our MLS* is only reporting the information that each Lake Martin realtor or broker inputs. Why did it change? Who knows. Maybe someone realized they had the sale date wrong, and corrected it. This happens fairly frequently. I think we can assume that, as we look over the course of eight years, that an equal amount of mistakes happen each year. At any rate, this is the best data we have.
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The Lake Martin real estate market also received some favorable attention from the ACRE news flashes. ACRE is the Alabama Center for Real Estate, and it compiles statistics for the entire state. They recently posted this article about the Lake Martin area’s gain of 10.7% homes sold versus 2011. Please keep in mind that ACRE pulls numbers straight from the Lake Martin Area MLS, which includes off water homes in Alexander City, Dadeville, et al. The numbers I quote above of 239 home sales for 2012 and a 15% gain are taken from that same database, but filtered to give Lake Martin’s waterfront home sales only.
2012 A Winner Over Prior Year
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When it is all said and done, the most any real estate market can ask is to have beaten the prior year in numbers of homes sold. This goes for Lake Martin or any market at any time. I have said many times over my years of doing these Lake Martin real estate market reports that I really focus on this statistic, especially at the month to month level. I first read about this metric from Nicolai Kolding’s brilliant blog posts, who was then at Better Homes and Gardens but now is at Weichert. I started tracking the current month versus same month prior year sales a long time ago, and my research indicates to me that the Lake Martin Market turned for the better in July 2008, although 2008 as a year was the worst of the bubble crash.
2012 Waterfront Home Prices on Lake Martin
I think prices remained steady in 2012 at Lake Martin. Please see the below graph for my reasoning.
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Long time readers of this blog know that I only look at Lake Martin home prices once a year. That’s because we are such a rural market, we have so few monthly sales on any given month, that if one tracks average prices per month, wild (80%) swings are seen. Monthly average sales price is not a reliable statistic because the sample pool is just too small. My response is to look at sales price trends once per year, to break them down into “bands” of about $100,000 each, and to look at them in terms of how much each band represents sales as a whole.
For instance, if you look at the above chart, you can see that of the homes sold in 2012, about 24% were sold in the price range of $200,000 to $299,999. This was the largest price segment for the fourth year in a row. The bell curve did not totally shift to the right, which would indicate to me an overall market increase in price.
However, if you take a close look at the above bell curve for 2012, you can note that in other price segments like the $300,000 to $399,999 there was an increase in market share. While it was not enough of a shift to indicate an overall market price increase, it does make me optimistic that one is possible in 2013. It also does not match my intuition gained as an agent with “boots on the ground” this past year. In my gut, it felt like prices were increasing just a tad. Maybe I am wrong. Or maybe I just need to break these pricing segments down tighter than $100,000 increments.
Maybe that’s a subject for a future market report.
Please stay tuned to this blog as I continue to pour through Lake Martin’s 2012 real estate sales results for waterfront properties. I will be looking at waterfront lots, the effect of foreclosures, and also be drilling down inside particular neighborhoods and areas.
Can I help you?
I am a full time Lake Martin real estate agent. I write this blog to help the public and myself stay up to date on Lake Martin real estate. I would love to be able to help you buy or sell a Lake Martin property. Please call me at 334 221 5862 or contact me by filling out this form.
Related Posts:
Debunking The Labor Day Price Drop Myth
July Sales Cool
Lake Martin Lot Sales 2011
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2011 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2010 – Lot Sales
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2010
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2009 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2008 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2007 – Year In Review
All Lake Martin Market Reports
(*)Disclaimers: All of the above info was taken from the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Accuracy is not guaranteed but deemed reliable. The above does not include sales by FSBOs or developers that sell privately and not through the MLS. But, I do think that the above represents a very large majority of all waterfront sales on Lake Martin, Alabama.
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A Reader Asks About Lake Martin Lot Leases
I have often said that I get my best blog ideas from readers of this blog and from the people I help serve in Lake Martin real estate. Today’s topic is no exception.
Shortly after I wrote this post about Alabama Power updating their waterfront lot leases to 35 years, I had a reader email me and ask me a really good question:
Reader:
I am about ten years into my lot lease from Alabama Power. I read about their new 35 year fixed term leases. Will they send me a new lease or do I need to contact them and ask for one?
My answer:
You need to call them. To my knowledge, they have not contacted any current waterfront lot lease owners and let them know this. If you would like to learn about your options, you had better call or write them. Don’t expect them to call you.
How to contact Alabama Power:
If you want information from AL Power, please don’t call me, I am just a humble real estate agent. Call the Alabama Power office in Clanton at 205-257-4593.While you have them on the phone, ask them about other news in the area of leased lots on Lake Martin. You might be surprised with the answer.
Would you like to buy a waterfront home on Lake Martin that’s on a leased lot? 128 Orchid Drive is a good one, click here for more info.
If you own a leased lot home on Lake Martin, and wonder what these changes like these might do to its value, please request a CMA on this form or click here to contact me.
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Market Report May 2012
The Lake Martin real estate market had a smashing May, tallying 32 waterfront homes sold! This is the highest number of homes sold in six years, since May of 2006.
In this real estate market report I wrote for Lake Magazine, I noted that according to the Lake Martin MLS*, April 2012 had a relatively weak number of waterfront homes sold. I wondered if this was a signal that the Lake martin market was slowing down, or if this is a mere timing thing, setting the table for an explosive May.
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It seems the latter was correct. 32 waterfront homes sold in one month is a lot for a little market like Lake Martin. Please note these numbers encompass all brokerages, all agents, in the Lake Martin MLS.
How good is 32?
To help put it into perspective, I looked at each month’s sales history since January, 2005. I found that May 2012 was the best home sales month on Lake Martin since 33 was sold in May of 2006. Think of that – the last time we have seen sales like this was in a confirmed seller’s market of 2006.
Also, another way to view this month is to ask this question:
Q: Since January of 2005, how many times has the Lake Martin real estate market exceeded 30 waterfront home sales per month?
A: Just six. That’s right, over the last 54 months, including the blistering years of 2005 and 2006, Lake Martin has exceeded 30 only six times: May 2012, August 2009, the above mentioned May 2006, and three times in 2005.
I think this proves that April 2012′s weak showing of 14 Lake Martin waterfront homes sold was an aberration, a timing issue. Of course, the same could be said about May, but I doubt that is really the case. As I write this, there are 23 home sales pending in the Lake Martin MLS and 17 recorded as sold since June 1. In other words, June is setting up to be a good sales month as well, very likely to beat the prior year’s June total of 22 homes sold.
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If we step back and look the cumulative total number of waterfront homes sold on Lake Martin so far this year, we see that 93 homes have sold. Once again, this is the best five month start since 2006.
Lake Martin Lot Sales 2012
Lake Martin waterfront lots are also selling well so far in 2012. In May, 10 lots were sold, which was the best since 10 sold in April 2011. Other than last year, we have not seen that many lots sold since 2005.
Supply Side
When I first started blogging about Lake Martin real estate way back in 2007, I always included the numbers of waterfront homes for sale on Lake Martin. Every month I trotted out the supply. But, it got rather tedious so I stopped doing it every month, only mentioning it once per quarter or so. I don’t really know why. Maybe it was because it frustrated me to see the number of homes for sale keep rising when the Lake Martin market was in an obvious shift to the buyer’s side of the equation. I don’t know.
I do think it bears a look now, in light of the sustained sales. I took a look at the number of waterfront homes for sale on Lake Martin in the last few years. It has been dropping quite a bit. If we use the month of May as an example, we see that in May of 2009 there were 589 homes for sale on the MLS. May of 2010 saw it drop to 492, then drop to 476 in 2011. In May of 2012 it was only 411. That is a 30% decrease in supply in three years. True, that percentage fluctuates based on which month you consider. It also is true that many more condos were for sale back then, but I looked at the condo effect in this post and it wasn’t all that big an influence in sales.
If supply stays low and sales continue on this trend, could 2012 be a year of actual price increases? I’m not willing to go out on that limb. Yet.
Related Posts:
Lake Martin Lot Sales 2011
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2011 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2010 – Lot Sales
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2010
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2009 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2008 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2007 – Year In Review
All Lake Martin Market Reports
(*)Disclaimers: All of the above info was taken from the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Accuracy is not guaranteed but deemed reliable. The above does not include sales by FSBOs or developers that sell privately and not through the MLS. But, I do think that the above represents a very large majority of all waterfront sales on Lake Martin, Alabama.
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Lake Martin MLS Search Tips
Kenneth and Melinda are looking around for a waterfront home on Lake Martin, and I am honored that they selected me to help them. A couple of weeks ago they were at the lake and we were looking around when Kenneth went into an unsolicited testimonial about the my Lake Martin home search – aka MLS search.
I can’t take all of the credit, FBS Data Systems runs our system, called FlexMLS. In my opinion there is no finer software solution or way to search for homes and lots. FlexMLS is an outstanding product that is very responsive, customizable, and relevant to the way that consumers would like to search.
Please take a minute to watch this video, where Kenneth explains how he started his Lake Martin home search with a couple of hundred potentially confusing possibilities, then whittled it to a managable twelve, then zeroed in on the five or six he wanted to see.
He searched on his desktop mostly, but then was able to save and transfer his favorites to his smart phone. We even zoom in and Kenneth shows you how to do it on his phone. The great thing is that my website, Lake Martin Voice, and Lake Martin’s FlexMLS system automatically recognizes if you’re using a mobile phone and tailors the experience for you. Kenneth was able to find two more homes that he wanted to see while we were at the lake.
Would you like to start your own search for a waterfront home or lot at Lake Martin? Click here or above on the Property Search button and get started. Once there, click on a smiley face and it will allow you to save your favorites. Don’t worry, the registration only comes to me, no spam.
Thanks again and way to go, Flex!!!!
Water’s Edge Real Estate Auction Results
Aliant Bank held a real estate auction for the Lake Martin waterfront neighborhood called Water’s Edge on Saturday, March 10, 2012. Since I have written a lot about this auction in the past, and have many inquires about it, I thought I would write this post to summarize my thoughts and the results of the auction.
Please Read This Disclosure
Before I begin, please be clear that I am in no way affiliated with Aliant Bank, though I am a retail customer of theirs. Neither am I affiliated with the auction company J.P. King, Water’s Edge subdivision, or any party whatsoever. I am merely an independent Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Alabama. I was once the Listing Agent for only the homes at lots 1 and 2 of Water’s Edge. I stress that it was for those two homes only, and that agency relationship ended Memorial Day Weekend of 2011. I have no inside information. I gathered information used for my below observations by simply attending the event and writing down what happened, just like any person in America could have. To get any sort of official results or comment on the auction, the best source is either the seller, Aliant Bank, or the auction company, J.P. King.
Waterfront Auction Results
If you are merely wondering what happened and what sold, the short answer is: Nothing.
We all knew, and it was fairly and clearly disclosed by Aliant and J.P. King, that this was not an absolute auction. The bank had reserve prices for everything and they were not under compulsion to sell. Apparently none of the winning bids for the waterfront homes, waterfront lot, nor off water lots were high enough to meet reserve prices. So if that’s all you want to know, you can stop reading here.
Video And Audio Lockdown Enforced By J.P. King
Readers of this blog know that I am a big believer in real estate video. Pictures are great and I take plenty of them, but video is a category killer, especially for our waterfront, rural, second home market. My heavy use of video to market homes, lots, and the area in general has been huge blessing. I can’t really take credit for this phenomenon, because I owe it mostly to my clients’ questions like “what does the view look like from the dock?” or “what does the neighborhood look like from the water?”
I made no secret about my intention to video the Water’s Edge auction. I think it was the most significant real estate event for Lake Martin this winter. Why wouldn’t I video it? I studied the auction rules and found no prohibition. So there I was, about 45 minutes before the bidding started, with my trusty camera in hand. People were milling about, chatting, and enjoying the complimentary cookies and cokes. I stood back and panned once about the crowd.
I was immediately approached by a lady in J.P. King garb. She stuck out her hand to me as if to shake and introduce, but she didn’t offer up her name. I believe “Beverly” was on her name tag, but I could be mistaken. Once I introduced myself, she wagged a finger at me and said, “No video. You will have to turn that off.”
Me: “Don’t worry, if you don’t want me to tape the bidding, I won’t. When it starts at 1:00, I will turn it off.”
Beverly: “No, you can’t video right now either.”
Me: “Not even before the auction starts?”
Beverly: “Nope.”
Me: “I’m sorry, I didn’t see that prohibition in the auction rules.”
Beverly: “Well, it’s in there.”
Then I walked over to the registration table and carefully read through the rules again. I didn’t see any such prohibition in the rules, so I walked back over to Beverly.
Me: “Excuse me. I don’t mean to be a pest, but I can’t find anywhere in the rules that says I can’t video.”
Beverly: “Hang on.” She turns and beckons to another lady that’s standing near the front table. As the lady come near, Beverly turns to me and says “This is Christie King.” I assume by Beverly’s verbal emphasis on “King” and the lilt of her eyebrows as she said it that Ms. King is of relation to the company ownership. This is only an assumption as our introduction was brief and Ms. King’s title was not offered to me.
Ms. King: “You have to put that away. No videoing. It’s not negotiable.”
Me: “I’m sorry, I would have never brought my camera if I knew it was against the rules, but I didn’t see anything prohibiting it in the auction rules.”
Ms. King: “It’s not in the rules. It’s our company policy. We don’t allow it.”
Me: “Why not?”
Ms. King: “It just isn’t. We are videoing and we don’t allow anyone else. Period. You can’t video.”
Me: “Not even the pre-auction festivities?”
Ms. King: “No. Why would you want to video anyway?”
Me: “I’ve been promoting this a lot on my blog. I am in the Lake Martin real estate business and I film big events here at the lake. I think it’s a big event for the lake, don’t you?”
Ms. King: “Yes, it’s a big event.”
Me: “I think a lot of people would want to watch a video about a big event like this.”
Ms. King: “Well, you can’t video anything. What would you do with the video, anyway?”
Me: “I would put it on my YouTube Channel and on my blog.”
Ms. King: “Well, you can’t. Our policy.”
Me: “Yes ma’am.”
I turned and went back to my truck and put up all of my video equipment. Fast forward 45 minutes to 1:00, auction time. The auctioneer takes the podium and asks everyone to gather under the tent. Everyone sat down and got quiet as the auctioneer read through the red tape and disclosures. That took about five minutes.
Then he said, “okay ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to auction, err… hold on.”
This same Ms. King was talking with him and apparently asked him to stop. She got up from her position next to him at the head table and started walking determinedly in my direction. Please keep in mind that I am standing outside the tent behind a buyer that I helped register. Also keep in mind that I had my iPhone in one hand and the bid sheet in the other. I am pretty sure that 90% of the other 100 people there had smart phones as well, but Ms. King walked directly up to me, and only to me.
Ms. King: “Are you audio taping this?”
Me, kind of incredulously: “What?”
Ms. King: “Are you audio taping this?”
Me: “No ma’am.”
Ms. King: “Audio taping is against the rules, too.”
Me: “I’m not taping anything.”
Ms. King: “Because if you are audio taping this…”
Me, interrupting: “Ms. King, I am a rule follower. I am not here to disrupt anything. I give you my word I am not recording in any way. I don’t recognize your right to ask to see my phone, but I do volunteer to let you look at it to assure yourself I am not taping.”
Ms. King, flicks a hand up in the air and walks away: “OK, well, that’s fine, if you say you’re not taping…”
Me: “I’m not.”
Again, I stress, she didn’t talk to anyone else. Neither did the auctioneer make a public announcement against taping anything. Ms. King sat down at the table, nodded to the auctioneer, and he began, “OK, ladies and gentlemen, at this time we will start to receive bids….” and away he went.
Detailed Account of Water’s Edge Auction Results
Many of you readers have asked me exactly how the auction was conducted. There was lots of curiosity out there on how it would happen, like, would they try to auction the entire thing first? Or break it into parcels? Would you get to pick your lot? In general, the auction order was:
1. The “Island” portion, they marketed this as Narrow’s Point at Water’s Edge – but most people know it as the end of Coosa 20. It had 2 older waterfront homes and 9 waterfront lots.
2. The Cottages portion – this is where the 2 new homes were built. Only one of the new homes was in the auction, but 8 other waterfront lots were included in the bidding.
3. Off water lots
1. The Island Portion
First up, they auctioned the older but fixed up and woodsy waterfront home on the end of the point. They called it Lot 1. The high bidder there was $300,000. Next was Lot 2, an older and less craftsman home, and the high bidder was at $215,000. After those two were completed, I felt there was only a small chance that the bank would take bids that low. I also felt this did not bode well as an indicator for the rest of the auction.
Next, they auctioned the rest of the waterfront lots on the island, but here they did it as “buyer’s choice.” They explained that they would auction in general, and the high bidder could buy which ever or how many lots he or she desired at that price. The highest bid first was $85,000, and the buyer picked Lot 11, or the one right next door to the home on Lot 1. The second and third bidders were at $85,000 also, and chose lots 10 and 8, respectively. The other six waterfront lots went from a low of $67,500 to a high of $70,000.
The next phase was extremely, extremely, curious to me. They announced that they would “re-bid” any parcel that anyone wanted. The auction company said that there was “great demand” to re-bid some parcels and they would put them back on the block. If you were the winning bidder the first time around, don’t worry, they said, because you will have a fair chance to “defend your original bid” aka bid higher. Perhaps this is normal, but it struck me as odd. Why not re-bid 4 more times? I was anxious to see how the crowd would respond, and if this would spur prices more acceptable to the bank. In the end, by my count, they only re-bid 4 lots. The bids were higher the second time around by an average of about $9,000. For example, Lot 9 bid for $70k the first time and $79k the second.
Next, the auctioneer announced that the bank has decided to offer a “once in a lifetime, unique opportunity” to buy the entire Island portion, unfinished, as is. The high bidder for the entire parcel, if acceptable to the bank, would take precedence over the individual lot high bidders. The bidding began, and the high bidder was $1,350,000. Since that was only slightly higher than (by my unofficial count) the $1,183,000 sum of all the individual bids, I thought it inconsequential. After this, the auctioneer announced that they would take a short break to let the bank consider all of the bids.
About five minutes passed. The auctioneer came back to the podium, thanked everyone profusely for bidding, but said something like “at this time, Aliant has selected to keep these pristine lots rather than sell them for too low a price.” This caused a great degree of grumbling in the crowd. Ten or fifteen people abruptly left. A few asked questions like, “so the bids weren’t above their reserve price?” And he answered, “no.” I can’t imagine that anyone thought the bids were absolute. Aliant and J.P. King did a good job of disclosing the there were reserve prices on everything, so if anyone was mistaken about that it’s certainly not Aliant or King’s fault, in my opinion.
2. The Cottages Portion
The auctioneer didn’t hesitate for long, but flowed right into bidding the Cottages area. This consisted of the one remaining new home, and 8 waterfront lots. He talked briefly about the unique opportunity to own such a pristine place on Lake Martin, and started the bidding on the home at lot 2. Here’s where I got nervous.
I was concerned because I had a friendly “loser buys lunch” wager with fellow Lake Martin Voice Realty agent John Christenberry. He thought that the older home on lot 1 on the island would bid within 10% of the new home on lot 2 of the Cottages portion. I disagreed, and came out the winner, as lot 2 of the Cottages’ high bid was $390k, or a comfortable 30% above lot 1 on the Narrows. Confident in my win, I settled back to watch the rest of the auction, dreaming of a Gulf Shrimp Po Boy and wine lunch at Springhouse. Appetizer. Dessert. I plan to stick it to him.
Back at the auction, J.P. King then moved on to the waterfront lots of the Cottages section. Since no more waterfront homes were available, and (I guess) since many buyers realized the bank had high reserve prices, most all of the bidders got up and left. Maybe 20 bidders were left under the tent. There were still plenty of people around, mind you, but they were lake realtors like myself, Aliant Bank folks, auction staff, and neighbors walking their dogs. J.P. King auctioned these waterfront lots just like the ones before, or buyer’s choice. The high bidder selected the lots.
Lot 10 was selected first by a bidder at $75k. Lot 7 followed at the same price, then lot 3 went at $72.5k. The rest went for decreasing increments with the last at $67.5k.
3. Off Water Lots
The off water lots of Water’s Edge were the last to be auctioned. I will admit a bit of confusion on this portion. I was paying attention very carefully but I had a hard time keeping track of which lots were selling. They bid this as a buyer’s choice also, so sometimes the bidders would shout out their desired lot by the lot number, and then sometimes it was by the parcel number designated by the auction sheet.
It seemed to me that only 9 or 10 people were left that were really bidding. Each high bidder had to announce their bid number and I wrote that down on the form provided. The highest off water lot went at $6,500 and the lowest at $1,250. By that point in the day, the bidding was loose and casual. One guy was even letting his kid bid by going “yeeeeeep” like they do on Storage Wars. It was funny.
The End
After all the bidding was completed, the auctioneer asked for more patience as they talked with the bank to see if they would accept the bids received on the Cottages portion and the off water portion. After about 10 minutes the auctioneer came back and said they haven’t decided yet, but all high bidders would be contacted by noon, Monday, March 12, by the bank. He thanked us all, and that was that. It was over.
I have since talked to some winning bidders, and they were eventually contacted by Aliant. They were told that the bank has a buyer for the entire project, that they were currently negotiating with them, and they would let the bidders know what happens. I don’t really know what to make of this. Did Aliant have a large buyer in their pocket the entire time? If so, why the auction? Was it an attempt to demonstrate value, or just a grand negotiating tactic? Mine is not to reason why. One thing is clear – the auction on March 10 did not produce one single real sale at Water’s Edge. I can’t know if this accomplished Aliant’s goals or justified the cost of the auction, because I don’t know their goals. I also don’t know how much it cost them to hire J.P. King to do this. I have talked to people familiar with auctions of this size, and they said it can cost anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000, depending on things like advertising, signage, and entertainment.
Statement On Consumer Preference Of Lake Martin Buyers
Lack of real sales aside, the Water’s Edge auction to me was always much more interesting as a study in consumer preferences. By consumer preferences, I mean, are Lake Martin real estate buyers desiring an auction format rather than dealing with realtors? Would they be swept up in a fever pitch to pay at or above market values? You never know. Music industry execs didn’t think that consumers would want to buy one song at a time, either. Boy were they wrong about iTunes.
My general opinion was that the bidders were unfazed by the pace or the presentation of the auction format. Occasionally, the auctioneer would pause and describe what a pristine opportunity this was. This didn’t seem to increase bids. Also occasionally the fellows working the crowd for J.P. King would take part in the excitement. Their official job seemed to be to help the auctioneer spot bids, but sometimes they would holler out something like “woo-hoo!” or “that’s what I’m talkin bout!” when someone would bid. They would mill about the crowd, offering to lighten the mood with jokes like “at these prices, I’d give em for Christmas presents!” which drew chuckles the first time but not the second. They also tried well meaning picture painting by saying, “hey folks, can’t you imagine waking up to that nice view every morning, ya-hoo!” Still other times they would pause the action and ask a procedural question like, “Mr. Auctioneer, is it true that there is no buyer’s premium if these good people purchased today?” whereas the auctioneer would respond with, “that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, with no buyer’s premium, what you bid is what you pay. What do you say, folks, let’s ….”
This whole process fascinated me. People bid, it is true, and occasionally the above encouragement led to a few more additional bids from where it had stalled before. But those additional bids were, for example, from $65k to $66k, not to $120k like I think the seller had hoped.
Maybe other auctions are different, I sure am not an expert. But I can say that at Lake Martin, on that day, for Water’s Edge, buyers did not seem to be swept up into a mindless, piranha feeding frenzy of buying. In other words, they did not check their brain at the door, they had a good idea of what they wanted, and stuck to it.
Obviously, I am biased as I am a real estate agent. But the whole thing confirmed for me what I hear from my buyers: second home and lot purchases are a big deal. Quite often my buyers have been thinking or dreaming for years about this, and dedicate many months to research and consider all of their options while they are actively looking. They don’t like pressure, and they don’t like to feel rushed.
What’s Next With Water’s Edge
Many people have asked me what I think Aliant will do with Water’s Edge. I have no idea. Is it true that they have a buyer for the entire development? You had better ask them. I still say, after all of these years, that Water’s Edge, Eagle Point, whatever you want to call it, has tremendous potential. It has had some snags in the past, it is true. But I have seen what someone with talent can do with it. Bryan Jones looked intensely at Water’s Edge and drew up one of the coolest master plans I have ever seen. Can someone buy it all and flip it and become rich? I doubt it. But I still like it, and will be watching just like everyone else.
I’m sorry this post is so long, but I didn’t want to break it up. If you actually read the entire thing, I thank you. Come by my office and I will buy you a Slim Jim as a reward. I’m exhausted.
