Archive for the 'Sandestin Living' Category
Sandestin Homes for Sale & Sold – November
December 10th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living
There were three Sandestin homes sold in November. They include two really nice homes in Burnt Pine – one for $2.4 million is a three bedroom, three and a half bath home with 4,460 square feet and the other for $3.2 million is a four bedroom, four and a half bath home with 5,685 square feet. Additionally, there are five homes pending in Sandestin including yet another Burnt Pine home that is listed at $1.8 million.
There are currently 185 Sandestin homes for sale. They range from a two bedroom, two bath home with 1,182 square feet in Linkside for $319,000 to a four bedroom, six bathroom home with 5,800 square feet on Club Drive in Burnt Pine that is bayfront for $4.995 million.
Sandestin Homes for Sale – December
Total # of Listings 185
Lowest Price Listing $319,900
Highest Price Listing $4,995,000
Average Price $1,150,113
Avg. Price/SqFt $400
Avg. Days on Market 222
(Click on Graph Above to Enlarge).
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Best Buy on Bay Front Home in Sandestin Area
November 13th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living, South Walton Living
The price, location & beauty of this home make this head and shoulders above all other homes on the bay in our area – thus this is the first time we have done a post about one of our listings. This new, never lived in home is listed at $1.395 million.
(Click on All Pictures to Enlarge).
This home is not on the grounds of Sandestin and is technically in Miramar Beach, but this picture shows you the proximity to Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin. And you don’t have the traffic of Sandestin because this home is near the end of a dead end street.
The picture to the left shows the new two story dock. The backyard and dock can be reached via exiting your screened in back porch that includes swimming pool, hot tub and outdoor kitchen. A central security system is also included.
The home is at 730 Bayshore Drive (north on Geronimo off Highway 98 – Resort Interiors to the north and Copper Grill to the south) has 3850 sf, 5 bedrooms, 5 baths with 24 foot ceilings in the downstairs den area. The den and kitchen have travertine floors, granite counters and stainless steel appliances.
Of the eight new (since 2005) homes listed directly on the bay on Bayshore Drive, this home is $117 per square foot less than the next closest and $200 per square foot less than the third lowest. One might easily think this is a custom home.
The average price for the other new bay front homes on Bayshore Drive is $664 per sf, while this home is $362 per square foot. In fact this beautiful house, completed in 2007, is the least expensive new home (built since 2005) on the bay in not only Sandestin but all of Destin & South Walton.
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Homes Sold & For Sale in Sandestin – October
November 9th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living
October was a pretty active month as there were eight homes sold in Sandestin for the month. The least expensive was a three bedroom, four bath, 1596 square foot home in the Bungalos that sold for $478,000. Another home on Merion Drive sold for $1.225 million and featured three bedrooms, three baths and 3304 square feet.
Homes Sold in Sandestin in October
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Total # of Listings 8
(Click on the Graph Above to Enlarge). There are currently 196 homes for sale in Sandestin. They range in price from a small home with two bedrooms, two baths, 1191 square feet at Linkside at $319,900. The most expensive home in Sandestin is in Burnt Pine on the bay with four bedrooms and six baths priced at $4.995 million. Homes for Sale in Sandestin – November 1st. Total # of Listings 191
(Click on the Graph Above to Enlarge). |
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P.F. Changs Opens in Sandestin
October 21st, 2007 Categories: Restaurant Reviews, Sandestin Living
Christopher Renteria is Operating Partner and in the forefront of Flemings Steak House in Sandestin. Chris and his entire staff have a real positive, professional and upbeat attitude and that along with one of the coolest settings in our area make Flemings a favorite haunt of ours. Chris was kind enough to invite us to the pre-opening party last night at P.F. Changs in Sandestin, as Changs is a sister restaurant to Flemings.
The opening of Changs has been highly anticipated in our area and based on our dining experience last night the place will be packed for a long time to come. The main seating area pictured in the first paragraph above (click on all pictures to enlarge) is not a mind boggling beautiful setting, but you come here for the food. Even though we had a table reserved, we opted for the bar where we had outstanding service.
For starters I went with my favorite at Changs (having eaten at other Changs) the Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Along with spiced chicken there is green onions, water chestnuts, black mushrooms, rice sticks, sesame oil, garlic and minced chicken sauce. Its a great dish and although I dont go for the rice sticks when I make my wrap, I dont feel overly stuffed for the main course.
My guest ordered the Crab Wontons, but because the place was totally packed and there was action aplenty she was accidentally served the Harvest Spring Rolls. The perfectly crunchy exterior had stuffed inside bamboo shoot strips, black mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, celery, soy sauce, sesame oil, mushroom oyster sauce with a sweet and sour sauce. Others around us had the same appetizer, and everyone was pleased.
When one of the waitstaff inquired if the Won Tons were good, I pointed out that we got the Spring Rolls but were very happy with them. She insisted that we also get the Won Tons, and not wanting to disappoint her we tackled them next. Another crispy but thicker exterior was filled this time with crab meat, cream cheese, garlic, ginger, bell pepper, onions, white pepper and a spicy plum sauce. I liked the dish as the ginger aspect of it gave it a pleasant and different taste, but this was my least favorite dish of the night.
Not trying to be overly imaginative (or perhaps starting to zone out a little after spending all afternoon at the Rosemary Beach Wine Festival), I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken. Even in my haziness, it turned out to be a good move. The marinated chicken was surrounded by chili pepper pods (be forewarned on these I couldnt taste my wine for a few sips after consuming one), garlic, Kung Pao Sauce, peanuts, dried chili flakes, sesame oil and green onions.
The dish was a little dry, but that was fine as I had plenty of things around me to remody that. Along with a huge bowl of moist brown rice (white rice also available), a trio of sauces was delivered at the beginning of our meal. The red sauce delivered a little more kick than I wanted, the mustard horseradish sauce also had kick but a likeable kick and the third was also good with a soy sauce base and a small mixture of the other two.
My guest ordered the Shrimp with Candied Walnuts. I thought the dish sounded too sweet with honeydew melons and a creamy lemon sauce, but it was quite good.
I was struck by how fresh the shrimp tasted, and the dish strangely enough tasted less sweet when you combined some melon with the shrimp. All in all a good dish, but you have to be in the mood.
Changs has a decent wine list, and we gave it a small workout by trying different things by the glass. For the chicken wraps, we went with La Crema Pinot Noir a wine that is our go to pinot noir as many places in our area serve this by the glass, and its a good bargain. For the Spring Rolls, J Pinot Gris was the choice. We tried the Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc with crab won tons I like this one because its not overly loaded with grapefruit as many sauvignon blancs can be. For the shrimp dish, the Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay was our choice. My excuse being the wine festival, I cant remember what I had with the Kung Pao Chicken.
We had a great evening at Changs, and this has to be one of my favorite chain restaurants anywhere. The waitstaff was positive, attentive and professional. I really liked the music and the vibe in the bar area, and the wine and food totally lived up to our high expectations. I know that there is oftentime lines to get in to Cantina Laredo, but I see P.F. Changs being even more popular in our area. Go!
We very much enjoy writing these restaurant reviews. This is our avocation, but our vocation is representing Buyers and Sellers in real estate transactions on the Emerald Coast. If you are interested in learning more about our real estate services, please Click Here.
For our Restaurant Review Credentials, please Click Here
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Homes Sold & Homes for Sale in Sandestin – September
October 3rd, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living
There were six homes sold in Sandestin in September. They include a three bedroom, three bath home with 1664 square feet that sold for $450,000 and a 2660 square foot home with four bedrooms and three baths for $1.325 million.
Homes Sold in Sandestin – September
Total # of Listings 6
Lowest Price Listing $450,000
Highest Price Listing $2,725,000
Average Price $1,043,667
Avg. Price/SqFt $368
Avg. Days on Mkt 158
(Click on the Graph Below to Enlarge)
There are 173 homes for sale in Sandestin at the first of October. They range from a small two bedroom/two bath 1200 square foot home in Linkside for $344,000 to a home on Club Drive that has four bedrooms, seven baths, 4832 square feet and is listed for $4.475 million.
Homes for Sale in Sandestin – October 1st.
Total # of Listings 173
Lowest Price Listing $304,900
Highest Price Listing $4,475,000
Average Price $1,166,934
Avg. Price/SqFt $410
Avg. Days on Mkt 232
(Click on Graph Above to Enlarge).
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Top 5 Sports Bars for Football on the Emerald Coast
September 25th, 2007 Categories: Panama City Beach Living, Restaurant Reviews, Sandestin Living
It’s that time of the year when sports bars become very important in many of our lives. With the advent of Thursday and Friday night college football games, the only two nights that football junkies can’t get their fix is on Tuesday and Wednesday. And with the upcoming baseball playoffs, look for those two nights to be taken too. Nothing is more fun than gathering with friends and family to take in one of these sporting events at one of our great sports bars. Here are our nominations for The Top 5 Sports Bars in our area in descending order.
Honorable Mention – Sportsbook Grill & Bar in Destin, Pineapple Willies on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach & Acme Oyster Bar in Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin.
Number 5 – Calypso Beach Cafe and Sports Grill in the west end of Panama City Beach on Front Beach Road next to Calypso Condominiums and Pier Park. My guest and I were there an opening day with a bunch of friends who are avid Ole Miss fans. We watched them hang on to beat Memphis 23-21 in one of the many rooms that are available in this much larger than meets the eye venue. The Rebels haven’t tasted victory again after three more games, although a moral victory/loss to the Gators gives Rebel fans a glimmer of hope.
This is an excellent place to watch your favorite team with over 100 televisions available with 16 of them being larger than 50″. The manager is incredibly energetic and would make for an excellent special teams coach, as the guy is fired up like crazy every time I’ve seen him. We sampled some of their game fare with the best being the sauteed crab claws. They were a little stringy but the sauce was excellent, and everybody at the table was dipping whatever they had (crackers, tortilla chips, quesadillas, etc) in to that sauce. Hoddy Toddy!
Number 4 – Johny O’Quigleys in Destin. Drop the shoppers off at Destin Commons and the readers off at Books A Million or Barnes & Noble and pick them up in three hours or so after the game is over. O’Quigleys is across the street from the mall, has plenty of bar fare and a rollicking place to take in the game with a whole lot of televisions and a lively crowd. We watched the Saints go out of the playoffs last year at the hands of Da Bears at this site, and it was an unhappy partisan Saint crowd that left the restaurant that day. Three games in to the season and the Saints nor the fans have recovered from that beating based on their performance (0-3) so far this year.
Number 3 – Beef O’Brady’s in the Market Shops at Sandestin. Not only do you have televisions at your table to go along with the big screens, but you have an outside area (with bar) to take in games (and people watch) when the weather cooperates – which is most of the time. We arrived late a couple of Saturday nights ago, sat outside and saw the last few minutes of Alabama’s dramatic and exhilirating (for Tide fans) comeback win over the Razorbacks of Arkansas. Tide fans are now back to earth after the Bulldogs returned to the hedges with an overtime victory in Tuscaloosa. Alabama backers still have the inkling that Saban is the one to lead them back to a national championship that they haven’t tasted since the Sugar Bowl victory over Miami in 1993.
Number 2 – Buster’s Oyster Bar & Grill in Miramar Beach. I have to admit that I’m influenced by their oysters and what I feel is the best gumbo in the area that is served at Buster’s. But beyond that there is always a lively crowd on game day at Buster’s watching the 30 televisions that are on display. Buster’s has been a game day tradition for 20 years, and in our area – that’s a real long time. They have a great children’s menu, and it is probably the most kid friendly place to take the whole family to watch the game.
Number 1 – Angler’s Beachside Grill on Okaloosa Island in Ft. Walton – a legend!Click Here to read a full review of Anglers.
We very much enjoy writing these restaurant reviews. This is our avocation, but our vocation is representing Buyers and Sellers in real estate transactions on the Emerald Coast. If you are interested in learning more about our real estate services, please Click Here.
For our Restaurant Review Credentials, please Click Here
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Homes Sold & Homes for Sale in Sandestin – August
September 11th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living
There were two detached single family homes sold in Sandestin in August. The first home is a three bedroom, three and a half bath, 2736 square foot home that sold for $700,000. This home was built in 1988 but has been remodeled, and it has 120 feet on the Baytowne Golf Course. The other home is a five bedroom, six and a half bath, 6200 square foot home that sold for $3.1 million. This home sits just inside the guard gate in the prestigious Burnt Pine area of Sandestin.
There are currently 180 homes for sale in Sandestin. They range from a two bedroom, two bath, 1200 square foot home in Linkside listed at $354,000 to a four bedroom, four and half bath, 5252 square foot home located in Burnt Pine overlooking the ninth tee with an asking price of $2.75 million.
Homes for Sale in Sandestin – Beginning of September
Total # of Listings 180
Lowest Price Listing $354,000
Highest Price Listing $5,199,000
Average Price $1,199,804
Avg. Price/SqFt $419
Avg. Days on Market 217
(Click on the Graph Below to Enlarge)
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Condos Sold & Condos for Sale in Grand Dunes – August
September 4th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living, South Walton Living
There was one condo sold in Grand Dunes in August. It was Unit 2240 in the North Tower (this being one floor below the penthouse level) and has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,333 square feet. The unit was nicely furnished and sold for $1.215 million.
There are currently 48 condos for sale in Grand Dunes at the beginning of September. The entry level unit has a very motivated Seller at $1,098,000. The unit is on the third floor of the North Tower with three bedrooms, three baths and 2,490 square feet. At the other end of the price spectrum is a Penthouse Unit in the South Tower that is five bedrooms, five baths, 4,956 square feet and priced at $4.5 million.
Condos for Sale in Grand Dunes – Beginning of September
Total # of Listings 48
Lowest Price Listing $1,098,000
Highest Price Listing $4,500,000
Average Price $1,738,540
Avg. Price/SqFt $612
Avg. Days on Mkt 260
(Click on the graph below to Enlarge)
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Diverse Dining Options – The Marlin Grill in Baytowne Wharf Sandestin
August 28th, 2007 Categories: Restaurant Reviews, Sandestin Living
One of our favorite venues for dining, entertainment and people watching is The Marlin Grill in Sandestin’s Baytowne Wharf.
When weather permits one of the great dining pleasures of our area is to sit outside and listen to the sounds of a live band in the Events Plaza directly in front of you, have a nice leisurely meal with a good bottle of wine from their extensive wine list and people watch to your hearts content. It can be a very romantic setting with white tablecoths, candles, etc, or it’s a great place to take the kids as they can run freely in the Events Plaza. (Click on the picture above to Enlarge).
In the past few weeks we met my guest’s clients – Rick, Wendell and Pam – on two occasions at the Marlin Grill. One was around dusk on a beautiful Wednesday evening with beautiful weather, and a blues band performing in the plaza in front of a full and bustling crowd. Vicki and I ordered their grilled vegetable salad and one of our favorite appetizers on the Emerald Coast – the Duck Spring Rolls.
The delicious spring roll appetizer works really well with pinot noir. Because the guys had steaks it made sense to go with that wine selection, so we paired it all with La Crema Pinot Noir from Sonoma County.
The guys also had one of the larger side dishes in South Walton – a side of Marlin Grill’s humungous hash browns.
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Homes Sold & Homes for Sale in Sandestin – July
August 14th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Sandestin Living
There were eight single family homes sold during July in Sandestin. They ranged from an older home in Sandestin (built in 1982) with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and 1,896 square foot for $365,000 to a 4,000 square foot home with five bedrooms and four baths for $1.9 million. The latter home overlooks a lake and the 13th tee of the Burnt Pine Golf Course.
Homes Sold in Sandestin – July
Total # of Listings 8
Lowest Price Listing $365,000
Highest Price Listing $1,900,000
Average Price $970,063
Avg. Price/SqFt $326
Avg. Days on Market 244
(Click on the graph below to enlarge)
At the beginning of August there were 196 homes for sale in Sandestin. They range from one of the older homes in Sandestin (built in 1976) that is 1121 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms for $299,000 to a bay front home with four bedrooms, six baths and 5,800 square feet for $5.4 million. This home, as pointed out in last month’s post, is on the lot of the original developer of Sandestin Bay Estates and has 112 feet on the bay.
Homes for Sale in Sandestin – Beginning of August
Total # of Listings 192
Lowest Price Listing $299,000
Highest Price Listing $5,400,000
Average Price $1,170,032
Avg. Price/SqFt $412
Avg. Days on Mkt 200
(Click on the graph below to enlarge)
The above indicates slightly over a two year supply of inventory – 196 homes for sale in Sandestin divided by eight homes sold) and does not take in to account the huge volume (581) of condos for sale in Sandestin at the beginning of August.
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