Bayside Academy is the premiere private school on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. I graduated from Bayside Academy in Daphne, AL in 1994 and although I have not found time to be an active alumni, my memories of that time are cherished and the friendships I forged are still alive and well today.  I arrived on campus for the beginning of the 6th grade school year, a transplant from a local catholic school.  I can remember being scared of the unknown of my new surroundings but from that point on, I was completely content. In those days, the school buildings were much older and the campus was much simpler than it is today.  There was a track, a gymnasium and a few rows of modest white rows of school houses, sectioned by grade.  These buildings followed a gentle slope down to our historic m... 07/08/2010

Daphne, Alabama foreclosed properties account for a relatively small portion of the total listings available for sale.  There are currently 20+ REO(Bank Owned) foreclosures on the market in Daphne, AL, with prices ranging from well below $100,000 to up into the $300,000 range.  Prior to making an offer on a REO foreclosure, you will want to consult with a local Baldwin County Realtor in regards to our foreclosure laws and more specifically Alabama's 1 year right of redemption.  Many banks require anywhere from 1 to 3% in earnest money and either a mortgage pre-approval or proof of funds letter to be submitted with the offer.  Learn more about Alabama's current foreclosure laws. The link below will provide you with access to up to date MLS information on foreclosures currently being mark... 07/01/2010

Wateford subdivision in Daphne, Alabama is breathing new life with the help of local investors and developers, like Colony Homes & Wright Homes & Designs.  The investors paid $1.47 million for 74 of the 82 total lots.  After nearly two years of dormancy, this once bank-owned subdivision now has seven homes under construction and more set to start. Search Waterford Homes for Sale in Daphne, AL Prospective home buyers will likely be impressed with the amenities of the community and the homes of Waterford, which will feature the unique appeal of cottage style board and batten exteriors, rear entry alleys, curved front driveways, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and hardwood floors.  One of the custom homes previously lost to foreclosure, has been converted to a 3,000 square ... 06/30/2010

May, 2010, home sales on the Eastern Shore declined 16% from April, as the market took a breather after the rush to the finish of the home buyer tax credit. Between Spanish Fort and Point Clear, 90 homes closed, compared with 108 sales in April. Pending sales sagged too, with 146 under contract in the second week of May, compared to 186 a month ago. Seems the summer doldrums have set in early, with slow and variable buyer interest. Unfortunately for existing home sellers, short sales, foreclosures and new construction made up almost half of the sales in this suburban market of the Mobile, Alabama, metro. New homes currently represent 11 percent of inventory; short sales and foreclosures, about 9 percent. But brighter days could be ahead for existing home sellers. Prior to the Great Rece... 06/09/2010

Closed sales and home contracts posted strong numbers in April, as the home buyer tax credit expired at the end of that month. On the Eastern shore of Mobile, Ala., 108 homes closed in April, up from 80 units in March. And as of May 12, another 186 homes were under contract, up from 173 in March. For the third consecutive month, the list-to-sale percentage has stayed near 95%, which may be a sign this market, encompassing Fairhope, Daphne and Spanish Fort, has found its bottom. The question on everyone's mind: Does this have staying power? Stay tuned, is all I can say.    Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:Total houses for sale: 1,250, including 80 short sales or foreclosures.Spanish Fort: 132Daphne: 362Fairhope: 638Lake Forest: 118 Pending salesTotal:  186Spanish Fort: 29 Daphne:... 05/13/2010

Gosh, it's been grim.   But I'm here to tell you that this month - April 2010 - feels like it might as well be 2005, considering the volume of house sales going on.   Sure, the homebuyer tax credit expires April 30. Sure, some people moved up their time frames to capture as much as $8,000 in tax credits.   But I'm hoping that the effort to get the housing market chugging again like a great locomotive will have staying power. It just takes some time to get the big wheels on the Real Estate Express moving. And maybe, just maybe, sales will maintain a more normal pace.   More than 175 homes in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope are under contract. This is the best first quarter since 2007. Prices have adjusted, and there's no changing that anytime soon, but at least things are happening aga... 04/14/2010

Pending sales have soared as the expiration of the home buyer tax credit approaches. By April 8, 173 homes on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama Metro area had gone under contract, up from 125 under contract during the first week in March, 2010. Of these, 43 are new construction and 30 are short sales or foreclosures. The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, later expanded to include many previous homeowners, expires April 30. Buyers must have properties under contract by the time to get up to $8,000 in tax credits. Home sales also rose in March to 80 units, up from 63 in February in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope.   Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:Total houses for sale: 1,226, including 72 short sales or foreclosures.Spanish Fort: 126Daphne: 383Fairhope: 604Lake Forest: 1... 04/08/2010

Home sales rose 46% in February and pending sales increased almost 7% over January on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, Metro area. Ok, so January is rarely a great month in real estate in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope. But an increase from 43 sales in January to 63 in February (even with the distractions of Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl) is worth noting. Buyer activity registered through property showings is also up. But does it have staying power? Maybe. People can only put their lives - and the real estate that's often tied to it - on hold for so long. So there is a long pent-up demand. Home prices are quite attractive on one hand, and some buyers are concerned about the specter of rising mortgage rates. Certainly, the home-buyer tax credit, in which purchase agreements m... 03/05/2010

Pending home sales are showing signs of better days ahead for the real estate market on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, Metro area. January sales were typically weak, at 43 homes sold in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope, compared with 56 in December 2009. Still, last month's sales were a slight improvement over January 2009 when just 40 homes sold. This first week in February, 117 homes are under contract, a nice improvement from the 101 under contract in the first of January. Pricing remains soft, with sellers taking on average 7 percent off the list price in January. Inventory is rising, as it always does in the spring. Short sales and foreclosures remain a popular draw for buyers, but only represent 6% of all the homes listed on the Eastern Shore.     Here are the stats fo... 02/05/2010

The Daphne, Alabama Lake Forest development is the largest residential community in the State of Alabama. Lake Forest has around 3,400 property owners with approximately $38 dues per lot. This PUD development has a clubhouse, golf courses, horseback riding stables, swimming pools, tennis courts and a yacht club on Mobile Bay. Lake Forest is located on the south side of U. S. Interstate Highway 10, east side of U. S. Highway 98, and located near major regional shopping centers. Lake Forest is conveniently located near Historic Downtown Mobile, Alabama by traveling about 15 minutes west across the I-10 Bay-Way. Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Alabama's white sandy beaches and blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico are located only about a 35-minute drive south southeast. Currently, Lake Fo... 01/29/2010

  Statistics can be manipulated. But the evidence shows a 17.5% decline in house values on the Eastern Shore in 2009. Coupled with our deceptive and behind-the-rest-of-the-nation 1% decline in 2008, housing prices are almost back to pre-Hurricane Ivan levels of 2003-04.             The picture is a bit brighter in terms of the number of homes sold. Low interest rates, the first-time homebuyer tax credit and an abundance of inventory and incentives helped check the decline in the total sales to only 3.5% compared to 2008.             For the year, 803 homes sold between Spanish Fort and Point Clear, compared with 833 last year. Of these sales, 35% (281) were new construction and 14% (110) were foreclosures or short sales. That means "regular" existing home sales represented only half of ... 01/19/2010

            Home sales on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay proved to be weak in December, as sales declined to 56 compared to 65 in November.             A poll of Realtors by the National Association of Realtors predicted a lull during the holidays and that was borne out in the statistics. Locally, however, the end-of-year season is usually second only to the April-May rush in sales in the area between Spanish Fort and Point Clear.             However, local Realtors report an uptick in buyer inquiries and showings in the last weeks of 2008. Hopefully, that will result in transactions in 2010. For now, pending sales are down slightly from 110 during the first week in December, 2009, to 101 on January 7.   Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:Total houses for sale: 1,144Spanish Fort:... 01/07/2010

In real estate, the mantra once was: My goal is to sell it for the highest price in the shortest amount of time, and control every phase of the transaction. Most Realtors knew the first of this statement was a goal (to sell it), but the second was where they could really exercise their real estate chops by keeping things on track for a closing. With various changes coming up in 2010, transaction control will be allocated to the lenders and buyers for a time until the real estate community adjusts to the new federal regulations and figures out how to regain control. But it's going to be a icy, slippery 1st quarter as we skid around the highway to closing, bouncing off the guardrails of the new regulations. Loreena Yeo outlined in an excellent post about buyers now choosing the closing co... 12/14/2009

Home sales improved slightly in November, with 65 properties sold compared with 59 in October. New construction (most selling between $180,000 and $200,000) accounted for 37% of all the sales on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, metro area. For the price-per-square-foot fans, the average in new construction sales was $98.76 a square foot; the low, $77.94; and the high, $126.60. These numbers are significant as an indicator of what sellers of existing homes could hope to sell for, particularly in neighborhoods with competing new construction. The appeal of new construction is not new, but with the home-buyer tax credit initially targeting first-time buyers who are often younger buyers, the attraction of "new" is even stronger. In fact, Move.com reported in November that a survey ... 12/05/2009

Patient goes into her doctor's office. "Doc, not feeling so good," she says with a sniffle. "Tell me what's going on," the doc says flipping open his chart as he rolls his stool closer. "Well, .. (sniff) my head's all stuffed up. My nose is running. I've got a hacking cough and my neck hurts." "Let's take a look," the doc says, and proceeds to go through his examination with his tongue depressor, stethoscope, etc. Once he finishes, he swings around to his laptop and punches the keys. He pulls out his prescription pad and rips off a couple of sheets. ---  Realtor goes into her seller's home. "Need to sell this house and move it quickly," seller says with authority. "Tell me what's going on," the Realtor says, pulling her note pad. "Well, I've gotten a new job and I know the real estate m... 11/17/2009

The upcoming expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit likely lead to a reduction in home sales in October on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, metro area. Home sales fell from 87 in September to 59 in October in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope. The first-time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000 was set to expire Nov. 30 and buyers apparently wanted to make that deadline with plenty of time to spare. Other buyers may have been waiting to see what would happen next. At this writing, the U.S. Senate is poised to extend that credit through April 2010 and expand it to people with a $6,500 credit to people who have owned their home at least 5 of the last 8 years (income limits apply). With Senate passage, the bill is expected to be expedited through the house and to President Ob... 11/04/2009

  A year after the 2008  financial meltdown, let's take stock of the correction in home prices on the Eastern Shore.   ■ The number of homes sold in the 3rd quarter of 2009 was only 6% behind home sales in the 3rd quarter of 2008.   ■ Average sales price this past quarter was $243,176 - 19% lower than the average sales price of $298,947 a year ago.   The first statistic shows that the market is stabilizing in one respect.   A year ago, home sales between Spanish Fort and Point Clear fell off a cliff. Last summer 128 homes sold in June and another 135 in July. Then came August 2008 with only 84 sales, a 40 percent drop in the number of homes sold.   That we are only 6% behind the third quarter of 2008 demonstrates the difficult and momentous shift in attitudes toward home prices. Because... 10/10/2009

Home sales in the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, metro area improved ever so slightly in September, with 87 sales, compared to 82 sales in August. Pending sales dropped from 158 during the first week of September to 128 during the first week of October in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope/Point Clear.  In typical years - and this is not a typical year - home sales slow during the back-to-school season and pick up again in late October.  Whether there will be a last minute rush of buyers trying to qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit that expires Nov. 30, is anybody's guess.      Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:Total houses for sale: 1,211Spanish Fort: 139Daphne: 375Fairhope: 569Lake Forest: 123 Pending salesTotal: 128Spanish Fort: 19Daphne: 60Fairhope:... 10/07/2009

A year ago, home sales on the Eastern Shore fell off a cliff. Then they tumbled even further, apparently hitting bottom in the early spring. But that month - August 2008 - showed a breath-taking 40 percent decline in the number of houses sold between Spanish Fort and Point Clear on the Eastern Shore the Mobile Metro area. To demonstrate: 128 homes sold in June 2008 and another 135 sold in July. Then came August, 2008, with only 84 sales. Even with anemic sales, the average sales price was $303,576 and the median was $249,250. Now, a year later, the average sales price was $263,997 and the median was $187,450, a reflection of the extreme correction in housing prices, as well as what type of house is selling. But a year ago, only a little more than a hundred houses were under contract. No... 09/07/2009

"The Woodlands At Malbis" is located along the east side of Alabama State Highway 181, a few miles south of U. S. Interstate Highway 10 and also south of U. S. Highway 90.  The Malbis Regional Shopping Center is located on the northern side of U. S. Highway 10 and only minutes from this subdivision. "The Woodlands of Malbis" has 35 lots and eight common area parcels according to online records.  This subdivision is described as "a fantastic tree-lined upscale neighborhood with lakes and estate-sized lots."   The Baldwin County Association of REALTORS' online records indicate 4 active listings ranging from $494,900 to $1,900,000 with 3,258 to 5,740 square feet and 9 past sold properties selling between $550,000 and $840,000 with 4,296 to 4,939 square feet . For further information, conta... 08/08/2009