Price Per Square Foot….Not Always What It Seems
January 8th, 2009 | categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate, What Is Selling In Coconut Grove Real Estate?
A few weeks ago I represented the buyers in the sale of this property at 3020 Seminole Street for $1,085,000. The home went for $542.00 per square foot. At first glance, $542.00 a foot seems like an outrageously high number considering the fact that the house is an older cottage that needs a little bit of updating. Add in the fact that the highest price per square foot for a non-waterfront home in Coconut Grove in 2008 was $578.00 (this was a new construction home with no detail left undone and the finest of appliances, millwork and flooring) – and you are certainly confused.
This is exactly why you cannot strictly look at the price per square foot of home sales. The sale on Seminole is a very unique sale because even though there is a 2,000 square foot cottage on the property, the true value here is in the land (a gorgeous, oak-filled, half acre lot on a prime street).
My buyers plan to update the home and not tear it down. Therefore, we can “sort of” say that the home sold at $542.00 per square feet of living area but it was technically sold at land value. It all gets very confusing. What makes Coconut Grove very unique, is that we have so many different types of properties within a small area that you cannot compare apples to oranges. If you were going strictly by “price per square foot”, one might assume that all 2,000 square foot (old) cottages in the North Grove could command $542.00 a foot and that is certainly not the case.
