By Tad Hunter

The vacation market is in full swing and rents are up again this year. In the rental market business, a measure of success is to maximize income per available night. In the hotel and vacation space, it’s the combination of the nightly rental rate multiplied by the occupancy percentage. The higher the revenue per night the better you are doing relative to other properties. RealJoy Vacations enjoyed a very good Spring, with many new owners joining our management program. As Director of Sales and owner relations, it is most rewarding to see our revenue per night the highest it has ever been. Our team of over 60 full-time employees is working hard to deliver the service and income that RealJoy expects to generate for our property owners. Everyone’s effort and teamwork make my job that much easier and enjoyable.

I recently volunteered as a fundraiser for Sacred Heart golf tournament, where my role was to witness the golfers as they attempted to hit a hole in one. It was a great event, and raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital’s Emergency Room. Interestingly, I noticed that as each foursome stepped onto the tee box they pointed out the “danger” on the hole to one another. The golfers noted the sand traps, water, and wetland areas between tee and the green. From the tee box there are many things to be concerned with to avoid trouble. Later in the day, I walked down to the green and looked back at the tee box. From the green, most of the danger areas do not really seem to be a problem. I realized that the sand traps and other obstacles are arranged to catch your eye but from the green they appear minimal. As a metaphor for life, when faced with a challenge, picture yourself succeeding at your goal. The obstacles may appear large at the beginning but when you look back you’ll see that they were merely distractions.

Sandestin/Tops’l Gulfside- There are 74 condos listed for sale in Sandestin and Tops’l. 23 are Gulf side. Of these 23, 11 are 2 bedrooms with an average list price of $584,000. 5 Gulf side condos sold in the last month with a mean closing price of $580,000.

There are currently 17 condos for sale in Miramar Beach (excluding Sandestin) that are Gulffront. Only 7 are under the $1mm mark. The other 10 ten properties are primarily located in more residential vs. rental buildings.

Tad Hunter is a licensed real estate agent with LAH Real Estate and a partner in the RealJoy Vacations company. He and his wife and children are residents of Sandestin. Tad enjoys the Grateful Dead, Steve Martin jokes and prefers puppies over kittens.