Palm Beach house fetches nearly twice what it sold for a year ago: deeds

Add another home sale to the ever-growing list of Palm Beach real estate transactions where sellers have seen their investments deliver breathtaking short-term returns.

A four-bedroom house at 307 Chilean Ave. sold this week for nearly double what the seller paid for it in December 2020, the year it was built, according to the prices documented with the deeds.

The sale was recorded Wednesday at $12 million by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office. The 2020 deed shows the property sold for $6.34 million.

The house has 3,988 square feet, of which 3,462 square feet is air-conditioned.

The seller this week was Grammarian Inc. That Florida corporation’s vice president is Fawwaz Nazem Kudsi, who signed the deed.

On the buyer’s side was KLS Investments LLC, a Delaware-registered limited liability company with a Houston address that matches that of Senterra Real Estate Group. Headed by Chairman and CEO Neil H. Tofsky, Senterra Real Estate Group has experience in commercial and residential development, along with real estate management, leasing, construction and acquisitions, according to its website.

Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented the buyer. He declined to discuss the transaction.

The lot measures less than two-tenths of an acre and is the second property west of Hibiscus Avenue on one of Palm Beach’s oldest platted streets. Chilean Avenue is two blocks north of Worth Avenue.

The sales listing shows agent Elizabeth DeWoody of Compass Florida set a price of $12.5 million when the property entered the multiple listing service Dec. 20. It was under contract by Jan. 10, and the deal closed 15 days later, the MLS shows.

DeWoody declined to comment.

The house was marketed unfurnished, but DeWoody’s listing described it as move-in ready — requiring no renovations — as a prime selling point in Palm Beach’s ultra-competitive real estate market at the height of the winter season.

“Bring your toothbrush,” the listing said.

DeWoody’s listing mentioned the house's “state-of-the-art” security system and its well-equipped kitchen — with two dishwashers — and Wolf, Sub-Zero and Miele appliances. The layout also includes a single-car garage, an elevator, a pair of laundry rooms and a master suite with twin closets and bathrooms.

The 2020 sales listing described floors of European white oak and white Bulgarian limestone flooring.

The outdoor-entertaining area includes a pool, a whirlpool spa, an outdoor shower, a barbecue grill and a covered loggia equipped with motorized screens.

The house was designed by Palm Beach Architect Patrick Segraves of SKA Architect + Planner and built by Dunworth Builders. The landscape plan was created by Nievera Williams Landscape Design.

The residence was built as a custom home for the sellers in the 2020 deal, Justin B. and Meira S. Besikof, who instead decided to sell it as its completion neared. They had paid $2.25 million for the property in May 2019, property records show, and razed a four-bedroom rental-apartment building to accommodate the house.

The sales price recorded in the MLS for the 2020 sale was $6.9 million, a higher price than the one documented at the courthouse. Courthouse prices are frequently lower than contract prices, which may include items such as real estate commissions, closing costs and other fees.

In the 2020 sale, DeWoody acted for the buyer opposite Linda Olsson of Linda R. Olsson Inc., who in turn represented the Besikofs when they bought the property the previous year. In the latter sale, agent Burt Minkoff of Douglas Elliman Real Estate was the listing agent.

Seller sold another Palm Beach home

The seller in this week’s deal has bought and sold at least one other house in Palm Beach, courthouse records show. In May 2017, Grammarian Inc. paid a recorded $5.48 million for a then-new four-bedroom house with 5,207 square feet at 1233 N. Ocean Way on the North End.

Sold in 2020: Palm Beach real estate: Grammarian Inc sells N. Ocean Way home

Grammarian Inc. sold the North Ocean Way house for a recorded $7 million in November 2020 to Scott R. Norman of Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to property records. Officers of Grammarian Inc. include Kudsi along with Nazem Fawwaz Nazem Alkudsi and Hashim Fawwaz Nazem Alkudsi, according to state business records. They have ties to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, records show.

In the 2020 sale on North Ocean Way, DeWoody returned to represent the seller opposite Douglas Elliman agent Michael Costello, who has since joined Compass Florida. MLS records show DeWoody also had represented both sides in the 2017 sale, when she was affiliated with the Corcoran Group.

Other sizable returns

Driven by the strong sellers’ market, a number of other houses in Palm Beach have sold at prices that far exceeded the ones recorded in previous sales within the past year. Earlier this month, for example, a three-bedroom, 6,738-square foot house at 215 Via Tortuga changed hands for a recorded $13.21 million — about 75% more than it sold for in December 2020, according to courthouse records.

Solid profit: Palm Beach house that sold for $7.5M a year ago resold for $13.21M, deed shows

And last month, a five-bedroom house at 231 Nightingale Trail in Palm Beach fetched a recorded $12.35 million; it sold in December 2020 for a recorded $9.35 million.

November saw a sale recorded $12.475 million for a four-bedroom, 4,968-square-foot house the sellers bought new in November 2020 for a recorded $7.44 million at 211 Ocean Terrace.

Notable sale: Sold new a year ago for $7.44 million, house fetches $12.48 million in Palm Beach

The escalating price trends were backed up in fourth-quarter Palm Beach sales reports released recently by real estate agencies. Those reports generally agreed that prices had skyrocketed in 2021. The report released by the Corcoran Group, for instance, noted that average sale prices for single-family homes rose more than 80%.

A big year in sales: Palm Beach property deals in 2021 hit record $4 billion: Q4 sales reports

The market has seen an influx of buyers partly driven not only by a desire for more open space because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other market forces at play include the popular work-from-home trend, relatively low interest rates and Florida’s favorable taxes compared to other areas of the country, real estate observers say.

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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call (561) 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach house nearly doubles its sale price from a year ago: deeds