Waterfront steals, with a price

Rats, debris and a two-year build up of filth aren't normally synonymous with million-dollar waterfront homes, but this isn't exactly a typical time in real estate.

And Sarasota-Bradenton area real estate agent Troy Funk recently found himself in those colliding worlds. The upshot, says Funk, with Allison James Estates & Homes, is megadeals for waterfront properties are at the taking for buyers who will suspend disbelief — and step over the occasional mousetrap. “If you want waterfront value,” says Funk, “this is the best time.”

In August, for instance, Funk listed a bank-owned home in Bay Isles, a tony Longboat Key neighborhood where former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris owns a property. The 3,667-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-bathroom home, with a dock and direct access to the bay, sold for $1.7 million in 2004.