By Andrew Rodriguez & Tony Bertucci
Three of the busiest home-selling markets in Baldwin County share a state, a county tax rate, and a coastline, and almost nothing else about what your specific house will trade for. We are Andrew Rodriguez (Drew) and Tony Bertucci with Bertucci Investment Group, and we watch these three submarkets closely because we buy across all of them. If you’re trying to figure out whether your Fairhope, Daphne, or Foley house is worth what your neighbor claims theirs sold for, here’s the honest read.
The market picture, mid-2026
All three markets peaked in early 2022, corrected through 2023, and have been trading sideways-with-a-slight-decline since. Aggregate data from Zillow, Redfin, and the Baldwin County MLS gives us these rough medians for a typical 3-bed, 2-bath single-family in average condition:
Fairhope: median around $525k. Wide spread. A bungalow off Section Street in the historic core can trade in the $400s; a bay-front on Mobile Bay can push past $2M. The Fairhope premium is real: walkability, schools, waterfront, and a supply-constrained municipal boundary keep values sticky.
Daphne: median around $385k. Bigger inventory, more subdivision-style builds from the 1990s-2010s, less waterfront exposure per capita. Daphne is where a lot of families who work in Mobile actually live, and the market reflects that: solid, deep, less premium-driven than Fairhope.
Foley: median around $325k. Southernmost of the three, straddles the OWA / beach-commuter demand, more new construction, more rural fringe. Foley has the widest range because you have both new-build subdivisions off Highway 59 and older homes on acreage out toward Elberta and Summerdale.
What drives the spread within each market
Fairhope. Waterfront vs. non-waterfront is the single biggest lever. A bay-view home on Bayview Drive or Beach Road trades at a completely different band than an equivalent house two streets inland. Historic district lots (walking distance to downtown Fairhope) carry a premium of 15-25% over otherwise-identical homes in newer subdivisions like Rock Creek or Fly Creek. School zone matters. The Fairhope Elementary catchment carries a real premium.
Daphne. Subdivision reputation and school zone dominate. Timbercreek, Lake Forest, and Rock Creek command premiums over older Daphne stock. Homes zoned to Daphne High are worth more than equivalent stock across the district line. Mobile-commuter proximity (near the causeway) pulls value up on the western edge.
Foley. Age of construction is the biggest driver. New-build stock in developments like Riviera Utilities service area or Bon Secour Village pulls one number; older Foley homes on 0.5+ acre lots pull another. Proximity to OWA and to the Foley Beach Express matters. Rural Foley (out toward Magnolia Springs or Bon Secour) is a different market entirely.
Get your written cash offer
What shapes our cash offer in each market
We buy houses in all three markets as-is, for cash, and you pick the closing date. A cash offer is not a retail price: it starts from what the house would sell for after repairs, then accounts for the repair budget, holding costs, and the risk we take on. Here is what moves our number in each market:
Fairhope. Roof age, kitchen and bath condition, and whether the lot sits in the historic core or near the water matter most. A dated cottage close to downtown can still draw a solid offer because the location carries much of the value.
Daphne. Subdivision, school zone, and the age of the mechanicals do most of the work. Cosmetic dating in a known neighborhood is an easy fix for us; major system replacements lower the number more.
Foley. Construction age, acreage, and how much rehab the house needs set the range. Older homes on larger lots that need everything are the houses we see most often here.
Every number is house-specific. What we tell every seller: get our number, get a retail agent’s honest CMA (not the aspirational one), and pick from information.
When cash-buyer beats retail in Baldwin County
- The house needs $30k+ in repairs and you don’t have the capital or the time.
- You inherited it and none of the heirs live in Baldwin County.
- You’ve got tenants in place and don’t want to deal with lease-expiration timing on a retail listing.
- You’re moving out of state and need certainty on a closing date.
- You’ve got prior storm damage that will scare retail buyers off at inspection.
- You’re in a pending divorce and both parties want out of decision-making mode.
When retail beats us
- The house is turn-key or close to it.
- You can afford 3-6 months of carry costs while it sits on the MLS.
- It’s in a supply-constrained submarket (historic Fairhope, top Daphne school zones) where retail buyers compete.
- You don’t need speed or certainty on closing date.
Get a real number on your specific address
Fill out the form at the top of this page or call (504) 920-4747. Tell us the address and rough condition. We’ll pull comps and get a written cash offer to you, no obligation. Also worth reading: our Baldwin County overview, Fairhope cash-buyer page, Daphne cash-buyer page, Foley cash-buyer page, and how our process works. If your house is on the bay south of Fairhope in Point Clear, our Point Clear cash home buyer page covers that community.