It took less than a week to sell the second-most expensive home in 2024

The oceanfront Ponte Vedra Beach home sold for more than $17.8 million.


  • By Dan Macdonald
  • | 12:10 a.m. January 28, 2025
  • | 5 Free Articles Remaining!
The oceanfront two-story home at 75 Ponte Vedra Blvd. features golf course views, four bedrooms, four full and two half-bathrooms, bonus room, guest suite, library, elevator, pool, porches, paver driveway and dune walkover.
The oceanfront two-story home at 75 Ponte Vedra Blvd. features golf course views, four bedrooms, four full and two half-bathrooms, bonus room, guest suite, library, elevator, pool, porches, paver driveway and dune walkover.
Provided by John Wolfel Real Estate
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A large portion of real estate sales come from referrals. Little did John Wolfel know that a sale in 2020 would lead to the second-largest sale of 2024 but also one of the quickest.

In 2020, Wolfel worked with John Dodson III to sell his modest home at 354 Lora Street in Neptune Beach. The 1,804-square-foot, three-bedroom and two-bath home sold for $610,000.

Five years later, he’d sell Dodson’s parent’s place at 75 Ponte Vedra Blvd. for $17.875 million on Sept. 3, 2024.

Martha F. and Thompson S. Baker II were the buyers. They were represented by Tyler Ackland and Susan Fort of Ponte Vedra Club Realty.

J. Thomas and Jean M. Dodson were the sellers. 

John Wolfel formed John Wolfel Real Estate in 2006.

The highest price paid for a home in 2024 was $22 million for a beachfront property at 349 Ponte Vedra Blvd. Public records identify the buyer as former T-Mobile US Inc. CEO John Joseph Legere.

The 6,557-square-foot home that Wolfel listed sold in six days.

The only hiccup was that the closing took longer than usual.

“It took about 45-50 days to close. The seller needed time to get out of the house,” Wolfel said.

Wolfel’s good fortune started in 2020 when he worked with the Dodson’s son, John, to sell his Neptune Beach home.

Wolfel didn’t know that the parents lived in a mansion. It never came up. When the father decided to sell, John Dodson III called Wolfel and asked if he was interested in the listing.

“I had no idea when he told me the price. I was thinking it would just be a few million dollars. I had no idea where he was going with this conversation. And then when he tells me 17-plus million dollars, I was, you know, pretty shocked.”

The first offer, just two days after it was listed, came from a company in South Florida. Before it could place an official bid, a local buyer made the offer that consummated the deal.

Wolfel remains in disbelief that the sale took less than a week. He had one property that had been on the market for three years and only sold when local prices skyrocketed during the pandemic.

The oceanfront, two-story house, built in 2006, is on 0.75 acre. It has four bedrooms, four full baths and two half-baths. It cost $2,722 per square foot.

It is within walking distance of the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.

There is a heated pool, wet bar, elevator and a guest suite.

Wolfel, 75, is not only a real estate agent but a CPA as well. He was the JEA controller, retiring in 2002. 

He obtained his real estate license in 1972, let it lapse while at JEA, but renewed it after leaving the utility. 

He formed John Wolfel Real Estate in 2006. He married his wife, Marsha, in 1972. She is a second-grade teacher at St. Paul’s Catholic School in Jacksonville Beach. They have four grown children and seven grandchildren.

Wolfel does not work on a percentage of the sale price. His services are a la carte. The client knows the price up front when determining the business arrangement.

Wolfel declined to say how much he earned, only that it is the largest sale of his career.

At his age and considering he landed a whale of a deal, Wolfel couldn’t be blamed if retirement was in the offing. That’s not the case.

“I’ve gotten to where the business thing is sort of entertaining,” he said. “I don’t play golf. I don’t play tennis. I do work out, but I don’t have many things that take up a lot of time, except my grandkids.”

 

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