1501 White Street - Key West - Casa Marina Area

1501 White Street in the Casa Marina Area of Key West is located two blocks north of Higg's Beach and the great Atlantic Ocean.

The listing broker at Preferred Properties (that's where I work but this is not my listing) describes this property like this:

"Major Price Reduction! This charming 2/1 home plus detached guest cottage is completely walled and gated for privacy. Features include a formal living room with vaulted ceiling and built-in cabinetry, new kitchen with granite countertops & new appliances, dining room with multiple French doors opening onto the beautiful private pool and patio. Off-street parking for two cars. This property has a compound like feel and offers enormous potential to become a real show piece."

The house is located at the corner of White Street and Flagler Avenue. This location will turn off some potential buyers just because of the location. So be it. There are two houses located at the same corner intersection that recently sold over $2,000,000 each. Don't let the location dissuade you from looking. You might just fall in love with this very private home that is hidden behind the privacy wall and towering palms. Click GOOGLE MAP for an aerial view of the property and then use the toggle switch for a street view.

The updated main house with its lush garden and sunny pool sit behind a tall privacy wall surrounded by large palms and specimen trees. An electric gate opens to covered off street parking. A caretaker's cottage sits at the back of the property. The lot is quite large by Key West standards (60' x 120' or 7,369 sq ft).

The main house was built in 1958 and was updated around 1995 with additional improvements after that. The house has 1380 sq ft of living space consisting of the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and bath plus a second bedroom and bath. The living room is extra large in size and volume. The north wall in the living room has built-in cabinetry. Cuban tiles give this space (and the bedroom areas) a rich and sophisticated feel. (The caretaker's cottage is a separate building with 283 sq ft of living space. This space could make a great guest suite.)

During a recent showing my prospective buyer opined that he might remove remove the current single panel door in the living room (above) and replace it with French doors that look out to the pool and garden.  I immediately appreciated the dramatic change that would bring to this already incredible property. Note the large Cuban tile floors as well.

Covered off street parking to left and caretaker's cottage at the rear

The master bedroom and bath are configured for adult living. The bedroom has French doors that open out to the large private garden terrace that includes an outdoor shower for two. Another door leads from the bedroom out to the canvas covered outdoor bathroom with a spa bathtub. The space is first class in all respects. The asking price was reduced from $789,000 to $695,000 or $418 per sq ft.

Doors lead to the covered outdoor bath and spa

Two person outdoor shower with the outdoor bath and spa to the right

The kitchen has a bank of French doors that open out to the pool on one side and an adjacent wall of windows that allow filtered sun light in from the south. The kitchen has been updated with new cabinets, appliances, and light fixtures. When I looked at the space I thought to myself this home is really cool. What a great place for a party. The living room kitchen and dining area are large spaces with subtle architectural embellishments. The bedrooms are cozy and comfortable. CLICK HERE to view a slide show of photos of this property.

Parking and the caretaker's cottage are located beyond the fence to right

The pool area gets sunshine most of the day so you. Your guests won't have to go to the beach for a tan. But the beach is only a short two block walk in case you feel the need to get sand in your toes. Locals meet up at the city park across from teh beach every morning while walking their dogs.

White Street Pier is just two blocks south

So is the beach!

CLICK HERE to checkout the Key West mls datasheet and to view listing photos of 1501 White Street. If you would like to see this unique Key West property, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

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The Key West Antiques Road Show

Do you regularly watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS? I do. It's a great diversion from the mindless dribble that has become so much of broadcast television. It is great fun watching regular people who discover that some item they bought at a thrift store or estate sale is worth a gazillion dollars. I think we all enjoy that and wish that it could happen to us.

Almost every appraiser ends up his or her discussion of the item with a statement of its' value--as if that value is the end-all of the discussion. Depending on the value we then get to see its' owner puff-up like a peacock or feign thanks to the appraiser. But the show troubles me just a bit because the focus seems to be on dollar value of the item rather on its' intrinsic worth.

Maybe Antiques Roadshow is just a reflection of our society's obsession with how much something costs. Magazines such as Architectural Digest have regular features comparing similarly priced homes in different geographic regions. Key West Magazine and The Key West Citizen newspaper regularly have similar features. I have even done such comparisons in this blog. But I think those comparisons miss the point. Price is not the same as value.

I am remodeling my house. And I have learned a valuable lesson about what things cost--or the price of everything. Here are a couple of examples. I used to think of nails and screws as being almost free because you need so many of them to build a house. Wrong. Go to Ace Hardware and checkout the prices. We have metal roofs in Key West, and they are attached to the house by specific metal screws. And those screws cost $.26 each. Electric wire is priced by the foot and most new wiring and most re-wiring require three strands of wire (or one strand of Romex)to run each course. Windows and doors, marble and granite, glass tiles and mosaics, bath and light fixtures and kitchen cabinets come in varying quality and price ranges. Once you finish the inside you get to start on the garden and pool. And you start the spending process all over again. Palms and pools are priced by the foot, so the bigger (or more rare) the palm or the larger (or more opulent)the pool/deck;, the higher the cost. And if you are fortunate enough to live in Key West you get to pay more for every item just because of it. But that is not the point.

I have written before about what I call "staple gun remodeling" referring to cheap redo a house in order to sell it for a quick profit. There are numerous examples of homes and condo conversions where attractive but relatively inexpensive kitchens and baths are installed along with a fresh coat of paint and maybe even new windows and doors. The property looks good, but most of the improvements were done just to surface areas and not to the building itself. You get the point.

Since we have so little actual new construction in Key West, most resale homes are remodels. And it is always nice to see a real quality renovation that uses quality materials and has quality workmanship. Then when you add those qualities to mature landscaping and a great location you get to see the real value of the property.

It is really frustrating right now. I have several people I am working with that are in the market to buy a second home or a business. Each person (or couple) focus their attention on price above all. They want the best price. I get it. I do the same thing. But my recent experience in redoing my house gives me a better appreciation for the real value of some of Key West's homes. There are some real bargains available right now. The real estate market is always slow in the summer, but this summer is a killer. Some businesses have closed. There are more foreclosures than ever before. And there is the omnipresent fear of another hurricane and the dread of what could happen. Prices are down about 33% pretty much across the board from what they were two years ago. But buyers are not buying.

I think it was back in 1990 when there was talk that Citicorp which was then the first or second largest bank in the United States might fail. The stock went down to $8 per share. I reasoned that the U.S. government would not let that bank fail because the consequences for the U.S. economy would have been disastrous. So I bought Citicorp stock. It eventually went back up to over $160 per share. I knew the low price of the stock was not a true reflection of its value. Citicorp's assets were enormous. It was the market's perception of problems that had devalued the stock, but not the value of the underlying assets.

And I think that thought process is what is at play in Key West real estate right now. There are many, many high quality properties that are going unsold because prospective buyers are focusing on price rather than looking at the underlying value of these properties. Sure there is a bunch of crap in the market. A good Realtor can help a buyer avoid that--or buy it for next to nothing if you are so inclined. But the smart buyer may be the one who, like me when I bought Citicorp, sees an asset that has been beaten down.

Give me a call if you are interested in looking for a bargain in the Key West real estate market. 305-766-2642 or email me at garyethomas@aol.com. Thanks.

CLICK HERE to checkout all current Lower Florida Keys mls listings. Remember to turnoff your popup blocker so that you can see the photos.

Is the Sky going to Fall?

I have been trading e-mails with a customer who wants to buy a big home in Key West (a third home if I recall correctly), but who has developed a few reasons why he is postponing the purchase. The current market valuation is the prime factor. He thinks the price correction that has taken place has not completed its course. And he writes that he is awaiting to see if a hurricane scrapes Key West this season. If Key West gets hit, he thinks the market will fall to where were it was five years ago.

I think he is envisioning another Hurricane Wilma, but maybe he thinks any hurricane will be devastating. Other than Wilma, the hurricanes I have experienced are very bad rainstorms accompanied by very hard winds. But I experienced snowstorms and hailstorms in Colorado that produced as much property damage as Wilma did (except for the flooding--and that was an anomaly).

But I do understand his pessimism. I went to the Wikipedia to find support for my customer's pessimism. And I found this explanation of The Sky is Falling CLICK HERE. "In the "happy ending" version, the moral is not to be a "Chicken Licken" and have courage. In other versions the moral is usually interpreted to mean "do not believe everything you are told". In the latter case, it could well be a cautionary political tale: Chicken Licken jumps to a conclusion and whips the populace into mass hysteria, which the unscrupulous fox uses to manipulate them for his own benefit."

My customer lives in a state that is pelted by tornadoes and hurricanes. (Not Florida). He is a very educated person. He is very successful. He is looking for a reason to justify his reluctance to buy now. He has lots of company...

But there are other equally well educated, successful, and financially stable buyers that are purchasing choice properties at what I think will be deemed bargain prices.
Another such example just hit the mls this morning. 911 Fleming Street CLICK HERE was listed for sale 94 days ago at $4.675 million. It went under contract this morning. Some buyer does not see the sky as falling, but rather sees a buying opportunity.


CLICK HERE to preview all current mls listings in the Key West are. Then give me a call for further information. Thanks. 1-305-766-2642.