Snap! Thud! Ouch ! ! !

"You can only not fall before you run off the edge of the cliff, not after."

A sale of the large home at 44 Floral Avenue in the Key Haven section of Key West was posted in our mls late yesterday afternoon. CLICK HERE to see the 3650 square foot, three story house with four bedrooms, five baths, two car garage, pool, tiki hut waterfront home that SOLD at $890,000 or $245 per sq ft. The public records show that the seller purchased the house in January 2005 for $1,800,000.

As of today there have only been four single family homes sales in Key Haven since January first. CLICK HERE to see what sold and at what price.

I don't know the particulars of the sale at 44 Floral, and it really doesn't matter, because that sale is only illustrative of what I have been telling my buyers which is that houses are listed for sale for one reason: to get sold. Some sellers are highly motivated (like many short sellers) and others just need to sell like folks getting divorced or a personal representative settling an estate.

There are still some wacko sellers out there. Sellers with huge edifice complexes. They are typically people who did a lot of creative things to their properties, spent a lot of money on designer kitchens with Viking or Subzero appliances, ultra expensive glass tiles, imported light fixtures, travertine floors, Ipe decks, of whatever. They think their design sense justifies a price per square foot far in excess of what similar houses in the same area have actually sold for. They will not accept the fact that a new lender will not loan new money on a house that will not appraise for a ridiculous amount no matter how chic the kitchen or master bedroom and master bath look. I am not saying or inferring that all houses priced at a high dollar per square foot are over-priced. A lot of the best homes in Key West are priced very high on a per square foot basis because they are truly unique, have a superior location, and were superbly built or renovated.

I always loved watching Road Runner cartoons. I always hoped against hope that Wile E. Coyote would smarten up and not get done in by the smarter Road Runner. But Wile E. never got it. He never learned his lesson. He always broke the cardinal rule "You can only not fall before you run off the edge of the cliff, not after."

If you are looking for a second home or a new primary residence in Key West, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. You can also contact me via e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty Inc in Key West, Florida. I'll do my best to keep you from falling off the cliff.