A Key West Home for the Holidays and later as well...

The Christmas House Wish List usually consists of the following:

1. Priced at $500,000 or less.
2. Good Old Town Location.
3. At least two bedrooms and two baths.
4. Pool or room for a pool.
5. Off street parking.
6. In good condition or that only needs a little work.
7. Key West charming.
8. Transient license or ability to rent occasionally.

There are a ton of potential buyers waiting to find a place with all of those qualities. You would be surprised at how many buyers either have the cash to complete such a purchase or the ability to finance a purchase. The problem is not finding ready, willing, and able buyers, dear reader. The problem is finding properties that meet all the criteria.

CLICK HERE to view a list of the currently active houses priced between $366,000 to $566,000 that have at least two bedrooms and two baths in the Old Town area. Take your time and click the individual properties to see what they offer and if you are unfamiliar with the street address, click the MAP so you can see where the houses are located because that would directly effect how successfully the house might be used as a vacation rental.

The property at 610 Olivia Street just came back on the market. I wrote about it here before and I have shown it several times. This is not my listing nor my company's listing. But I think this is a property that meets all of the criteria I listed above.

The house is presently "divided" in two. The right side of the house is used by the owner. It is bright and clean and set as a one bedroom get-away Key West cottage. The left side, which the listing Realtor refers to as a "mother-in-law-suite" is the flip of the other side except the kitchen and flooring don't show as nicely. My recollection is that the house has a newer addition at the rear, new piers, a new v-crimp roof, and a bricked patio. There is off street parking. The house is located about 100 feet east of Simonton Street.

The house (or compound) directly east of 610 Olivia Street is going to be one of the most expensive places in Key West. Most of the houses across the street are part of the Paradise Inn compound. (See photo below.) Those houses look like the idealized version of a Key West street (ala Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives). Seven Fish Restaurant is located down at the end of the block at the corner of Elizabeth and Olivia Streets. Olivia Street is a one-way street that is mostly used by locals. It is a two minute walk to Duval or up to Truman and Simonton where you can find CVS Pharmacy or Pisces Restaurant (you'll drop some major money there). I think 610 Olivia Street has an ideal location as a monthly vacation rental property.

These are two of the houses directly across the street from 610 Olivia Street which I liken to
Wisteria Lane because everything is just about perfect from the outside looking in.

The fly in the ointment for 610 Olivia Street is the neighbor next door to the west and rear. The same family owns the adjacent both properties. The business sells cleaning and paper supplies to hotels, restaurants, pool service contractors, and the public. The business operates Monday through Saturday until about 5:00 PM. Then it is closed until the next Monday. There is also a big transmission tower located on those grounds of the adjacent property. The property is always well maintained but the looks spoil the view for some.

The compound at 612-616 Olivia Street shares the same neighbor to the rear. (Those properties were purchased 1n 2007 for $4.8 million.) Some nice tall landscaping minimalized the imperfect neigbhor to the rear. But the neighbors did not defere the new owner from spending even more money to take advantage of a terrific property at a terrific Old Town location.

610 Olivia Street is the yellow house immediately to the right of the extensive renovation.

This is all one property which is being made into a mega-million single family home and guesthouse.

I think it would be relatively easy to re-configure 610 Olivia Street back into a true single family home. I would create a new main entrance toward the rear where I would relocate the liviing room and kitchen. The existing front doors and front porch would remain and would become porches off the bedrooms where one could watch the world walk by. The existing interior wall that divides the units would become an internal wallto separate equally sized bedroom suites. There is plenty of room for a good sized pool at the rear. The off street parking already exists. I would add some palms and tropical plants to jazz up the facade and to obscure the view of the neighbor to the rear and west.

CLICK HERE to read more info and view photos of 610 Olivia Street that is now priced at $550,000 or $500 per sq ft.

If you are among the many potential buyers who dream of owning a nice place in Key West for under $500,000, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. Let's schedule a visit to checkout 610 Olivia Street and some of the other houses in the same price range. Make no mistake about it, however, there are a lot of potential buyers that all want the same type of property. As the supply of available properties gets sold off, look for prices to start to rise. Better yet, let's write an offer on 610 Olivia Street so that next year you will have Home for the Holidays in Key West.

CLICK HERE to do your own search of the Key West Association of Realtors mls website.