406 Julia Street - Key West Short Sale

 

The above photo shows how 406 Julia Street in Old Town as it appeared in 1965.  I took the photograph immediately below this morning, November 14, 2012.

406 Julia Street was just listed, but not by me, as a Short Sale at the asking price of $249,000.  CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and listing photos.  I recently showed the house with a trail of other agents and prospective buyers waiting in line to see this affordably priced single family home that is located about 300 feet west of Duval Street.

The mls listing shows three bedrooms with one bath. In fact there is a very large addition to the rear part of which includes a large room that is being used as the master bedroom. The addition is shown in the Monroe County Property Appraiser's records, but the site only shows three bedrooms.

I took a lot of exterior photos which you can see if you CLICK HERE. I did not take any interior photos.  The place is livable as is but it does need a couple of repairs including replacement of an existing ceiling in a bedroom. The kitchen floor has numerous cracked tiles. That floor should also be replace. Finally, the one bathroom has seen better days. It, too, should be updated. In fact there is enough room to probably redo the existing bath and use some space in the quite large rear addition to create an en-suite bath adjoining the current bath.

The lot is quite large. The Property Appraiser shows an irregular rectangle of 50' wide by 79.58' deep with a carve-out at the west rear of 15' x 29.5'.  In my opinion there may be room for a pool at the rear or on the west side where the current covered patio exists. The property has gated off street parking which could still be preserved and still add a pool in this are or at the rear. We have some pretty good designers and architects in town. This place has lots of room for creation of very usable outdoor space.  I think the inside would make a wonderful renovation project.

I believe this property would make an attractive vacation rental in Key West if it were properly renovated to include at least two baths, an updated kitchen, replace the existing metal windows with more appropriate wood windows, remove the existing wall unit air conditioners and replace with central air. I would remove the covered 'old shcool' patio.  I would preserve the off street parking space and replace the existing galvanized fence with a traditional white picket fence and add an electric gate at the driveway.  I would add a pool either on the side or at the rear. There is space in either location in my opinion.  Finally, I would reconfigure the room spaces. This house is quite large and has four bedrooms now plus a lot of wasted interior space. The spaces could be used more efficiently. The addition of French doors overlooking the pool would complete the renovation.  Guests could walk to Duval Street and take a right or left turn and be in some magic location within a matter of minutes.

If you would like to see this house before someone gobbles it up, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.  Don't wait on this. Time is fleeting as I type this.