1501 Leon Street, Key West - Bank Owned House Back on the Market

BANK OWNED HOUSE - BACK ON THE MARKET.  1501 Leon Street in Key West is a bank owned property that just went back into our MLS as an active listing. The property had been under contract and suddenly the deal fell apart. I spoke with the listing agent who reported the property was ready to close when the buyer failed to close.

I wrote about this house as soon as it hit the MLS last year. It went under contract soon after. In fact the day I went over to take photos, another agent was showing the house to her potential buyers. I drove by the house a couple of times and I saw buyers and agents poking around looking at the house and hypothesizing what they might do with the property.

This was once one family's castle. Of that, I am sure. As you look at the photos and read my narrative, understand what you see is the result of several years of neglect. Where once there was pride of ownership with a fairy tale cottage at the front of the corner lot, today there is a house in need of serious renovation or perhaps tear down and rebuild.

This 2205 square foot home was built in 1958 and sits on an imperfect square lot that measures 88' X 90' or 7920 square feet. That is large for Key West but fits into the neighborhood which is located on the ocean side of the island of Key West. The Atlantic Ocean is located about five blocks to the south.  CLICK HERE for an aerial GOOGLE MAP VIEW. Nearly every home in the immediate area sits on a lot of 5000 square feet or larger which is much larger than you will find in Old Town.

When I first arrived at the house I realized the second story was an addition and not a very attractive one at that. But as I looked at the lot, I immediately started to think what a new owner might do to improve upon what exists today. I went to the back yard where I found a boat and lots of trash. Forget the debris, if you can, and imagine the second floor as no longer existing.

Consider instead expanding the house toward the east on the Flagler Avenue side of the house.  This would provide more privacy at the rear for the construction of a new garden, pool, and deck. I would add new impact windows and doors throughout plus add new insulation and air conditioning.  I would also install a CBS privacy fence on the Flagler and Leon streets similar to the one that exists in the very expensive home on the opposite side of Flagler. See the photo below.

I took photos of the current interiors which you may view if you CLICK HERE. If you were to buy this home, you would certainly clean and paint it at a minimum. You would probably update the kitchen and baths. You would fix up the yard and add landscaping. So what you see in these photos should not give you pause, instead, it you energize your brain to figure out how you could turn this property into something that equals that home across the street.

There are several brand new homes being built within blocks of this location. A new owner could raze this existing house and build all new. The large lot means you could build a home up to around 3,500 sq ft or a house and maybe a pool house. The large lot gives a new owner so many options that are rarely available. 

1501 Leon Street is a bank owned property is now offered at $603,250. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a showing. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.