The Next Suicide

 

A year ago I wrote a blog about a customer of mine who had to endure the suicide of a tenant. It was gruesome. For some people giving up on life is easier than dealing with it. Today's blog is a true story with a better ending.

Some people move to Key West to start of a brand new life. Others come because it is the end of the road. Moving to Key West works out very well for some. And it ends tragically wrong for others. Key West is not the fault. People bring their angles and demons with them to this Isle of Bones.

While some Key West transplants are content with salaried or hourly pay, others aspire to buy a business or to create wealth in real estate. Some have big visions and take moderate to big risks. Some end up very successful. Others do not. A chap I will call "Frank" was a good looking gay man in his early forties. He moved here from a mid-west state and got a real estate license. He paired up in business with another gay realtor I will call "Calvin". They started a real estate company and began selling houses in the mid 2000s when the Key West real estate market was booming. They were successful from the start. Later Frank bought a big fixer-upper in a great location and began to renovate it. Some people think gay men have taste and talent. That is absolutely false. But some gay men have great taste and great talent. Frank was one of those - to a point. He had great vision and undertook a superior renovation project. He overbuilt the house. He ran out of money to complete the project. He tried to sell the unfinished house. The price was too high for the time and location.

Frank borrowed money to purchase his property from Countrywide Mortgage. Countrywide recklessly loaned millions of dollars to home buyers in Key West in the mid 2000s when the real estate market was booming. A lot of houses were renovated and flipped at a nice profit. Countrywide also loaned millions to locals who bought investment properties like the transient licensed condos at Beachside Resort and the four story condos at Seaside Residences. When the real estate market tanked in 2008 many of the investor wannabes became the has-beens. There were foreclosures and short sales everywhere. Frank and Calvin split-up as business partners. Frank did not have enough money to complete his renovation project. He attempted suicide. He failed at that as well. Countrywide collapsed and was acquired by Bank of America which foreclosed on Frank's property. I sold Frank's house the day after it was listed for sale as a bank owned property. My buyer out-bid an offer made by one of Calvin's customers. 

Frank left Key West and went back up north. I don't know what happened to Calvin. He disappeared as well.