The Smartest Guy in the Room

A couple of recent listings and sales recently got my attention. 

Yesterday I wrote about 1218 Varela Street in Key West where I pointed out it had sold several times over the past twenty years. We just cannot build new houses on the Island of Key West because we do not have land and we have state imposed limits on all new construction. Also, we have height restrictions which prevents building up into the sky like they do on either Florida coast. So repeated sales of the same property is to be expected.

There is one particular property that seems to get purchased by novice buyers who own it for a year or so and then re-sell it. Oddly, the same agent continues to be the listing and buying agent on this house. I had buyers who looked at it ten years ago or so. I warned them to drive by the place many times at night and daytime before they made an offer. They did not make an offer and moved on to look at other properties. The property is located to an offensive neighbor. And no it is not the one that had a hog on the front porch (for real). It was and is worse than that. That is all I will say.

A couple years ago I showed a buyer a very nice but dated property in a great location offered over $2,000,000. My buyer made a good cash offer on the property discounted by the amount buyer would have to spend to bring the property up to today's standards (about $200,000 less). The seller said no way and my buyer walked away. I called around and found a neighboring property not listed on the same block. We got a deal put together and closed for cash a month later. Two things happened. The listing agent called me a couple of days after the seller said no to my buyer's offer. I told the agent about the deal I put together. Agent was shocked then blamed the seller for being so greedy. I am  not so sure about that. I deal with agents all the time that think they should be on one of the Million Dollar Listing shows - they are that smart. After that house did not sell, the seller hired a new agent who listed it at the price my buyer paid for a similar totally renovated on the same block. The property lingered in the MLS for about two years and finally sold for $500,000 less than my buyer offered. I love when that happens.