How Safe is Anything?

I watched in horror last week at the collapse of the Champlain Tower in Surfside, Florida last week and predicted the outcome of ultimate loss of life. I saw no way for any survivors. Not in that rubble. As the days have now become a week it will become a month of weeks and then more. Bodies will be discovered and identified. Services will be held. The cameras and incessant local news coverage will cease. We will forget and focus on the next tragedy - a raging fire in California or a hurricane in the Caribbean. There is always something awful.

I was standing on the balcony of a three or four story hotel in Corpus Christie forty some years ago with Dan, a fellow attorney who worked in the same bank. We were there on a workout of a problem loan. I was leaning against the corner when Dan yelled at me to back off that. He said something about not knowing what lazy Bozo who installed it. I thought about and immediately understood exactly what he meant. 

I think the collective "we" or "us" assume that the things we routinely use are safe. If that were really trued there would not be so many litigation attorneys. Architects plan buildings. Builders build them. Plumbers, electricians, welders, and tradesmen of all type contribute to the process. Inspectors inspect and presumably pass on the completed project. 

In some instances, usually homes but maybe small apartment buildings or commercial spaces, a homeowner or handyman may make an addition that did not go through formal building approval and inspection process. Or maybe the owner just replaced something that stopped working. Maybe the owner had good intentions or maybe he just wanted to save a bit of money or even just save time. 

If a guy with a drink in hand leaned against that balcony which failed and the guy fell four floors and hit his head that exploded like a cantaloupe who is to blame? Him for being drunk and leaning? The hotel management company, members of the board of directors, the building manager, or the inspector for not doing his job correctly? The general contractor? The guy who screwed the bolts in place. The company who manufactured the bolts? 

Yesterday afternoon I started envision all of the finger pointing and litigation that will arise as a result of tower collapse. This won't get settled in my lifetime. The lawsuits will be endless.

Key West Beach Club Penthouse - Transient Liscensed

 

Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West 1500 Atlantic Blvd Unit 408, Key West, Florida. This penthouse 2,038 square foot unit has a valuable Transient License which means it may be rented on a weekly basis every week throughout the year. It has spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean from the moment you enter this spacious two level unit. The listing broker describes the unit this way:

"This oceanfront penthouse at The Key West Beach Club includes a rare and valuable Transient License. It also has space for everyone with four bedrooms, three baths and a large private covered oceanfront terrace. The living room has a dramatic two story ceiling and opens to the terrace. The master suite and a guest suite are on the main floor plus two more guest bedrooms and a full bath upstairs. The kitchen opens to the dining room and living room and features water views as well. The Beach Club is a premier property in Key West and offers a gated entry, covered assigned parking, two pools, tennis, an outdoor barbecue and kitchen with a lounge area. This property has been a successful vacation rental for many years and offers easy carefree living on the Atlantic Ocean."

There are two bedrooms on the main level including the master suite which shares the ocean view deck. The upper level has window views looking north and west to Old Town where you can often see some of the larger cruise ships when in port. The third bedroom and bath are located on this level.

The Beach Club condos are unique in Key West as each one has an ocean front view. This unit is one of just a few that have transient licenses. And it is the only transient licensed penthouse.

There are ocean front pools on either end of the complex plus a tennis court on the far left side of the property. There is a small gym located in the middle. Both buildings have under building parking and storage. And there is abundant guest parking in the front. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 1500 Atlantic Blvd Unit 408 and then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. If you are looking to make money in Key West real estate, this may be the property you have been waiting for.  

True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Times of Corona Virus - Part Thirteen

 

This is a true story.

I believe it was during the first couple of months in 2005 when I got a phone call from a real estate investor in northern Florida. He and his wife were coming to Key West to buy several condominiums, or so he said. This was several years ago so I a a bit fuzzy on the details of the phone calls (there were several), but I remember being weary of how smart this investor was. He was throwing around real estate terms but did not make much sense. I do remember asking him if he had a real estate license. He said "No" but added he was working on it. Anyone, including a smart German Shepard, can get a real estate license in Florida. I didn't understand what he needed to work on. 

He wanted to meet on a Sunday afternoon. I was hosting an open house that Sunday but agreed to meet him shortly after 2:00 PM at my real estate office which was then on Duval Street in Key West. 

My memory is clear on this part. I pulled into our driveway and saw a gray van with Florida out of area license plates. I think I saw her first: a frumpy middle aged woman with too-tight gray stretch pants. Then him - wearing a an ill-fitting athletic shirt over his pear shaped physique. I think he was wearing stretch pants too. The looked like they just fell off the turnip truck but I knew that wasn't the case as they had their own transportation - the gray van. He told me they spent the night parked in the lot behind our office. This was a sign that he was frugal. Or maybe that he did not have any money.

We did go look at a couple of properties. He repeated his story about being an investor. Then he told me he and the Mrs. had gone to the newly opened Seaside Residences and spoke with an on-site agent. He was thinking of buying one, or two, or maybe three of those units. (I just checked the Key West MLS records. Those units were listed in around $960,000 at that time depending on location and view. They were all new construction.)  I inquired how he planned to pay for the unit or units. He said the agent said CountryWide Mortgage had a 95% mortgage program. CountryWide made a lot of those loans in Key West. CountryWide helped destroy the life savings of many Key Westers between 2005 to 2008 who actually bought units at Seaside and other condominium and town home developments. 

I took my would-be buyers back to the parking lot behind our office and wished them well. I never heard from them after that. I don't know if he got one of those deals.

 

Keep Away

This is a real story not related to real estate. Stop reading if that annoys you.

Many years ago I was a young associate in a suburban Denver law firm. Our office primarily represented normal suburban people with suburban problems - divorces, wills, estates, traffic tickets, drug arrests, you know. We also represented contractors, roofers, plumbers, electricians, several small manufacturers and a couple of banks.

The senior partner obtained a very large monetary judgment in favor of his client who had been warring with his brother over the family business. I like to tell people that getting a judgment is the easy part of any law suit. It is collecting a judgment that is the hard part.

Rule 69. Execution and Proceedings Subsequent to Judgment

The Colorado Rules od Civil Procedure direct the process of civil litigation including Rule 69 provides remedies to judgment creditors to enforce the collection of  a judgment. I won't bore you with the details of which there are many. But the one I used one spur of the moment idea to collect on the brotherly non-love case.

The court may order any party or other person over whom the court has jurisdiction, to apply any property other than real property, not exempt from execution, whether in the possession of such party or other person, or owed the judgment debtor, towards satisfaction of the judgment. In this case I required the losing brother to appear in court where he testified and identified his assets including season tickets to the Denver Broncos which at that time were like gold - only more valuable. 

At the conclusion of the hearing I asked the court to order the judgment debtor to deliver the season tickets to my office in partial satisfaction of the judgement. A day or so later the judgment debtor obeyed. It was the weekend and I went to Mile High Stadium to see where the seats were located. I was awed as they were in the east stands a few rows up from the field and not that far away from the 50 yard line. I looked around - this is where the big shots not rich enough for sky boxes hung out. The seats were very valuable in deed. I notified our client who got the rest of the season tickets. 

For several weeks after scoring the tickets for my client, lawyers at the county court house would congratulate me on my tactic.

 

Key West Real Estate Throwback No. 26

 from July 22, 2018

 If I Had a Million Dollars

 

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s a million dollars was a lot of money. On Saturday night one of the TV stations in Denver would host a million dollar movie - a feature that was so special that it cost over one million dollars to film.

Years later when I first moved to Key West a million dollars could buy a big important house - a restored home with a pool, parking, and a great Old Town location.  I have written several blogs over the years about the continued price escalation of housing in Key West. For years the rising prices enriched the lives of those who either inherited properties here or who bought and renovated, or even those who bought and lucked out as prices continued to rise.

Two events changed things in the past thirteen years. The national psyche was traumatized in 2005 by TV death and devastation caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.  A few weeks later Key Hurricane Wilma swamped the eastern side of the island of Key West. I think a lot of people assumed what they saw in New Orleans also happened in Key West. That was not the case, but people believe all kinds of nonsense these days.  Second, the Great Recession started in 2008. The stock and real estate markets tanked simultaneously across the country. Short sales and foreclosures became the norm in Key West as many of the homes and condos here were "second homes" owned by folks who came to Key West and fell in love with the island life. Both the price of homes and real property values decreased. It took several years before the Key West real estate market corrected. Old Town and the Casa Marina area recovered quicker than other areas because those areas are the places most tourists and second home buyers frequent.

Between the time the Recession started and eventually corrected, the buying public was divided as to the efficacy of buying or selling, holding or acting boldly. Those who bought in 2009 thru 2012 made out pretty well. One of my buyers spent two million dollars in cash to purchase nine units at the Key West Golf Club which he then rented. The rents have doubled but more importantly, the value of each place has doubled as well. Those who sat on the sidelines waiting for the end of the world lost out. I have told this story before. But here's the twist today.

I have been working with several would-be buyers over the past several years who missed the opportunity to buy when the market was at its lowest. One couple had kids in school; another had a small investment company and needed his cash to fund his company; a university professor made ridiculous offers when the market was lower and now does not have enough money to meet the current price point demanded. Within the past six months I learned the couple with the kids bought a place in Pensacola. The investor bought a large house in Charleston for $1.3 million. Another couple who owned in Charleston who wanted to move to Key West ended up buying a place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These three buyers bought quality homes for less money than they would have to pay in Key West. The professor appears to have given up. The Key West economy has passed him by.

I am a risk adverse person. I went to Las Vegas a couple of years ago and came back a bit richer than I went. I made about $60 playing slot machines. That was it. Money is too valuable to throw it away.  

If I had a million dollars, I would buy the best property I could find in Key West and buy it now. Key West is a little island out in the middle of the ocean. The land mass cannot be increased. Key West is restricted from adding new housing by law. What we have now is what we will have in the future. As crazy as the world is right now, most of the people are not crazy. They want the same things - food, shelter, peace, a good place to raise their kids, a nice place to retire too, things like that. So no matter what goes on up north in America, life down here will probably stay the same as it has for years and years. The weather will usually be spectacular. The drive from the mainland will be beautiful. The cost of housing will continue to rise.

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are not working with a Realtor, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

June 24, 2921 Update. The was written pre-covid.

530 Catherine Street, Key West - Transient Licensed Money Machine

 

Just listed, but not by me, 530 Catherine Street, Key West. The listing Realtor describes the property this way:

"Say hello to this TRANSIENT vacation rental just steps off Duval Street! Fully renovated from top to bottom, this low maintenance home has 2 of the 3 bedrooms on the first floor. All have ensuite baths. Beautifully furnished, this fabulous investment property is fully rented through May 2022! The home features an open floor plan with seating for 6 at the spacious kitchen island and a living area that opens to a comfortable covered lanai. Enjoy a beautiful heated pool with the convenience of an outside pool bath. The outdoor area affords plenty of space for sunning and dining. Round out this money-maker ($200K +) with a designated parking space, and you've got a winner!"

You enter the house from the new side addition instead of the front porch which is now a private sitting area for the front bedroom with en-suite bath. There is another first floor bedroom and bath located at the right rear. That bedroom opens out to the pool. The stairway leads to the third bedroom with private bath on the second floor. That bedroom is more spacious than the photo suggests.

The informal inside living area transitions to the very informal outside living area. There is a poolside bath. It is, however, the open sky and swaying palms that will captivate your paying guests.

This property has everything a buyer seeking a true money making property could wish for: a transient rental license; a new renovated house in great condition; a comfortable interior with three private bedrooms and baths; a stunning pool area with no peering views; an off street parking space; and a location near all of the hoopla of Old Town without being on top of it.

Duval Street is less than one block to the west. La Te Da is located on the corner in case you have an urge for a cocktail. South Beach is located three blocks to the south. They have cocktails there, too. Actually, there are cocktails from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean and each block in between. And a lot more.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and more listing photos of 530 Catherine Street, Key West which is offered for sale at $2,600,000. Then please call or text Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a private showing. This property is constantly rented and showing dates and times are limited. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

UPDATE JULY 25, 2021. This property sold for $2,525,0000 cash or $1,848 per sq ft. Sold in 11 days.

True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Times of Corona Virus - Part Twelve

As always this is a true story. The names have been changed to protect me from lawyers.

It was perhaps 12 years ago that I got a phone call from a gay man I will call Herb who wanted to buy a place in Key West. He found me on my blog and learned that I was also gay. He thought, I think, it would be a good fit. He was wrong on many points. 

We began a telephone and email dialogue to find the best place for him. I can share a bit without sharing too much. He was older. He was a hair dresser. (That's what he called it.) He wanted to be near Duval Street so that he could meet people. His brother was a surgeon and would be the actual buyer. We began our search.

As I write this I remember countless phone calls from Herb who rambled on and on. I sensed, no knew, Herb had a drinking problem. I listened on end. We all know people like this.

I found Herb a well located condominium which met all of his needs. It was in good shape and was priced right. His brother flew down to Key West and took a look at the place. We accidentally bumped into each other the same night at a famous Key West restaurant. The doctor told our little group how important a figure he is specialty. And he said how proud he was of his brother, the hair dresser. 

I wrote an offer which was accepted by the seller. Florida real estate contracts require payment of an initial escrow deposit within a few days of acceptance of the offer. When the surgeon failed to pay the agreed deposit on time, I contacted him stressing the importance of contract compliance. He told me in no uncertain terms that he was saving lives on a daily basis and was not to be distracted by my perceived importance of contract terms. But he sent the money nevertheless.

We closed the deal. Herb moved in and had a hot tub installed. Herb was living his best life in paradise.

At that time Herb was a middle-aged man. If you saw him on the street you would not guess anything askew. He had a receding hairline and was not particularly attractive. But he wasn't a troll. But when he turned on the gay - you knew. His normal guy facade flew away and his flamboyant wild and crazy gay persona emerged. 

Two years passed. All of a sudden I saw Herb's condominium appeared for sale in the Key West MLS. I called the listing agent who told me that Herb was too wild for the condominium complex even by Key West standards which are gosh darn low. Herb reportedly walked over to Duval Street and invited unsavory characters back to his condominium in the wee hours of the morning to continue partying in the hot tub. This happened not once, or twice, but too many times. The agent told me this was the first and only time the condominium association demanded the unit to be sold. The doctor complied. I have no idea where Herb landed. The end. 

True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Times of Covid 19 - Part Eleven

Most of America is breathing a sigh of relief these days. We are getting back to normal after months of quarantine, face masks, social distancing, not touching other people, and so on. I actually shook hands with potential buyers yesterday afternoon. The Key West  real estate market so brisk that there are few properties to write about. Many properties go under contract within a day or two of being listed. which makes blogging nearly impossible. I was looking through my old shoebox searching for subjects to write about when I found a collection of photos I took just before, the day of, and after Hurricane Irma including the one below. The photo shows a woman talking on a telephone with cord on it standing behind a trash can while other people watched her.

I was fortunate to stay at the Marquesa Hotel 414 during the hurricane along with several other locals including some of the hotel employees and and friends of the owners including an electrician. We were without potable water, electricity, and cell phone service for several days after the hurricane. I learned later that the news media incorrectly reported that much of Key West was severely damaged during Irma. We lost trees, but not buildings, and more importantly no lives at that time.

The hurricane lingered over the Island of Key West for several hours. I stood on the balcony for long periods of time. The winds were persistent but not intense - at least from where I was located. I ventured out to the street in early afternoon to survey the damage. I was shocked to see so many trees had fallen. This was not normal. It was devastating. I walked for blocks and blocks taking photos. Locals came out and wandered the streets eyeing the damage. We traded information on what had happened and where the worst damage was. It was like survivors of a zombie attach or something like that.

The next day the sun came out. The sky was cloudless. All the weather got blown to the north. Noting but sunshine, blue sky, and hot temperatures. And no phone service. The electrician who stayed at the hotel climbed the old telephone pole and dropped a phone line to which he attached an old wall mounted princess telephone. Within a couple of days word spread that there was phone service to the world and people showed up seeking a turn to call their loved ones.

I took the above photo during the renovation of the Marquesa 414 property added the location of the drop line for the phone. CLICK HERE to view the before and aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Key West. 

Key West bounced back from the hurricane and recovered from the pandemic. It is a great place to live. If you can find a place to rent or buy.

 

Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday - No. 25

from August 15, 2009

How Gay Was My Villa?

 

 It's a free world (at least it is here in Key West) where people can and do just about anything and everything they want. We all seem to get along. And except for some do-gooders that sit on some public commissions, we all try to stay out of each others "business". One of the really great things about my job is that I get to see inside so many Key West homes. Some places amaze me. I go home and start to clean, or paint, or redecorate. Others make me feel pity for the sad souls that live in helpless hovels. I have been inside more than enough places that reek of urine but that are inhabited by human beings. I have had to move sideways through rooms filled with years of accumulated trash. And I wonder what in the world is wrong with the people that live there.

I have been in multi-million dollar properties that exude an ambiance most of us can only dream of. But more regularly I get to see some really nice homes that are comfortably decorated with Key West flair. You can't by flair in a store, but you know it when you see it. Many of the chicest of homes are gay owned have the look and style buyers want. But then the buyers get the drama of trying to negotiate with royalty. And there have been a few occasions I have shown houses that are just a gay as gay can get. The most memorable gay house was located in the Meadows area. I showed that house several times a few years back. It had the obligatory statue of David near the pool. There were statuettes, oil paintings, charcoal prints,and etchings of nude and semi-nude males throughout the house and garden. Every square foot had some form of art that paid homage to the naked male figure. After months of not being able to sell the house, the listing Realtor finally persuaded the owner to store some of the artwork off property. A few years later when that same house was for sale again I actually noticed what terrible shape it was in. The naughty artwork from before had distracted my attention from the condition of the property itself. But it did the same thing to my potential buyers because nobody was ever interested in seeing that place a second time. 

One gay man asked me to look at his house to discuss listing it. Key West was in the height of the real estate boom.I might have got the listing had I not told him to take down the huge and virtually nude portrait of himself that hung above French doors leading to the back yard. There was also that time I was in a really nice home located at the dead end of a Key West lane to discuss listing the house. The owner and I were standing in one of two master baths discussing the features of the house when I spotted it. The DILDO! I lost my voice and the ability to put words together. Decorating with dildos is a no-no. I have seen enough mannequins dressed in drag or adorned in leather posed in the corner of a room or next to a window that I don't even take a second look anymore. But my buyers do. 

Mannequins are one thing. Slings are another. I wrote in my blog about "The War of the Roses" house. I showed it several times. The name I gave the property was derived from the ordeal the two gay owners were going through in the split of their personal lives and their real estate investments. But I had to laugh at the extra bedroom that was set up as a dungeon complete with sling. Most of my buyers did find that room very interesting. A few weeks ago I showed a house I had written about in my blog. The owners have left town and the place now has a long term tenant that has turned the place into his own comfortable gay love nest. I say that kindly. The tenant is as sweet as he can be. The place is immaculate. Let's just say the walls of the master bedroom and master bath are decorated primarily with photos of naked gay porn stars. I think it would be very difficult for a normal straight couple to imagine living in this house because of the huge collection of gay porn photos and other gay decorations throughout the house and near the pool. God, I must sound like some prude! Call me old fashioned. I grew up in the 1950s when gay decorating was -- different. But what the heck. This is Key West. It is okay to be gay here, and it is okay to decorate your home or garden anyway you want. If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are looking for a gay Realtor, call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or contact my by e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Living life in Key West is just great. I could care less how you decorate your villa as long as you are happy. However, sometimes it might be a little easier to sell the place if you hide your porn and stow away the dildos. lol