I am surprised that the recently listed single family home at
527 Margaret Street in Old Town
Key West is not yet under contract. It was listed thirty days ago. I really thought it would be gone by now. This home has three bedrooms and has a superior Old Town location. It is offered as a Short Sale at
$549,000.
The listing Realtor describes the listing this way:
"Excellent buy in a great Old Town location. This home is located in the heart of
Old Town and walking distance to several restaurants and attractions.Great
renovation project with good square footage and location. This transaction is a
short sale."
Frequent
readers of my blog know that the Great Fire destroyed the county
property records for Key West. WPA workers reconstructed records and
gave houses various dates of construction when the actual construction
date was not know. The house at 527 Margaret Street still shows in our
county property records as being constructed in 1938 - during the Great
Depression - in a town that itself was in such a dire straits that the
federal government had to bail it out. So it is highly unlikely that 527
Margaret Street was actually built in 1938. Moreover, I located what I
think to be 527 Margaret Street on the
1889 Sanborn fire map. (Street numbers were different then, but this house appears on the 1889 map.)
The
style of the house looks quite similar to many houses of the late 1800s
as well. I dug deep into the old shoe box and found a photo of the
property taken back in 1965. I took photo from a similar angle that
shows the property as it exists today. Note the similarities and
differences in the 48 year time span.
My
guess is that a former owner many years ago added the shed addition to
the right of the main house. Other additions were added to the rear. And
there is even a second floor "bedroom" or loft which is accessed by a
ladder. That room brings back memories of when I first started selling
houses here many years ago as it looks like a lot of hippie rooms that
were created before HARC existed and before building codes were enforced
as strictly as they are today.
527 Margaret Street is a
1532 sq ft home that sits on a
2227 sq ft lot
(44' x 55') on one of the better blocks in Old Town. The living room
has a very tall ceiling which gives the room a much more voluminous feel
than the photo would suggest. The living space flows comfortably to the
rear where the kitchen The kitchen and dining room are divided and sit
at the back of the house.
The
current configuration has requires you to walk through one bedroom to
go into the master bedroom. This is not efficient and gives nobody
privacy. The master bedroom is very elongated - too much so in my
opinion. There is room for improvement here. But the good thing is that
there is room for improvement. A new owner won't have to build new but
instead re-create space that is more efficient.
A
family room plus loft bedroom and an additional bath sit at the back of
the house on the north side. The space needs a good bit of work to make
it work more efficiently as well. If I bought this house I would try to
get permission to take down this rear addition (including the second
floor loft) and replace it with a swimming pool. There would be more
than enough room.
In
2008 I wrote about 529 Margaret Street - a two story home that sits
directly behind 527 Margaret Street. Both houses share a huge banyan
tree that straddles the rear property line of 527 Margaret Street. The
owner at 529 Margaret created an outdoor shower on his side of the old
tree. That house has a pool and a spa. 527 Margaret Street does have a
nice rear deck area and small garden. And, oh yes, that huge banyan
tree.
CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property.
Frequent
visitors to Key West likely will be familiar with the location.
Michael's Restaurant is located across the street. Mangia Mangia is up
on the corner at Southard Street while the neighborhood organic food
market is located down on the corner at Fleming Street. Other nearby
establishments include Azul, the Old Town Bakery, 5 Brothers Grocery and
Sandwich Shop, and the Historic Key West Seaport. Duval Street is just
four blocks to the west.
The
listing Realtor describes this listing as a "Great
renovation project with good square footage and location". I agree.
This property has really good location, upside potential, and is priced
where a new owner could invest the dollars necessary to do the
improvements and still come out okay.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and then please call me,
Gary Thomas,
305-766-2642,
to schedule a personal viewing of this Old Town short sale property. I
am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at
Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.
