1414 18Th Street, Key West - BANK OWNED

Buyers hoping to get into the Key West real estate market at a discounted price may want to checkout the new Bank Owned listing at 1414 18th Street in the New Town area of Key West.

The 6,000 SF lot measures 50'X120' and is located on the southwest corner of Eagle Avenue at 18th Street in the New Town area of Key West. CLICK HERE for GOOGLE AERIAL AND STREET VIEW. This area is noted for its large Mid-Century homes on large lots  often priced over the $2 million. This home was offered at $1,100,000 until August 2nd of this year.

The current list price is only suggestive. The property is being sold as is, no representations or warranties. Property will be included the next Auction. All auction properties are subject to a 5% buyer's premium pursuant to the Event Agreement and Auction Terms & Conditions minimums will apply.

The three bedroom / three bath home is 1,680 SF on one level. The kitchen and bathrooms have been renovated. Windows and doors were replaced and have approved Miami Dade shutters for wind insurance credit.

 

A tall privacy fence surrounds the property. Both the street aid and interior yards are tropically landscaped. There is a pool with water feature. And there are two outdoor living areas. 

CLICK HERE to vie the current Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos. This home will be sold at AUCTION. Please TEXT me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or send me an email at garyethomas@aol.com, if you would like to see this property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

739 Olivia Street, Key West - Bank Owned

Whoa! I really had to dig deep into my shoe box and dust off some of the images. It has been so long since I wrote a blog about a Bank Owned property in Key West. 739 Olivia Street, Key West has been the subject of foreclosure since 2007. That is not a typo. (I'll bet the guys in the foreclosure department did a jig or three when this was finally completed)

 

Let's look at the black and white photo of the house taken in 1965 and the Historic Sanborn Fire Map from 1892 to see what we see. The Monroe County Property Appraiser records say the house was built in 1943. The Map shows a grocery store and a rectangular building at 741 Olivia St which is 739 Olivia Street now. The taller structure on the side abutting Windsor Lane no longer stands.

Let's start with the map. The 1889 Sanborn Map does not show any properties in this area but we know that the area had many structures. The 1892 map shows the property so we know it existed as of that date. I was surprised to see the large rectangular building at the corner of Windsor Lane and Division Street. There are two old cigar maker style houses there now. I did not realize that until I started to write this blog. 

 I added a check mark to point out the obvious - the floors are not level. The house needs a lot of work.

The MLS listing says 

"This Old Town Key West cottage is located on the corner of Olivia Street and Windsor Lane. The possibilities are endless with this fixer upper. This property was under construction and is now partly gutted. This home will be sold in as is condition with no appliances. Home is a 2/2 with a bonus room that opens up to the rear deck. This home also has off street parking." 

I think the former owner took the plumbing fixtures and walls as souvenirs of his life there. I am probably right about this.

The lot measures 60 Ft X 43 Ft or 2,592 Sq Ft. The existing house is 768 Sq Ft. HARC rules will apply to any renovation.  There will be multiple offers on this property. Realtors waking up will be getting bombarded by buyers.  

739 Olivia St is located across the street from Trujillo Grocery I wrote a blog about the historic property in 2018. CLICK HERE to read the story. The grocery is still there. This is a three way stop corner. Lot's of traffic in the daytime. Not so much as night. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of the interior. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to discuss this property. A visit may be nice but you won't see much more than you see in the photos. You will appreciate the location or not. This is a fixer upper at the listing Realtor states. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

2905 Venetian Drive, Key West - Bank Owned

Everybody wants a deal in real estate, especially in Key West. The newly listed Bank Owned property located at 2905 Venetian Drive may be the deal you have been hoping to find. I took a few exterior photos which you can see below.

The listing Realtor describes the property and the sales rules below:

"Opportunity to build your Key West Dream Home located on the Riviera Canal. The building is ready for demolition leaving you with a parcel which already has a pool, deck and you can dock your boat behind the house of your dreams on the concrete seawall. The property has 56 feet of canal frontage and is 100 feet deep. The property is a prime candidate for removal and replacement with an elevated home that meets the current FEMA guidelines. Showing instructions are as follows: exterior only--no interior showings allowed.. CASH only Sale...All bids should be submitted on line (void where prohibited). Bidders can submit any offers pre-event on our ''Make Offer'' button on the site. All pre-event or post-event offers will be reviewed and responded to within 3 business days......."

I took the above photos earlier today. I am not a boater or fisherman, but I know the value of this location and the opportunities it affords a buyer who wants to own a new home on a navigable canal in Key West. The photo immediately above shows part of the canal that actually starts on the Gulf of Mexico side of our island. That water flows under North Roosevelt Boulevard and ends up turning east to become the Riviera Canal which then flows out to Cow Key Channel and then the Atlantic Ocean. CLICK GOOGLE AERIAL MAP for a view of the location and its proximity to the ocean.

The lot is located opposite a small mangrove on the south side. The Key West airport is located farther to the south. Most of the existing homes were built in the 1960s and later. A prime example of the style of house a new owner could build is actually in existence now and can be seen across the canal. This little enclave of new homes feature Hardiplank construction, wind impact windows and doors, and metal roofs - all features which reduce insurance costs. New construction also suggests lower maintenance costs for years to come. The difference between those houses and this location is the existing pool, seawall, and canal front location plus the ownership of a 5,600 square foot lot. Owning a big house on a big lot is an important feature to many homeowners. CLICK HERE to see more photos I took.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and then please call me to look at the lot or to discuss making a sight unseen offer. Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or garyethomas@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

Recent SOLD Bank Owned Homes in Key West

I have written three blogs since the first of January which discussed bank owned homes in Key West. I thought readers would like to see the actual price the banks received. Let's take a look. Click the address to read the blog. This will help readers appreciate the bargain the buyers got - well that two buyers got.

3222 Riviera Drive, Key West. Offered at $1,190,000. SOLD at $1,225,000. Multiple offers. Sold immediately.

1200 Whitehead Street, Key West. Offered at $912,000. SOLD at $1,351,000. Multiple offers. Sold immediately.

909 Southard Street, Key West. Originally offered at $629,900 and reduced to $614,900. SOLD at $597,000.  This house has a good location on an excellent street. It had a small lot and no off street parking. It needed work - a lot of work.

I realize that a lot of prospective buyers think that they can get a "deal" by buying a bank owned property. Some buyers do get deals. Some actually show up at the courthouse steps and bid on properties when the county sheriff sells them. That's always risky. Very risky.  I don't care how many sales presentations you go to hosted by tv personalities, buying something you have not been inside or have legal knowledge about can be perilous. Banks and foreclosing law firms do make mistakes and buying blindly is fraught with disaster. But sometimes buyers who take big risks get big rewards.

I think it makes more sense to work with a knowledgeable and experienced Realtor when buying any property but especially when buying some other person's loss. There is normally a reason why a person lost a property to a bank instead of selling it himself.

909 Southard Street, Key West Florida - Bank Owned Property in Old Town

Just Listed, but not by me, 909 Southard Street, Key West, Florida. This is a Bank Owned home located on one of the best streets in Old Town.  My dear readers will be the first to see the inside as the listing brokerage does not have many photos available as of the time I write this.

I remembered having been inside this home several years ago, but I couldn't recall what it looked like. I then dug down into my old shoebox and found the above black and white picture taken in 1965. i wasn't around in Key West then. Study the photo and look at the cottages that appear to the right. Several decades that was a little walking lane known as "Bucks Court". Today it is called "Hunts Lane". The lane is nearly invisible as trees have grown all around the place. And the front of 909 Southard Street almost has been eclipsed by trees.

The above set of photos demonstrate that a second floor dormer was added to the original house sometime before 1965 and what it looks like today. They also show the house abuts the walking lane which also means there is a nice separation between this property and the larger house to the east.
The lane is too small for any motor vehicle. The people who live on these small lanes tend to be resourceful and friendly.

According to the Monroe County Property Appraiser records this home has 1194 sq ft of living space that sits on a 42' X 41' (1503 sq ft) lot.  I could not determine when the interior renovations were done. The roof appears to have been added in 1995 and a couple of other permits were made for improvements in the late 1980s. The interiors look to be of that vintage.

The front door enters into the living area which then flows into the kitchen. There is a divider that separates the two areas. Just to the right of the front entry is the first floor bedroom. It is surprisingly large and has French doors at the rear which open out to what used to be a lovely garden. The first floor bath is accessible from both the bedroom and a hall just off the front entry.

The kitchen isn't quite large enough to accommodate the refrigerator which is tucked away in a small addition at the rear. That room also houses the washer and dryer hook-up plus provides access to a half bath. The half bath has an "escape door" out to the street. I don't quite understand the purpose as being for any other purpose. There is another door off to the east side which provides interior access t the small back yard.

The above set of photos show the two second floor bedrooms which were created during a time before our Historic Architectural Review Commission was created. HARC would never allow a dormer this large to be added to a cottage today. That is not to say that the house looks bad. It only means our minders mind what we do with our houses and won't let us do what we want. We must do what they will allow.  CLICK HERE to view all photos of the interior and exterior.

909 Southard Street sits between 5 Brothers to the east and Mangia-Mangia and Michael's to the west. The historic seaport is a couple of blocks to the north and the cemetery is block the the south. Duval Street is a five minute walk to the west. You cannot get lost. You can, however, get your morning coffee and gossip, a cheap meal, an expensive meal, and maybe a deal if you buy this house by using Gary Thomas.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 909 Southard Street Key West which is offered for sale at $629,000. Then call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to get you inside before somebody else buys this place. It's not perfect but it is certainly livable and it has a lot going for it. Let's take a look. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

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