3718 Pearlman Terrace, Key West - New Bank Owned Home

There is a new Bank Owned home available for purchase in Key West. Buyers looking for a nice family home in move-in condition should take a look at 3718 Pearlman Terrace in Key West. This 1406 square foot home was built in 1973 and was updated around 2005-2006.

The updated home has an open concept living area which includes the wrap around dining area located the rear of the kitchen, not viewed in these photos. There is a bonus room located behind the kitchen as well. Doors in the master bedroom open out to the pool.

This house appears to be in very good physical condition from my perspective. The houses appeared to have been thoroughly renovated soon after 2005. New tile floors were added along with a new kitchen and updated bathrooms. All windows and doors have been replaced. They have laminated glass but are not impact rated for wind insurance purposes.

The lot measures 56' wide by 100' deep or 5600 square feet. The front, side, and backyards are devoid of trees. This is quite rare in Key West, but easily remedied. A new owner could plant just about anything green in the ground and watch it grow by leaps and bounds in the course of a year or two.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 3718 Pearlman Terrace which is offered for sale at $599,999. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to set up a showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

Bank Owned - 813 Shavers Lane, Key West, Florida

Ten years ago there were a lot of bank owned properties for sale in Key West. In 2018 the number of bank owned properties has reduced to a trickle including the newly listed property located at 813 Shavers Lane, Key West. Shavers Lane is located one-half block west of Duval Street just south of Petronia Street.  The Hemingway House is located one-half block west and one block south. Several of the single family homes on this block have become very successful monthly vacation rentals. This property when updated just a bit could become a monthly vacation rental as well or just be a nice house on one of the slow lanes of Key West.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows the original house was built in the 1890s. The Property Appraiser website show substantial renovations were made in 1996 including replacing foundation, new roof, construction of a new addition at rear, and so on. It further tells us the finished area is 1680 sq ft. I think it is larger - quite larger and that does not include any deck or porch. Read on.

This home theoretically has three entrances including the original front door, an entrance recessed a bit to the rear on the north side, and a third entrance recessed a bit to the rear on the south side. Let's look inside the original front door.

The 'original house' is now a one bedroom with living room, kitchen, bath and laundry on first floor and bedroom on second floor. The hall adjacent to the kitchen leads to a shared hallway with a separate unit in the back. Operative word is 'shared'. This is still a single family home if spaces are shared and not walled off, or that's the way I understand code is enforced. I am not giving legal opinion or stating a fact. I am just relating what I understand the way the code is enforced. I assume a new owner would make this a single family home and the current configuration would go away.

The recessed north entrance enters into a hall which passes into the kitchen of the rear apartment. There is a bath just off the kitchen and laundry hook-ups opposite the staircase. The living room is next. The second photo in this series indicates "first floor bedroom" which refers to the room located on the opposite side of the window. There are three bedrooms and two baths in this apartment.

French doors in the south bedroom open out to a sunny rooftop deck. The entire building appeared to me to have been built all new during the 1996 renovation and expansion project.  I am not a home inspector but I did not observe any striking structural problems. A new owner would probably clean up the incorporate the apartment into the house and create new room layouts. The good thing for a buyer is that most new money would be doing fun projects and not fixing old problems. I believe there is room for a pool on the south where there is now a driveway. CLICK HERE to view more photos I took of this property.

The listing Realtor describes 813 Shavers Lane this way:
"Located in the heart of Old Town, between Duval and Whitehead Street. Property is a half of mile from the Southernmost point. This Conch style home has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. All bedrooms are located on the 2nd floor each bedrooms have their own set of staircases. Hardwood floors, large balcony / deck with exterior staircase. Property is equipped with 2 parking spaces on each side of the home."

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 813 Shavers Lane, then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to discuss. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

Gary's Got a Secret Listing in Key West

I received a phone call a couple of days ago from a lady who said she wanted look at such and such address. I then asked her if she had read a blog I wrote about that house. She said yes. I asked the date. She said it did not have a date. I said all of the blogs are dated, but I did not want to debate that point. I had a potential buyer for a house - I found the blog which I wrote in early 2014. (The date was in the upper left hand corner of blog.) The price was low, less than $250,000 for a fixer. I told the lady that property sold years ago, was renovated, and resold in 2017 for just under one million dollars.

I then asked her what she was looking for. She said a fixer that she could renovate and flip. I then asked the area or areas she wanted to buy and how high she was willing to pay. At this point I was preparing to search the Key West MLS. She did not respond. I thought she had dropped the call. I said "Hello?  Are you still there?" She then said yes. I asked again the area of town and the highest price she would consider paying. She told me wanted to buy a house in Old Town. She said if she told me the price she might pay I would only search for high priced properties.

I explained that the prices available in 2014 are no longer available. By that point I had the MLS up and had searched for single family homes priced between $299,000 to $500,000. There were only four active single family homes and they were located in marginal areas. I told her the address and price of each. They were price too high for her. She then said "You have my name and number. Call me when you get something."

You bet!

1501 Leon Street, Key West - Bank Owned House Back on the Market

BANK OWNED HOUSE - BACK ON THE MARKET.  1501 Leon Street in Key West is a bank owned property that just went back into our MLS as an active listing. The property had been under contract and suddenly the deal fell apart. I spoke with the listing agent who reported the property was ready to close when the buyer failed to close.

I wrote about this house as soon as it hit the MLS last year. It went under contract soon after. In fact the day I went over to take photos, another agent was showing the house to her potential buyers. I drove by the house a couple of times and I saw buyers and agents poking around looking at the house and hypothesizing what they might do with the property.

This was once one family's castle. Of that, I am sure. As you look at the photos and read my narrative, understand what you see is the result of several years of neglect. Where once there was pride of ownership with a fairy tale cottage at the front of the corner lot, today there is a house in need of serious renovation or perhaps tear down and rebuild.

This 2205 square foot home was built in 1958 and sits on an imperfect square lot that measures 88' X 90' or 7920 square feet. That is large for Key West but fits into the neighborhood which is located on the ocean side of the island of Key West. The Atlantic Ocean is located about five blocks to the south.  CLICK HERE for an aerial GOOGLE MAP VIEW. Nearly every home in the immediate area sits on a lot of 5000 square feet or larger which is much larger than you will find in Old Town.

When I first arrived at the house I realized the second story was an addition and not a very attractive one at that. But as I looked at the lot, I immediately started to think what a new owner might do to improve upon what exists today. I went to the back yard where I found a boat and lots of trash. Forget the debris, if you can, and imagine the second floor as no longer existing.

Consider instead expanding the house toward the east on the Flagler Avenue side of the house.  This would provide more privacy at the rear for the construction of a new garden, pool, and deck. I would add new impact windows and doors throughout plus add new insulation and air conditioning.  I would also install a CBS privacy fence on the Flagler and Leon streets similar to the one that exists in the very expensive home on the opposite side of Flagler. See the photo below.

I took photos of the current interiors which you may view if you CLICK HERE. If you were to buy this home, you would certainly clean and paint it at a minimum. You would probably update the kitchen and baths. You would fix up the yard and add landscaping. So what you see in these photos should not give you pause, instead, it you energize your brain to figure out how you could turn this property into something that equals that home across the street.

There are several brand new homes being built within blocks of this location. A new owner could raze this existing house and build all new. The large lot means you could build a home up to around 3,500 sq ft or a house and maybe a pool house. The large lot gives a new owner so many options that are rarely available. 

1501 Leon Street is a bank owned property is now offered at $603,250. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a showing. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

1501 Leon Street, Key West - Newly Listed Bank Owned Home

Just Listed 1501 Leon Street, a new Bank Owned property in Key West, Florida.  If you have been dreaming of buying a place in Key West, this may not be the home you were thinking about buying. But if you look at the picture above, it was once one family's castle. Of that, I am sure. As you look at the photos and read my narrative, understand what you see is the result of several years of neglect. Where once there was pride of ownership with a fairy tale folly, today there is a house in need of renovation or perhaps tear down and rebuild.

This 2205 square foot home was built in 1958 and sits on an imperfect square lot that measures 88' X 90' or 7920 square feet. That is large for Key West but fits into the neighborhood which is located on the ocean side of the island of Key West. The Atlantic Ocean is located about five blocks to the south.  CLICK HERE for an aerial GOOGLE MAP VIEW. Nearly every home in the immediate area sits on a lot of 5000 square feet or larger which is much larger than you will find in Old Town.

When I first arrived at the house I realized the second story was an addition and not a very attractive one at that. But as I looked at the lot, I immediately started to think what a new owner might do to improve upon what exists today. I went to the back yard where I found a boat and lots of trash. Forget the debris, if you can, and imagine the second floor as no longer existing.

Consider instead expanding the house toward the east on the Flagler Avenue side of the house.  This would provide more privacy at the rear for the construction of a new garden, pool, and deck. I would add new impact windows and doors throughout plus add new insulation and air conditioning.  I would also install a CBS privacy fence on the Flagler and Leon streets similar to the one that exists in the very expensive home on the opposite side of Flagler. See the photo below.

I took photos of the current interiors which you may view if you CLICK HERE. If you were to buy this home, you would certainly clean and paint it at a minimum. You would probably update the kitchen and baths. You would fix up the yard and add landscaping. So what you see in these photos should not give you pause, instead, it you energize your brain to figure out how you could turn this property into something that equals that home across the street.

1501 Leon Street is a bank owned property offered at $635,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a showing. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.