Old Town Key West Bank Owned Property - Price Reduction

I have written about 1111 Watson Street #D a couple of times. I have shown it several times.  Buyers look. Buyers hem and haw. Most liked the place. A couple liked it a lot but then said something to the affect, "It needs some work." Well, Duh! That's is why it is priced where it is.  If it were perfect, the price would be higher.  And yesterday the asking price on this Bank Owned stand alone cottage located in a nice little Old Town compound with a shared pool to just $309,900 or only $274 per sq ft.  I did a quick price comparison to see if there are any other properties priced this low in the Old Town area. There is one: 1209 Margaret Street which I wrote about two weeks ago. Everything else is priced higher.

The listing Realtor describes this 2242 sq ft home this way:
"Cute 2/1 home in a well located, well known Key West compound. Your front door faces the shared pool! Your living room and one of the bedrooms have french doors to your private walled, landscaped wooden deck. You bath and shower are glassed in within its own private space for communing with nature. Great house for entertaining. Priced right to live in Old Town."

 The  home is located at the end of a meandering brick pathway that winds through lush tropical foliage past the other cottage style homes in this compound. The shared swimming pool and spa are located just to the front of this home.  The first time I entered this compound I was immediately taken by the quaintness of the garden area and the neat little homes located in the compound.  The gardens and open spaces are immaculate.

 This particular home sold for $700,000 in 2007. It is offered for less than half that price now. Of course, it needs some TLC, a good scrubbing, some fresh paint, and it would look much better. I told buyers I think it would make sense to  redo the kitchen and bath, rip out the existing floors and install one uniform floor surface throughout the home. I would even take out the existing windows and doors and replace with wind impact resistant windows and doors to reduce long term wind insurance premiums.  I'm not a builder, but I don't see any of these suggested projects as being terribly expensive, but I do see them as adding tremendous long term value to the property.  I just did a simple mortgage amortization that assumed a purchase price of $300,000 with 20% down payment. I financed $240,000 at 3.1% over 30 years. The result is $1,025 per month (P&I).  That, Dear Reader, is equivalent to rent on a one bedroom apartment in a funky building in Old Town.

Living room and dining area as they appear today

Adjacent living room as it appeared in 2007

 The mls states the home has 1137 sq ft of living space under air and sits on a 2967 sq ft lot. The house is basically a 35' x 29' box plus some additional spaces that add dimension and variety that make this house really unique. Two of the features that come to mind are the wall of French doors in the living area that open out to a private garden area and the once amazing bath with an indoor/outdoor shower that lets you shower under under the sun and the stars. 

CLICK HERE  to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet to view listing info. The agent says this house does not have off street parking, however the prior mls does show that parking is included. This is something to verify if interested. Other units do have parking as well.

Private deck and garden area as it appeared five years ago

Same deck and garden as it appears today - it needs some TLC

The indoor/outdoor shower as it appeared in 2007

The same area today needs a good cleaning

 If you would like to see this home or any other property in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

Bank Owned - Key West - Price Reduction - 1111 Watson Street #D

The single family home at 1111 Watson Street #D is located in a compound in the South of Truman area or Old Town Key West was just reduced from $359,900 to $341,900. The house is Bank Owned.  This might be the bargain property you have been waiting to find.

The  home is located at the end of a meandering brick pathway that winds through lush tropical foliage past the other cottage style homes in this compound. The shared swimming pool and spa are located just to the front of this home.  The first time I entered this compound I was immediately taken by the quaintness of the garden area and the neat little homes located in the compound.  The gardens and open spaces are immaculate.

The meandering pathway leads to the front door past the community pool

The home is, as bank owned properties often are, in need of some TLC. A good scrubbing and a new coat of paint would do wonders to this house that sold in 2007 for $700,000. I looked at the listing photos of what this house looked like when it sold in 2007 and easily understood how it sold at the high price point: it was really charming.  It can be again. The photos I took were snapped quite quickly and on an overcast and rainy day in Key West. So my pics will likely seem more depressing than impressive. I urge buyers to judge the place in person and see what a bargain this home might be.

The listing Realtor describes the listing this way:

"Cute 2/1 home in a well located, well known Key West compound. Your front door faces the shared pool! Your living room and one of the bedrooms have french doors to your private walled, landscaped wooden deck. You bath and shower are glassed in within its own private space for communing with nature. Great house for entertaining. Priced right to live in Old Town."

Living room and kitchen as they appear today

Living room as it appeared five years ago.

The mls states the home has 1137 sq ft of living space under air and sits on a 2967 sq ft lot. The house is basically a 35' x 29' box plus some additional spaces that add dimension and variety that make this house really unique. Two of the features that come to mind are the wall of French doors in the living area that open out to a private garden area and the once amazing bath with an indoor/outdoor shower that lets you shower under under the sun and the stars. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet to view listing info. The agent says this house does not have off street parking, however the prior mls does show that parking is included. This is something to verify if interested. Other units do have parking as well.
 

 Private decked and garden area five years ago.

  Private deck and garden area of this home today. It could be beautiful again.

Indoor/outdoor shower as it appeared five years ago. 

Same scene today. It needs to TLC! It can be magical again!

If you would like to see this home or any other property in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

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1111 Watson Street # D - Bank Owned - Key West

The single family home at 1111 Watson Street#D is located in a compound in the South of Truman area or Old Town Key West was recently listed at just $359,900. The house is Bank Owned.  This might be the bargain property you have been waiting to find.

The  home is located at the end of a meandering brick pathway that winds through lush tropical foliage past the other cottage style homes in this compound. The shared swimming pool and spa are located just to the front of this home.  I had not been to this compound before this past Saturday. I was immediately taken by the quaintness of the compound.  The gardens and open spaces are immaculate.

The meandering pathway leads to the front door past the community pool

The home is, as bank owned properties often are, in need of some TLC. A good scrubbing and a new coat of paint would do wonders to this house that sold in 2007 for $700,000. I looked at the listing photos of when the house was last offered for sale and can easily understand how it sold at the high price point: it was really charming.  It can be again. The photos I took were snapped quite quickly and Saturday was a rainy day in Key West. So my pics will likely seem more depressing than impressive. I urge buyers to judge the place in person and see what a bargain this home might be.

The listing Realtor describes the listing this way:

"Cute 2/1 home in a well located, well known Key West compound. Your front door faces the shared pool! Your living room and one of the bedrooms have french doors to your private walled, landscaped wooden deck. You bath and shower are glassed in within its own private space for communing with nature. Great house for entertaining. Priced right to live in Old Town."

Living room and kitchen as they appear today

Living room as it appeared five years ago.

The mls states the home has 1137 sq ft of living space under air and sits on a 2967 sq ft lot. The house is basically a 35' x 29' box plus some additional spaces that add dimension and variety that make this house really unique. Two of the features that come to mind are the wall of French doors in the living area that open out to a private garden area and the once amazing bath with an indoor/outdoor shower that lets you shower under under the sun and the stars. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet to view listing info. The agent says this house does not have off street parking, however the prior mls does show that parking is included. This is something to verify if interested. Other units do have parking as well.
 

 Private decked and garden area five years ago.

  Private deck and garden area of this home today. It could be beautiful again.

Indoor/outdoor shower as it appeared five years ago. 

Same scene today. It needs to TLC! It can be magical again.

If you would like to see this home or any other property in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

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1118 Olivia Street - Old Town - Key West

Just Listed: 1118 Olivia Street - Old Town - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 1118 Olivia Street is a Key West cottage located in the Lionsgate Condominium Compound. The compound is a group of five houses that share a pool, a small common area, and off-street parking. With the exception of two buildings that are "duplexes", the other properties were single family homes that were incorporated into the compound. The property sits at one of the highest points on the Island of Key West.

This house has 851 sq ft of living space under roof and has two bedrooms and one bath. The cottage has Dade County Pine throughout much of the house. French doors lead from the living area onto a private covered rear deck and garden. There is an enclosure for the washer and dryer at the rear. The pool is just steps away off the private rear deck. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this property.

Kitchen is at the rear and has sunny view of the private decked area

Pool and Common Area

The property is five minute walk due west to Duval Street and maybe five minutes to the Historic Seaport. Nearby neighborhood hangouts include the Coffee Mill studio, Key West Island Gym, Fausto's Food Palace, Dion's Gas Station and purveyor of great fried chicken (no kidding!), Dog 30 (pet store for pampered pups), an Italian eatery, a bike shop, some Realtors, at least four yoga studios, and lots of small restaurants and Cuban coffee joints. It is a real Key West neighborhood.




1118 Olivia Street has what many second home owners dream of owning: a charming Key West cottage in a good location,a pool, and parking. The asking price on this charmer is only $365,000 or $429 per sq ft. Condo fees are $369.15 monthly and include building maintenance, common area and pool maintenance, building insurance, trash removal. This property will not last long. Not at that price.


Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com to arrange a showing or to provide more information. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Don't let Friday the 13th scare you out of making a really good investment in your future.

Compound Investment in Key West

1027 Howe Street (corner of Howe at Julia Streets)

If the harbingers of doom and gloom haven't spooked you out of your mind, the compound at 1027 Howe Street in the Bahama Village area of Old Town Key West may be worthy of your consideration. When times are tight and people don't know what is going to happen next, probably the last thing they want to think about is making an investment in income property. There are enough talking heads on TV, bloggers, and other know-it-alls telling the rest of us what the S&P downgrade of America's credit rating means for the economy. The wild ride on Wall Street has got to spook anybody with any significant amount of money invested there. Wall Street thrives on turmoil because they always make money when the market goes up and when it goes down. They make off of people who panic and people who into rising markets. (I know that is an over simplification, but it works for my purposes.)

A reader who chooses to remain nameless recently commented on the woes of buying Key West real estate. Instead, he or she suggested that people reading my real estate blog buy silver. That's a great idea. Go to bed at night and sleep on your bars of silver. Snuggle in comfort next to the cold hard shafts of metal. Silver can bring extra comfort to you on the cold nights in February when you let it grow warm next to the mantle. In the hot months like July and August you can chill silver in the freezer for a couple of hours and then put the bars in a back pack which you can take to work or on short trips. The cold metal can help cool you down for a couple of hours. Yes, silver can be your friend and it can be a good investment too.
Or you may choose to buy a property like 1027 Howe Street for about half of what it sold for in 2004which the listing describes this way:

"Private compound in old town, completely fenced,large lot. Main house downstairs is a 1 bedroom ,1 bath, living room, kitchen, wrap around porch, dade pine walls, wood floors high ceiling, beautiful space. Upstairs is a 1 bedroom, Living room, bath, kitchen, upstairs front porch.Seperate 1 bedroom, 1 bath guest cottage.huge outdoor living space, room for a pool, and more. Potential short sale"

Here are the details: The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows the property was purchased in October 2004 for $1,100,000. The Monroe County Property Appraiser's website shows that three residential addresses have been combined into one new legal description which as three buildings with a total of 1374 sq ft of living space situated on a 65'x80' (5133 sq ft) corner lot. The three original buildings at this location were destroyed by fire around 1970 so what is there today is of more recent construction.

This property just might work for that buyer that wants a private living space plus reliable monthly income without huge property management fees. I can envision a new owner keeping one unit for personal use and then renting the other spaces until such time as the owner decides to move to Key West full time. Typically one bedroom units rent for about $1200 per month (more or less depending on other amenities). In the future an owner may want to reconfigure the current two story two units into a single family residence and use the cottage for guests. There is room for a pool and gardens. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view listing photos.

1027 Howe Street is a short sale that is offered at $575,000 or $235 per sq ft. My experience has been that asking prices on short sale properties are negotiable just like market sales. Several months ago I wrote about another listing across the street at 1026 Howe Street. That property is still for sale, and it is still offered at $439,000 or $439 per sq ft. That property is a single family that was updated. I think a dollar for dollar comparison may show 1027 Howe Street as being a darned good opportunity on a price basis. Just below see some photos of the neighboring houses in this block. The City of Key West is progressing on the redevelopment of the Truman Annex waterfront park just a couple of blocks to the west. There is public housing a couple of blocks away. So you can view this location as being located in a nice neighborhood with a promising future or you can be dismissive of the area entirely.

1031 Howe Street

Southwest corner of Howe at Julia Street

1026 Howe Street referenced above as a comparison property

1015 Howe Street on the northeast corner of Howe at Julia

If you have an interest in a compound like 1027 Howe Street, consider the value of owning a property that can be purchased now at a reasonable price which could throw off income during the short term and which ought to increase in value in the long term. If you would like to schedule a visit to this property or any other property in Key West, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Why think of sleeping with a piece of silver when you could sleep in Key West.