1501 Olivia Street - The Meadows Area - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 1501 Olivia Street in Key West. The listing Realtor describes the home like this:

"The Meadows Corner Lot Historic Beauty. Distinctive Historic Residence At The Quiet Intersection Of Olivia And Pearl Streets. Wrap-around Front Porch With Gingerbread Architecture. Off-street Parking. Nearly 2000 Living Sqft On 4800 Sqft Corner Lot. Opportunities For Updating, Great Bones. Wood Floors. Heart Shaped Pool And New Landscaping Provide A Very Private Setting. Historic In Every Way."

The Monroe County Property Appraiser says this house was built circa 1906. It has an understated beauty that transcends the decades. I found the photo below taken in 1965.

1501 Olivia Street as it appeared in 1965

Same house but a different view in 2006

Same location in 2007

And the way it appears in 2011

The four bedroom two bath house has 1948 square feet of living space on two floors plus that incredible 443 sq ft wrap-around porch. The lot is relatively large for the Old Town area (64' x 75' or 4790 sq ft). That may not seem large compared to lot sizes up north, but it is larger than normal in the Old Town area. The current owner bought this house in 2007 and added a pool and air conditioning plus upgraded electric and plumbing. The asking price is just $700,000 (or $359 per sq ft). That, dear readers, is a lot of house for the money.

This home is owned by the same owner that has the adorable cottage I wrote about last week that I affectionately called The Love Shack. That place is just too cute for words. It's small and would make a great guest cottage for the main house. (Methinks that is why it was purchased at the same time by the current owner.) Both properties are offered for less than the original purchase price. There is no mortgage so this is not a forced sale.

If you are looking a for a big house or a little house or both, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to arrange a showing of either house. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

The Real Housebuys of Key West

Summer is over. Fall is on the way. This is always the worst time of the year to sell a house in Key West. It is the same way every year. 2010 isn't special in that regard. Many shop owners and restaurants close for vacation. There's no reason to have a crew working if nobody is buying or eating or sleeping in hotel rooms. Five weeks from now, however, Fantasy Fest will be here and so will the tourists. Money will flow like crazy once again. The boat races follow and then Christmas ushers in season when the cycle starts all over again.

A few years back buyers wanted into the Key West market so bad that they would buy just about anything to get a piece of the action. So much of what was bought then at high prices is now offered as either a short sale or maybe it is already bank owned. I have heard of sellers who own too many homes in different locations that have decided they need to sell off unnecessary properties which in some instances means their place in Key West. Our inventory of homes is down from the past few years. That is a good thing. But the selection of homes is down as well. Fewer homes means fewer to choose from.

Most of the Realtors I know have buyers looking for "deals". I thought it might be helpful to list a few properties that I consider real housebuys in this market at this point in time. Here are some potential real housebuys.

2507 Linda Avenue in mid town is a short sale offered at $370,000 or $152 per sq ft. This is a four bedroom 3 bath home that looks pretty attractive. Photos of the kitchen are below. CLICK HERE.

Older photos of the Linda house

711 Georgia Street is a bank owned home located in the Meadows. It recently had a price reduction to $389,000. (This place used to be owned by a real estate agent who had it priced at $1,199,000. It had appliances then and kitchen cabinet handles. They are gone but they house is priced a lot better.) This is definitely worth looking at. CLICK HERE


721 Chapman Lane is a big house (1900 sq ft) priced at $469,000 which is located in Bahama Village. This place has big rooms and a good sized pool. It is bank owned and it has been actively market for 118 days. The house is in pretty good condition but it needs painted and cleaned. CLICK HERE.


3715 Pearlman Court in New Town is now a short sale which is offered at $495,000 or$295 per sq ft. This place is beautiful. The pool is magical. CLICK HERE.

The pool at 3715 Pearlman Court is magical

507 Frances Street is an odd duck. (I mean that nicely!) It is presently configured as three legal apartments but it could be converted into a single family home. It is one of the tiny few double gabled houses in Key West. This is not a short sale nor bank owned but it is offered for much less than the owner paid for the property. This Old Town property is offered at $599,000. Read the comments, this place generated $48,000 in income last year. CLICK HERE.

507 Frances Street is one of only a few double gable homes

3334 Riviera Drive is a very large waterfront home located directly on the Riviera Canal. This place is bank owned. The asking price was recently reduced to $689,900 or $244 per sq ft. The "bank" that owns this property is actually a local Key West credit union that itself is now in conservatorship. It has to sell this property. I think somebody can make off like a bank robber on this one. CLICK HERE.

The Riviera pool before it became bank owned

1012 Southard Street is located on one of the very best blocks in all of Key West. This home has a separate full guest cottage, a large pool, and off street parking. The asking price is $895,000 or $463,000. CLICK HERE.

1012 Southard Street: location, location, location!

If you are looking for a place in Key West now is the best time to look. Sales are slow, hopes are down, buyers who want or who need to sell may be receptive to an offer that they never thought they would entertain. If you would like to see any of the properties shown above (or anything in Key West), please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

Bank Owned Condos in Key West

The good news is that there are only 14 active Bank Owned condos and town homes for sale in Key West. The bad news is that there are undoubtedly many more on the way. As of June 27, 2008 the Key West mls shows a total of 345 active condo and town home listings for Key West and Stock Island. I just went through the active listings one at a time (our mls programmer can't figure out how to search for short sale or bank owned properties as being different from non-distress listings). Most of the active listings are short sales followed by properties that are Realtor owned.

Here is an example of what I see that is bringing down the price of many condos and town homes. Unit "A" is a 2 bed 1 bath town home constructed in 1995 in a Planned Unit Development with all the frills. It was resold in January 2001 for $199,900. The post housing bubble occurred and property prices and property values rose through out Key West until the end of 2005 when the decline started. The same Unit "A" sold for 101.20% of its asking price ($415,000) in the year 2004 at $420,000. It was listed for sale in August 2007 at $335,000 and it was offered as a short sale. Unit "A" sold and closed on March 28,2008 for $275,000. In three years the property declined in value from $420,000 to $275,000 or about 35%. Many of the Units in the same development sold in 2005 at over $500,000. What happened to Unit "A" is a typical example of what happened across Key West. It is not the exception.

People who bought properties in the period between 2001 through 2005 paid market prices. Many obtained close to 100% financing. And for those that didn't get 100% financing, many financed their property acquisitions for less than a 20% down payment. The market declined and values fell. This decline created a disincentive to continue making mortgage payments on a property whose loan amount is higher than its value. So homeowners started walking away. In droves.

That is how I explain why the majority of condo and town homes being offered are short sales. I am betting that many of the short sales that do not get sold will become bank foreclosures.

Look at it a different way. Let's say you bought a town home in 2005 for $550,000. Your next door neighbor just sold the same size unit in the same condition as yours for $290,000. You were fortunate enough to have had $55,000 down payment so you only had to borrow $495,000. But now your home is only worth $290,000. What would you do? Think real hard for all of 10 seconds. That is why so many condo and town home owners are selling. There is no upside. At least in the short term. When the market stabilizes the people who buy right now will be looked upon as having been shrewd. That is unless the market goes down even more.

Don't buy somebody's problem. Buy an opportunity. Don't buy cheap because it is cheap. Buy good because the price is good. There is a difference. If you are looking to take advantage of the buying opportunities available in Key West please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. I'd be pleased to work with you.

The photos to the right were taken in Key West during the height of the Great Depression. Key West survived it and thrived. We will get over what is going on. There will always be a Key West. These prices won't last forever.
CLICK HERE to checkout the 14 Bank Owned Condos available for purchase in Key West.

July Real Estate Sales for Key West

I have often reported that the best time to buy a home in Key West is during the summer when sales are low. There usually is not as large a selection because sellers typically wait until late fall to list hoping to sell in a more robust market.

Key West had only ten single family residential sales for the month of July. The least expensive was a 2 bed 1 bath home with 627 square feet. It was on the market only 27 days and was listed and sold at $390,000. The average home was a 2 bedroom 2 bath with 1309 square feet that was listed at $912,709 but sold for $826,591 after being on the market 186 days. The most expensive home for the period was a 3 bedroom 4 bathroom with 2,710 square feet that was listed and sold at $2,675,000 after 549 days on the market. There were 17 sales during the same time period in 2006 and 17 sales during 2005.

Condo sales were much worse. There were only 5 condos sold during that same time period. The least expensive was a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom on the golf course with 680 square feet. It was listed and sold after being on the market for over a year. It was re-listed at $392,000 and went under contract 4 days later. It sold for full price. The average condo was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom with 1,036 square feet listed at $656,800 and sold at $584,200 after 239 days on the market. There were 13 sales during the same time period in 2006 and 18 sales during 2005.

The National Association of Realtors reported dismal sales results last week for the period ending July 31st and that sent (and other disappointing economic news) the DOW into a tailspin. There is no mistaking it: Key West real estate is in the dumps. Here is another interesting tidbit.

The Key West rental market isn't fairing much better. There seems to be an oversupply of homes, condos, and apartments for rent. Many would-be sellers have opted to rent there properties rather than trying to sell them in this market. That means that renters for once have an advantage because the rates are down for rentals as well or the rates have not risen by 10% over the prior year as is the norm.

The houses and condos that sold quickly during the month of July were priced to sell. Not priced to see how many cobwebs could be grown. There are some good deals in the Key West market. CLICK HERE to preview all current mls listings in real time and then give me a call to see if we can find a home or condo that suits your needs. Thanks.

1009 Southard Street--Such a Deal!

The grand two and a half story home at 1009 Southard Street is another bargain looking for a new owner. The 3719 square foot home sits on one of the great streets in Key West. Just a few doors to the east is the big house that sold last year for $5.5 million. And across the street is the home of the former Vice Chairman of AOL Time Warner. (It was featured in a huge Architectural Digest piece a few years ago.) White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten owns the house next door to the west. All in all it's a pretty good neighborhood.

The house is presently configured as a 3 unit building with a studio apartment downstairs in the front, a two bed two bath apartment on the second and third floor, and the owners quarters are at the rear of the main level. The tenants have their own private pool, but the large pool at the rear is the domain of the owners. And the owner's guests have their own cottage accessed off Lowes Lane. Oh, and there is also a garage.

The house is in very good condition as it sits. The kitchen and bath in the owner's quarters are about 15 to 20 years old. But they are perfectly liveable as is. A new owner may want to restore the house to a single family residence. There is plenty of room to do whatever suits your fancy. This property was originally priced at $1,950,000 when it was put on the market just before last Thanksgiving. The owners want to downsize and have found a replacement home in Old Town that suits there present day needs. They have just reduced the asking price to $1,595,000. And the price at $428 per square foot is a bargain. But I believe the sellers are very motivated to sell, so I would strongly encourage potential buyers to make a strong, all cash, no contingencies offer. This is a deal in the making.

CLICK HERE to see more photos and read more about this great Old Town home. And then please give me a call to see it. I think you will be surprised at how wonderful a property this is. My number is 1-305-766-2642.

Spring Clearance Sale! 1318 Duncan Street

A steal at this price! Originally priced at $849,000 and now reduced to $560,000 for a quick sale. That is $475.00 per square foot. This is the largest of the four condos in this multi-unit compound with private deck, large in-ground shared pool, large front porch, private yard and a very rare and hard-to-find separate free standing garage (not a misprint) and ample off-street parking. Renovated in 2005. Furishings are negotiable. Owner is a licensed Florida real estate Broker.

This unit has historically been rented as a vacation rental for a period of 30 days or less and has an excellent rental history. GO HERE to see the property management company's webpage for this unit. Lots and lots of details.

The four condos are located 1318 Duncan Street--just one block east of White. CLICK HERE for more photos and detailed information. There is also a map link so that you can see the location if you are unfamiliar with the address.

Owner needs to sell. Give me a call at 1-305-766-2642. Thanks.