Where on Instagram would you rather Live?

This is a featured photo on Instagram. Photographer is j9ryl if you would like to find it. Viewers are rightfully oohing and ahhhing about the symmetry of the capture.

Can you for one single moment living in a place like that?

Why?

EXPERT REALTOR and Other April Fools

  "The Internet is populated with self-professed experts."

                                                                    Doc Martin

A few years I was watching a reality show of some sort where the participants would be recognized for their knowledge or achievement of some sort. I remember a particular girl who was in her early twenties responded to the question as to why she deserved the recognition. She said something like "I earned it". She had lived; therefore she deserved to be deemed superior to all others. How arrogant, I thought!

One of my favorite Internet sites is Instagram. I use it to post new listings, open houses, and solds. I follow a lot Realtors and have learned a lot about how they promote their business using Instagram post. I have noticed that some agents have very healthy opinions about themselves and refer to themselves as being an EXPERT REALTOR. I am dumbfounded as to what an EXPERT REALTOR is. Is expertise achieved by extensive real estate education and certification or years and years of practical experience?  Is it reflection of active and sold listings? Or is it just punk arrogance as a real estate marketing ploy go to solicit new business?

Can one just proclaim oneself to be an EXPERT and get away with it? Think about it. Is a Realtor who markets himself as an EXPERT more liable than a non-expert if something goes afoul in a real estate transaction?  I do not have an answer for this, but my gut tells me that anyone who holds himself out to be an expert in any profession has a higher duty of care and performance than a normal practitioner.

On this April Fools Day I thought it would be fun to share some true and funny real estate stories.

Several years ago the Key West Association of Realtors  held its annual installation of officers dinner  at the Westin Hotel. After the gala was over and folks were making their exits there was a brew-ha-ha. (I know it's not spelled that way, but methinks it was the brews that precipitated what happened.) Two well known male Key West Realtors got involved in a bloody fist fight and wrestling match over a woman - not the wife of either man. Clothes got torn, there was at least one bloodied nose, and hotel property got destroyed. So much for professionalism.

A few years ago I was showing a recently built house which was leased to several young adults in Key West. The listing agent took me and my buyers into one bedroom where a young lady was sleeping. We quickly got out of there and moved into another bedroom where we stood several minutes discussing the house. I stress the word several because we were all shocked when a tall muscular young man wearing a black bikini emerged from the bathroom.

I met with a man to discuss listing his house a few years ago. We were standing in the master bathroom when I looked down into the sink and saw a dildo. If you have ever had a nightmare where you could not speak, you'll understand my inability to discuss listing the house.

Nearly twenty years ago I remember showing what used to be a gay male guest house located in the Meadows Area of Key West. A fellow agent from my office lived across the street from this guest house had warned me what to expect but I really did not expect to see what we encountered. I rang the doorbell, the front door opened, and the manger appeared totally naked and invited us inside. My potential buyers were a nice and normal straight couple from the midwest. We walked through the place not knowing what we might see next.

A couple of years later I showed an "All Welcome" guest house located near Duval Street. When we arrived at the pool we got to see a lot of old people wearing birthday suits. I stress the word old.

A few ago I went to a house in Mid Town to take photos for a potential buyer. I showed up the next day about ten minutes early.  The listing agent, who I will call Betty Lou, was standing in the street talking to four or five people about the house.  I presumed they were other potential buyers because one person had a camera who was taking photos of the area. I got out my camera and started snapping photos of the house from various angles. I moved to the front porch and took photos of the porch and the view from the porch looking across the street.  I framed the palm trees for best effect.

The other buyers were walking on the east side of the house toward the back. I walked toward Betty Lou who said "Hi, Gary. Go on inside and take your photos. The house is open." "It's open?", I asked. "Yes, go on inside" Betty Lou responded. So I walked back to the front door and walked inside. Betty Lou walked down the side of the house toward the rear. The house was very nicely furnished, but it had a horrible odor from years of cigarette smoke. I immediately liked the house despite the odor knowing that it go away after being cleaned and painted.

I walked over to turn on the lamp next to the sofa. Then I walked toward the dining room to turn on the overhead light fixture when a female voice said "I live here!"  Betty Lou had told me the owners were in town in our phone discussion the day before. She said the owners were supposed to leave by the time I arrived to take photos. I assumed Betty Lou got the timing incorrect and then wondered why she sent me inside when the owner was still there.

I touched the dining room light switch and turned on the light anyway. "I live here!" the female voice said again.  I responded "I'm sorry. Betty Lou is outside. She said to go inside to take photos."  The voice now had a body, the body of a smallish older woman who had emerged from the bedroom as she walked into the living area where she repeated "I live here!".  I repeated myself saying that Betty Lou had sent me inside to take photos. I said "She is showing other buyers the back of the house". The lady said "Betty Lou is selling the house next door!"  My complexion must have turned beet red. I felt like such a dummy. I reached over to turn off the dining room light and then the light by the sofa.  The lady stood her ground. She was not angry. "Miffed" would best describe her countenance.

I headed to the front door to make my exit. I said "Thank God you did not have a gun!"  The lady emphatically stated "My husband does!" whereupon I felt it best to get out of the house - quickly. (You know in Florida we have that 'stand your ground' law that gives people the right to kill people in their homes if they feel threatened.)

I exited and went outside to find Betty Lou who I told my little story. I was perplexed as to why she would tell me to go inside having seen me taking photos of the house, especially as I had initially walked toward her from the front porch of the wrong house. At first Betty Lou had a shocked expression on her face. She brought her right hand to cover her mouth and then she let out a chuckle. I thought it was funny too, but not that funny because I could have got my ass shot off.

I have been a Realtor in Key West since 1996. I think I do a pretty good job of helping my principals get deals done. Prior to moving to Key West I was an attorney and a banker in Denver. Later I worked for the Resolution Trust Corporation handing very large assets held by failed subsidiary corporations of failed savings and loan associations. I have had more years of experience making deals happen than some self-proclaimed expert Realtors have lived. If you are looking for a competent agent, please consider calling me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

206 Harbour Place Condominium - Elegant Key West Waterfront Property

During the Spring of 1987 I attended a party held at the World Famous La Te Da hosted by proprietor Lawrence Formica who introduced Pritam Singh to Key West society and announced plans for the Truman Annex. I wish so much that I had a camera that night or that I could find a photo online.  In today's world of Twitter and Instagram,  there would be several such photos. But 27 years ago people did not record every day events like they do today. In fact that day was not an everyday event. It was a transformative day in Key West history because the Truman Annex became the most popular vacation destination in Key West.  Pritam Singh redeveloped prime ocean front real estate that had been NAVY property for decades. He removed old structures, built seven new communities of condominiums, town homes, and sold single family lots for development by individual homeowners. He added streets, trees and tropical foliage that has grown and matured into a beautiful city-scape. Today Truman Annex is a gated community located behind the historic Presidential gates on Whitehead Street and the Key West waterfront. The Shipyard Condominiums are the least expensive of the properties. Many owners in each of the communities have obtained special transient rental licenses from the City of Key West which allows owners to rent their homes on a weekly basis. The ability to rent one's unit has given would-be Key West second homeowners a realistic and affordable alternative to the purchase of a single family house in Key West. The Harbour Place Condominiums are the most luxurious of the Truman Annex communities. 206 Harbour Place is the largest condominium on the Key West waterfront.

Unit 206 is located on the second floor of the original Naval Administration Building.  I found a couple of photos of President Harry S. Truman standing at the front of the Administration Building in 1969. This was President Truman's last visit to Key West. Today that area looks out to the boardwalk  and Sunset Key beyond. The Administration Building was renovated and became the Harbour Place Condominiums. Balconies and decks were added. Office interiors were transformed into living spaces. Over the years some individual owners have done their own interior renovations. In recent years the windows and doors were replaced with wind impact resistant glass. The building itself was built NAVY STRONG. It may be the safest structure in Key West. It undoubtedly has one of the very best views on the Island of Key West.

The listing Realtor describes unit 206 as "unparalleled elegance and understated luxury".  Two units were combined to create a one-of-a-kind 3073 square foot luxury residence. When you enter the residence your eyes are drawn through the beautifully decorated foyer past the living and dining areas and out to ocean.  The "great room" measures 44 ft in length and has four sets of windows/doors with Plantation Shutters. One set of French doors opens out to the front deck and another set at the south end opens to another deck that overlooks the huge pool. The kitchen has dual counter top cooking surfaces, dual ovens, and dual dishwashers. This place was designed for entertaining and everyday sophisticated living.

The foyer leads into the great room but it also provides access to the master suite at the south end of the unit and provides a genteel entry to the guest bedroom wing by passing through the den. The two guest bedrooms each have baths. The guest rooms have access to a separate balcony that looks out to the community pool, the "outer mole", and Ft Zach Taylor in the distance. There will never be a day when you won't have something new to see.

 

The master suite shown above is probably larger than most condos or town homes in the Truman Annex and anywhere else on the island for that matter. The suite includes the extra spacious bedroom chamber and adjacent office and sitting area. Just to the west is a lady's make-up room with access to the huge walk-in closet. Both the make up area and bedroom enter into the opulent master bath that includes shower and tub, dual vanities, and lots of mirrors.

Unit 206 Harbour Place Condominium is a 3 bedrooms plus a den, and 4.5 baths waterfront residence that includes 3 covered parking spots and a special Truman Annex Transient Rental License which allows the property to be rented up to 25 weeks each year.  CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this property that is offered for sale at $2,699,000.  You can view more photos if you CLICK HERE. My photos include many more water views and that is part of why you would buy this home.

After you have look at the photos and property description, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this very special waterfront 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. I'd love to be with you on the day you move in and post a selfie on Instagram looking out to the magnificent Key West sunset.