Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No 43

from March 17, 2009

614 Greene Street - Old Town - Key West

 They've already started the party without you folks. I just went down to take a photo of 614 Greene Street and the area is a bustle of activity with people wearing O'the green. How appropriate they are doing it on Greene Street. If you think I jest, look at the photo above with the couple in green t-shirts that read "St. Patrick's Day 2009". 

Anyway, St. Patrick's Day or someday soon may be your lucky day if you were to buy 614 Greene Street which is located at the epicenter of tourist activity at the Historic Key West Seaport. The listing Realtor describes this Transient Licensed Property this way: "Located just steps from both Duval Street & the Historic Seaport this commercial store front plus 3 transient rental unit property is in the perfect Old Town spot. 

Behind the bustling street lies a peaceful garden where each renovated unit enjoys its' own private covered porch. Relax in the ambiance of a wonderful custom dip pool with natural seashell waterfall. Front unit is commercial, Captain's Quarters (2nd unit) is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, Crow's Nest (3rd unit) is a 1bedroom, 1bath & Pirate's Den is a freestanding 1 bedroom, 1bath bungalow. All units are offered fully furnished, turn-key including flat screen TV's & wireless internet access. Walking distance to all that Old Town Key West has to offer. OWNER SAYS SELL - MAKE OFFER!"  

CLICK HERE to read more details on this property and see photos supplied by the listing Realtor. This property is a potential money maker for someone wanting a small hands-on day to day transient rental operation. I see the potential owner as someone who does not mind a little work to make a modest income from a property in a terrific location that may increase in value as the economy recovers. I can tell you this, the Monroe County Property Appraiser values the property highly. The location is what makes the modest buildings so valuable. That, and the ability to produce income either from transient rentals or other commercial activity that the Hrcc1 zoning permits. 

614 Greene Street is not a Short Sale, but the seller is willing to entertain offers. If you are thinking of buying a second home and potentially buy a small business in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas 305.766.2642 or my associate Phil Wilson 305.394.4105. Phil has been in the commercial real estate business for years and either he or I may be able to help you put this deal together or maybe another property. Prices are low compared to years past, and there are some real buying opportunities.

 

UPDATE 

You should have bought that place then. It sat on the market for 196 days when it sold for just $995,000. Today there is not one single house for sale in Old Town for under $995,000 let alone any place with three transient licenses. That buyer must have been wearing the Green when he snagged that deal.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 41

from January 16, 2014

3529  Sunrise Drive,  Key West, Florida

Matthew Broderick and Tom Cruise were born in 1963.  3529 Sunrise Drive in Key West Florida was built in 1963.  Each will become 51 years old in 2014.  The two movie stars take good care of themselves and probably look better than a lot of people their age.  Men and women who workout and take care of their bodies, skin, and hair normally look better than those who don't.

A lot of my buyers are in their fifties. Many probably grew up in a house built in the 1960s when contemporary design was the trend.  The house at 3529 Sunrise Drive was custom built by the owner who has lovingly maintained this property ever since.  The house is big. The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows this house as having 3378 sq ft of interior living space. The house sits on an 8937 sq ft lot (138' X 65') just across the street from the Riviera Canal that ends a few blocks to the east where water flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  The houses across the street benefit from being located on the water.  This house is every bit as nice or nicer than most of the original houses in the area.  And the houses across the street all cost a whole lot more than this house.

The home at 3529 Sunrise Drive incorporates many of the features of large suburban homes built during the early 1960s including multiple living levels, large rooms, vaulted ceilings, and large outdoor living areas. The listing Realtor describes the property this way:

"Everything you want in Key West living. Plenty of room both inside and out for entertaining or just relaxing with the family. Vaulted ceilings and large rooms make the interior exceedingly livable. A walled lot, lush landscaping, large pool and several covered outside seating areas along with offstreet, covered parking make this an ideal property. This is a home that you can live in tomorrow or add personal touches to create your own island oasis."

Events, styles, trends, fads, they all last for a while but many impact our lives for years or decades into the future. When you are young, you tend to live in the moment. As you get older, you learn that not everything in the world revolves around you. As you get much older, you may learn that what you do or say or think is of no consequence to anybody. That's sort of what happens to styles, trends and fads-they get ignored or displaced or even replaced. Styles that were hip become passe. Maybe that's why for many people buying a house in the Old Town area of Key West is so safe: old is always popular there. Even cherished.

If you are old enough to remember the 1960s you will recall the space race and the New Frontier. You will remember the forward thinking we embraced. Our TV, our culture, our furniture and home goods, and our architecture reflected the hopes and dreams as aspirations of that time. Some homes today still have fallout shelters that were built in the 1960s, a different and sad face of the culture of that time.

The home at 3529 Sunrise Drive incorporates many of the features of large suburban homes built during the early 1960s including multiple living levels, large rooms, vaulted ceilings, and large outdoor living areas. It is time for buyers to consider houses like this that have plenty of good years left as alternatives to much more expensive homes in the Old Town and Casa Marina areas.

The listing Realtor describes the property this way:

" Everything you want in Key West living. Plenty of room both inside and out for entertaining or just relaxing with the family. Vaulted ceilings and large rooms make the interior exceedingly livable. A walled lot, lush landscaping, large pool and several covered outside seating areas along with off street, covered parking make this an ideal property. This is a home that you can live in tomorrow or add personal touches to create your own island oasis."

3529 Sunrise Drive is a big house located a on a large lot on the east side of Key West- just about four blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. It is far removed from the hub bub of Old Town. This is a family area and this is a very nice family home that has been well maintained during its lifetime.  CLICK HERE to view a slide show with lots of photos of this home. This property is listed by Preferred Properties, but it is not my listing. It is offered at $899,000. And CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls data sheet.

If you would like to see this blast from the past, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a visit. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.


UPDATE

This truly was one of my favorites house in Key West. I wrote about it many times because it was such a wonderful example of 1960s American architecture. It was listed for sale by several different agents starting in 2004 when the asking price was $1,699,900; It finally sold in 2021 for $1,080.000. I don't know if I mentioned the reason it took so long to sell. The owners had dozens of trophy animals they killed from around the world. They had rugs, mounted heads, and stuffed animals.They killed many of th animals with bow and arrow. I guess that made it "sport"except the animals were defenseless.

If any actually read the post I hope you pick up on how I deal with aging. I had no ireal appreciation for what happens to you as you age. i thought I did. But i was younger then when I wrote it. Count that up to not knowing what you are talking about. 

Southernmost Buoy Set Afire

 

 

The Southernmost Buoy was damaged by an intentional fire set by two bros taking selfies. Be on the lookout. The police have clear video of them in the act. They might get a fair trial in Jacksonville or Panama City. Might. Doubtful in Key West.

It will be repaired. It will come back.

 

punks!

Taco Tuesday - The Value of Location

Last week while photographing some ongoing construction for my blog I suddenly got a whiff of garlic. It wasn't totally am unpleasant smell but not the kind of smell I normally encounter in Old Town. A few days earlier I picked up my completed federal income tax returns from my accountant. His office is  located on North Roosevelt Blvd in one of our shopping netters. As soon as I opened the door I got a whiff of the Subway Sandwich shop located next door. The smell made me think of food. It was both pleasant ad distracting. I commented on it to my CPA. He said you get used to it. Why should anyone have to get used to the smell of somebody else's business?

A few years ago a woman who reads my blog called me to talk about looking for a new house. I knew where she lived. I blogged her house before she bought it. Her house is located about 75 feet from the back door of a Key West eatery. The woman told me she gets awakened every morning as the cleaning crew scrubs pans out side the back door of the restauand. She said she hears the workers speaking, the pot and pans clonking, and chickens screeching - EVERY DAY. When the cooks arrive she starts to smell the aroma of garlic and onions as it hovers over the nearby homes. EVERY DAY.

A few days into the new year I got a phone call from a man who GOGGLED an address and up popped a blog I wrote. He called me to discuss the place. I pointed out the pros and cons of the place. I had shown it a few weeks earlier so I had a fairly clear recall of the place. I liked the house and felt the price was reasonable but pointed out that it was located perilously close to a restaurant and warned of the smells, noise, and foot traffic he might expect. He said he liked the place. I told him a lot of people buy places they like. But there comes a time to sell and selling difficult locations is, well, difficult. 

I am not saying buying a house located near a restaurant is bad. It is, but I am not saying that. I believe in the value of location as a key reason to buy a place. Or to not buy a place. Taco Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, all day, all night, everyday without pause can get annoying. It may prevent an owner or his or her heirs from selling what may be their biggest investment of their lives. Think before you buy. Consider who will buy what you "settled" to buy.

Gary Thomas, Realtor, Preferred Properties Key West, 520 Southard Street, Key West, Fl 33040

The Pie Hole

 

I often write about the charm of living on one of the slow lanes in Key West where there are cute little cottages, little to no traffic, and peaceful surroundings as contrasted to the hullabaloo associated with Duval Street. There are a few streets which provide the same type of serene environment including the one shown above. It's not just the lanes and streets that makes life in Key West so appealing, it is the way we live. A lot of us came here from somewhere else to find a better life. To be accepted. To be less judgmental of others. Key West is sort of a nesting in place kind of town. It is cozy, inviting, and private all at the same time. This is the true story of two neighbors who share a fence.

A fellow Realtor and her mother share an Old Town home with the Realtors mother - Mom. Mom is old school. She makes food the old fashioned way - from scratch as opposed to from store bought pre-made whatever. Mom bakes pies. Really great pies.

The Realtor became friends with the man who lived behind her on one of the cute little lanes in Key West. It turns out he likes pies and he liked Mom. Mom liked him back and started to make him pies. It became a habit. They cut a hole in the wood fence that separates the two properties so that Mom could share her pies with her appreciative neighbor. They dubbed the opening "The Pie Hole"

. 

 

The One That Got Away

Obviously those trout didn't get away. Late afternoon this past Valentines Day a duplex located in the Case Marina Area was listed for sale at what I thought was a bargain price. I quickly drove over and took a couple of exterior shots and then contacted the listing agent to ask permission to write about the new listing. She asked me not to blog because one of tenants was giving her grief. So I didn't. I did send the listing to some active buyers who considered the property. The structure sat on a 5,300 Sq Ft lot which made it very worthy of consideration for a developer or a person who wanted to just buy it and bank it. The value of the location will only go up.

A few days later the agent allowed me and other agents to see the front unit which was tenant occupied. The prospect of a remodel was feasible but I felt the lot was worth far more than the present structure. I found a photo of it in my shoebox dated 1965. It looked pretty good back in the day. But times are changing and duplexes like that are not worth as much as a fancy new home in the tony Casa Marina Area.

The property was listed at $829,500 and formally went under contract 14 days later. Other "tear down" properties in the area have sole in the past year for well over $1,000,000. That is why I consider this is the one that got away. It hasn't closed yet. It will probably be in my year end recap of sales. 

 

1301 1St Street, Key West, Florida - Just Listed

Touch Pearls Twice! 

Tap Toes Thrice!

Hold Your Breath!  

Look what they did to the mid-century house at 1301 1st Street, Key West!

Just Listed -1301 1St Street, Key West, Florida

The listing Realtor describes this 1958 vintage and now freshly renovated 4/4 1,424 Sq FT ranch style home this way: 

"YOUR OWN RESORT! Everything you ever wanted in a Key West house is here! THIS HOUSE DELIVERS! Everything is new and of the line! BRAND NEW ROOF with new trusses 2020. IMPACT GLASS AND DOORS THROUGHOUT. Brand new a/c. Blown in insulation, low electric bills. Designer pool with upgrades you only see in resort pools. Lighting, fountains, bar stools. The beauty of a designer kitchen with white cabinets, quartz countertops and new appliances. Floor plan to delight as it provides privacy for all. Three ensuite bedrooms with their own brand new bathrooms, fourth bedroom being used as an office but has a closet and french doors. The master suite is just gorgeous with stunning new bathroom. French doors to patio. Half bath and utility room! Your own electric gates for privacy and parking."

 

They call Florida the sunshine state for good reason. Key West is this tiny little island at the tip toe end of the Florida peninsula where the sun shines brighter than just about anywhere. The covered veranda at this home provides shade and seating for cooling off and sipping coolers. 

CLICK HERE to view the MLS datasheet and listing photos of  1301 1st Street, Key West, Florida offered for sale at $1,200,000 and then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this renovated home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

The Many Woes of Dunkin Dave

 

I met Dunkin Dave at Club Body Tech in the Duval Square center perhaps twenty years ago. We would often speak to each other during our early morning workouts. He was a very personable guy, very  outgoing, and super friendly to everybody. He almost always had a smile on his face and certainly all conversations started out on a high note. 

He told me he owned the Dunkin Donuts franchise in Key West. The principal store was at the Overseas Market in the same building that now houses DOMINO'S PIZZA. I recall there was a second Dunkin Donuts at 502 Southard Street - just a couple hundred feet from my office. You remember the saying "You can't eat just one?" It's true when it comes to Dunkin Donuts.

I said our conversations would start out on a high note, but they often regressed. Dave shared his three tales of woe with me. He was proud to own a waterfront condominium which looked directly out too the Atlantic Ocean. He loved the view but he was terribly annoyed at hearing the upstairs neighbor walk across the floor and each time the neighbor flushed the toilet. He said he could hear water flowing through the pipes. There was nothing he could do. Except leave.

Dave complained about that the Key West fire department would call him each time the department went to a fire. They expected Dave to deliver a two or three big boxes of donuts to the firemen. Not one time. All the time.

 While I was a creature of habit as to my arrival time at the gym, Dave was not. He might not show up at the gym for a couple of weeks. We discussed his absence. He said he got up very early each morning to go to the store and start making donuts. He said he could not depend on his employees to show up. That is a proverbial problem of every business owner here. The road to Key West is paved with good intentions. It is easy to get a good paying job here. The problem is getting people to show up for work every day. I understood his pain.

And one day Dunkin Dave did not show up. He left town.