Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No 34 with a Twist

from October 15, 2010

901 Packer St - Old Town - Key West  

The Twist Part follows the original post.

The Key West Cemetery as viewed from 901 Packer Street

 

901 Packer Street in Old Town Key West is located directly across the street from the Key West Cemetery and is in desperate need of The Re-Animator. The listing Realtor describes this property thus:

"Great Old Town Key West location within walking distance to Duval Street and all of the Key West attractions. Perfect renovation project on a corner lot with off street parking. Located in an X500 flood zone, this is one of the highest elevations on the island."

This house was built in 1948 or 1953 (there are two different dates in county records). The relative newness means the house is not a contributing structure and that means a new owner could tear down this property and build all new. A caveat to tearing down and building new is that the current building codes and set backs will control what can be built and the lot coverage area. "Re-animating" or renovating this house would permit the new owner to keep the existing lot coverage and setbacks in place. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls data sheet and listing photos. Let me share my thoughts about the house. Unlike The Aadams' Family mansion, this house is no museum. The house itself is ooky and the layout is kinda kooky. I don't know that I'd say its mysterious and spooky, but it surely ain't imperious.

"it surely ain't imperious"

This place will need lots of work. These are things I think it needs: new doors and windows, a new roof, new electric and plumbing, new interior layout which means all new interior framing and drywall, a new kitchen and one or two new bathrooms. The existing covered parking is nice but it looks like the roof may collapse. There is an old homemade addition to the Olivia Street side of the house that looks awful from the outside and it looks terrible from the inside. There is spauling across the north side of the kitchen. (Spauling is prevalent in many Key West houses of that vintage. It's repairable but the cost depends on the condition of the house and how much area has been compromised.) While the house is capable of re-animation (lol), it is a better candidate for demolition in my opinion. A good architect or contractor could help a potential new buyer determine what could be done on the 27' x 58' lot. 

I personally think a new owner could build a nice two story Conch style home on this lot. The 1566 sq ft lot may sound small compared to the big sized lots you readers who live up north in America have, but down here a lot this size in Old Town is quite common. What is less common is the view across the street. I recently took photos of the property. It was a gloomy day in Paradise, that day. CLICK HERE to view. A lot of potential buyers absolutely refuse to consider a property that overlooks the cemetery. Some would see that location as gloomy forever. I think not so. That refusal to consider the location is their loss in my opinion. Of course the area is quiet at night. No pun intended. It really is. And that is a great feature in any neighborhood. Having quiet neighbors that do not party all the time is a blessing compared to those that do. 

Olivia Street is a small one-way street that runs parallel to the south boundary of the cemetery. That street is primarily used by locals and is not normally used by commercial vehicles or Conch Trains. That keeps street noise to a minimum. More than the quietness of the location is all the sunshine one normally gets. If you love Old Town houses as much as I, you know that most houses are built so close to each other that there often is little space between properties. Since most houses are densely landscaped and typically have trees on all sides, natural light is often minimalized. The result is that many homes only have direct sunshine for a few hours a day. And most Old Town homes do not have clear open views of the beautiful Key West skies. The house at 901 Packer Street has a vast sweeping view looking north across the Key West Cemetery. Locals appreciate such views because so few in Old Town have them. 

The house at 901 Packer Street was originally priced at $249,000 and recently reduced to $219,000. I have my own opinion of what it will sell for, and that price is nowhere near the asking price. If you would like to see 901 Packer Street please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or contact me by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. I believe in Re-Animation, Renovation, and Innovation. But I am not a witch!

The above post is 11 years old. The house is NOT FOR SALE. Don't go bothering anybody about this. 

A couple of years ago I noticed some fixing-up going on and started to photograph the progress. Progress in Key West takes months if not years to complete whether it is a home handyman or a licensed contractor. Perfection takes time and a lot of money. This is how it looked midway through the project.

I drove by this house for months. Something was always going on but nothing substantial until just recently. Now it looks great! Congrats to the homeowner for a classy re-animation.

Quit Your Job & Move to Key West - at SONIC Speed!

The new Sonic Drive-In at 2312 North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West is scheduled to open in early September and is now hiring.  I am not involved in this, but report about this employment opportunity especially for readers who have considered moving to Key West to test the waters before buying.

Key West the and Lower Florida Keys lost a lot of skilled and unskilled workers last year after Hurricane Irma damaged a lot of low cost housing. With no place to live, the workers left and many have not returned.   Normalcy has pretty much returned to Key West as far as rentals is concerned. Prices are high, but they have been high for several years. The good thing is that wages are equally high, especially for skilled laborers.

It is easy to get a job in Key West if you have a skill and show up for work every day and on time. That sounds so simple. Living on a tropical island as pretty as Key West isn't as easy as you might think. There are lots of bars, pretty girls and other distractions to tempt you from staying home at night. Those who stay home and go to work when required can make a good living here.

How Gay Was My Viila?

It's a free world (at least it is here in Key West) where people can be and do just about anything and everything. We all seem to get along. And except for some do-gooders that sit on some public commissions, we all try to stay out of each others "business".

Some places amaze me

One of the really great things about my job as a Realtors is that I get to see inside so many Key West homes. Some places amaze me. Sometimes after I have visited a really incredible home, I go back to my house and feel the need to clean, or paint, or redecorate. Other places sometimes make me feel pity for the sad souls that live in helpless hovels. I have been inside more than enough places that reek of urine but that are inhabited by human beings. I have had to move sideways through rooms filled with years of accumulated trash. And I wonder what in the world is wrong with the people that live there.

This is one of the better (cleaner) views

I have been in multi-million dollar properties that exude an ambiance most of us can only dream of. But more regularly I get to see some really nice homes that are comfortably decorated with Key West flair. You can't by flair in a store, but you know it when you see it. If you have enough money you can hire someone with flair to decorate your home for you. Many of the chicest of homes in Key West are gay owned have the look and style buyers want.

And there have been a few occasions I have shown houses that are just a gay as gay can get. The most memorable gay house was located in the Meadows area. I showed that house several times a few years back. It had the obligatory statue of David near the pool. There were statuettes, oil paintings, charcoal prints,and etchings of nude and semi-nude males throughout the house and garden. Every square foot had some form of art that paid homage to the naked male figure. After months of not being able to sell the house, the listing Realtor finally persuaded the owner to store some of the artwork off property. A few years later when that same house was for sale again, I actually noticed what terrible shape the house was in. The naughty artwork from before had distracted my attention from the condition of the property itself. But it did the same thing to my potential buyers because nobody was ever interested in seeing that place a second time.

One gay man asked me to look at his house to discuss listing it. That was in 2006 when Key West was in the height of the real estate boom. I might have got the listing had I not told him to take down the huge and virtually nude portrait of himself that hung above French doors leading to the back yard.

There was also that time I was in a really nice home located at the dead end of a Key West lane to discuss listing the house. The owner and I were standing in one of two master baths discussing the features of the house when I spotted it. The DILDO! I lost my voice and the ability to put words together to make a sentence. Decorating with dildos is a no-no.!

I have seen enough mannequins dressed in drag or adorned in leather posed in the corner of a room or next to a window that I don't even take a second look anymore. But my buyers do.

Mannequins are one thing. Slings are another. A couple of years ago I wrote a blog about "The War of the Roses" house. I showed it several times. The name I gave the property was derived from the ordeal the two gay owners were going through in the split of their personal lives and their real estate investments. I had to laugh at the "guest" bedroom that was set up as a dungeon complete with sling. Most of my buyers did find that room very interesting.

A couple of years ago I wrote about a home owned by some gay friends who left town and had placed their house for sale. The place had a long term tenant who himself had several roommates. The renter had turned the place into his own comfortable gay love nest. I say that kindly. The tenant was as sweet as he could be. The place was always immaculate. Let's just say the walls of the master bedroom and master bath were decorated primarily with photos of naked gay porn stars. I think it would be very difficult for a normal straight couple to imagine living in this house because of the huge collection of gay porn photos and other gay decorations throughout the house and near the pool. God, I must sound like some prude!

Call me old fashioned. I grew up in the 1950s when gay decorating was -- different. But what the heck. This is Key West. It is okay to be gay here, and it is okay to decorate your home, condo, or villa anyway you want.

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are looking for a gay Realtor, call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or contact my by e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Living life in Key West is just great. I could care less how you decorate your villa as long as you are happy. However, sometimes it might be a little easier to sell your home if you hide your porn and stow away the dildos.

524 Margaret Street #3 - Old Town Key West

 The Pool at 524 Margaret Street - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 524 Margaret Street #3 in Old Town Key West.

I dug into the old shoe box and found a black and white photo (below) that was taken back in 1965.  Compare the old pic with the color photo just below it. You will notice the windows are different, shutters have been added, the chain link fence has been replaced by a white picket fence, and an exterior stairway added to the left side.  These readily observable changes don't tell the whole story, however. As prices on real estate escalated in the early 2000s a lot of large single family homes and some places that had earlier been converted into apartments were then made into condominiums. Such was the case for 524 Margaret Street when it was sold by author Nancy Friday in April 2002 to two Key West Realtors who then converted the four apartments into condominiums.  Their design captured the attention of the real estate market and the units quickly sold.

 Unit #3 is located in the rear and has two bedrooms, a good sized living room, a recently updated kitchen with vaulted ceiling, the ever popular Dade County Pine walls, and French doors that open out to the private deck that overlooks the shared pool. The unit has 652 sq ft of living space and is offered at just $250,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet.

 Private Deck circles the property to the south and east

 Recently remodeled kitchen with vaulted ceiling

 Living room

Second bedroom or office - opens out to deck

Pool is really, really nice. A great feature of this small 4 unit condo.

CLICK HERE to view more photos I took.  If you would like to see this unit, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. 

"I Hope Your are Not French!"

Outside my kitchen window last year - hoping I'm not French

Many of my readers and customers who send me emails know that I have a terrible sleeping problem which stems from a fall I took a couple of years back while showing a bank owned property in Key West. I ended up in the Lower Keys Hospital with a concussion. I'm okay, now, but I did take a big spill. Damned cheap banks that don't take care of their bank owned homes! Anyway, if you have ever suffered a concussion you know that one of many symptoms can be a sleeping disorder. That is my long term and seemingly ever-lasting legacy of the tumble. For a while a would go to sleep around 6:00 to 7:00 PM and then wake up at midnight or shortly thereafter. Now my sleep is finally getting back to normal but I continue to have regressions to early evening beddy-bye. But I guess I am doomed to be an early riser forever. Last year I awoke way too early. I had already had coffee and decided to make breakfast at a time some Key Westers were probably getting ready to go to bed. I went back into the kitchen and saw the frog shown above. He was clinging to the outsideof the kitchen window watching me. I found my camera and took his pic so that I would not forget him. A few days ago I was again awake way too early for any sane person. I had left the kitchen door open and a frog had found its way inside the kitchen. He saw me and jumped onto my stove. He was a bit too eager to be eaten in my opinion. Were I French, he would be history. Instead, I decided to ignore him. I poured another cup of coffee, turned out the lights and left him. The next time I returned, the frog was gone and all I had were memories of the tiny creature. Frogs are strange creatures. I guess they are always here, but unless you have a murky pond or needy pool, you just don't see them and certainly don't hear them. But they reappear annually in late Spring. If you are an early riser like me you can hear them croaking come May. I don't recall how long they stay because they just stop their noise and disappear into the flora and fauna only to reappear the following year.

An iguana inspecting my pool

I don't want to scare any potential buyers by reporting on the little animals that live here. My experience have been harmless. A few years ago I was having some work done at my house. Two of the workers were from Nicaragua. They saw a 3 foot iguana walking around in the backyard where we were working. They tried to catch it. They couldn't. The lead carpenter was from England. He picked up a large 6" x 6" post and hit the beast on the head, killing him instantly. The time was 11:45 AM. He took the Iguana home at noon. He returned at 12:30 and announced he had thrown the Iguana into a pot and was making Iguana Soup. I wasn't home at the time and would not have allowed that to happen. Later that day after everyone had left I saw a baby Iguana about 12 inches long walking by my pool. He wasn't even afraid. I thought buddy, you better move or you could get thrown into the pot with your dad. The next day the carpenter retold the story of his slaying the Iguana and reported on what a tasty tail the beast had. "Best Iguana I ever ate", he said. I live in the Casa Marina area of Key West. My house is four or five blocks from the beach. It's an easy walk or bike ride for me. One Saturday afternoon several years ago I found a large blue crab swimming in my pool. I found an old five gallon bucket and scooped the crab out of the pool and thought the poor thing was lost. So I rode my bike with the bucket-o-crab back to the ocean where I returned him to the sea. Later someone told me the crab was probably horny and was walking around looking for a mate. He said that crabs leave the ocean and move inland when they want to do it. Little did I know I was messing with the crab's sex life. One Saturday afternoon I was taking a nap. We had left two packages of baby back ribs on the kitchen counter to defrost. I got up and decided to get them into the oven for a long slow bake. But when I went into the kitchen there was just one package. I looked everywhere. I remember havin g seen two packages on the counter. I looked in the freezer and the refrigerator. I looked in the oven. I looked high and low throughout the kitchen. I even went outside trying to figure out where the second package could have gone. I could not find it. Our baby back rib night was less filling than planned. Maybe a week later I found the opened cryopack in the back yard. Something had made its way into the kitchen and stole the package and took it outside where it opened the package (tain't easy-either). The meat was 'all gone'. Nothing left inside the package. The store label identified the package as my stolen dinner. I don't have a dog or a cat. The carpenter that ate the iguana and the Nicaraguans were no longer working at my house. We do have some homeless people that walk the streets from time to time, but they don't come inside my property and surely none of them eat raw pork. I did see a raccoon in my yard once. Maybe he was the culprit. No way to know for sure. I have a small apartment at the side of my house. A few years ago a really sweet young couple (Sean and Jen) lived there for narly five years. There was a fish pond near their entrance and that had some creepy fish that lived inside. I decided to clean up the pond, buy a new pump, and make the pond look even better by adding some large koi. I went to the pet store and bought three good sized koi and some small feeder fish. I introduced them to the newly cleaned pond and felt proud of myself. Note to self: don't feel proud of yourself because vanity will do you in. The next day I was driving home from work and saw this big egret walking around at the corner. I never see egrets walking around my house. I got worried and ran over to Jen's apartment. She came out and said "Gary, they ate the fish!" My three koi were gone. I had not created a place for them to hide. Little did I now that egrets had such good sense of sight or smell or whatever it was to find fish in one day. If you are looking for a place in Key West and are up for a little backyard adventure or two, CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls database. See if you find a place that interests you. If you do, please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or kw1101v@aol.com, for more information. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. I am not French, and I don't eat frog legs or other living creatures that I have found in my yard.

901 Packer St - Old Town - Key West

The Key West Cemetery as viewed from 901 Packer Street

901 Packer Street in Old Town Key West is located directly across the street from the Key West Cemetery and is in desperate need of The Re-Animator.

The listing Realtor describes this property thus:

"Great Old Town Key West location within walking distance to Duval Street and all of the Key West attractions. Perfect renovation project on a corner lot with off street parking. Located in an X500 flood zone, this is one of the highest elevations on the island."

This house was built in 1948 or 1953 (there are two different dates in county records). The relative newness means the house is not a contributing structure and that means a new owner could tear down this property and build all new. A caveat to tearing down and building new is that the current building codes and set backs will control what can be built and the lot coverage area. "Re-animating" or renovating this house would permit the new owner to keep the existing lot coverage and setbacks in place. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls data sheet and listing photos.

Let me share my thoughts about the house. Unlike The Aadams' Family mansion, this house is no museum. The house itself is ooky and the layout is kinda kooky. I don't know that I'd say its mysterious and spooky, but it surely ain't imperious.

"it surely ain't imperious"

This place will need lots of work. These are things I think it needs: new doors and windows, a new roof, new electric and plumbing, new interior layout which means all new interior framing and drywall, a new kitchen and one or two new bathrooms. The existing covered parking is nice but it looks like the roof may collapse. There is an old homemade addition to the Olivia Street side of the house that looks awful from the outside and it looks terrible from the inside. There is spauling across the north side of the kitchen. (Spauling is prevalent in many Key West houses of that vintage. It's repairable but the cost depends on the condition of the house and how much area has been compromised.)

While the house is capable of re-animation (lol), it is a better candidate for demolition in my opinion. A good architect or contractor could help a potential new buyer determine what could be done on the 27' x 58' lot. I personally think a new owner could build a nice two story Conch style home on this lot. The 1566 sq ft lot may sound small compared to the big sized lots you readers who live up north in America have, but down here a lot this size in Old Town is quite common. What is less common is the view across the street.

I recently took photos of the property. It was a gloomy day in Paradise, that day. CLICK HERE to view. A lot of potential buyers absolutely refuse to consider a property that overlooks the cemetery. Some would see that location as gloomy forever. I think not so. That refusal to consider the location is their loss in my opinion. Of course the area is quiet at night. No pun intended. It really is. And that is a great feature in any neighborhood. Having quiet neighbors that do not party all the time is a blessing compared to those that do. Olivia Street is a small one-way street that runs parallel to the south boundary of the cemetery. That street is primarily used by locals and is not normally used by commercial vehicles or Conch Trains. That keeps street noise to a minimum.

More than the quietness of the location is all the sunshine one normally gets. If you love Old Town houses as much as I, you know that most houses are built so close to each other that there often is little space between properties. Since most houses are densely landscaped and typically have trees on all sides, natural light is often minimalized. The result is that many homes only have direct sunshine for a few hours a day. And most Old Town homes do not have clear open views of the beautiful Key West skies.

The house at 901 Packer Street has a vast sweeping view looking north across the Key West Cemetery. Locals appreciate such views because so few in Old Town have them. The house at 901 Packer Street was originally priced at $249,000 and recently reduced to $219,000. I have my own opinion of what it will sell for, and that price is nowhere near the asking price.

If you would like to see 901 Packer Street please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or contact me by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. I believe in Re-Animation, Renovation, and Innovation. But I am not a witch!

1019 Flagler Avenue - Casa Marina Area - Key West

1019 Flagler Avenue is now offered for sale at $650,000 or $130 per sq ft. You cannot build a house in Key West that cheap. I'll grant you that it is not the prettiest of houses but that is why God created gay designers and architects. They can turn ugly into sassy with the snap of their fingers.

This is how the listing Realtor describes 1019 Flagler:

"This large 3bd/3ba house is situated on 2 lots totaling 9100 sq. ft. The home has multiple entrances which allows this property a wide variety of uses. Corporate retreat, large family home or a very stately single family residence. Each bedroom has its own bath and the living room and kitchen open onto a very large covered lanai which overlooks the very private pool and back yard. There is off-street covered parking and a detached garage. There is also a commercial rental (Doctor's office)downstairs for additional income."

I'm not so sure I would call it "stately" at present. And a retreat it is not. But the place is really big and solidly built. CLICK HERE to view the mls listing sheet and photos.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows this house as having 3256 sq ft of living space (this is in conflict with the mls listing) and sits on a 9160 sq ft lot (90.25' frontage X 101.5' depth). Records show the house was built in 1938. The house was originally built of Indian Block, a man made material used in several of the larger Key West houses. There is a newer addition to the front where it appears the original first and second floor porches were enclosed with concrete blocks and 1960's or 1970's era windows and door were installed. There is also an addition on the east side with a "disco" bedroom and bath. The Florida room on the ground level has iron bars on the sliding glass doors that open on three sides. All of the windows are shuttered. The downstairs front portion of the house is now used as a doctor's office. The second floor space includes a sitting room, bedroom, large bath, nanny suite, and an office. The result is godawful ugly.

This property has a covered off street parking plus a vintage garage. The kidney shaped pool is very attractive but it looks a bit dated. The rear yard needs yanked into the 21st century just like the house. The pool are garden area could be so much more without a huge expenditure of money.

I think the price reduction is a signal that the seller is now ready to sell. The asking price of $650,000 makes this property very competitive. If you are looking for a project house in a good location, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties in Key West, Florida.

Thank You Joe

I want to share a moment with you. Just one moment. It speaks loudly about the kind of people some people are.

Yesterday afternoon my buyer and I were doing the final walk thru of the house my buyer and his wife closed on today. She had to stay at home and tend to important matters up north. And he came down to take possession of the new, but very "old" home in Old Town Key West. We had looked at many houses over the past two years. They made several trips. They decided the house on Ashe Street was to be their place in Paradise.

The seller (Joe) explained the intricacies of the old place. He related the histories he discovered as he rebuilt the house over his years of ownership. I won't bore you with the details (even if I could remember them). The seller's gentle tone spoke loudly as he educated the buyer about the lore of the house, the neighbors, and the quaint little Key West neighborhood that most vacationers don't even know exists.

I can see you sitting there reading this and thinking lots of people go through the same experience all of the time. Some do, that is true. But what happened next is something I will always remember.

The seller had a large shopping bag filled with papers related to the house, the Sandborn map,"historical" documents, and a disc containing hundreds of photos (historical and recent pics he took that documented the renovations he made). Then he pulled out a small rectangular box. No labels on it. You wouldn't think it important. He held the box in one hand and gently patted the top with the other as he said "These are the historical artifacts I found in and under the house over the years....They belong with the house." My buyer got a twinkle in his eyes as the seller placed the box in my buyer's hands. My buyer promised "They will stay with the house"as he acknowledge the importance of the gift. In that very instant my mind darted to the final scene in "To Kill a Mockingbird" when we get to see the box of treasures Boo Radley had saved over the years that chronicled the young lives of Jem and Scout.

Little things can mean so much. Thank you Joe.

How Gay was My Villa?

It's a free world (at least it is here in Key West) where people can and do just about anything and everything they want. We all seem to get along. And except for some do-gooders that sit on some public commissions, we all try to stay out of each others "business".

One of the really great things about my job is that I get to see inside so many Key West homes. Some places amaze me. I go home and start to clean, or paint, or redecorate. Others make me feel pity for the sad souls that live in helpless hovels. I have been inside more than enough places that reek of urine but that are inhabited by human beings. I have had to move sideways through rooms filled with years of accumulated trash. And I wonder what in the world is wrong with the people that live there.

I have been in multi-million dollar properties that exude an ambiance most of us can only dream of. But more regularly I get to see some really nice homes that are comfortably decorated with Key West flair. You can't by flair in a store, but you know it when you see it. Many of the chicest of homes are gay owned have the look and style buyers want. But then the buyers get the drama of trying to negotiate with royalty.

And there have been a few occasions I have shown houses that are just a gay as gay can get. The most memorable gay house was located in the Meadows area. I showed that house several times a few years back. It had the obligatory statue of David near the pool. There were statuettes, oil paintings, charcoal prints,and etchings of nude and semi-nude males throughout the house and garden. Every square foot had some form of art that paid homage to the naked male figure. After months of not being able to sell the house, the listing Realtor finally persuaded the owner to store some of the artwork off property. A few years later when that same house was for sale again I actually noticed what terrible shape it was in. The naughty artwork from before had distracted my attention from the condition of the property itself. But it did the same thing to my potential buyers because nobody was ever interested in seeing that place a second time.

One gay man asked me to look at his house to discuss listing it. Key West was in the height of the real estate boom.I might have got the listing had I not told him to take down the huge and virtually nude portrait of himself that hung above French doors leading to the back yard.

There was also that time I was in a really nice home located at the dead end of a Key West lane to discuss listing the house. The owner and I were standing in one of two master baths discussing the features of the house when I spotted it. The DILDO! I lost my voice and the ability to put words together. Decorating with dildos is a no-no.

I have seen enough mannequins dressed in drag or adorned in leather posed in the corner of a room or next to a window that I don't even take a second look anymore. But my buyers do.

Mannequins are one thing. Slings are another. I wrote in my blog about "The War of the Roses" house. I showed it several times. The name I gave the property was derived from the ordeal the two gay owners were going through in the split of their personal lives and their real estate investments. But I had to laugh at the extra bedroom that was set up as a dungeon complete with sling. Most of my buyers did find that room very interesting.

A few weeks ago I showed a house I had written about in my blog. The owners have left town and the place now has a long term tenant that has turned the place into his own comfortable gay love nest. I say that kindly. The tenant is as sweet as he can be. The place is immaculate. Let's just say the walls of the master bedroom and master bath are decorated primarily with photos of naked gay porn stars. I think it would be very difficult for a normal straight couple to imagine living in this house because of the huge collection of gay porn photos and other gay decorations throughout the house and near the pool. God, I must sound like some prude!

Call me old fashioned. I grew up in the 1950s when gay decorating was -- different. But what the heck. This is Key West. It is okay to be gay here, and it is okay to decorate your home or garden anyway you want.

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are looking for a gay Realtor, call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or contact my by e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Living life in Key West is just great. I could care less how you decorate your villa as long as you are happy. However, sometimes it might be a little easier to sell the place if you hide your porn and stow away the dildos. lol

Just Listed - 814 Carey Lane - Old Town - Key West

Just Listed (but not by me)814 Carey Lane. This is how the listing Realtor describes this new property:

"Ready, set, go! This is the home every buyer has on their wish list. A secluded 2 bedroom, 2 bath one level home plus a separate guest cottage located at the end of a quiet Old Town lane on a 6427(+/-) square foot lot with off-street parking. The open floor plan has many sets of French doors opening to the outdoors and a wonderful screened porch (21 ft. x 12 ft) overlooking the pool. Like new construction, completed 15 years ago, improvements include all new electrical, plumbing and newer roof, replaced approximately 5 years ago. Lush mature tropical landscaping surrounds this property which includes a 12 ft x 20 ft heated pool and adjoining spa. This is a very special property - a quiet retreat. Adjoining property possible too."

I have written about living on one of the slow lanes in Key West. This has got to be one of the "slowest" locations on any lane in Key West. That is for sure. Carey Lane is a real "dead end" lane as the photos at the top show. It is located at the intersection of Margaret Street and Angela Street. The Key West Cemetery is on the opposite side of that "intersection" and Margaret Street suddenly becomes Passover Lane. Confused?

814 Carey Lane is located at the far end of this little lane that maybe runs a total of 250 feet, if that. Some of the sweetest little houses in all of Key West are located on Care Lane. CLICK HERE. Neither Conch Trains nor Trolley Cars will ever make an on purpose or accidental trip to this hidden oasis. An occasional tourist with a camera may walk down and snap some shots. But for the most part, the lucky person that buys this property will be left pretty much alone.

If you have a few minutes checkout the online version of The Streets of Key West by J. Willis Burke to learn the name origins of the streets and lanes of Key West. But for quick reference, CLICK HERE to read about Carey Lane. Better yet, BUY THE BOOK.

I sent this listing to several buyers I am working with yesterday. Like the listing Realtor said, "This is the home every buyer has on their wish list."

814 Carey Lane is offered at $1,250,000 or $965 per sq ft. The house and guest cottage are 1296 sq ft and sit on a very large, very private, very lush, and most desirable location in the heart of Old Town. CLICK HERE to read more detailed information and view lots of photos of 814 Carey Lane.

If you have been dreaming about buying the perfect Key West cottage, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. 814 Carey Lane may be your dream come true.