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.

1200 Whitehead Street, Key West - Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda

 

Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda - The Key West Real Estate Lament

Key Wester Shel Silvertein left us with many  memories including Woulda-Coulda-Shoula to which I add  the Key West Lament

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.

Yesterday afternoon a new listing popped up on my Key West MLS. The first image was so startling I had to study it for a few seconds and then I realized what house it was - 1200 Whitehead Street. I had written about the property when it popped two years ago when it was listed for just $912,000. Let's look at the 2019 image and compare to 2021 so you can share my glee in the transformation. 

2019 

 

2021

I took the grayish photo in 2019 and a professional photographer took the recent pic. His pic  is better by far. But its not the photography at issue here. My 2019 photo showed the potential about which I wrote in the earlier blog. The house was a project home for the former owners. Times got difficult. The project was abandoned. The house was half-finished. The bank foreclosed. When it was offered for sale lots of potential buyers surfaced. I went over to take photos for a potential buyer and also my blog. I was not surprised to see four or six other agents roaming around with their customers or cameras taking photos or doing Facetimes. 

One of the challenges of this property was its size. The house was 4,179 square feet which is massive by Key West standards. The  corner lot was good sized - 2,495 square feet and located just a couple of blocks north of the famous Southernmost Point. Half the house was sort of done with finishes the former owners preferred and that a new owner might have to replace to create a cohesive design aesthetic. That could mean ripping out perfectly fine marble, tiles, walls, and floors. A new owner might have have to follow the design plans of the already framed rooms or tear down the framing and start anew.

One of the faults I had with the "before" property was that the owner had created such a large house and left only a small space for a pool personally would have preferred a larger pool and garden area. That 's the problem when Realtors substitute their preferences for what new owners may prefer. Some of the best agents in town shut their moths and let their buyers make up their own minds. I should do the same. Below is a before pic of the space left for a pool and then the actual pool.

CLICK HERE to read my original blog on 1200 Whitehead Street, Key West. It was bank owned and  listed for $912,000 but sold for $1,351,000 in sixteen days after a bidding war before that was actually going on everywhere.

1200 Whitehead Street is now offered for sale for 3.599,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and many excellent listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. to schedule a private showing of this one-of-a-kind eyebrow houses in a great Old Town location. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Don't be a Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda on this. You'll regret it for the rest of your life. 

 

True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Time of Corona Virus - Part Nine

 

If you are a long time reader of my blog you know I frequently remind readers that we keep selling the same houses over and over year after year on the Island of Key West. First and foremost there is a limited supply of land upon which to build new homes on this island. There are lots of state statues, city ordinances, and HARC guidelines that control what may be built and how exiting properties may be renovated. I also remind readers the most frequent source of real estate listings are death, divorce, relocation, foreclosure, and/or greed.

This is a true story involving an unpleasant divorce. Are there any pleasant types? A youngish Key West couple with two small children decided to split. They sold their house to a buyer who wanted to fix it up and flip it. There are a lot of flipper types in Key West. The husband worked out a deal with the buyer. The closing occurred and the family moved out. The wife got the kids and the possessions. The husband got rid of the wife. (He did not kill her.) 

The buyer  told me he rented a dumpster and began tearing the house apart room by room. He took out the easy stuff first like the left over dishes, magazines, junk in the bathroom, etc. The two story house had several bedrooms including one with women's clothes and a fur stole. The buyer called the seller and told him about the clothes. The seller said to throw them out - that his wife did not want them because they reminded her of him.

A coat. Not the coat. The buyer described it to me as mangy gray.

The buyer took the clothes and fur to the street and placed them in the regular trash container so that passers-by might take. They did.

A few days later the wife called the buyer and asked if he had found her fur coast and some other clothes she had forgotten. He said he did and told her about calling the husband who said to toss them out. The buyer said the wife started to moan and groan and cry.

I used to be a lawyer and handled many divorces. If a new divorce client had children I would tell that person he or she would be seeing and dealing with the ex for years to come. I suggested we make the parting as stress free and possible. That was easy to say. Few cases worked out that way. 

There is no happy ending to this story.  There never is. 

 

 

The buyer kept the house.

Tales From Key West - Early Arrival

A few weeks ago a fellow agent in my office asked me to show a pocket listing that may be available for purchase but that is not yet on the market. I called the owner and asked if I might be able to show his home later that day at 2:00 PM. He said yes and told me how to get inside when I arrived.  I notified the other agent to meet me promptly at 2:00 and not before.

I arrived at 1:45, went inside, and started to turn on the lights. This particular house is what we call a cigar makers cottage - small single story houses with one or two bedrooms and one bathroom. Other areas of the south call the same homes "shotguns" as the entry hall is located on the side and all rooms are to the opposite - you could shoot a bullet from the front door straight out the back door. This house had been remodeled and had the master bedroom at the rear. An addition was built on the side where the living room was located.

I made may way to the rear by turning on lights in each room along the way. As I neared the bathroom door I heard water running in the shower. I had been mumbling something to myself and then uttered something like "Oh, God!" I looked to my right toward the living room where I saw the owner sitting in his swim shorts typing on his laptop. "Oh, God!", I said again.

At the exact moment I said "On, God!" for the second time the bathroom door slammed - the owners' wife had been taking a shower, heard me calling the Lord's name, got out and shut the door. The owner stood up and glared at me. I turned bright red.  Well, I couldn't see myself turn red but I know it happened. The owner said I had set up the showing for 4:00 PM. I confessed I must have made a mistake and explained the other Realtor and her buyer would be arriving in fifteen minutes. He said he and his wife could leave but it might be a few minutes after 2:00. I went to the front porch and waited for the potential buyer and her agent to arrive. They arrived on time and waited until the all clear was given. They looked but did not buy. Next time I text to confirm my appointment. 

Pot Luck in Key West

A few days ago I was showing properties to prospective buyers. The custom in Key West is for the listing agent to be present the property and explain the features. Many of our homes are historic or unique. The photo above is not the house. The gent was sitting on the front porch. The listing agent asked him if we could go inside. He was an affable fellow said yes. He asked me if I would like an orange slice. I replied "with vodka". He said we drank it all last night. It was a small cottage. My buyers peeked their heads into the single bedroom, moved over to the kitchen, and prepared to exit. The listing agent asked my lady client if she looked into the bathroom. Oh, she forgot. She went back into the bedroom and opened the door finding the Mrs. on the pot. 

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Latch Key Dogs in Key West

Unlike many places across the United States, most houses and condos in Key West are shown by the listing agent instead of by accessing a lock box. This is both a tradition and a necessity as Key West many if not most listings here are viewed as both special and may also be tenant occupied. Special listings can be either very expensive homes that require strict control as to who goes inside or making sure that a potential buyer does not get injured while viewing a house in need of repair.

But all rules have exceptions including the house on Watson Street I showed several years ago. I remember the day and circumstance quite well. The listing agent told me she could not be present. The house was on lock box. She gave me the combination and said the tenant's dog would be in the house. The dog was tame and would not be a problem. It was probably winter as I noticed the light in the living room was turned on. I knocked on the door thinking the tenant was home. No answer. I opened the lock box, retrieved the key, and unlocked the door. I announced myself "Realtor".  No answer. I beckoned my customer to follow me inside whereupon I saw a big done sitting on the sofa watching her afternoon soap opera (or Oprah or whatever) on the television. The dog did some cute dog thing. The buyer probably gushed and talked baby talk.  We moved from room to room and then let the dog go back to its television. (I borrowed the black and white photo above, but it clearly represents what happened on the day I showed the house on Watson.)

This was not a one-time phenomenon. Another time the listing agent who was also the owner of the property I was showing gave me the lock box to his house. He said his two dogs would be present and not to mind them - they were harmless despite their size. Sure enough they were home guarding the bedroom.  I couldn't get them to move. They sniffed and checked us out then plopped their big behinds in front of the door just to make sure we behaved. 

The exception occurred a few years earlier while I was showing a tenant occupied condo on the eastern end of Key West. My buyers and I went inside a two story condo without incident. The tenant's dog yipped as we walked about. My buyers descending the stairs without incident.  I trailed behind, locked the door, and headed toward my car when my buyer said "Gary, you're bleeding". Apparently the little dog snapped at me and bit my ankle. I am glad he was small and not a German
Shepherd - that would have hurt.

726 Poorhouse Lane, Key West

In his book The Streets of Key West: A History Through Street Names author J. Willis Burke informs us that "Over the other side of Solares Hill a couple of entries are self-explanatory. Galveston Lane is named for the Texas gulf coastal city that was served by the Mallory Steamship Company, and off Windsor, on Poorhouse Lane, a poorhouse was once tucked away." You may ask yourself why anybody would want to live on a street with such a desperate appellation. Let's try to figure this out.

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps starting in 1889 through 1912 (pictured above) to determine when the house at 726 Poorhouse Lane was built. The early maps did not give this little lane a name until this map and this particular lot did not have any building on it until after 1912.  The map shows the lane was previously named Petronia Lane and that it turned south and ended at Olivia Street. Study the street sign above because that sign is now gone. Some street thug stole it and part of the history of this charming slow lane of Key West. House by house, foot by foot, this little lane is gradually being gentrified and made into a re-imagined neighborhood in Old Town Key West.

 726 Poorhouse Lane is a 4800 square foot corner lot (48' X 100') now located across the street from Bill Butler Park to the west. I don't think I have ever seen a kid swing on the swing as this area is now mostly occupied by rich folks with second homes in Key West as opposed to real families. I'm not being negative - I'm just stating a fact.

There is a white picket fence which wraps the lot on two sides. I searched my old shoebox and found a photo of the house taken in 1965. I took a similar photo yesterday which shows a modification of the original roof line after which a rear porch was added. There is a small storage cottage at the southeast corner of the lot. But ultimately it is the location on this picturesque lane that once led to a real poorhouse that makes this small home such an interesting home worthy of serious consideration.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows the bungalow style house was built circa 1939. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice living room with vaulted ceiling, and retro style kitchen.

For me it is the location and the possibilities that make 726 Poorhouse Lane such an interesting home to consider purchasing. A world famous singer used to live less 100 feet north of Bill Butler Park. There's a stage production about his music on Broadway right now. He's gone but the area itself is being rebuilt. There are two small corner convenience stores located within a couple of blocks. St. Mary's Catholic Church is up on the corner of Windsor Lane at Truman Avenue. And Duval Street is a five to seven minute walk. CLICK HERE to view more photos of 726 Poorhouse Lane and the area.

726 Poorhouse Lane is offered for sale at $920,000. CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule showing. I am a buyers agent and  a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let's sit on the swings, take in the sights, and discuss fulfilling your dream of owning a little place on one of the slow lanes of Key West.