825 Ashe Street - Old Town - Key West

A couple of years ago I purchased the right to use the image of the quintessential Key West Cottage from Kimberlee Clark, the artist who created it. CLICK HERE to see more of Kimberlee's art. She has a lot of great Key West images.

When I decided to write about 825 Ashe Street in Old Town Key West I thought, that's the house Kimberlee used as the model for my logo. Maybe it was; maybe it wasn't. You decide.

This is how the listing Realtor describes 825 Ashe Street: "This historical Conch charmer in the heart of Old Town Key West has been beautifully restored with great attention to detail. Located on a quiet street in a very desirable neighborhood this home has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom downstairs and 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom upstairs (with it's own private entrance). Dade county pine and bald cypress throughout, wood floors, guest cottage/art studio, two car off-street parking with carport, cocktail/dip pool and rear deck area are just some of the amenities you will appreciate." CLICK HERE for more detailed information and photos of this beautiful property. 825 Ashe is now priced at $699,000 or $567 per sq ft for this 1232 sq ft home on a 2530 sq ft lot on a quiet street in Old Town Key West.

For the uninitiated, Ashe Street is a small two-way street that runs between Olivia on the south and Southard on the north. It is one-half block to the west of White Street. And it is one block east of Frances Street, the eastern border of the Key West Cemetery. I feel the need to explain where Ashe Street is located, because many locals don't even know. And that means you probably won't see any Conch Trains or tour buses on the street. And I doubt that you will see many tourists on bikes or motor bikes. But Ashe Street is close enough for a short walk to Duval, the Historic Key West Seaport, or the neighborhood coffee shops, art galleries, gyms or small restaurants on White near Truman.

I have been warning readers for quite a while that they should not put off buying too long. Well, the number of really nice houses like this is shrinking. I urge serious buyers to take a look at this house as a potential dream house.

If you would like to see 825 Ashe Street or any other charming house in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com.

Handwriting on the Wall

"There was so much handwriting on the wall that even the wall fell down." Christopher Morley

A Total of 46 residential properties (condos and single family homes) sold in Key West between January 1st thru February 28th in 2007. And there were an additional 4 commercial sales. Sales are down miserably from 2005 when there were 105 residential sales during the same time period.

Almost every day the number of new listings is exceeded by the number of listings with a price reduction.

It is a good time to buy, but it is a horrible time to sell. I think there is some panic setting in. Certain areas are seeing huge price reductions such as the golf course. Units that sold for $525,000 in 2005 are now re-selling for $355,000. That is scary. The seller took a $165,000 hit plus had to pay the commission and closing costs for about $25,000, so the total loss was $190,000 for two years of ownership. That is depressing. And the sad fact is that there are several units at the golf course on the market right now in exactly the same position. And the same holds true for single family homes Key West. These "short sellers" are having a negative impact on the rest of the market and are dragging down the market as a whole, because those sales impact the entire sales dynamic.

The picture to the right is used by Permission of the artist, Kimberlee Clark.