616 Eaton Street - A Key West Landmark - SOLD

616 Eaton Street in Old Town Key West may be the most photographed house in town. It sits far back on the lot behind a relic of a rusty iron fence on Eaton Street, a main thoroughfare where Conch Trains, Trolley Cars, taxicabs, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians pass every day. The house looks like it hasn't been painted in decades and sometimes looks like it might even be haunted.

The United Methodist Church (also known as the Old Stone Church) sits to the west. The gracious mansion at 620 Eaton Street sits to the east. Tourists from around the world and locals pass by this old house daily. I doubt there's a person who has said something like "someday somebody is going to buy that old place and fix it up".  That's exactly what happened this week when Frank Kirwin of Preferred Properties Key West sold 616 Eaton Street for $1,850,000 - cash.  Frank reports the new owner is going to restore the old girl and add onto the property at the rear.

I got to show this property several times over the past few years. Frank Kirwin sold the same property a in 2012 to the owner of neighboring property who sliced off part of the rear lot to add onto the other property. A small cottage was added to that parcel. The remaining lot, while a bit smaller, is still huge by Key West standards - 19,018 sq ft.  The irregular shaped lot runs about 267 ft to the south and jots about 86 ft to the west behind the rear of the Old Stone Church. The lot is enormous. And that is part of the attraction of this property. There is nothing else like it.

I first showed showed this house was several years ago when a former owner had a for sale by owner sign post out front. Back then that owner wanted $5.5 million.  The price eventually came down. It sold for much less, $1,700,000, in 2012.  I remember the first time I walked inside the house. I was expecting a mansion. Instead, I entered a Plain Jane room with a sofa sitting in the middle of the room facing an old color television which was turned on. As I recall there was a bare light bulb fixture hanging from the ceiling that illuminated the room. The room at the very front (viewed in the black and white photo above) was a spartan bedroom. The kitchen was at the rear. A bank of 80 windows offered views of the enormous back yard obscured by years of grime.

A child's old playhouse can be seen it the photo above. There is room for a real house, a pool, and maybe a tennis court on this huge lot. Who knows what will be built here. In the meantime, please look at photos I have collected off the internet and some that I took that show how this old house looks before it gets restored. Let's remember the past as we look forward to the future.

Last week I wrote about the deal that was. The deal that got away and that will not return. A real deal in a down-trodden economy.

Yesterday two properties sold and closed. Our office used to have the listings on both properties, but lost them when the properties did not sell. They were not my listings, but those of this office. No harsh feelings, I'm working with one of the owners on another deal. So what I am about to write is not sour grapes or anything like that. But it is intended as illustrative of what is going on in Key West at this time.

Remember what life was like after September 11th: all of the uncertainty and the feeling of having been savagely violated. I remember that the Key West community came together like no time before or since. Everybody was nicer. Kinder. More caring. We did not know what was going to come next. The tourists stayed away in droves. Fantasy Fest did occur, but it was not like before. And then everybody left town and we waited for Christmas. The Christmas crowds arrived and then, like gangbusters, everybody started buying property. Prices soared as inventory shrank. Money was cheap and plentiful and the buying spree was on.

The effect on prices was that homes that a couple of years before that sold around $250 per square foot shot up to near $1000 per square foot. And many sold in or near that price range. Even crap. Forget about who caused it for point of discussion. It happened.

Fast forward to 2005 and the beginning of the downturn in the real estate bubble nationally. Add the awful summer of four hurricanes in Key West and the crippling of our tourist business. Hurricane Wilma through everybody for a loop because for once Key West actually got hurt by a hurricane. Normally it is just a bunch of wind and rain and falling tree limbs or an occasional tree that falls on a house. But Wilma was different. It was a real hurricane and it did real damage.

Christmas in 2005 came and I think we all assumed it was going to be like it was in 2001 after the memories of 9/11 started to subside. Wrong. There was resistance to buying in general and resistance to price in particular. But there were sellers who thought that the market would bounce back and many resisted reducing prices.

We listed 730 Passover Lane in January 2006 for $795,000 or $1338 per square foot. The owner had the property appraised and priced the property a little higher. My assumption is that the owner might have thought that would give some downward negotiating ability. I held numerous open houses there and many folks just loved the property. There were two detractions to the property: it only had one bedroom and there was no room for a pool. Oh, yeah, the price was way high. Nobody made an offer. Nada. The price eventually got reduce, but only to $599,000 in mid 2007.

The owner listed the house with another company in February 2008 at $579,000 and progressively dropped the asking price. The last asking price was $499,000. The property sold at $430,000 or $724 per sq ft for the 594 sq ft cottage. CLICK HERE for more info on 730 Passover Lane.

The Artist House guest house at 534 Eaton Street is a Key West landmark. We listed that property in December 2005 at $2,975,000. Guest houses are traditionally listed like hotel rooms or by the number of "keys" or "rooms" available to be rented. Since many guest houses have phantom units, rooms without required transient licenses, pricing can sometimes get difficult. Key West banks have no problem loaning money to purchase guest houses, but they typically only loan on legal units and discount any phantom units even though everybody knows the phantom units produce income. The fact is that phantom rooms could be shut down by city code enforcement so those rooms just don't count. The Artist House had six rooms plus an additional room and not the required number of transient licenses.

In November 2007 The Artist House was listed with another real estate company for $2,600,000. It sold yesterday for $2,130,000. It was a short sale. The price per room or key was about $300,000. That was a good price considering that there are more rooms and transient licenses, but it falls in line with what pricing on other units has been or should be. CLICK HERE to see what you missed buying.

I think there are some who will see these prices as still being too high. There are some readers who may want some sellers to be punished even more by even larger price reductions. There are some short sales in progress that are waiting to close. I am not sure that the prices will cause the market to drop that much even though I am pretty certain that the price per square foot on some future sales will be lower.

If you CLICK HERE and search the Key West mls database you will see that there are two Key Wests. First there is Key West's Old Town area full of cute cottages and majestic conch houses. Second is the Key West Mid Town and New Town areas. Many of the houses in those areas were damaged during Hurricane Wilma. Many of the condos and town homes were sold at inflated prices and are now bank owned or offered as short sales.

There just are not that many really nice properties remaining for sale in Old Town.
Sellers who do not need to sell do not have their properties on the market. If a property is listed for sale in Old Town it is probably listed because it needs to get sold. But with a shrinking base of available properties I don't know that the prices will necessarily get depressed much more.

But the Mid Town and New Town areas are the reverse. The inventory of available properties is still large. I read the Monroe County Clerk's website and see all of the new properties going into pre-foreclosure. It is not stopping. So prices in those areas will likely continue to drop until this mess is over.

If you want to catch the big one before there are no more big ones left, CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls database. If you see a property you like please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. Let me help you find your little (or BIG) place in Paradise.





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Finnegan's Wake -- 320 Grinnell St Key West, Fl

Want to have a party every night? Want to own a Key West Landmark? You can do both. Just Listed: Finnegan's Wake at 320 Grinnell Street, Old Town, Key West.

This bar and restaurant is a locals hangout and a tourist draw. It is located a stone's throw from the Historic Key West Seaport. It is across the street from the Key West municipal parking garage. Grinnell Street is the primary feeder street for traffic going to the seaport.

The building sits at the corner of James and Grinnell Streets and occupies a pretty good sized amount of land. The main building houses the pub downstairs. There are two licensed residential units upstairs that can be used for employee housing. And next door to the south is Pady O's outside bar and dining area.

This is a business and real estate package sold turn-key with 174 seats and an SRX liquor license. The Pub has indoor and outdoor patio seating. The building has two residential apartments upstairs for staff housing. The numbers are strong, making this a profitable business investment. Financials are available upon execution of a confidentiality agreement.

The asking price on Finnegan's Wake is $2,800,000. This is not my listing, but don't let that stop you from taking a look into your future. Call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com.

The New York Times even did a piece on Finnegan's Wake. CLICK HERE for the review and pics.

410 Simonton Street Key West -- Historic Beauty

Major Price Reduction of $500,000 on this Key West landmark property located at 410 Simonton Street in Old Town Key West. Now offered at $1,350,000 or $418 per sq. ft. for a true beauty. There property is presently used as apartments, but could be returned to single family splendor. This property could be a great renovation project, and at the asking price, it might make economic sense to a buyer looking for a home with great street appeal.

The house has 3230 sq ft of living space in 3 buildings. It sits on a 106' X 60' (6360 sq.ft.) lot. CLICK HERE for additional info and photos.

This is not my listing, but I'd love to show it to you. Since it is tenant occupied 24 hours notice is required. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com for more info. Artist Fran Drecker created the Gingerbread portrait above.

CLICK HERE to checkout all of the residential and commercial listings in Key West and the Lower Florida Keys.