Slim Pickings in Key West

Dictionary.com defines the phrase slim pickings as

A small amount left after others have taken a share. For example, After each of the children took what they wanted of Mother's things, it was slim pickings for the rest of the family. This expression alludes to animals devouring a carcass.

A couple of short years ago the moaners and groaners were belly aching over the 'glut' of houses for sale in Key West. Much of the glut has been sold, but some of the houses that were for sale then are still for sale today. Of that group many were priced way too high for the market or were located in areas that buyers just would not consider either because of the price, price per square foot, flood elevation, or just perceived bad area. A seller cannot change location, but he can change the price to meet the market. Some sellers learn and others do like they did in 6th grade math - they fail.

Most full time Key West real estate agents are very busy these days showing houses. Town is full of would-be buyers looking for their dream place in Key West. I am here to report that what was once a glut of houses is no more. We have slim pickings.

Since December 19, 2010 32 single family homes (priced from low $200s to $1.8 million) have gone under contract. During the same time 22 condos, townhomes, and duplexes have gone under contract. Those 54 units constitute approximately 9% of the Key West market that went under contract in the last 32 days.

Most of the sales activity has been in the sub $400,000 range which is the comfort level for many second home buyers and most full time local buyers. Seven single family homes priced between $850,000 to $1,895,000 went under contract with four homes priced over $1 million. That's pretty impressive.

I don't mean to overstate or to understate the current market. There are still over 500 condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale in the Key West area. CLICK HERE to do your own free search of the Key West Association of Realtors mls database. See for yourself what is left for sale. I work with buyers all the time that have similar dream homes and price expectations in their minds. The number of properties available has achieved the slim pickings status. I don't want buyers to give up on getting their dream home. There are still plenty of over-priced properties out there. We are now a quarter way through the Key West selling season. My job is to help my buyers find their dream home in Key West and turn those slim pickings into a good deal.

If you are looking to purchase your dream home in Key West, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

Key West - The Real Thing

The above photo is of the Key West Cafe - the one located in Wildwood, New Jersey. There is a reason people that live in places like New Jersey try to recreate places that remind themselves of the real thing-Key West. It is the fact that they probably have had some of the best moments of their lives in Key West. Many dream of eventually moving to Key West. Some who dream of moving to Key West live in other places, like the ten cities listed below

There is a piece on the Internet today that discusses the ten worst places to live in America which are (according to the item) 1. El Centro, California, 2. Cleveland, Ohio, 3. Detroit, Michigan, 4. Las Vegas, Nevada, 5. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 6. Los Angeles, California, 7. Phoenix. Arizona, 8. Newark, New Jersey, 9. Miami, Florida, and 10. Memphis, Tennessee. CLICK HERE to read the story and get the details. The reasons cited for naming these cities bad places to live include crime, crime rate, violent crime, joblessness, foreclosures, weather, and traffic. (Most sane people don't dream of moving to places like these cities.)

I once toyed with the idea of moving to Laguna Beach, California. It is a small town much like Key West. Lots of laid back people living very comfortably from what I was able to see. The old part of Laguna has mix of California bungalows and mission style homes built before World War II. The oceanfront climate keeps the area lush compared to the tinder dry hills that protect Laguna from the megalopolis to the east, north, and south. Like Key West, it is isolated. The big Interstate highways are several miles to the east but are close enough to get you back to mass civilization within minutes. The isolation the seaside community once had is only ephemeral today.

The other side of Laguna Beach, the side that I did not care for, was the fixation the Lagunatics have on their own self-importance, flash, vanity, call it what you will. The ever present pre-occupation with self-indulgence is really magnified in a small town. And while I loved the idealic little town of Laguna Beach with the roaring Pacific Ocean and the wonderful beaches, I opted in favor of a location where "style" is often more about wearing clean clothes and riding bikes as opposed to wearing designer labels and driving flashy cars. That place is Key West.

I grew up in Denver in the 1950s. I lived in the suburbs as a kid and moved to the Capitol Hill area near downtown Denver when I started law school in 1969. I lived there until I moved to Key West in late 1993. Towards the end I started to feel ill at ease about Denver. The air (smog) was getting worse each year. Driving, even just a few blocks to work, became horrible as the streets were incessantly clogged with too much traffic. The crime rate started to rise all over the metropolitan area. (We didn't have a metropolitan area when I was a kid. But we had a huge one when I left town.) I remember a senseless drive by shooting where a little three year old girl was shot and killed in her parents' car in a northern suburb. Once my house was broken into. I came home and found the burglar standing in my kitchen where he had smashed in the back door. My Old English sheepdog was quivering under the breakfast table. My house had been ransacked, and I felt very violated. A woman Realtor was raped and killed little over a block from where I lived just before I left town. That was about one of the scariest things that ever happened to me. (I lived in a very good part of town.) I know individual acts of violence can happen anywhere, but there were too many of them occurring too frequently and then too near me.

The "air" in Key West is not the same as the air in Denver. Thank God!

I made my first trip to Key West during spring break in 1984. It was buzzing with people. I fell in love with this place very quickly. I imagined what it would be like to live here all of the time. The rational good angel on my shoulder told me to step back and not act rashly. I waited nine years before I took the final step that got me to Key West. I passed up several good opportunities waiting for the right place, the right price, the right time. But during the nine years I never gave up dreaming about moving to Key West because I knew my life would be different here.

I had a preconception of what life in Key West would be like. It didn't turn out the way I thought. It was better.

A few days ago on Duval Street - Key West

I found the photo (just above) on the Internet on Wednesday. It was taken in front of St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Duval Street. The two signs are self-explanatory. The guy who hates Fags carries his sign anywhere he can attract attention. He is a daily sight somewhere in Key West. The guy with the "other" sign is new and is making an equally forceful counter statement. What caught my attention was the two guys kissing to the left rear of the photo. In case you missed it, a federal judge in California ruled on Wednesday that Proposition 8, the ballot issue that outlawed gay marriage in California, was unconstitutional. I thought this photo pretty much sums up the debate on the issue: some hate; some hate back; and some make love in Key West where it is okay to be gay in public. Key West is pretty non-judgmental no matter who you are or what you want to do.

Key West has changed a lot in the twenty six years since I first came here. Many of the houses look much nicer, and the sidewalks and streets are certainly in better repair. There is more traffic for sure. During season the streets are filled with Conch Trains, scooters and those damned electric cars. All the tourists bring lots of money to Key West and that keeps our economy running, Thank You very much. The talking heads on TV do their damnedest to stir up trouble by scaring people about hurricanes, oil slicks, Cubans who float over to Key West to escape old what's his name. It works sometimes but the public eventually remembers how much fun it is to be in Key West. So they return year after year after year.

"Pinkie" the beautiful home (left) in Truman Annex - a new addition to Key West

Right now the island is in the summer doldrums. Town is still busy, but not like it is in season when everybody is making lots of money. Each weekend something is happening that targets certain groups to come here. A couple of weeks ago it was Hemingway Days. Last week it was the start of lobster season. It will be something else every weekend-forever.

After living here for several years I figured out that life here is not about the houses, the climate, the ocean and beaches, the gay acceptance thing, the culture, or the laid back lifestyle. No, to me, it's just about living life each day and being very contented.

People who live here learn to adapt to Island time and Island style. I remember getting on the highway and sometimes city streets, and speeding a lot. I always felt the need to get ahead of the guy in front of me so I could get where I was going sooner. Key West is so small there is no reason to speed and no place to do it. You gotta be pretty lame to get a speeding ticket here.

When I moved to Key West I brought 14 suits. I had two Donna Karan's, a couple of Ralph Lauren's, Alexander Julian, Hugo Boss, and others. They are all in a cedar chest. There is no place to wear them. I wear shorts in the summer and usually khakis in the winter. Designer labels aren't important like they used to be. But I still wear clean clothes and normally they are pressed. I am not alone. Most Key Westers dress down, not up. I doubt that the book "Dress for Success" had many buyers here.

Doing it doggie style in Key West

I don't have the need to "shop". I can buy what I need on the Internet. I need less living here. Really! I remember going shopping for hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. That is how many people up north in America spend their private time. Buying stuff. Here you need less stuff and you end up spending your time doing more fun things. Or nothing at all.

If you are in to social and political affairs, there are plenty of people with whom you can mix and do your thing. Or not. If you are into the outdoors and love to run, bike, workout, box, do yoga, sail, fish, or just boat, this island is full of similarly inclined folks that share your passion. If you are cerebral the arts community flourishes here. We have several theaters and our own symphony. Key West has lots of artists and writers that live part or all of the year here. We even have dress-up affairs where women wear gowns and gents wear tuxes. But you will also find people who don't participate in much of any thing, mind their own business, and wear the same clothes for several days in a row. It's not that they are anti-social, but they are just living their own lives.

Almost everybody dresses up for the annual Fantasy Fest People's Parade

In my old life I could be pretty demanding. Everything I did was important. Or so I thought. So I needed stuff done right away. Timing is important in what I do now, but either my advanced age or my acceptance that things move more slowly in Key West has made life (normally) much easier to accept. "Island time" is for real.


I have found the experience of living here to be more fulfilling than I ever imagined. It's the little things that happen every day (or every season) that make life in Key West so pleasant. Each morning around 8:00 AM a flock of sea gulls (I think that's what they are) sit atop the electric lines at the corner of Reynolds and Von Phister Streets awaiting their breakfast which is supplied by the guy who lives at the house on the corner. It's not uncommon to see an egret walking around the Casa Marina area. I've had blue crabs walk the four or five blocks from the ocean and end up in my pool. One even walked into my kitchen a few years ago. I've seen iguanas and even a raccoon in my yard. I don't like the frogs that screech in the night each summer but they eventually stop. Otherwise, the little animals and birds make life in Key West interesting and sometimes entertaining.

This iguana lives in the yard by my pool. Photo taken from pool at close range on a float.

A few blocks away on the corner of White at Virginia Street cops and construction workers and everybody else stops at Sandy's to get a cup of Con Leche or a buche. People in the nearby neighborhoods walk their dogs and say "Hello" as the pooches pee and sniff butt. The town comes alive as the cars, scooters and Conch Trains begin to move around. About eight hours later most locals return to home and tourists go to Sunset or a bar, or both. Dusk sets in and locals walk their dogs again and say "Hello" again. The traffic such as it is really shrinks to a snail's pace. Soon the sky is black and if you live in a place like the Casa Marina area, you can listen and hear nothing. You can sit outside by the pool and feel the gentle breeze and maybe see palm fronds waive just a bit. If the wind is strong enough you might hear the trees as they woosh.


Riding a bike in Key West is more than exercise or a convenient way to get from place to place. I get "mushy" when I ride my bike under the flowering trees. I think how lucky I am to live in a place this beautiful.

Bayview Park - Key West - Memorial Day 2010

I don't feel alone or isolated even though I live at the end of the world so to speak. I can get anywhere I need to go. But I have found that I don't need to go to as many places as I once did. Living in Paradise makes going other places kind of pointless. Seriously.

I do not miss the snow and cold of Denver. Nor do I miss the awful choking smog or the horrible traffic. I don't know how or why people live in places that are so far removed from where they work that they must endure commuting. I don't miss the crime and all of the people. Real life in Key West is much more fulfilling than I ever dreamt.


If you live in Wildwood, New Jersey or anyplace else and dream of someday moving to Key West, please consider using me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 as your Buyer's Agent. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. If you live in one of the ten worst cities in America, get the heck out. I don't want all of you coming here. But go someplace safe and live your lives more sanely.

HGTV Florida Keys Dream Home - Part Deux

Last year I wrote about HGTV's Dream Home giveaway in the Florida Keys. The dream house is located on Plantation Key near Islamorada, Florida. CLICK HERE to read what I wrote then if interested.

The Monroe County public records show the purchase price attributed to the property was $2,000,000 when title transferred in June 2008. I have been wondering whatever happened to the property but I was too busy to care enough to look. Until yesterday. I got an email asking about the house.

In my blog last year I said "Enter to win. Be careful, you may win and get to pay taxes on it. And be stuck owning a very expensive home in the wrong location." Well, that was partly tongue-in-cheek and partly how I really feel. Winners of big prizes like the HGTV Dream House have to pay income tax on the prizes and also get to pay the annual property taxes and other costs of ownership. It isn't cheap owning an expensive ocean front home in the Florida Keys. So it was no surprise to see that the Florida Keys Dream House is now offered for sale at $2,300,000 - down from the original asking price of $2,590,000. The house went on the market July 23, 2008, a little over one month after title changed hands.

CLICK HERE to see how the listing Realtor describes this property. If you are looking for a dream house in the Florida Keys, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. I'm not drivng to Plantation Key to find a dream house. There are plenty of them right here in Key West. But I can refer you to a Realtor that lives way far away up there...

912 Fleming Street - Old Town - Key West

912 Fleming Street is a really big house with a beautiful pool on a big lot on a great street with really expensive neighbors. And it is priced to sell.

Here's the skinny. The previous owner was a designer who renovated numerous properties in Key West for himself and clients for several years. He purchased and renovated 912 Fleming in the late 1990s. Later he purchased the house next door at 916 Fleming and was renovating it when he passed away in early 2006. His estate sold the project house at 916 Fleming for $1.5 million (the house was gutted and was basically a very expensive "shell" situated in a first class location).

The house at 912 Fleming is fairly large for Old Town. It has 4 licenses. The owner rented two apartments located at the front of the home and he lived in the rear--most of which was newly constructed by him during his renovation in 1997-98.

The home is perfectly livable "as is", but a new purchaser may want to eliminate the rentals and expand the living space to include the entire house. And here is why: the neighborhood.

The purchaser of the 916 Fleming Street property completed a masterful renovation of that property. 916 Fleming that is now offered for sale at $2,900,000. CLICK HERE to see the listing information and photos on 916 Fleming. It is stunning!)

The house next door at 908 Fleming sold in May 2006 for $3,600,000 ($1,158 per square foot) and is undergoing a massive remodel. That house is huge and has a huge lot. And the new house at 906 Fleming sold in May 2008 for $1,500,000 or $781 per sq ft. (It was not as large a house or as significant a structure.) The house across the street at 911 Fleming sold after 120 days on the market for $4,340,000 or $1401 per sq ft. That house also is huge and has a huge lot. See the trend: big houses and big bucks being spent.

912 Fleming Street is a stately, early 1900's home in the Key West Historic District, which is said to have the greatest and most important concentration of wooden structures in Florida. This is a stunning and unusual property - a wonderful two story owner's home with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and a wide veranda overlooking the delicious garden, spa and incredible pool. The front of this large house consists of 2 nice apartments - a 2 bedroom up and a 1 bedroom plus a small office down - either could easily be incorporated into the owner's home. Covered off-street parking. The listing agent says this house has 3228 Sq ft of living space and sits on a very large 5650 sq ft lot (50' wide X 113' deep). The asking price is now $1,499,000 or $664 per sq ft. CLICK HERE for more detailed information and photos of 912 Fleming Street.

I guess you can tell I really like 912 Fleming Street. I think it is a great buy even in today's down market because the house has so many positive features going for it. And the house next door at 916 Fleming Street is just extraordinary. If you would like to see either of the two houses mentioned, please call me, Gary Thomas. You can reach me at 305-766-2642 or by e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. Let me help you find our new home in Paradise.

Key West Dreamin' - But Not Make Believin'

I was looking at one of those slick destination magazines last night. You know the kind I'm talking about. Magazines that promote destinations like Aspen, Vail, La Jolla, Palm Beach, Savannah or Charleston. Magazines that feature photos of designer show homes, fancy restaurants, hot spots, trendy fashions, and society types. There was a full page ad for new homes that were built to look old. The ad read "FRONT PORCH FUN At Hibbben, we're reintroducing the front porch. A place to laugh and have fun with the whole family. A place to cool down after a hot summer's day. A place where the biggest worry is if there are enough Popsicles to go around." The ad showed three new houses with front porches and a few scraggly palm trees. The houses are located in a newly manufactured town where new houses try to replicate the old town look.

I've written before about my falling in love with Key West my first trip here. I had always lived in Colorado and while I wanted to move to Key West in my mind, my mind told me I needed to be more rational. I used to travel to California a lot. I fell in love with the Laguna Beach area. I considered moving to Palm Springs, La Jolla, Santa Barbara, Carmel, and San Francisco in addition to Laguna. But each one of those places requires a mindset and a car. The mindset is to be really into yourself and in to what other people think about you. Everything in California is image in my opinion. And you need a car to go everywhere because everything is so far away.

One time I looked at real estate in Savannah and Charleston. Both places are just beautiful. The historic districts are rich in architecture. But after a couple of weeks in both places I knew I did not belong in either. Charleston had snob appeal, but not to me. And Savannah had that awful odor and the oppressive summer heat that I knew I could not endure.

During my first trip to Key West I would take my morning walk around Old Town and look at houses like the ones Jerry Herman had just renovated in 700 block of Fleming Street or the Calvin Klein house on Eaton Street. I'd compare those houses to some nearby house desperately in need of a paint job. I dreamed of what my life in Key West could be like and what I could do to a desperate house. I imagined sitting on the front porch of my house in Old Town and watching the world walk.

There is a difference between manufactured communities like the one I mentioned. The houses are beautiful no doubt. But they don't have the character that comes from people actually living in the community. The trees and shrubs are too pristine. Everything is too planned. Too perfect.

Key West on the other hand is a real city with real people who lead real lives. Our front porches bear the scars of years of use. The streets in Old Town are lined with trees of all types and sizes. The white picket fences serve a genuine purpose and are not just for show. The crazy cats, dogs, chickens, iguanas, herons, and other animals that inhabit our island make Key West a real town where the front porch never went away so it needs no reintroduction.

Real houses and real people living lives not consumed by consumption, that is what Key West is made of. I have been here for 15 years, and I have learned that so many of the things I could not live without are not even necessary. You can have your make believe towns and suburbs with houses that look old but are only imitations of the real thing. I'll take a Conch house with a real wood floor over a salt box with a new laminated floor. I prefer the Key West version of the shotgun house (we call it a Cigar Maker's Cottage) to the ranch style house so prevalent across the US. The old structures were built in a time when things were built to last. And they did. Many have been updated with either plain or fancy kitchens and baths added. Some have pools and are gentrified. Others are still plain and utilitarian. But they all seem to work.

If you consider all of the panicked selling in the in the stock market over the past three days you will see that for every seller there was also a buyer. On July 14th I wrote about the demise of IndyMac Bank and my experience in working for the RTC during the S&L crisis in the early 1990s. Bank of America grew itself by buying a lot of the assets (and some liabilities) of many failed thrifts. It recently acquired Countrywide Mortgage. And this week it bought Merrill Lynch. The acquisition of the S&Ls helped foster the huge growth of Bank of America. I'm betting that the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch acquisitions will prove equally valuable.

And I think that even though the economy is in turmoil for the near term, there really are some good deals to be had if you happen to be a buyer.

CLICK HERE to perform your own search of the Key West mls database in real time. If you see a house or condo that looks interesting please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. Don't let today's pessimism stop you from full filling your dream of owning a home in Paradise.

Single Family Homes in Key West under $500,000

I just went through the Key West Association of Realtors mls database and created a list of select single family homes under $500,000. There were a total of 67 such properties, but our system will not allow me to generate a report with that many listings. CLICK HERE to see all of the properties I was able to include.

Many of these properties are short sales (A short sale occurs when a property is sold and the lender agrees to accept a discounted payoff, meaning the lender will release the lien that is secured to the property upon receipt of less money than is actually owed). A few of the homes are bank owned and are priced to sell. In particular look at 2615 Staples. It was purchased for $900,000 not too long ago. That's a deal waiting to be made. And there are a couple of actual market sales as well.

Take a look at 1010 Whitehead Street. It is a very small and unpretentious house located one block off Duval near the Key West lighthouse. This house, believe it or not, was the home of one of Key West's most colorful characters: Larry Formica. He was the genius who created the World Famous La Te Da's on Upper Duval Street. He had other properties but his finances failed him. He lost La Te Da in the last economic slow down. But if this simple little cottage could house a giant like Larry Formica, maybe it could house you as well.

Three banks owned houses to consider at 3711 Duck (compare to 3713 Duck), 2005 Fogarty, 2816 Staples that is priced at only $275 per sq ft. There are more bank owned in the group. Some of the bank owned properties come with easy to obtain new bank financing, free appraisal, low closing costs.

If you happen to see a property that you like, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. There are some buying opportunities. Some of these properties are challenged. (That's a polite way of calling 'em dogs.) But there are some real nice houses in good locations. Let's see if we can make a deal and get you that Key West house you have been dreaming about. Maybe you can lay back in your Foster Grants and let the palm trees of Key West reflect your little piece of paradise.

Fantasy Fest in Key West

Last night was the People's Parade in Key West. Thousands of masked marchers paraded down Fleming Street then up Simonton Street and then came back down Duval Street to showoff their costumes (or lack thereof). This year's theme was Alice in Wonderland and many very crafty people came up with some great costumes in keeping with the theme. But I guess I will more than likely remember the oddball outfits or almost totally nude people more than the clever and expensive costumes. Year after year I am always amazed by the nerve so many people have in showing off their bodies in public. And most that do shouldn't!

As I was driving to the office this morning I had to make a quick stop. The car in front of me made a sharp veer to the left and I stopped to see what caused him to drive to erratically. There near the middle of the street was a turtle making his way across Von Phister Street near the Casa Marina Hotel. I got out of my car and picked up the turtle and put him at the side of the road so that someone less caustious wouldn't snuff him. The pic above is not the turtle in question, but they could be related.


I mention this because there is so much wildlife in Key West. We have chickens, cats and kittens, dogs, iguanas, birds of all feathers, rats (hate them), crabs, raccoons (I saw one in my yard), and all kinds of creatures great and small. And like the wildlife on the streets last night, the natural wildlife is part of the aura that makes Key West a place where a lot of people want to live.

I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks back and one of the places I looked forward to re-visiting was GUMPS. I used to go to San Francisco two or three times a year and I would go to GUMPS every trip. It is a store filled with over-price trinkets and high end art objects that you absolutely cannot live without. Or so I thought. In the old days I would see an item and think I would like to own it. I did buy things there and wanted more things from there. But now that I live in Key West my needs are much different. I have pretty much everything that I need. And if I think about it there really isn't all that much that I want anymore. Life in Key West has made me less acquisitive. We don't have that many national stores, but the Internet provides access to a world of merchandise that can be had in a few days time.

The people in San Francisco were much different than the people in Key West. The "locals" (ha, ha) are very trendy and very well dressed (or down dressed, but not undressed--unless you are in a leather bar). The tourists dress like tourists, but not like tourists dress in Key West. They have their clothes on and they tend to dress up, not down. It seems almost everybody dresses "down" in Key West.

The food prices in San Francisco actually were higher than Key West and I found this surprising. Key West tends to be very pricey, but I guess San Francisco is even more pricey. I did some real estate window shopping and found that housing prices are higher there than here. And the city by the bay beats Key West hands down when it comes to homeless people. I have never seen anything so bad. I have seen lots of beggars in Mexico and Paris, but they are everywhere in San Francisco--everywhere.

There are trade offs we make in life for living where we live and with whom we live. Key West is taking care of my needs at present. I find living with Key West wildlife and laid back atmosphere more pleasing than living in a big city like San Francisco with its' homeless population, high priced restaurants and high priced housing. We have our share of snobs, but thank God there aren't' that many of them. And they usually tend to hang together at any rate. If you stay off the snob guest list you can go far in life in Key West.

CLICK HERE to checkout all current Key West and Lower Florida Keys mls listings. Then give me a call at 305-766-2642 to set up a showing of your new home or business in Paradise.

September Home Sales in Key West

There were a mere 4 single family home sales in Key West (Key West to Shark Key to be exact) for the month of September 2007. The least expensive home was a 3 bed, 2 bath with 1,062 sq ft that sold for $400,000. The average home was 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with 1,731 sq. ft. listed at $1,092,250 and sold at $943,250 . The highest priced home was a 3 bedroom, 4 bath with 2,377 sq ft listed at $1,699,000 and sold at $1,350,000 after 1046 days on the market.

In September 2006 there were 12 single family sales with the lowest home priced at $460,000 that sold for $300,000 after 50 days on the market. The average home was a 3 bed, 2 bath with 1422 sq. ft that was listed at $767,750 and sold at$686,750. The most expensive home had 4 beds, 4 baths, 2108 sq. ft. and was originally listed at $1,550,000. It sold for $1,320,000 or $628 per sq. ft.

In September 2005 (three months before Hurricane Wilma) there were 23 sales. The least expensive home was a 2 bed 1 bath 700 sq.ft. listed at $375,000 that sold in 1 days for $365,000. The average home was a 3 bedroom 2 bath with 1,805 sq. ft listed at $1,095,000 and that sold for $1,110,000. The most expensive home was a 5 bed,6 bath Key Haven home was listed for $3,400,000 and sold for $3,000,000 after 370 days on the market.

September condo sales were better than 2006. This year there were 11 sales recorded with a combined sales price of $9,421,000. In September 2006 there were a total of 6 condo sales recorded in Key West with a combined sales price of only $2,728,000. In September 2005 there were 12 condo sales with sales totaling $8,326,000.

The pics to the right are of a Key West landmark located at 901 Fleming. The older pic is from the 1970's before the gentrification of Key West began. The newer pic is of the building today. It is listed as a historic & visible office/retail building in old Town. It was recently renovated 3 story building, 2 stories office / retail and full (unlicensed) 1BD/1BA renovated apartment on 3rd floor with 5 off-street parking spaces. The building was listed 563 days ago at $1,950,000 and now reduced to $1,690,000. The seller purchased the building in January 2002 for $745,000.

CLICK HERE to perform your own search of the Key West mls website. You can checkout all single family homes and condos for sale from Key West to Key Largo. And you can even checkout commercial properties. Later, give me a call to set up a showing of your potential new home, condo, of business in Paradise. My number is 305-766-2642.

Why Key West?

"Why Key West?", you ask. Why not? Look at the aerial photo of our little slice of Paradise. Our island is four miles long and one mile wide. Another question pops right into my mind when I look at pics like this: "How could I ever live on such a small space in the middle of the ocean?"

I guess when you are young and looking to make big bucks or make a name for yourself, the accumulation of things and the attainment of notoriety are important. But as you grow older, you realize that your days are numbered and that fortune and fame may not provide the fulfillment you seek.


As a perennial tourist I dreamed of eventually moving to Key West. I envisioned what it would be like to live here and imagined all the things I would do and the people I would meet. For me life turned out a little differently. I live three blocks from the ocean but rarely go there. I find riding my bike more enjoyable and less troublesome than driving my car principally because of the erratic driving habits of tourists and the conch train operators--especailly during Season. I know lots of people by site but not a lot by name. Sometimes I'll go a year or longer between seeing people I know. But when the occasion occurs and I spot a familiar face I recognize the person as a kindred spirit.


You learn to spot locals with ease. And I can now pretty much tell if someone is a Conch just by looking at the face or how the person walks. If I were blind I could tell a Conch by the pattern of speech. Really.

Key West is a small island, but it is not provincial. Rather, it is the most worldly place you can imagine. Well over half the people I know are not from Key West. And about half of those people are not Americans. There is a huge European, Latin American, and South African population here. There are many small ethnic restaurants and hangouts. Many come to Key West for the opportunity to make money, but it is the live-and-let-live atmosphere and the great weather that keeps them here.

My only regret about moving to Key West is that it took me so long to make the move. The price of a home or condo is more affordable today than it has been in about the past five years. So if you have been putting off the move waiting for the opportune time why not CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls website to find your new home. Then send me an email for more information. GaryEThomas@aol.com

Here and There

It's Valentines Day and everybody is in a good mood, right? There are two photos to the right. One is looking out onto a snowy yard from inside a cold house up north in America. The second is a photo out an open window overlooking sunset in Key West.

I just checked the weather in upstate New York near Saranac Lake, Adirondack Regional Airport, New York. It is -16F. Brrr. It is 9F in Denver, my life long home until moving to Key West in late 1993. The upper midwest and northeast is covered in snow.
And it is 81F at 11:30 AM here in Key West. That is one of the reasons I moved to Key West: The Weather!


If you want to move to Key West to avoid winters like this, click the above title "Here and There" to preview all real estate listings in Key West. Please contact me to help you find your new dream home in Paradise. You won't be sorry. Call me toll free at 1.877.295.7099.