Bank Owned - Compound - Transient Licensed - Key West

726 1/2 and 728 Passover Lane - Old Town - Key West - Bank Owned!

Don't let the location across from the Key West Cemetery scare you!

Just listed - 726 1/2 & 728 Passover Lane in the Heart of Old Town Key West. This is how the listing Realtor describes this two home compound:

"Amazing BANK OWNED property with transient license in prime Old Town location near Solares Hill. Two combined properties offer a total of 3 bedrooms on a 5425 square foot lot, 2 off-street parking spaces, pool and lush tropical grounds. Main house (728 Passover) is a 2/2 with a transient license for great rental potential; guest cottage (726 1/2 Passover) is a 1/1 and may be rented monthly. Must be purchased as one combined property. A Tropical Oasis in The Heart of Old Town Key West."

In 2006 a different listing agent offered the same properties but at the much higher asking price of $2,049,000. This is what he said then:

"Lush. Tranquil. Historic. These superlatives are often used to describe 728 and 726 1/2 Passover Lane. These two exclusive Old Town properties are being offered together creating the perfect island oasis. 728 Passover Lane features a 2BR/2BA with ample LR, DR and kitchen with French doors leading to a custom deck and pool. Plus a transient license. 726 1/2 is a perfect pitch compliment offering a 1BR/1BA with separate loft space, galley kitchen, LR and hot tub. Both homes are nestled in a large, exotic tropical garden with off-street gated parking for 2 cars. Both homes have been recently tented and painted. Properties have averaged over $100K in gross rents for each of the past 4 years."

I had the opportunity to see these houses yesterday afternoon. I never had anyone who wanted to look at them when they were priced so high. The listing agent said he had about 60 people attend his open house yesterday. And at the current asking price of $975,000 I can see why.
CLICK HERE to read the mls listing info and view accompanying photos. But read on.

I sent an email late yesterday to a couple of my buyers looking for a place in Old Town with a Transient License. I think this property has some real upside potential as far as price appreciation and income production. This is my impression: both houses look like they were redone in the late 70s or early 80s. The houses are hidden behind an ugly fence that needs to go. So do a lot of the overgrown trees that make the exterior so dark. The grounds are very large but seem overwhelmed by all of the foliage.

The exterior has way too many canvas awnings in lots of places. The front entry at 728 Passover has an awning that is totally out of character for a house in Old Town. My suggestion is to edit the outside and develop a new land use plan that builds on how the houses relate to the street view, the private view in the rear with the existing pool, spa, and entertaining areas.

The inside has some very attractive nooks and crannies and very inviting features. But the spaces are a bit confusing. I had to go outside the front door of 728 to walk around the house past the pool to find my way into 726 1/2. (I later discovered I could have gone in the front door, but there were so many trees I missed seeing the entry.) The kitchen and dining area at 728 Passover are really sweet. The living room and downstairs bedroom are large but both seemed so dark because of the overgrown trees and canvas awnings. The house at 726 1/2 is laid out most oddly in my opinion. I am not "dissing" this place. I think it would be a great buy. But somebody is going to have to do some work and spend some money to spruce up this compound. The time and money should reap big dividends.

This property is located directly across the street from the Key West Cemetery. Don't let that spook you. This is a great location. Most of the properties in this area are either single family homes that are owner occupied but several are rented as legal vacation rentals. Parking is never as issue even though parking is only allowed one side of Passover Lane. I am not being cute when I say the area is quiet. It is. When the tourist parade stops around 5:00 PM, this area is super quiet. If the trees on this property were thinned out, the ugly fence replaced by a proper white picket fence, and both houses were painted a crisp white and shutters added, this two home compound would pop.

If you would like to see these properties, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

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Irreplacable - 1010 Elgin Lane - Old Town - Key West

"Because Elgin produced so many watches and produced so many spare parts, they can still be easily bought and fixed, so even a 100 year old Elgin can be used, with care, on a daily basis. While mechanical watches can't compete with quartz watches for accuracy, there is something about having a watch that ticks that a quartz watch just can't replace." The Elgin Watch Collectors Site

I got an early preview of a new listing at 1010 Elgin Lane which was just listed in the Key West mls. I took some pics and thought I would share some with you here. I had been to the house before and snapped a pic that I have used as my identification at the end of some of my blog entries. You will see it at the bottom of this page. Whenever I see a bit of whimsy like the house number on the gate, I know from past experiences to expect more of the same on the inside of the threshold. Join me, please.

Elgin Lane is one of the slow lanes in Key West. It runs westerly two blocks from White Street to Grinnell Street. It is a one way only lane because it is so narrow. Many of the houses on Elgin actually front on Eaton Street, but some are located on postage stamp size lots of only 40' depth or so. The houses on the south tend to have larger lots in both width and depth. There are some remarkable little houses in these two blocks. Even if you are not going to buy one, you really need to walk down this lane. Most of these homes are fulled with full time Key West residents. When you take the time to walk down the lane, you will see how much the people that live there love where they live.

The front yard sits behind a smallish white picket fence with minimalist but very attractive yard. The first pic I took was of the front porch. It is a place to sit and read and watch the occasional neighbor or stranger pass. There is adjacent off street parking for two cars.


As soon as I walked passed the threshold and entered I "got it", the house, even before I had seen any other room. It was like "Wow!" this is gonna be great. And it was.

In olden days the owners might have called the front room the parlor. I could easily see this house had Dade County Pine walls and ceiling trimmed with a small crown molding. As I moved from room to room I noticed the floors were wood but some had a different finish or look. That made me determine that the way the rooms were used and furnished played off of the floors and the existing Dade County Pine. (These are real wood floors with wide pine boards. The patina shows the rich history of this old house.) The windows were old and original and not those new replacements that are made to look old. These are the real McCoys. A side hall took me to the rear where I was greeted by a sweet breakfast nook. It is part of the large kitchen that takes up the rear 1/3 if the house.The kitchen is a sawtooth addition to the main house. The kitchen is so simple, but it looks like something you might see in a Ralph Lauren Home Furnishing Store. What you don't see stainless steel or marble or granite. Thank God. The kitchen window over the sink opens onto a bar on the other side where there are a couple of bar stools that sit under a canopy. The kitchen cabinets look ancient but aren't. The room looks like it evolved over time. It didn't. The kitchen is a work of art.

The master bedroom is located downstairs and I forgot to take any photos of it. My bad! The bath is located there.

Then there is the dining room. It's another Ralph Lauren moment. Three doors enter into this former covered porch: one off the master bedroom, a second off the living room, and a set of French doors to the rear that open onto the rear living area. Look at the pic below and notice how the floors mimic the light colored wood deck on the outside. Notice the window outside and the bar stools beneath. You understand how the house operates and how things flow. Purposefully.




When you first enter the house you cannot help but see the steep old staircase located midway toward the breakfast nook. Upstairs you will find a shared bedroom area with two twin beds located on opposite walls with a nice little desk situated between. A separate bedroom is at the rear. If you look carefully you will see there are four scuttles (hot air escape hatches used in old houses-this house was built circa 1906). The house has air conditioning today. There is a large bathroom accessible by each space. While you are looking carefully, look at floors again. Another "Wow!" The floors and the little desk are another Ralph Lauren moment. Some people spend thousands of dollars to create looks like this. This house is filled with them-at no extra cost.

I only got to see everything that I just wrote about after I was made to see the outside. Now you will see what I saw first. There is a 3 0ver 5 glass pane door that leads from the kitchen to a covered rear dining area where you might take most of your meals. But what you really notice as soon as you peer out that door is a giant folly. And what a folly it is. This is the perfect place for a writer to write, a artist or create, a thinker to think, or a lover to - no that is the guest cottage on the opposite side of the pool.

The guest cottage is a two room symphony in how to make sweet love. I cannot imagine any place better to be with the person you love most. This room is so simple and comfortable. The compact size, wood walls, ambient light, and privacy invite intimacy. I guess you could travel to Bali and rent a place in a glen overlooking a deserted beach and find something better. Perhaps. But why bother when you can have your own Bali Hai moment every day.

The home at 1010 Elgin Lane is offered at $849,000. (Furnishings are not included in the sales price but may be purchased separately.) This is not my listing, but you can tell I really like this house. And you will too, but only if you promise not to put in stainless steel and new granite counter tops. If you would like to see this property, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Our office is the Lower Florida Keys exclusive affiliate of Christie's Great Estates. I would not call 1010 Elgin Lane an estate, but baby this place is really great. Just like a hundred year old Elgin watch, there is something about this place that just ticks.

Key West Bank Seized & Sold

The Office of Thrift Supervision seized Key West Bank, FSB, at the close of business on Friday, Marcy 26th. The OTS then sold many of the assets to Centennial Bank's parent company, Home BancShares Inc., which acquired the former Marine Bank, about a year ago. CLICK HERE to read the article as it appears in KeysNewsNet.com.

I think about everybody in town was expecting the seizure. There were some very nice people that worked their. I hope they find new jobs. Let's see how Centennial Bank goes about trying to sell some of the many REO assets and managing the many problem loans it acquired. I used to do this stuff for a living many years ago. This might be a small town, a small bank, a small amount of assets as compared to what happens up north in America, but how our hometown banks manage the sale and disposition of troubled assets affects this small town in a very big way.

Beautiful Arts & Crafts Style House - Bank Owned - Key West

This Old House as it looked in 1965

A local bank recently foreclosed and now owns the old house pictured immediately above. The old black and white photo was taken in 1965. Until a couple of months ago this property looked a little worse for wear. The years took their toll. Owners came and went. And then the lender did what lenders do when loans are not repaid as agreed: it foreclosed. But instead of letting a decent asset sit and fester like a lot of Big Banks that are Too Big To Fail do, the local bank did the unthinkable: it fixed it up. Not a little but not all the way. But it did enough to make potential buyers see the real potential of this very attractive arts and crafts style home that was built in 1943. Take a look at her now, below.

Above Photos taken March 25, 2010 - Key West

This property is located on Simonton Street near Truman Avenue. It is zoned HNC-1 which is short for Historic Neighborhood Commercial-1. Uses for this zoning include include residential (including single family, duplex, and multi-family) and limited commercial including professional offices, banking and financial services, personal service shops, specialty shops, limited retail, transient accommodations and guest cottages. Rather than rely on what I write, do your own investigation to determine suitability for the use you intend. CLICK HERE to read the City of Key West zoning ordinances and consult with your own attorney. Just because some use may be permissible does not mean you will necessarily be able to do what you want.

Photo from kitchen looking through proposed bath No. 2 and into second bedroom

Photo from living room through dining area with kitchen beyond

This 1204 sq ft building (County Appraiser records) sits on a corner lot (47.33' frontage X 58.07 ' deep or 2,756 sq ft). The building has just been painted and it looks fantastic. The roof is new; the front railing on the front porch is new; the retaining wall is new; the electric is new. All of the windows are original. They all work properly! The contractors working on this house did a really professional job on the projects they did, in my opinion. The interior is currently framed for three bedrooms, two baths, and a kitchen. A laundry closet already has been framed and plumbed and awaits drywall.Extensive building plans are available. It looks to me like the interior spaces could be changed fairly easily. But I'm not builder so any buyer needs to determine how "easy" easy can be and how expensive "easy" can be as well. There is one off street parking space. After the interior is completed, put up a nice fence, add some nice plants, and you could have one sweet looking old house in Old Town Key West. Although it is doubtful that you could get a transient license, you could rent this house as a legal vacation rental. It's proximity to Duval Street with three bedrooms and off street parking make this a great candidate for such a rental in my opinion.

This arts and crafts style house is Bank Owned and is offered at $500,000 "as is". Please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 for more information. This property is not in the mls. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.

Sweet Elizabeth - Old Town - Key West

This is the end of season deal that you have been waiting for. It will last about a New York minute and then some smart buyer will get it. I kid you not!

Just listed, but not by me, this beautiful newly remodeled and expanded home on Elizabeth Street near the tippy-top of Solares Hill (we are talking a couple of inches difference) in the very Heart of Old Town Key West. This house has it all. This is how the listing agent describes this home sweet home:

"Opportunity know in the door for this totally remodel home was awarded the Certificate of Excellence and a Silver Star for 2010 where you will feel the attention to details from the moment that you step inside.The entire house has Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors. There is central HVAC throughout the house and all rooms a wired with cat5 cable for phones and computers. A salt-system pool with a waterfall was installed in the back yard and a propane valve is available for your backyard grill. The kitchen has all stainless steel appliances.The house is located at the intersection of Elizabeth and Angela Street. This is the highest point on the Island and flood insurance is not required."

This home is priced to sell at the asking price of $985,000 or $415 per sq ft. And it will. Here is what you get: 2373 sq ft home consisting of three bedrooms with two and 0ne-half baths. (Two bedrooms down in front with a shared Jack-and-Jill bath.) The living area and kitchen are located at the rear of the house where you will find French doors that open onto the read deck and pool with waterfall. Up the beautiful staircase you will find the master suite with views of the pool below and towering views looking eastward over the treetops. There is no off street parking. Elizabeth Street is a residents only street for parking. CLICK HERE for info and lots of pretty pics.

To see this house of get more information please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or email me at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty Inc., the Exclusive Lower Florida Keys Affiliate of Christie's Great Estates.

I'm serious on this house dear Readers. This is place is beautiful and it will get snapped up in a matter of days if not hours. Don't mess up. Don't wait. Don't be late.

1304 Atlantic Drive - Bank Owned - Key West

The Beach is about one block south of 1304 Atlantic Drive in Key West

Just Listed, but not by me, another Bank Owned townhome, this time located at 1304 Atlantic Drive near the beaches in Key West, Florida. This is how the previous agent described this property just weeks ago when it was still a "short sale"

"Gorgeous top of the line new construction! Stainless steel Thermadore appliances, wood floors through out. Wired for sound system. Hurricane lock windows and doors, with storm shutters to boot. This home has it all with French doors opening to deck and pool. Less than a block to the ocean and a short walk to the Casa Marina. In area of multi-new homes. Does not get better than this! Owner is a FL Lic RE Broker. Emphasis added by Gary Thomas.)

CLICK HERE to see how the new listing Realtor describes 1304 Atlantic Drive now that it is Bank Owned and bother yourself to look carefully at the photos. 1304 Atlantic Drive is priced at $695,000 or $356 per sq ft. Somethings are missing from the kitchen. Where in the World did Waldo put them and What did he take? HINT. Otherwise, the units are pretty much the same. You be the judge.

Two other units are also on the market. CLICK HERE to see 1312 Atlantic Drive which is offered at $995,000 (at $510 per sq ft) and CLICK HERE to see 1314 Atlantic Drive priced at $1,099,000 or $564 per sq ft.

1304 Atlantic Drive has the same square footage and lot size as the other, higher priced units. All units have 1950 sq ft and have 3 bedrooms plus 3 1/2 baths. Perhaps 150 feet separates the three properties. All of these units were built in 2008. 1304 Atlantic Drive has been used as a vacation rental. The Atlantic Ocean is a five minute walk even though it is located only one block to the south. There is no direct access so you will need to walk a block out of the way to get to your favorite new beach spot. If you don't like sand in your toes and the sting of salt water on your skin, you can swim in your own pool.

The bank that owns this property is a local bank in Key West so I think an offer should get prompt and fair consideration. If you want to see this unit, or any other property in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or email me at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Stop dreaming and start acting on it.

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3814 Flager Avenue - Riviera Canal - Bank Owned - Key West

3814 Flagler Avenue on the Riviera Canal - Bank Owned - Key West

Very Brady Family Room with Fireplace Opens onto Kitchen with Pool Beyond

The Informal Dining Area is on the Near Side and Family Room on Far Side

The Pool is accessed from Family Room, Master Bedroom and Alice's Room

I have shown 3814 Flagler Avenue several times. Each time somebody says something like "This reminds me of the Brady Bunch house". You can look at that as a good thing or a bad thing. But there is a reason the Brady Bunch is ingrained into our minds. No matter how icky-wholesome the Bunch was, we all watched them. Part the aura of the Brady Bunch show was that damned house. It was a character as well. The exterior facade was seen in every episode. The house was a late 1960's split level that in real life was quite small, but in TV life it had large open rooms with vaulted ceilings and brightly colored walls. There was an openness to the house and the characters who lived inside. The interiors and colors, just like the haircuts and clothes the characters wore, are that of another era. So when today somebody says a house looks like the Brady Bunch house, we all get it-exactly.

3814 Flagler Avenue is Bank Owned. And the bank (credit union to be precise) that owns this house is actually in Conservatorship itself. So there is a real reason this bank owned house needs to be sold. Soon! The listing Realtor describes this house this way:

"Bank owned property. What a steal! Bring all offers! Don't miss this rare opportunity to own a Waterfront 5BR, 3BA home in Key West. Tremendous potential with 3,109 sq ft of living space, a 14,175 sq ft (1 and 1/2 lots) piece of property with huge pool and lots of extras. These amenities include a large two car garage with workshop area, eat-in kitchen, great room with fireplace, formal dining room, spacious living room, laundry room, walk in pantry, cedar lined closets, 2 zone air conditioning, tile floors, new metal roof, and gated second driveway for additional off-street parking. All on a wide protected canal with 105 ft of step down sea wall and easy access to open water. This special home can be your piece of paradise!"

Did you get that: five bedrooms. And they are not dinky. The master bedroom is very large and has an en-suite bath plus two large walk-in cedar lined closets. The master bedroom is at the east rear of the house. It has a nice view of the pool and the Riviera Canal beyond. There are three more large bedrooms on this side of the house. There is one bathroom for these three bedrooms. On the west wing of the house (the other side) you will find bedroom number five which has a separate bathroom and a rear door that opens out to the pool deck.

The formal entry leads into the living room and the very large family room with fireplace beyond. The family room opens out to the pool. The kitchen opens onto the family room on one side and to the informal kitchen dining area on the other. Of course, there is a separate formal dining room as well. There is large laundry room and an incredible walk-though pantry with lots of places to put things.

There is a double garage on the west side of the property and a separate driveway on the east side. The middle ground is nicely landscaped. The lot is huge: 14,175 sq ft or (105' front X 135' deep).

3814 Flagler Avenue is located on the Riviera Canal. All of the frontage is just the same at the rear so this house has 105 feet of sea wall. (Control Depth is 3 feet.) The Riviera Canal has immediate access to the Atlantic Ocean so you can do your own booze cruise nightly.

This house is clean. The air conditioner and lights work. It doesn't have the smell so many bank owned houses in Key West have. (The listing Realtor and bank owner have taken care of this asset. Thank you for setting an example.)

The best feature of this really big house is the really low price: $699,000 or $225 per sq ft. CLICK HERE to look at the mls data sheet and to view more photos (taken when recently occupied by house sitters. They are gone now and it is easy to show this home).Some of the paint colors are a bit bright, but for a few hundred dollars in paint a new owner could create a brand new look. The appliances are dated, but they work. The whole house works. The fifth bedroom on the opposite side of the house would be the perfect place for your own Alice.

If you would like to see 3814 Flagler Avenue 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.

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Story Book Cottage - Just Listed - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 1216 Varela Street in Key West. I have written about the houses on either side before. The house at 1214 Varela Street was our listing and it was one of three houses featured on an HGTV "House Hunters" program for homes located in Old Town Key West.It was priced at $2,595,00 in May 2009. That house is spectacular! And that is an understatement.

I wrote about the house next door to the south at 1218 Varela Street. That house is a private party foreclosure. It still has not sold. It is still offered at $1,500,000.

The cottage at 1216 Varela Street looks absolutely charming. Everything seems perfect. Including the asking price of just $550,000. The listing agent describes the property this way:

"Cute Conch Cottage in Historic Old Town. Two bedrooms two full bathrooms with french doors leading out to deck and Pool. Designer Kitchen cabinets which includes cabinet-depth stainless steel refrigerator. Wine cooler. Gas Top Range with convection oven. Wine Cooler. Centeral A/C. downstairs. Storm Shutters. New Washer/Dryer. Bathroom has Spa bath tub with heat and jets. A must see listings for those who want a Conch Cottage in Old Town with a Pool."

1218 Varela Street is located at the southernmost end of Old Town and in that area that abuts the Casa Marina Area. The Atlantic Ocean is about seven blocks to the south where you will find lots of beaches. The White Streets Arts District is just one block to the east. There you will find the Island Gym and numerous yoga studios. (I don't know why so many yoga in Key West. But we (but me) got a thing about yoga. Faustos Food Palace (grocery store with a real old fashioned meat counter where the butcher real does butcher meat) is located in that area. Bay View Park with its tennis courts, bacci ball, baseball, bandstand are all there. 1218 Varela Street is a five minute bike ride to Duval Street. The Montessori School is located across the street, and the Glen Archer School is located at the corner on the far sice of United Street.

CLICK HERE to read more about the features of this two bedroom (one bedroom is small), two bath 1409 sq ft cottage that has just about everything a primary or second home owner wants in a Key West house for sale. If you want to see this gem, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or email me at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.

810 Whitehead Street - Old Town - Key West

800 Block of Whitehead is shown above

810 Whitehead Street - Key West

There is a new listing that you price-conscious (bargain hunters) might want to consider. It is the really cute cottage home located at 810 Whitehead Street. I'll bet you have passed it on making the pilgrimage to the Ernest Hemingway House at 907 Whitehead Street. The Southernmost Point is two blocks beyond to the south. The Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park and beach, the best beach in Key West, is a five minute bike ride to the west. There are lots of small inexpensive eateries all within a couple of blocks. There are art galleries and lots of water holes on Dual Street. People save up there money and vacation time all year to come here for a couple of weeks. If you owned this cottage, you could do the same thing every day for the rest of your life.

The listing Realtor describes this property thus:
"Built in 1908, this Conch cottage has vaulted ceilings throughout, loft (finished half story of 240 feet as per the tax rolls), Dade County pine floors and driftwood accent wall, operable antique stained glass windows and a large lanai off the kitchen overlooking a large backyard. Perfect walking distance to everything downtown. Plenty of room for a pool and possible expansion of living space."

I showed the house two weeks ago and I thought it was just a wonderful small space for someone looking for a nice house in a nice location who does not need room for extraneous relatives and friends. There are plenty of hotels in Key West and many are located within a few blocks of this place.

The front yard has the requisite white picket fence and inviting front porch. (I mentioned the pilgrimage. You can watch it daily from the porch.) Notice the trellis over the gate. Quaint, all right. Inside you will find the living room with a ship ladder to a loft space where your guests can stay if they refuse to rent a room somewhere else. It's better than having them make you sleep on the sofa or worse share your bed. The real bedroom is near the rear just off the really sweet kitchen. The entire backyard has brick pavers. The area is lightly landscaped so there is not a lot of plants that need constant care. As the yard now exists there is a lot of open space where you could put in a pool or garden or perhaps both. This is an ideal spot for someone who has a big old hound that needs some room to roam. The covered space provides lots of shade and the open space plenty of sunshine.

It is the back yard that will captivate you, however. There is a covered outdoor lounge area just off kitchen. French doors open from the kitchen onto this space so there is lots of light in the kitchen. The outdoor lounge becomes an extension of this house, just like it does in the more expensive homes on the other side of Duval Street. The rear yard is covered in brick pavers save the areas where some palms and other trees are located. Notice the orchid wall on the back fence. While you are "noticing", notice the hammock. The area is totally private.

The listing agent says the 729 sq ft one bedroom cottage sits on a 2051 sq ft lot (21' x 98') one block west of Duval Street. It is offered at the asking price of $339,000. This is not a short sale and no banks are or will be involved. CLICK HERE to read the mls details and view photos of 810 Whitehead Street.

If you are interested in seeing this home or any other home in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.

1012 Varela Street - Bank Owned - Key West

Attention Bargain Hunters: This BANK OWNED property at 1012-1014 Varela Street may be the bargain you have been looking for. Here's why. This two cottage assemblage is located in the Viva Varela Condominiums just a stone's throw south of Truman Avenue in the Old Town area of Key West. The front cottage consists of a good sized living room with two story vaulted ceiling. The walls and ceiling are Dade County Pine. Thee is a small bedroom downstairs and the master bedroom is on the second floor. It is accessed by a spiral stairway from the living room. The master bedroom is open to the downstairs so both spaces have a very open feeling. The one bath is located on the first floor. The kitchen is quite large. It has two sets of French doors that open on to the rear bricked courtyard. (There is also a laundry closet in the kitchen.)

Pretty nice kitchen for the price, wouldn't you agree?

Double set of French doors looking onto private courtyard and second cottage to the rear.

The main house with deck of master bedroom as viewed from the rear cottage.

The second cottage sits near the rear of the lot. It has a good sized bedroom and large bath with a glass block wall that lets lots of light into the area. There is a deck to the rear of that cottage which has a separate gate that provides private entrance into the cottage without going through the main house. That would be an excellent place to put your guest so they won't disturb you after they return from a night on the town. That cottage does not have a kitchen. The living space is vaulted, and did I mention the front of that cottage has French doors that look out toward the bricked courtyard that separates the two cottages. That courtyard is large enough for a pool.

The rear cottage as seen from the deck off second floor master bedroom.

The interior of the rear cottage as it appeared before the foreclosure.
Note the private deck at very rear of the property.

Glass block wall is the shower in the rear cottage; private gate to right.

The listing agent shows the two properties having 1130 Sq Ft of living space on a 7598 Sq Ft lot and describes the property this way:

"This BANK-OWNED property consists of two adjacent condos originally deeded separately but now combined under one legal description. This property has been recently upgraded and only requires some TLC. The front unit is a one bedroom/one bath with a loft and the rear unit is also a one bedroom/one bath that can be used as a guest quarters or master suite. It also has a separate entrance. Both units are separated by a paved rear yard."

Prior to becoming a bank owned property, Preferred Properties listed 1012 Varela Street as a short sale. The listing agent described the same property a little differently:

"Two newly-renovated freestanding condos, originally separately deeded, now combined with one legal description. 3 bedroom 2 baths with private bricked tropical garden area between the main house (2/1) and a fully-detached 1/1 cottage in the Viva Varela Compound. Main house has dramatic vaulted ceilings in living area with a loft bedroom and access to a rooftop sun deck. Eat-in kitchen has granite counter tops with stainless steel appliances and attractive cabinets. Cute new bathroom and lovely tiled floors throughout the main house. The second unit has much charm and a separate entrance via a tree-lined garden path."

CLICK HERE to review the current mls data sheet and see more photos of 1012-1014 Varela Street.

No matter how it is described this two cottage property is now offered at $348,900 or $310 per Sq Ft. The roof over the kitchen needs a little repair. The owner previous to the present bank owner combined the two contiguous condos into one real estate parcel (to minimize taxes I suppose) without obtaining the approval of the condo association. That was a "No No" and the condo association will require the new owner to pay the cost of amending the condo docs to reflect the new reality. So a new buyer will need to spend some money(but not a lot) to make things right with the house and right with the neighbors, but this two cottage compound is a real compound investment.

If you want to see 1012 Varela Street please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in sunny Key West, Florida where today it will be 74 degrees and sunny. The streets of Key West are filled with happy campers walking around with their shirts off (the guys) and enjoying to fresh air and sunshine of the Keys.