Beachfront Living in the Florida Keys - 15680 Old State 4A Road, Sugarloaf Key

This is your chance to fulfill a dream and live in your own private beachfront home in the Florida Keys. Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West is 15680 Old State Road located on Sugarloaf Key. The listing Broker describes the property this way:

"Beachfront living in the Florida Keys! Stunning views of the sparkling ocean from walls of glass doors and windows. Set on appx. 5 acres with appx. 450 ft. of a sandy beach, this beach house is what island life is all about. Designed to take in the breathtaking views and the warm tropical breezes, this casually elegant home will make one feel immediately relaxed. The master en suite has walls of glass on two sides and seems to hang over the water. Several decks add space for outdoor entertaining and dining. The main house has three bedrooms, two baths and a dramatic vaulted ceiling in the living and dining room. Down a meandering covered walkway is the double garage, half bath and guest room. There's also an RV garage for extra parking and storage. All water sports are right outside the door. Plans to build 3 bungalows, a family pavilion, outbuildings and pool are available. This is paradise!"

 If you have never been to Sugarloaf Key before, CLICK HERE for a GOOGLE aerial view of the area. Use the toggle switch to move up and down Sugarfloaf Key.  Sugarloaf is located 13 miles to the east of Key West.  Drive down the paved road a couple of miles and turn right and proceed forward along a desolate stretch of ground where there are only a few and very expensive homes. Make the turn at the electronically gated entry and proceed forward to your own private paradise.

This home is designed and furnished with Florida Keys casual living in mind. The walls of glass in the living room allow the owner and guests to transition between the inside and outside a non-event. Our wonderful weather makes outdoor living such an important part of the way we lead our daily lives. And who wouldn't want to live here?

This 2331 sq ft home has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths situated on a 2220,000 sq ft (almost five acre) lot. The home has a garage and parking for four automobiles plus an RV garage.

 I found the black and white photo above that was taken in 1912 of a group of people having a picnic on Sugarloaf Key. Back then there were a couple of fishing camps and a few homes. Today there are several homes in the area just off US1 and only a few homes on the lower stretch of the road.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and listing photos of this remarkable Florida Keys home. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

Key West Home Sales - First Half 2016

Today's Key West Citizen ran a first page story that read "Home sales go down as prices go up". Watching home sale prices in Key West is like tending a garden: build or fix-up a house, tend it, watch it go up in value, sell it and reap a profit. Repeat next year.

The article reported first half year sales of 191 homes which is down from 231 in 2015. The problem with computer generated reports is that the reporting area includes Stock Island up to Big Coppitt. Most of my buyers are looking for homes in Key West. So I took the time to see what really happened during the first half of 2016.I weeded out all properties not located on the Island of Key West where there were a total of 111 single family home sales. The least expensive home sold for $315,000; the median home sold at $734,000; and the most expensive home sold for a whopping $5,500,000. The average price per sq ft was $579.94. And the sales price to list price was 94.88%.

There were 167 single family homes sale during the first half of 2015. That is 56 more than this year. The least expensive home sold for $222,500 (as compared to $315,000 in 2016); the medial home sold for $659,000 compared to $734,000 in 2016); and the most expensive home was 620 Eaton Street that sold for $4,495,000 (compared to 101 Admirals Lane which sold for $5,500,000). During the first half of 2015 the average priced home sold for $526.89 per sq ft and compared to $579.94 in 2016. And the sales to list price in 2015 was 95.51 as compared to 94.88% in 2016.

There are currently 59 single family homes under contract on the Island of Key West. The least expensive home is offered at $349,000; the median is priced at $765,000; and the most expensive home is $4,250,000. Twenty of the 59 houses are priced at $1,000,000 or higher and 8 of those are priced at $2,000,000 and higher. That's a lot of money for a little town out in the middle of the ocean. Here's the kicker - 40 of the 59 houses currently under contract went under contract in the last month. And several others went under contract in the waning days of April. This follows the traditional pattern of houses sitting on the market for a few months. Buyers watch and wait for prices to drop (which they typically do) and then buyers swoop down and buy as sellers capitulate. 

Thirty single family homes sold in the first half of this year priced over $1,000,000 at an average price per sq ft of $745.77.  The median home in this price range sold at $1,387,500.  That's a lot of money for people who have been planning to move here or to retire here. Over the ten years I have been writing my blog I have discussed the three segments of our market which are the lower priced homes, the mid-range homes, and the higher priced homes. That's a given in any market, but here the price disparity between these segments seems incredibly daunting. I work with a lot of buyers who are trying to purchase a property now before the prices continue escalate because that is the premise most buyers operate under. I agree with that premise. I do not think we are in a bubble. I think our market is healthy. I think our market is priced very high but not as high as it was a few months ago. It has adjusted downward.  I continue to think some sellers are exceedingly greedy. I think a lot of buyers are fooling themselves that we are going to have a housing crash. That is not going to happen. The people who buy second homes here are successful people. The lax credit requirements that helped cause the 2008 crash have been curtailed.  While money is relatively cheap, credit requirements and down payments keep the market from over-boiling. And in Key West most of our million dollar plus sales are cash.

If you are looking to buy a home in Key West please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

418 Amelia Street, Key West - Gonna Sell Really Fast!

Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West, 418 Amelia Street. This cute little two bedroom home is located steps from the world famous Duval Street, has a private pool, and is priced at just $598,000. I think this place will sell really fast. Read on and you may agree.

I got into my old shoebox and found the above photo of 418 Amelia Street which was taken a little over fifty years ago. That was before Key West was discovered.  This photo shows you the historic construction of this house with a sawtooth addition that connects to the front part of the house. The decorative concrete block front porch was an addition of the 1960s. It's gone now but the columns remain. Note the side yards on either side. They remain. The side yard on the left provides access to the rear where the private pool is located. I will discuss the right side yard below. 

When you cross the threshold and enter the house you are taken to a former time and a different place than you might expect. So many of the houses in Key West these days seem too "current" of too chic. This place is just cozy and comfortable, like a favorite t-shirt or comfy shoes. The two bedrooms are located in tandem just off the front door.

Note the curio shelf just above and then see the adjacent door. The listing agent suggested to me that a new owner might tweak the interior layout just a bit to create a larger master bedroom by relocating the entry to the above door which is located midway down the right side of the house. This would then permit the front door to become an entry of an enlarged master suite up front.

The kitchen and bath are located in the sawtooth addition to the main house. Note the peaked ceiling with skylights which give the kitchen dimension and add to a spatial feel to what otherwise might seem like a tiny home. It does not feel that way when you are here in real life. Yes, it's cozy, much it is not cramped.

The listing Realtor describes this home thus:

"Delightful two bedroom one bath Conch House in a great neighborhood, just steps off Duval Street and to the Southernmost Point. House is one of two stand alone condos with dormant association. Sit on your wide, shady front porch and watch the world go by, or rest quietly on your private back deck overlooking the fenced-in tropical garden. There is also a converted cistern that makes a fine little dipping pool to cool off after a fun-filled day in Paradise"

The backyard space is unexpectedly large and has so much untapped potential. It's already cute but it could become so much more. The right side yard could become the main entrance to the home just at the point where the green awning on the left is located. The front porch would then become the private domain of the master suite in front. None of these changes is require - they are just a few things a new owner could do to make things work a little differently.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls data sheet and listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. There are few places priced this low with as much potential as this house. Don't wait!

606 Grinnell Street, Key West - New Lower Price and Buying Opportuity

The Key West selling season is quickly coming to an end. Buyers that have been looking for a good deal ought to consider buying 606 Grinnell Street which is located in the very heart of Old Town. This house sits on one of the best blocks in Old Town.  It is located within easy walking distance to the Historic Seaport, the world famous Duval Street, and most of the gyms and yoga studios. And (you gotta live here to appreciate this fact: the Conch Trains and Trolley Cars can't go down this block - they can't make the narrow turn at the cemetery at the end of this block. Best of all the asking price has just been reduced from the $1,200,000 to just $1,050,000 or $464 per sq ft for this 2261 sq ft home.  There are 37 homes for sale in the Old Town and Casa Marina areas priced between $800,000 to $1,200,000 at an average asking price of $634 per sq ft where the average size is 1690 sq ft.  I see 606 Grinnell Street as a real buying opportunity.

When you view the home from the street you would probably never suspect the place is actually a two story legal duplex. I checked the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps to see if I could determine the approximate date this home was built. The 1889 map did not show any homes in this area but the surrounding blocks were thoroughly built out.  This leads me to conclude there were houses were on  this block and other surrounding blocks in 1889 but were omitted from map placement for some reason. The house did appear on the 1892 map. I then dug through my old shoe box and found a couple of photos of the home taken about fifty years ago. They show the house before it was renovated and enlarged. The new rear structure rises two stories but is not visible from the street.

The listing Realtor describes this home this way:

"Beautiful, Completely Remodeled Home In Heart Of Old Town Key West. Enter Into A Study/Sitting Room And Has A Bedroom Facing A Quiet Street Front. This Room Shares A Full Bath W/The Master Bedroom Large Enough For A King Suite And Makes A Cozy Retreat After A Long Day. Down The Hallway To The Living Area You'll Find An Inside Utility Closet, Two Storage Closets, And Half Bath."

The main level unit has two bedrooms which share a Jack and Jill bath plus a guest bath. The great room is located at the rear where two sets of French doors open out to the covered rear deck which overlooks the pool. What I believe was the original living room is located at the front of the house. Today this space works well as a home office.

The entrance to the second floor unit is located on the side of house. There is also an interior door entry located off the first floor unit. A new homeowner could simply remove the door and convert the second floor unit into a single family home. Oh, I know you'd need to remove the kitchen and do some other little things, but those little things really are not all that big nor all that expensive. And the result could be a very nice single family home in a great location. But let's look at what exists now and leave tomorrow to whoever buys this property.

There are two doors at the bottom of the stairs. One enters from the outside and the other from the main floor. Removing the interior door would make conversion to a single family home a snap.

There is a cute little under-utilized cottage at the rear which a new owner could possibly convert to a pool bar or something fun. There is also room on the opposite side of the rear lot for creation of an off street parking space. The listing realtor told me that space was on the site plans submitted to the city when the building permits for the renovation were approved. The parking was not created at that time.  The owner has not lived in the property since the renovations were done. A new owner could do some very creative things with the landscaping to provide a more lush environment and privacy.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls data sheet on 606 Grinnell Street which is now offered at the lower price of $1,050,000. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.