1122 Seminary Street, Key West

Just Listed 1122 Seminary Street, Key West. In my opinion this is the prettiest house on Seminary Street - all eight blocks of Seminary Street. The listing Realtor, not me, describes this beauty this way:

"The elegant blend of modern amenities, dignified details and highly sought-after Casa Marina area location make this tropical estate an entertainer’s nirvana! The graceful 4 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom home and private entry guest quarters boast gorgeous hardwood floors and stately marble-like Venetian plaster walls. The beautiful gourmet kitchen overlooking the pool deck is an entertainer’s delight offering Wolf six-burner stove and double ovens, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Electrolux wine cooler, Bosch dishwasher, compactor, pull-out pantry, and contemporary cabinetry for elegance and organization. This 2,650 sq ft home also offers a Crestron sound system and flagstone waterfall with pool so your guests will relax in rich style. Off the pool deck you'll find the private entry mother-in-law suite complete with kitchenette, sitting area, full bath, and access to the tropical courtyard in back. The upstairs master bedroom boasts a fantastic rooftop sun deck and en-suite bath. With all of this and more... welcome to luxury and location! Call for your private showing today!"

While the front entry is quite dignified, the main living area, kitchen, and dining room are a little more relaxed. The living area is located toward the rear of the house. And a new owner can relax the interiors even more if that is their preference. A large sliding door opens out to the pool with waterfall. An IPE deck surrounds the pool on three sides. The guest cottage can be seen at the rear. (The open door in the living room leads to a small guest bedroom)

The master bedroom and guest bedroom are located on the second floor. There is a nice sundeck off the master bedroom.

The  French doors in the master bedroom open out to the south.  At midnight on January 1st and around 9:00 PM each July the 4th you can sit on that roof top deck and watch fireworks from the White Street pier. I live to blocks to the south and can watch the fireworks from my pool. Lazy  I guess. Blessed to be sure.

The newly completed Key West City Hall is located across the street. The building and parking lot occupy three city blocks with no parking nor any vehicle entrance on the government side. There is abundant parking on the United Street side.The exterior was beautifully landscaped to compliment the area.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of this beautiful Casa Marina Area home offered at $1,825,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to arrange a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. As I mentioned, I live in this area. I love it. I can share with you first hand how convenient and pleasant life is in the Casa Marina.

Where Have All the Buyers Gone? Key West

I have been selling houses in Key West for twenty years. In my earlier life in Denver I watched and participated the cyclical market there. I have seen high markets when sellers get their way as desperate buyers try to buy before prices go even higher. I have seen and been a participant in depressed markets when sales dry up.

The Key West market is a bit different than the rest of the US housing market. Our community has had a stable base of full time residents for decades  That base has not changed primarily because Key West cannot expand. It cannot expand out to the suburbs because we really don't have much undeveloped land on which to build. Developers cannot build up into the sky because of height restrictions and more importantly rate of growth restrictions mandated by the State of Florida. As a result we continue to sell the same houses over and over again. Sales in Old Town, the Truman Annex, the Casa Marina and Meadows Areas drive the real estate market here. Most locals cannot afford and probably do not want to move to any of the areas I just mentioned. Those areas have out-paced the financial ability of most buyers to buy into those areas. Most but not all.

A few days ago I had a brief discussion with a local Key West home appraiser. I asked him "How's business?" to which he responded "We're really busy - not in Key West. Sales have dried up here. But we are busy up the Keys where housing prices are lower and buyers can get a nice place, maybe on the water, for under $500,000 or so." That may not be an exact quote, but it is the very essence of what he said. We discussed Key West in more detail. He said housing prices here are too high and buyers have stopped buying thinking prices will fall. I have been saying prices are too high and are not sustainable. But each year I see a lot of sales that prove me wrong as the buyers come back into the market at or near the end of our buying season which now ends in May. Those sales usually close a couple of month later.

As of mid January 2017 there are 452 houses, condos, and town homes for sale in Key West and up to Shark Key.  The least expensive place is on Big Coppitt Key and is priced at $215,000. There are 281 places for sale priced up to $1,000,000. There are 116 homes available priced between $1,000,001 to $1,800,000. Most of the homes in this price range will be sold to out of state buyers looking for a second home or a potential new retirement home which may be rented to help defray some cost of ownership. There are 55 homes priced at $1,801,000 and higher. Between this date in 2016 through today 38 homes in the $1.8 price range and higher sold which suggests that 31% of the current houses on the market will not get sold by this time next year. That number could go higher if the market responds negatively to the new government in Washington. I don't see a boom in sales if buyers fall in love with the new government. But I could be wrong. I think there is a real skepticism of our current housing prices and that the skepticism is why buyers are staying out of the market. It is real and buyers are not buying. It's like they are playing chicken.

I have been watching as asking prices have begun to decline on over priced houses. Some sellers who really do not need to sell probably will not reduce their asking prices. Sellers who do reduce asking prices may need to negotiate to an even lower price to sell. It's the vast group in the middle that bothers me. I am not suggest potential buyers to wait for a market correction - it could correct upward just as easily as it could go downward. Many of the homes in Key West are literally one-of-a-kind properties. Once that one property is gone, it cannot be replaced. That's why I think buyers ought to remain in the market and buy now and not to wait and see what may be available tomorrow. I don't represent a lot of sellers, but I have got to think they must be getting nervous. And if you are a buyer who let the market escape your means like the the lady in the picture above, now may be the best time for you to get back in the market.

1500 Albury Street, Key West - OPEN HOUSE

1500 Albury Street, Key West

OPEN HOUSE TODAY

12:00 to 2:00 PM

CLICK HERE to read about this beautiful brand new home. And then come over to see it in person.

 Cory Held, Jeffrey Groskey, Gary Thomas, Preferred Properties Key West 305-294-3040

723 Olivia Street, Key West - Newly Renovated

Just Listed 723 Olivia Street, Key West. This home has just completed a total renovation that I started in February 2016. I wrote about the in this house in 2014 soon after the owners moved and out and put it on the market. After some time passed, the house was sold and went through planning phase. At the beginning of 2016 the house was lifted and moved  few feet to the west and placed on new concrete piers. The old two story front porch was rebuilt and given a new look which is more appropriate for this style of home. The rear of the house has a new two story addition plus a pool with waterfall. While some of the interior rooms remain the same size as decades before, all of the interirors have been renovated and most have been repurposed. The house today is essentiallly brand new.

The character of the former home was maintained by re-purposing several rooms in the original house into bedrooms and making the new addition an open concept living space. Let's start at the front door and make our way through the house as it is today.

As I recall the old house was laid out with the parlor in the front followed by dining room and kitchen at the rear. Today The parlor is a main floor bedroom followed by adjacent full size bath. In later years a new owner might use this space as a master suite instead of climbing the stairs. Petronia Lane also known as Poorhouse Lane can be seen through the side windows. Few cars actually pass the house as the lane is incredibly narrow. Bill Butler Park is located about 225 feet up Poorhouse Lane. That would be a good spot to take the dog for morning and afternoon walks.

The new living area at the rear is deep and broad. Multiple sets of French doors open out to the new pool and deck area. The indoors and outdoors become one so easily in Key West where this January the daytime temperatures are in the low 80s.. 

The second floor master suite is also located in the new rear addition. The vaulted ceiling gives the bedroom an extra spacious feel. A large walk-in closet and a super-sized master bath are located adjacent to the bedroom. Notice the steps in the photo two above. Both this room and the main floor living area have steps placing each floor a short distance from the floor level in the old portion of the house where today there is a third floor bonus room. There are two other bedrooms on the second floor one of which has a door which opens out to Olivia Street. Olivia Street is a one-way street primarily used by locals who live in this neighborhood but also by people like me who know it as an alternative to Truman Avenue located a block to the south.

While most of  the houses on Olivia Street have been update, a few of the old girls still remain virgins. Many  of theses houses stay in family ownership until the final occupant moves away for good. At that time most of these homes are offered for sale and buyers seize the opportunity to have their way with the virgins so to speak.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and to view more listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to set up a showing of this home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. This home is offered at $2,495,000. It has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a pool, and off street parking. And it has an attic which now is identified as a bonus room.