Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

Spontaneous Gathering at the Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
 

Karen Komments on September Sales in Key West

 

I have been spending too much time on TWITTER and INSTAGRAM over the past six months. My business has been slower than I would like, but better than I expected. I decided to do a quick comparison of Single Family Home Sale in Key West for the first 15 days of September from 2017 thru 2020. 

Remember Key West was hit by Hurricane IRMA on September 10 2017 and that Puerto Rico was devastated by MARIA a week later. The  entire country watched countless hours of television coverage of both storms. Key West missed the devastation that destroyed so many homes only a few miles to the north. Not much else happened in Key West for the month of September 2017 which is the starting point of my inquiry.

Single Family Homes SOLD    YEAR    Number   Avg Price    Avg Price Per Sq Ft

                                                     2017        1               $680,000     $267

                                                     2018        15             $1,119          $731

                                                     2019        9                $955            $587

                                                     2020        12              $973            $613

All of these numbers relate back at least a month earlier than September of the year and more likely relate back two months or longer. Labor Day 2017 fell on Monday September 4th. Nobody I know works on the Friday before Labor Day Weekend. Hurricane Irma had been churning around in the Atlantic for the couple of weeks prior. It was predicted to hit somewhere in south Florida on Sunday September 10. About half of the locals evacuated. I stayed in Key West. I saw no use fleeing north along with 20,000,000 other Floridians. Almost all businesses including title companies and real estate closing attorneys closed. Most bars and liquor stores stayed open. Hurricane Irma made actual landfall on Sunday morning September 10th. Key West was without water or electricity for a least the follow week. That explains why there was only one closing during that fifteen day time period.

While the national media painted a bleak portrayal of Hurricane Irma damage to the Florida Keys, when tourists returned to Key West they saw a different reality. Town was spared significant damage. Sales picked up throughout 2018 including three high end sales that closed in early September 2018 which explains the higher average sales price.

There were only nine closings in same time period solds in 2019 - three less than 2018. Both the average sold price and sold price per square foot were down as compared to 2018. 

The year 2020 is probably the worst year of most of our lives. Most of us, no matter where we live, have been cooped up inside our homes for over half this year. Tourists were kicked out of the Keys during in March during our busiest time of the year. But the buyers came back as soon as the gates were opened. They started to buy houses once again. The closings for the first two weeks in September reflect an optimistic outlook for the future. There are 55 current contingent or pending single family homes shown in the Key West MLS with an average listing price of $1,084,940. I believe this reflects an optimism about the future of Key West. What happens in the national real economy will prove the correctness of my belief.  

I will stop right here and not going to become a Karen. There are enough of them.

Gary Thomas, Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 305-766-2642. Representing buyers and sellers.  And an occasional Karen.

                                       

Throwback Thursday No. 3

From August 4, 2012
HOW GAY WAS MY VILLA?

It's a free world (at least it is here in Key West) where people can be and do just about anything and everything. We all seem to get along. And except for some do-gooders that sit on some public commissions, we all try to stay out of each others "business".

Some places amaze me

One of the really great things about my job as a Realtors is that I get to see inside so many Key West homes. Some places amaze me. Sometimes after I have visited a really incredible home, I go back to my house and feel the need to clean, or paint, or redecorate. Other places sometimes make me feel pity for the sad souls that live in helpless hovels. I have been inside more than enough places that reek of urine but that are inhabited by human beings. I have had to move sideways through rooms filled with years of accumulated trash. And I wonder what in the world is wrong with the people that live there.

This is one of the better (cleaner) views of this house of horror filled with dead animals

I have been in multi-million dollar properties that exude an ambiance most of us can only dream of. But more regularly I get to see some really nice homes that are comfortably decorated with Key West flair. You can't by flair in a store, but you know it when you see it. If you have enough money you can hire someone with flair to decorate your home for you. Many of the chicest of homes in Key West are gay owned have the look and style buyers want.

And there have been a few occasions I have shown houses that are just a gay as gay can get. The most memorable gay house was located in the Meadows area. I showed that house several times a few years back. It had the obligatory statue of David near the pool. There were statuettes, oil paintings, charcoal prints,and etchings of nude and semi-nude males throughout the house and garden. Every square foot had some form of art that paid homage to the naked male figure. After months of not being able to sell the house, the listing Realtor finally persuaded the owner to store some of the artwork off property. A few years later when that same house was for sale again, I actually noticed what terrible shape the house was in. The naughty artwork from before had distracted my attention from the condition of the property itself. But it did the same thing to my potential buyers because nobody was ever interested in seeing that place a second time.

One gay man asked me to look at his house to discuss listing it. That was in 2006 when Key West was in the height of the real estate boom. I might have got the listing had I not told him to take down the huge and virtually nude portrait of himself that hung above French doors leading to the back yard.

There was also that time I was in a really nice home located at the dead end of a Key West lane to discuss listing the house. The owner and I were standing in one of two master baths discussing the features of the house when I spotted it. The DILDO! I lost my voice and the ability to put words together to make a sentence. Decorating with dildos is a no-no.!

I have seen enough mannequins dressed in drag or adorned in leather posed in the corner of a room or next to a window that I don't even take a second look anymore. But my buyers do.

Mannequins are one thing. Slings are another. A couple of years ago I wrote a blog about "The War of the Roses" house. I showed it several times. The name I gave the property was derived from the ordeal the two gay owners were going through in the split of their personal lives and their real estate investments. I had to laugh at the "guest" bedroom that was set up as a dungeon complete with sling. Most of my buyers did find that room very interesting.

A couple of years ago I wrote about a home owned by some gay friends who left town and had placed their house for sale. The place had a long term tenant who himself had several roommates. The renter had turned the place into his own comfortable gay love nest. I say that kindly. The tenant was as sweet as he could be. The place was always immaculate. Let's just say the walls of the master bedroom and master bath were decorated primarily with photos of naked gay porn stars. I think it would be very difficult for a normal straight couple to imagine living in this house because of the huge collection of gay porn photos and other gay decorations throughout the house and near the pool. God, I must sound like some prude!

Call me old fashioned. I grew up in the 1950s when gay decorating was -- different. But what the heck. This is Key West. It is okay to be gay here, and it is okay to decorate your home, condo, or villa anyway you want.

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are looking for a gay Realtor, call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or contact my by e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Living life in Key West is just great. I could care less how you decorate your villa as long as you are happy. However, sometimes it might be a little easier to sell your home if you hide your porn and stow away the dildos.

Key West Real Estate Trivial Pursuit - Part Four

Today's Trivial Pursuit is a No-Brainer because I added the address of the property in the photos.

It is nonetheless interesting to see how one property can change so much over the period of fifty years. When I was a kid I counted my age by quarter and half years. Now it is decades. I have watch Key West change over four decades. It is amazing. Nothing stays the same.

St Mary's Convent before it burned. 1109 Windsor is at the left rear corner.

I remember the garage located at the corners of Windsor Lane, Amelia Street, and Royal Street as shown in the photos above. I was a Realtor at Prudential Knight Gardner Realty in the early 2000's when a fellow agent and her husband bought the Windsor property and the adjacent house at 1117 Royal Street. Both properties were razed and two new houses were completed in 2005.

The garage that once stood at 1109 Windsor Lane now looks like this:

2012

2019

J J Fairbank Construction was the builder. Tom Pope was the architect.

Comments welcomed.

505 Noah Lane, Key West

The new listing at 505 Noah Lane, Key West merits the attention of the buyer seeking a spacious three bedroom home with pool and parking. Okay there are quite a few houses like that available, but this one is located in the highly desirable Truman Annex plus it has a Special Truman Annex Transient Rental License. 

The 2,116 Square Foot house actually faces toward Front Street where there are first and second floor porches for perfect people watching. As you step into the yard you will notice the tropical landscaping and then see the pristine Hardie Board exterior contrasted with the crisp white balusters and rails on the wrap-around porch. Look carefully and you will also see there are impact windows and doors and over  1,000 Sq Ft of Epe decks. Look up and you will notice recessed lights and ceiling fan. Details, I know, but they set the tone for what goes on inside.

I walked through the first floor in total awe. Although this home was built new in 1996, the interior had all the hallmarks of a late 19th Century home including quarter sawn oak floors and stairway. The first and only owner renovated the house in 2007 by D'Asign Source basically rebuilding the entire house. Notable features include Crown Point Cabinetry with matching floor boards, casings, and trim. There is even a fireplace for those snowy winter nights - oh, wait - we don't have those in Key West. Reclaimed NYC subway tiles frame the fireplace.

It wasn't until I stood near the glass doors at the rear of the kitchen that I realized the ceiling soared two stories high. Four large windows allow abundant light to enter the space. There is even a pantry. Everywhere you turn, there is attention to details.

The stairway which took me back to the turn of the century homes I am so familiar with back in Denver. This house has a genuine old house feel to it unlike so many of the new houses built to look old that we seen in Key West. There is a spacious guest bath at the foot of the stairway. When I arrived at the second floor I could look down into the kitchen and see how the interior flows from bottom to top and front to back.

The guest bedroom and bath are located at the front of the house where doors open out to the second floor porch. Checkout that view. Even Riley would be jealous of this place.

The owners use the second guest bedroom at the rear as a home office. The ceiling soars upward to a cupola which is locate next to the rooftop Widow's Walk. 

There are 360 degree views on the Widow's Walk. The new Truman Waterfront Park and amphitheater are located a block or so to the west. Mallory Square and the Waterfront Theater are a couple of blocks to the north. And all of the hot spots and cool little places on Duval Street and environs are two blocks east. Some people save all year long to come to Key West to enjoy the treasures of Key West which you could enjoy everyday if you lived here.

You enter the master suite through pocket doors off the second floor hallway. The ceiling soars here as well. Doors at the rear open to a balcony overlooking the pool and garden area below. There and two closets and a huge master bath.

Doors off the kitchen and dining area open out to the covered rear porches and bricked courtyard. The salt water pool has a nifty water feature. Notice the carport in the above photo. The carport is located on Noah Lane. As you can see the grounds are illuminated at night and are also irrigated. There is a generator for those snowy nights when the frozen electric lines fall down - oh, wait, it never freezes in the Florida Keys. Sometimes we lose power for a short time. This house won't. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos for 505 Noah Lane offered for sale at $3,350,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this wonderful home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Time of Corona Virus - Part Seven

This is a true story. It occurred about ten years ago. I cannot remember their real names, so I will call them Ted and Alice. Otherwise, all is true.

Alice contacted first by email and later by phone. She and Ted had been to Key West before and decided they wanted to buy a guesthouse. I sent her MLS listings of properties then available. Alice told me she was an executive. In fact she repeated her executive status several times. I asked if they would be cash buyers and explained that, while financing is available, the financial dynamics of guest houses were such that getting a mortgage could be very difficult. Alice said they would probably finance the purchase. She made travel arrangements to arrive on a Friday and depart on Sunday. I set up a meeting with a local lender and showings for Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

Friday arrived. Alice was supposed to call to confirm their arrival. She did not. I called her and left messages and sent a couple emails. No response. Then Alice phoned. I could barely hear her because of the noise in the background. She and Ted were in a bar having a drink and did not hear my phone calls. She asked me to pick them up at the Pilot House Guest House in fifteen minutes (guess) or so.  I called the banker, apologized for missing the appointment, and asked if we could show up a bit late. Of course, it is Key West. (That is the excuse everyone makes all the time.)

I picked up Ted and Alice at their guest house. I did not consider Alice's selection of the Pilot House Guest House as her lodging selection at that time. It was a clothing optional all adult property. She was wearing an executive dress. Ted was dressed like an executive as well. They were both dressed for success compared to most of the tourists and potential house buyers we normally see in Key West. After exchanging hellos I headed to the bank which was located two blocks away. I asked where they had been when she called. Alice said The Bull which is located one block from the guest house and one block from the bank. What a coincidence. I had never been inside The Bull but had seen photos and heard stories about what goes on there. It is legendary adult bar. We met the banker and then saw two guest houses. We looked at another two or three places the next day. I never saw Ted and Alice after that - except I did.

Bahama Lane

Alice and I either talked or shared emails a few days after their visit. I sort of recall her saying that while they had the money to make a purchase, Key West was much more expensive than they expected. So they would pass. I hear that a lot from executive types (and regular people as well).

A week after their visit, I saw a couple of photos of Alice posted on FLICKR which hosts photos for my blog. I routinely search for photos of Key West on FLICKR. She was posing at the rear of the Pilot House guest house on Bahama Lane. She was wearing very short shorts with her butt cheeks fully exposed and a bra-thing with boobs falling out. I did a nosey and saw many more revealing photos of Alice. Alice was a very attractive woman her age. And Ted was equally handsome. They were probably big hits at The Bull which is also known as The Garden of Eden.