The Many Woes of Dunkin Dave

 

I met Dunkin Dave at Club Body Tech in the Duval Square center perhaps twenty years ago. We would often speak to each other during our early morning workouts. He was a very personable guy, very  outgoing, and super friendly to everybody. He almost always had a smile on his face and certainly all conversations started out on a high note. 

He told me he owned the Dunkin Donuts franchise in Key West. The principal store was at the Overseas Market in the same building that now houses DOMINO'S PIZZA. I recall there was a second Dunkin Donuts at 502 Southard Street - just a couple hundred feet from my office. You remember the saying "You can't eat just one?" It's true when it comes to Dunkin Donuts.

I said our conversations would start out on a high note, but they often regressed. Dave shared his three tales of woe with me. He was proud to own a waterfront condominium which looked directly out too the Atlantic Ocean. He loved the view but he was terribly annoyed at hearing the upstairs neighbor walk across the floor and each time the neighbor flushed the toilet. He said he could hear water flowing through the pipes. There was nothing he could do. Except leave.

Dave complained about that the Key West fire department would call him each time the department went to a fire. They expected Dave to deliver a two or three big boxes of donuts to the firemen. Not one time. All the time.

 While I was a creature of habit as to my arrival time at the gym, Dave was not. He might not show up at the gym for a couple of weeks. We discussed his absence. He said he got up very early each morning to go to the store and start making donuts. He said he could not depend on his employees to show up. That is a proverbial problem of every business owner here. The road to Key West is paved with good intentions. It is easy to get a good paying job here. The problem is getting people to show up for work every day. I understood his pain.

And one day Dunkin Dave did not show up. He left town. 

 

1022 Fleming St. Key West - Just Listed

I have written about this Legal Duplex before and I am using an older photograph as the lead photo in today's blog. See if you notice any difference in the current photo below.

I sold 1022 Fleming Street five years ago to a customer who looked at it once and said this is it. No hesitation. I had shown it earlier to another potential buyer who hemmed and hawed and procrastinated too long. He lost it. I had second potential buyer who ruminated too long and as recently as this past month reminded me about her sorrowful mistake in not buying at a lower price.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes the current owner to sell this beautiful home that sits on one of the very best blocks in Old Town Key West. Let's take a look at the property from front to back, bottom to top.

Ellen Gvilli at Oceansir.com, the listing Realtor, describes the property this way:

"From the old world but with new charm, this legal Duplex is a great investment property and/ or vacation home. Or live in one unit and rent the other. Each spacious floor has 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, full kitchens with stainless appliances, laundry, open living/kitchen/dining areas and lots of outdoor space. The downstairs unit opens to a nice deck with a pool and the upstairs unit is filled with lots of natural light and surrounded by a beautiful wide wrap around porch. Located in a prime location in the heart of Old town close to the Old Seaport, restaurants and bars, Offered fully furnished and ready for your next move..." 

This is a very pretty house from both the street and from the inside.  It offers the same basic features on both floors with slight variations.  Both units have living areas located at the rear with kitchens tucked into the left rear corners.  Both have pool and garden views from the rear. The main floor unit has direct pool access. The second floor unit has a balcony that looks down to the pool and out toward the neighboring homes. Both units have two bedrooms which are accessed via the quite large west side interior hallway. The hallway has plenty of ambient daytime light that floods this hall. The bedrooms also have windows opening out to the east and front side porches.  East side windows in all bedrooms open out to this east side hallway onto the covered porches. The last photo above shows the first floor porch view of Fleming Street. Let me show you this house, let you sit on that sofa, and imagine that being your dream home.

 

Key West is full of pretty old houses but few have two levels of views and pretty as 1022 Fleming Street.  The second floor living room ceiling is vaulted (not shown in photos). This adds to the drama going outside on the deck. This space is so pretty. A new owner would be torn between living on the main floor and walking out to the pool or on the second level and radiating on the views.

I could go on and on and tell you stories about the older couple who made this place their home for years and years. This is such a special place. It needs a nice new owner who will enjoy all that it has to offer. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on 1022 Fleming Street Key West offered for sale fully furnished at $1,1590,000. 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. 

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

 

If you are a long time reader of my blog you know I frequently remind readers that we keep selling the same houses over and over year after year on the Island of Key West. First and foremost there is a limited supply of land upon which to build new homes on this island. There are lots of state statues, city ordinances, and HARC guidelines that control what may be built and how exiting properties may be renovated. I also remind readers the most frequent source of real estate listings are death, divorce, relocation, foreclosure, and/or greed.

This is a true story involving an unpleasant divorce. Are there any pleasant types? A youngish Key West couple with two small children decided to split. They sold their house to a buyer who wanted to fix it up and flip it. There are a lot of flipper types in Key West. The husband worked out a deal with the buyer. The closing occurred and the family moved out. The wife got the kids and the possessions. The husband got rid of the wife. (He did not kill her.) 

The buyer  told me he rented a dumpster and began tearing the house apart room by room. He took out the easy stuff first like the left over dishes, magazines, junk in the bathroom, etc. The two story house had several bedrooms including one with women's clothes and a fur stole. The buyer called the seller and told him about the clothes. The seller said to throw them out - that his wife did not want them because they reminded her of him.

A coat. Not the coat. The buyer described it to me as mangy gray.

The buyer took the clothes and fur to the street and placed them in the regular trash container so that passers-by might take. They did.

A few days later the wife called the buyer and asked if he had found her fur coast and some other clothes she had forgotten. He said he did and told her about calling the husband who said to toss them out. The buyer said the wife started to moan and groan and cry.

I used to be a lawyer and handled many divorces. If a new divorce client had children I would tell that person he or she would be seeing and dealing with the ex for years to come. I suggested we make the parting as stress free and possible. That was easy to say. Few cases worked out that way. 

There is no happy ending to this story.  There never is. 

 

 

The buyer kept the house.

1104 South Street, Key West - Just Listed

Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West: 1104 South Street, Key West. $2,395,000. If it were only that simple. 

What first looks like a simple two story home located over a garage suddenly becomes more complex when first floor glass doors open into the entry with water trickling down the flagstone walls. Turn right and enter into this home. Turn left and head over to the pool. It only gets better in either direction.

Who would have thought with such a simple front facade that the living area would be so profound. I cease to be amazed each time I see this space. It could be Bali or some place on the South Seas. But no, it is located at 1104 South Street in Key West. Years ago Ernest Hemingway lived in the house next door at 1102 South Street where he wrote A Farewell to Arms.

There's an office located just off the living area. How could any serious individual get any real work done with views of the pool so close? Really. The kitchen has all the necessities including windows over the kitchen sink. More on that later on.

The dining pavilion is located just off the kitchen. In th e real world a lot of people eat meals in the living room watching BRAVO or whatever. Serious meals requires serious dining space. This home has it. What a great space to impress your friends and curse your frenemies. The photo two above shows the view from the front entry hall looking toward the pool. The photo immediately above shows the living room. Look up to see the rear sun deck located off the guest room also shown below.

The spiral staircase leads to the guest room on the second level. It has both a front porch and a rear such deck. The  ceiling is vaulted and gives the room a very spacious feel. Long time readers know how fond I am of guests. This is a good place for guests or teenagers. 

Another guest bedroom and bath are located on the first floor.

The master bedroom is located on the second floor above the the "carriage house" front facade. This space is both expansive and dramatic. French doors open from the bedroom and bathroom out to two separate covered second floor balconies. I can imagine sitting out there sipping coffee in the morning and nursing a nightcap under the stars.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and lots of listing photos of 1104 South Street offered at $2,395,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. I live two blocks from this house. I have lived in this area for 25 years. Forget the south seas. It takes forever to get there. The south side of Key West is the place to be.