516 Catherine Street - Old Town - Key West

516 Catherine Street - Old Town - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 516 Catherine Street in Old Town Key West. This very attractive Conch House is located in the south part of Old Town. It's closest and most famous neighbor is LaTeDa which is located at the corner of Catherine and Duval Streets. It is the proximity to Duval Street and the fact that this house has been recently redone, that make this property a house worthy of your consideration. The listing Realtor describes 516 Catherine Street like this:

"Perfect Old Town gem just 1/2 block off Duval Street. This two bedroom, two bath sweetheart home has recently been completely renovated with a wonderful new pool, tile floors, new windows, Dade County pine walls and new central a/c. Very private backyard with native landscaping. It even has off street parking!"

New Pool

The house has 1201 sq ft of living space which includes two bedrooms and tow baths. The house has been significantly updated and a pool was added. Compare the house the way it looked in 1965 to the way it looks in 2011. Not much has changed on the outside but the innards as Granny Clampett would say are like new. CLICK HERE to checkout the Key West mls listing datasheet and accompanying listing photos.

516 Catherine Street as it appeared in 1965

516 Catherine Street in June 2011

This house appears to be located within the transient rental transfer zone. CLICK HERE to view the Key West city map that defines permissible transfer sites. This house is zone Hrcc-3 which is by definition a permissible receiver site. The fact that a property has the correct zoning and is located within a permissible zoning receiver location by itself does not mean the property can automatically receive a transient license, but it is better than the alternative of being categorically unable to receive transient license. I always tell a perspective buyer that wants to buy a house that does not have a transient license to verify with his or her attorney that the property he or she wants to purchase can be a receiver site. That being said, 516 Catherine Street would be a terrific location for a transient licensed house because it has the three criteria that make transient licensed houses so popular (1) pool, (2) parking, (3) stellar location near Duval Street. The asking price of $594,900 makes this property really attractive.

While 516 Catherine Street has off street parking but it is the ability to walk to any number of daytime or night time locations that makes this house such an excellent location.

World Famous LaTeDa is one-half block away

South Beach is a five minute walk to the south

Key West nightlife

If you are interested in purchasing a property in Key West, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida.

1319 Newton Street - Old Town - Key West

1319 Newton Street Key West

I had the good pleasure of showing 1319 Newton Street this past week to two different sets of potential buyers. Both were really impressed with the cuteness factor and quality evident everywhere in this wonderful Key West cottage. The listing broker describes this property like this:

"This charming 2/2 historic home is in pristine condition. Located in the Meadows area of old town,it is picture perfect with a white picket fence, a dreamy front porch and orchids hanging in the palm trees. It offers a spacious living/dining room with custom built-ins and beautiful polished Dade co. pine floors. The kitchen adjoins a home office and opens to the awning covered deck and outdoor dining area where steps lead to a whirlpool spa. There is a lovely guest bedroom and bath on the first floor. The entire upstairs is the large master suite complete with a marble tiled master bath, a walk-in closet, a wet bar, laundry plus tons of storage space. There is even a private balcony off the master suite. This beautiful home is a must see!"

As you prepare to enter the yard you immediately sense that this house is something "special". Everything about the front is so clean and understated yet picturesque and inviting. The combined living room and dining area is located just to the right of the formal entryway. Your eyes dart from location to location to take in the architectural features including the nearly pristine painted Dade County Pine walls and ceiling set off by the tiled floors; the historic windows that are so old gravity is causing the glass to ripple; the custom woodwork including the whimsical breakfront in the dining room which includes slats from old shutters integrated into the cabinet. The high ceilings and and crown moldings give these rooms a feeling of space and volume.

Rippled glass in the old windows set off by crispy white trim

Custom made breakfront in dining area

Covered rear deck leads to orchid garden (left) and the spa (right rear)

Orchid garden can be viewed from kitchen window

There is bright and nifty kitchen with a vaulted ceiling. Windows open out to the covered deck. A small office is at the rear. Midpoint between the living area and kitchen you will find the guest bedroom and bath. These rooms, like everything about this house, are just precious. Upstairs you will find a spacious master suite which runs the length of the house. Lots of closet space and custom built-ins. There is even a private rooftop sundeck at the rear where you can watch the Key West sunset every night-forever. That view is just wonderful.

The private sundeck is on the other side of the door

No wasted space with lots of built-ins in the master suite

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls database (including listing photos) of this wonderful property. 1319 Newton Street has 1512 sq ft of living space and sits on a 2050 sq ft lot. Better than looking online, why not call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Key West cottages don't get much cuter than this!

Just Listed - 816 South Street #404 - Key West

816 South Street - Key West

Just listed, but not by me, 816 South Street Unit #404 in Key West. This unit is one of sixteen condos located in the South Park Condominiums. There are four units in each of the four buildings that were built in 1958. See the vintage photo below that shows how the buildings looked in 1965. Today all four buildings are basically the same on the outside, the grounds (front and back are matured) and each of the sixteen condos are entirely different on the inside. The listing Realtor describes this unit thus:

"Rare second floor unit at lovely South park condominiums. Original oak floors, one bedroom with a 12' x 12' deck and retractable awning. The kitchen has corian countertops and a walk in pantry. There's even a small room used for over flow guests that has a washer and dryer. Swimming pool, storage and parking."

South Street buildings as they appeared in 1965

Front porch at 816 South Street

Private rear second floor deck at 816 South Street overlooks pool below

I have previously written about other Southpark Condos. They have a great location at the edge of the Casa Marina area and are also very near Old Town. Potential second home owners will appreciate the convenient location because you can still walk to Duval Street (three blocks west) or to the Atlantic Ocean (five minutes or so to the south). What you see from the street view is perfectly acceptable. What you cannot see from the street are the extraordinary gardens at the sides and rear. But it is the azur pool at the rear that makes this condo development something very special.

Absolutely one of the nicest pools in Key West

Each building is configured with two units down and two units up. Doors on the front permit owners to sit either on the main floor porch or second floor front balcony to watch the daily people parade on South Street. But it is the large downstairs main level decks and equally spacious second level rear decks that permit the owners very private outdoor spaces. You would be surprised at the privacy in such a close environment. (Compare that to units in larger complexes where your neighbors get to watch your every movement.) Unit #404 has a 12'x12' retractable awning where you can get that enviable Key West tan or shade yourself from our magnificent sun. 816 South Street is the easternmost building at Southpark Condos and Unit #404 is located at the very end. It gets good morning sunshine. Rear stairs take you right down to the pool. A cute cottage is located at the rear of the pool. It houses storage units for of the 12 condos plus laundry facilities. (Unit #404 has its own washer and dryer inside the unit.) Each unit also has a dedicated off street parking spot.

Cottage at the pool's rear provides extra storage for each unit

Unit #404 is 640 sq ft of living space located on the second floor. The unit has one 'official' bedroom plus space that is used as a second bedroom for guests. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view more listing photos of this property.

I sold a similar unit at Southpark Condos last year. My buyers love the place, their fellow homeowners, and the proximity it provides for everything they want to do. The grounds and pool area are always maintained so the owners feel proud of where they live and feel secure when they are at their other home up north.

Extensive gardens on the sides of each building and the rear

An easy walk to the pool from each building

If you are in the market for an affordable Key West condo that has all of the amenities you want at a price you can afford, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to arrange a showing of this property. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

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1421 Eliza Street - Short Sale - Key West

1424 Eliza Street - Key West

Just listed by Preferred Properties Coastal Realty (that's where I work but this is not my listing), 1421 Eliza Street, Key West. The home has been featured on HGTV and now is offered for sale as a short sale at the asking price of $360,500. The listing Realtor describes this utterly charming house this way:

"Bank approved short sale. Decorated & owned by exp. designers, this 2br/1 bath home nestled in a quiet neighborhood can be yours for a steal! Tropical foliage surrounds this beautiful Conch house creating your own private paradise. The inside boasts many windows which create natural light throughout. The kitchen is complete with stainless steel appliances. Outside there's a cozy pool for cooling off during those warm Key West summers & because it's heated & has jets, it allows you to relax & unwind during those cold winter nights. There are french doors coming off from the kitchen to the large deck area that makes this a great home for entertaining. The spacious front porch allows room to stretch out & relax to pass the time away."

This house is located in the Arts & Deco District just south of Bayview Park. The former home of Tennessee Williams is located two blocks away on Duncan Street. This area has a mix of old family owned homes and properties like 1421 Eliza Street, that have been gentrified. Bayview Park is one block to the north. The Atlantic Ocean is an easy five minute bike ride to the south.

The pool at 1421 Eliza Street is so cool

1421 Eliza Street is a two bedroom one bath house with 1159 sq ft of living space on a compact 2309 sq ft lot. The house has an inviting facade, tony interior, and a kewl pool. The price is just $360,500. This is a short sale. CLICK HERE to checkout more details in the Key West mls database for this property.

If you want to see 1421 Eliza Street please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Don't procrastinate on this house because it will go under contract quickly.

"I Hope Your are Not French!"

Outside my kitchen window last year - hoping I'm not French

Many of my readers and customers who send me emails know that I have a terrible sleeping problem which stems from a fall I took a couple of years back while showing a bank owned property in Key West. I ended up in the Lower Keys Hospital with a concussion. I'm okay, now, but I did take a big spill. Damned cheap banks that don't take care of their bank owned homes! Anyway, if you have ever suffered a concussion you know that one of many symptoms can be a sleeping disorder. That is my long term and seemingly ever-lasting legacy of the tumble. For a while a would go to sleep around 6:00 to 7:00 PM and then wake up at midnight or shortly thereafter. Now my sleep is finally getting back to normal but I continue to have regressions to early evening beddy-bye. But I guess I am doomed to be an early riser forever. Last year I awoke way too early. I had already had coffee and decided to make breakfast at a time some Key Westers were probably getting ready to go to bed. I went back into the kitchen and saw the frog shown above. He was clinging to the outsideof the kitchen window watching me. I found my camera and took his pic so that I would not forget him. A few days ago I was again awake way too early for any sane person. I had left the kitchen door open and a frog had found its way inside the kitchen. He saw me and jumped onto my stove. He was a bit too eager to be eaten in my opinion. Were I French, he would be history. Instead, I decided to ignore him. I poured another cup of coffee, turned out the lights and left him. The next time I returned, the frog was gone and all I had were memories of the tiny creature. Frogs are strange creatures. I guess they are always here, but unless you have a murky pond or needy pool, you just don't see them and certainly don't hear them. But they reappear annually in late Spring. If you are an early riser like me you can hear them croaking come May. I don't recall how long they stay because they just stop their noise and disappear into the flora and fauna only to reappear the following year.

An iguana inspecting my pool

I don't want to scare any potential buyers by reporting on the little animals that live here. My experience have been harmless. A few years ago I was having some work done at my house. Two of the workers were from Nicaragua. They saw a 3 foot iguana walking around in the backyard where we were working. They tried to catch it. They couldn't. The lead carpenter was from England. He picked up a large 6" x 6" post and hit the beast on the head, killing him instantly. The time was 11:45 AM. He took the Iguana home at noon. He returned at 12:30 and announced he had thrown the Iguana into a pot and was making Iguana Soup. I wasn't home at the time and would not have allowed that to happen. Later that day after everyone had left I saw a baby Iguana about 12 inches long walking by my pool. He wasn't even afraid. I thought buddy, you better move or you could get thrown into the pot with your dad. The next day the carpenter retold the story of his slaying the Iguana and reported on what a tasty tail the beast had. "Best Iguana I ever ate", he said. I live in the Casa Marina area of Key West. My house is four or five blocks from the beach. It's an easy walk or bike ride for me. One Saturday afternoon several years ago I found a large blue crab swimming in my pool. I found an old five gallon bucket and scooped the crab out of the pool and thought the poor thing was lost. So I rode my bike with the bucket-o-crab back to the ocean where I returned him to the sea. Later someone told me the crab was probably horny and was walking around looking for a mate. He said that crabs leave the ocean and move inland when they want to do it. Little did I know I was messing with the crab's sex life. One Saturday afternoon I was taking a nap. We had left two packages of baby back ribs on the kitchen counter to defrost. I got up and decided to get them into the oven for a long slow bake. But when I went into the kitchen there was just one package. I looked everywhere. I remember havin g seen two packages on the counter. I looked in the freezer and the refrigerator. I looked in the oven. I looked high and low throughout the kitchen. I even went outside trying to figure out where the second package could have gone. I could not find it. Our baby back rib night was less filling than planned. Maybe a week later I found the opened cryopack in the back yard. Something had made its way into the kitchen and stole the package and took it outside where it opened the package (tain't easy-either). The meat was 'all gone'. Nothing left inside the package. The store label identified the package as my stolen dinner. I don't have a dog or a cat. The carpenter that ate the iguana and the Nicaraguans were no longer working at my house. We do have some homeless people that walk the streets from time to time, but they don't come inside my property and surely none of them eat raw pork. I did see a raccoon in my yard once. Maybe he was the culprit. No way to know for sure. I have a small apartment at the side of my house. A few years ago a really sweet young couple (Sean and Jen) lived there for narly five years. There was a fish pond near their entrance and that had some creepy fish that lived inside. I decided to clean up the pond, buy a new pump, and make the pond look even better by adding some large koi. I went to the pet store and bought three good sized koi and some small feeder fish. I introduced them to the newly cleaned pond and felt proud of myself. Note to self: don't feel proud of yourself because vanity will do you in. The next day I was driving home from work and saw this big egret walking around at the corner. I never see egrets walking around my house. I got worried and ran over to Jen's apartment. She came out and said "Gary, they ate the fish!" My three koi were gone. I had not created a place for them to hide. Little did I now that egrets had such good sense of sight or smell or whatever it was to find fish in one day. If you are looking for a place in Key West and are up for a little backyard adventure or two, CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls database. See if you find a place that interests you. If you do, please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or kw1101v@aol.com, for more information. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. I am not French, and I don't eat frog legs or other living creatures that I have found in my yard.

507 Frances Street - Old Town - Key West

507 Frances Street is located on one of the best blocks in Old Town

You probably have strolled by, rode your bike past, or driven by 507 Frances Street and wondered what it is and then easily continued walking, riding, or driving. It gets noticed because of its atypical architecture, but then it gets ignored because of it. People can't figure out what it is or why it should interest them as a potential home in Key West. I'm here to shed some light on this property and perhaps create a little interest in it.

507 Frances Street (above) in 1965 with suggested changes by me

507 Frances Street intersects with Curry Lane in 2011

I found the Black & White Photo (above) that shows how this property looked back in 1965. Compare that photo with the color photo immediately below. The place has not changed much. You will note that I added some text to the Black and White Photo to suggest possible changes to this house because I think change is exactly what is needed.

The Red Doors on Caroline Street

701 Southard Street Key West - January 2011

302 Angela Street

507 Frances Street is one of six double gable houses in Key West that I am aware of. The others are located in the Meadows area, Petronia Street, and two familiar properties (the Red Doors on Caroline Street and an apartment building at 701 Southard Street), and the Angelina Guest House at 302 Angela Street. If you study 507 Frances and compare it to either the Red Doors or 701 Southard you will immediately see that Frances Street architecture is basically the same. That is, there are two buildings seemingly joined at a common point with the resultant double gable roof. 507 Frances is different, however, since the porches on Frances Street were enclosed sometime in the past - at least pre-1965. (When I first moved to Key West I was told many of the larger old homes had the front porches enclosed during World War II to house military personnel stationed here. That may or may not be true.) But these four properties share another interesting feature: they are all site-situated right at or very near the sidewalk. There is no front yard or fence to set the building off from the sidewalk.

Imagine the front porch enclosures eliminated and the interior ceilings vaulted

Imagine the rear with a pool and French doors up and down with second floor cantilevered deck

This building was built around 1870. The public records show the current building as having 2107 sq ft of living space that is situated on a 38' x 50' lot. The house abuts Curry Lane, one of the slow lanes of Key West.

The listing Realtor describes 507 Frances Street this way:

"This sturdy double gabled building is situated in a very nice area of Old Town Key West. Historically, it is said to have served as one of the early schoolhouses in Town, then later as a church. Presently in use as a 3-unit licensed year round rental producing total annual rent of $48,000, with the tenants paying utilities. The building could convert nicely to a fine single-family residence."

I showed this property in early 2010 but neglected to take any interior photos. The property is presently used as three rental units. The front porches are integral parts of the current usage. I recall the original exterior walls at front are still in place and doorways open onto the porches. An interior stairway provides access to the three units as currently configured. It works fine for the current usage but a new stairway could redefine the usage as a single family residence. The second floor units is very charming but it could be a wonderful master bedroom with en-suite bath and rear deck overlooking a new pool below. The ceilings could be vaulted and the whole interior spaces transformed into a very decent sized Old Town residence with a striking architectural style. Conversion of the enclosed porches to open porches would reduce the living area by about 300 sq ft but it would add a tremendous amount of charm to the facade.

CLICK HERE to checkout the Key West mls database and to view listing photos of the interior. This is not a short sale but I would advise the current owner purchased this property in 2006 at a much higher price than the current asking price of $599,000 or $273 per sq ft. A new owner could keep the property as is and collect rent or do some interesting renovations. I vote for the latter.

If you would like to see 507 Frances Street please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Our office is the listing office for this property.