48th Annual Key West House and Garden Tours

The Day After Christmas is always a special day in Key West because of the annual evening tour of some of the finest Key West homes that have been decorated for the holidays. This year it is the 48th Annual Key West House and Garden. The homes on this year's tour include 823 Johnson Lane, 909 White Street, 806 Ashe Street, 622 Louisa Street, and The Oldest House located at 322 Duval Street (pictured above in black and white photo). CLICK HERE for more information on prices, tickets, and transportation.

Of course you could do like a lot of vacationers: contact a Realtor and pretend you are going to buy a big old house in Old Town and ask him or her to drive you around for a couple of days.

But if you really want to buy take the tour and then please consider calling me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Did Gary Have Too Much Eggnog?

I took a nasty fall a couple of weeks ago while I showing a bank owned house. I slipped on some un-kept steps and hit my head and got bruised pretty bad. And then there's the eggnog that is so abundant at Christmastime. So if you think my suggestion that you consider 725 Whitehead Street in Old Town Key West is a little "odd", you can blame on the knot on my noggin or the eggnog. Or both.

725 Whitehead Street is a tiny little house (956 sq ft) sits on a 2075 sq ft lot (21'x98.87') Zoning is HRO which permits single family and office uses. It is located just a few blocks from the Monroe County Courthouse and one block from uber-busy Duval. There is a small guest house located next door to the south. The Bahama Village Shops are across the street at the corner of Petronia. And there is some public housing directly across the street on Whitehead. And there is a big old church on the corner.

CLICK HERE for more photos and information on 725 Whitehead Street. Do not let the asking price of $280,000 dissuade you from considering this little property. It needs work and the owner has asked for all offers with a very quick closing. You may be surprised how inexpensive a redevelopment property can be. Make an offer NOW! It may get accepted.

It's easy to get in to see this house. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a showing.

811 Southard - Historic Old Town Mansion - Short Sale

This is how the listing agent describes the property at 811 Southard Street in Old Town Key West: "The Mansion on Southard is an elegant historic estate beautifully renovated and restored. This 2008 Winner of the Prestigious Ceramic Star for Historic Preservation is the among the most elegant and luxurious homes in the historic district. High quality designer finishes including high ceilings, crown moldings, chef's kitchen, large open floor plan with amazing covered decks overlooking a huge and lush tropical lot. Off Street Parking, separate guest house, incredible pool and outdoor kitchen/bar area make this an Elegant Oasis For Island Living. This is a potential short sale subject to lender approval."

This stately property is quite large by Key West standards. The house is 3812 sq ft and sits on a large 8882 sq ft lot in the heart of Old Town. CLICK HERE to view some photos of the interior and exterior of this beautiful home.

If you did click the link you saw that the house has the following: 5 bedrooms, 4 baths in the main house and a detached one bedroom one bath guest house. The main house has a fireplace in the living room, a formal dining room, a casual dining area, a new pool, and cabana.The custom kitchen is finished in granite, Viking professional appliances, wine cooler, pass-through, breakfast nook, computer station & walk-in pantry. The spacious master suite includes a luxurious bath & custom closet. Beautiful outdoor living space with large new pool, waterfall, spa, shower & a fully equipped kitchen.

This property was listed for $5,300,000. Now the property is offered as a short sale at the incredible price of $2,995,000 or $786 per sq ft. For the buyer with the bucks and an eye for value, I would point out that adjacent development parcels are also available. That means to me that one could enlarge the already spacious grounds to create an even larger living space.

If you are among the select group of potential buyers for a home like this, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com to obtain more information. I have no personal knowledge as to what a lender may or may not accept on a property like this. But I do know that most lenders are considering reasonable offers from individuals with a shown financial ability to perform.

Little Big Short Sale -- Old Town Key West

I try to let readers know about properties that I think are potentially good buys in these difficult times. Such is the case of 412 Louisa Street. For those who are not familiar with Louisa Street, it is located one block north of United Street and runs from Bahama Village east to Grinnell Street.

The cute little two bedroom Conch Cottage at 412 Louisa Street is offered as a short sale for the already low price of only $425,000 or $567 per sq. This is what you can get: a topical getaway with a pool. The Conch style home has two bedrooms each with en-suite baths. It is 750 square feet on a 2457 sq ft lot that is located less than a block from upper Duval Street in Old Town. The living area is an expansive great room (kitchen and dining area included) with vaulted ceiling with French doors that open onto a covered deck, outdoor dining area and a nice sized pool. And there is brick paved and gated off-street parking.

This property was under contract as a short sale. The "buyer" recently pulled out of the short sale. The appraisal was done this present week. That means the lender has this particular property in the zone to get a deal done within a relatively short period of time. I encourage buyers who are looking for properties of this type to seriously consider this house. Let me add a final comment. This house was previously listed by one of the Top Agents in Key West. The asking price was $985,000. Our office (preferred Properties) currently has the house next door at 412 Louisa Street on the market. It is priced at $799,000. CLICK HERE to see our listing.

CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE to see a couple of photos of this charming little street and see the types home that make up this little neighborhood.

CLICK HERE for photos and more detailed information on this big deal on a short sale in Old Town Key West, Florida.

I don't think this little gem will last very long at this price. Please give me, Gary Thomas, a phone call at 305-766-2642 to schedule a showing--preferably to see both 412 and 414 Louisa. Act now while the opportunity is available.

Some Neat Key West Condo Short Sales

I just did a quick search of the Key West mls to find condos and townhomes on the Island of Key West that are offered as short sales. There are 76 such sales available as of this morning. A short sale occurs where the seller offers to sell the home for less than what he or she owes to the lender, and the lender agrees to accept this amount and "forgive" the remaining balance.

There have been a bunch of short sales in Key West over the past year and the lenders and local Realtors are getting better at managing these sales on all sides. (Thanks to the other professionals like the title companies and local real estate attorneys that are shepherding these sales through to completion.)

I selected several properties to consider. I like these units because of location, value, potential future value, and income potential.

Unit 421 Beachside Condos is oceanfront living DeLuxe. You could not ask for a better price, better construction, or amenities. This unit is the least expensive unit available and it is offered at $599,000. CLICK HERE for more info and photos.
It has two (2) transient rental licenses. You can rent the unit on your own, hire a local property management company, or use the services of the Marriott Hotel group that is taking over property management of the other units that participate in the rental program. Or just live in the lap of luxury at a Class A resort.

Unit A 213 at 1800 Atlantic Condos sits at the rear courtyard corner and has a transient rental license. The listing agent reports that this unit is one of the most often rented units in the complex. CLICK HERE for more info on this unit that is offered at $489,000. Future bookings are included.

Unit 32 at the Santa Maria Condominiums at 1401 Simonton Street is a short sale offered at $925,000 for the two bedroom 2 1/2 bath unit with transient license 1/2 block from the Atlantic Ocean. CLICK HERE for details. Guests have beach and other privileges at the Reach Resort next door. There are 13 units available at Santa Maria. Get aggressive and strike a bargain.

31 Seaside South is located on the far east end of the Island and has views of the Atlantic Ocean from the living room and master bedroom. The unit has an enclosed garage, a private elevator between all three floors, and the place is built like a fortress. There is a small outdoor space where you might be able to add a dip pool or create a nice garden. CLICK HERE for photos and more info on this unit offered at only $619,000. The furniture is not included but may be purchased separately.

How about a two bedroom unit on Solares Hill on 709 Windsor Lane priced offered at only $449,000? CLICK HERE for photos and more details. This place is located right in the heart of Old Town so you are near everything but far from the noise makers. And it has a cocktail pool to boot.

809 Washington Street Unit 101 is offered at $1,150,000. CLICK HERE for photos and detailed info on this newly constructed town home in the heart of the Casa Marina Area. The town home is a spacious 1876 square feet on three floors and has its own private pool and garden area. Great details throughout the home and the location make this worth the look.

Remember that the asking price on short sales is the same as any other property. And in today's volatile market, the sales price is often much less. Most of the units I selected can be rented as vacation rentals or as transient rentals. This could provide some cash flow to help make the purchase more affordable--in case that matters.

CLICK HERE to perform your own independent search of the Key West mls to find the potential deal in your future. Simply identify the type of property you want to find, the geographic area, the price range, and any more specific features you want. Remember that people create the input and sometimes people omit some features. So it may be advisable to be more lenient on features or size and more generous on price just to expand your potential search.

If you would like more information on any of the condos shown above please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. Let me help you find your place in Paradise. And hopefully save a whole lot of money in the process!

701 Elizabeth Street - Heart of Key West

I have written about 701 Elizabeth Street before. What I said then stands. Except now the property is better. The new asking price on 701 Elizabeth Street is $750,000 or $410 per sq ft. The house was designed by Tom Pope and built in 1984 by Erik deBoer. Locals know both names as among the tops in design and construction. The house has 1830 sq ft of living space and sits on an odd shaped lot of 3520 sq.ft.

The new listing Realtor describes the property this way: "Excellent location on top of Solares Hill with a flexible living plan. The main portion of the property has 2BR, 2BA and beautiful reclaimed pine floors, large windows with louvered wooden shutters for easy light control and storm closure and an open living plan. There is a private covered porch and pool in the rear of the property. The smaller unit is a legal 1BR/1BA rental ideal for guests or income. Off street parking and priced to sell."

701 Elizabeth Street sits at the top of Solares Hill. No need for flood insurance here. But more than that the views from the master bedroom are just wonderful. The house is located two blocks from Duval and maybe three full blocks to the Historic Seaport. Seven Fish Restaurant is two blocks to the south. And there is a neighborhood grocery one block to the east. The Solares Hill neighborhood is filled with really big grand Conch houses and smaller cigar maker cottages, many of which have been renovated into quintessential Key West cottages. But some of the other houses retain there untouched in generations charm.

If you anticipate having a lot of company or more friends once they find out you own a place in Key West, this place may work for you more than you can imagine. The legal three story apartment could serve as an excellent private guest suite for your company. Everything in that unit is separated from the main part of the house. So your company can come and go and buy their own groceries and liquor so that you can live your life uninterrupted.

The new price is a great price on a great house in a really good location. This house has a lot of value, not because of its new lower price, but because of everything it offers. Please CLICK HERE to see more detailed info on the property and see additional new photographs.

Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com.

Key West - Bank Owned - Properties

Believe it or not, there are a couple of pretty nice single family houses that are BANK OWNED and that are now available. CLICK HERE to checkout the properties. (There are a couple of multi-family included because I'm too lazy to do a separate list.) Please take a few minutes and go through the list. There are properties in all Key West locations and in low to moderate price ranges.

If you are looking for a house with a pool, do not skip a property because you do not see a photo of a pool. You need to read the comments or read the mls data sheet. The data sheet should tell the reader whether the property has a pool or not. For some reason some Realtors sometimes fail to upload photos the showoff the finer attributes of some properties. Due your homework and read the list. Drive by the properties if you live in Key West. You may surprise yourself by what you find.

Don't let a street address or a messy front yard deter you from checking out a house if it meets your search criteria. I've been very surprised by a couple of very nice houses on Flagler.

Countrywide owns many of the houses on the above list. Countrywide is offering financing to qualified buyers and is also paying some closing costs on some specific properties. Take the time to find the values and incentives that the bank owners are offering buyers. It's not often that you get an opportunity like this.

Again, CLICK HERE to see a list of single family bank owned homes in Key West.

If you are looking for a building lot or commercial property, CLICK HERE. There is one development lot; a mixed use building on upper Duval Street with commercial space downstairs and transient licensed guest rooms upstairs plus a pool and off-street parking; and a ten unit apartment complex on Stock Island. All are BANK OWNED.

There are only 20 days left for this calendar year. Banks run on numbers. I used to work in a really big bank and one of my jobs was selling bank owned assets. Believe me when I tell you that there is still time left to make a good deal on a bank owned property in Key West. The best time to buy is right now and be able to close by the end of business on December 31st. The reason: it's the end of the quarter and perhaps year end for some banks. The more non-earning assets (foreclosures) they get off their books and turn into cash the better.

Write a real offer. Offer cash and make the offer as clean as possible. If you have to borrow, have your financing pre-approved and be able to move a lightning speed. Most of the civilized world starts to stop working any day now because of office parties and people taking extended days off. If you want a deal now, you are going to have to work to make it happen. But then people who work hard usually end up getting more and better things than those who sit around and carp.

If you want to really buy a place in Paradise and need someone on your side, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com.

All right, Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.

This is how the listing Realtor describes the new listing at 1023 Johnson Street in Key West's tony Casa Marina Area "Sunset Boulevard in the Casa Marina. I am ready for my close up, Mr. De Mile, says this vintage 1938 deco-style home. The major systems are updated. Kitchen and bath upgrades will make the property a show stopper! Features include free standing garage, plenty of off-street parking, hardwood floors, classical architectural features such as unusual crown molding, deco staircase, original doors and hardware, etc. Plenty of room for a swimming pool. Lovely garden areas. Walk to beaches and Old Town."

This two story 2400 square foot home sits on a huge 7500 square foot lot on one of the best blocks in the Casa Marina Area. The three bedroom two and 1/2 bath home is offered by Preferred Properties CRI at $1,600,000 or $667 per square foot. There is no pool, but the house is located just a little over one block to the beach. And there is plenty of room on which to build a pool and more. CLICK HERE for interior photos and more information on 1023 Johnson.

Earlier this year I wrote about the bank owned property next door at 1021 Johnson Street. That house sold for $1,500,000 or $564 per sq ft. It was on the market for a long time and was starting to show the signs of REO neglect. The pool was drained, there were the remains of a dead snake in the yard, and the neglect drug the price down in my opinion. Plus the buying public knew the house was bank owned so the buyers were looking for payback.

But there are several houses within 300 to 400 feet from 1023 Johnson that support an even higher asking price even in this depressed market. I wrote about the recent sale of 1101 Casa Marina Court, the manse once owned by author Phil Caputo. It sold during the summer doldrums for $4,650,000 or $1,055 per sq ft. 1028 Flagler Aveune sold October 15, 2008 for $1,637,500 or $518 per sq ft. Great house but the sales price suffered because it was on Flagler. One block to the west of 1023 Johnson is another house I wrote about several months ago, 906 Johnson, listed at $3,595,000 or $966 per sq ft.

This part of Casa Marina has some really fine homes on large lots. These houses are not going away and the property values are not going to plunge because of a momentary burp.

If you would like to see 1023 Johnson please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. If the house on Johnson is not what you are looking for but you are looking to purchase a place in Key West, give me a call. I am the Realtor to the Dreamers. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

Oceanfront - Short Sale - Key West

21
Boulder Drive on Saddlebunch Key is a beautiful recently renovated oceanfront Key West home features a state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen, walls of glass overlooking the sea, and waterfront verandas on two levels. This 1562 sq ft home has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs plus a downstairs patio with a 3rd full bath. This property is now offered as a short sale at the incredible price of $699,000 or $448 per sq ft. The prime location is near exclusive Little Palm Island resort, spa and restaurant and just a 15-minute drive from the historic sights and downtown nightlife in Key West. Fishing charters and boat rentals are very close by, and swimming, snorkeling, and dock fishing is right outside your door. But the real joy is being to go home at night, grab a "beverage", get in your boat and head out to sea. The guy who lives across the street from 21 Boulder told me that he loves the location for its quietness, its access to the ocean, and his great neighbors. Sounds good to me.

Walls of glass look out over the ocean from several seating areas. The central living area has an open floor plan adjacent to a new open-air kitchen with granite counter tops and state-of-the-art appliances and entertainment features.

The master suite, with private bath and glass-enclosed stone-tile shower, opens onto a large deck overlooking the water. On the other side of the living area, there is a comfortable dining room that also includes an ocean-side seating area and an enclosed porch and open deck leading down to the lawn. The main level also has two additional king bedrooms and a second bath with tiled shower.

Outside, extensive professional landscaping presents a lovely tropical setting for alfresco dining and entertaining by the water. There is covered parking for two autos and the view is just priceless. The front drive and entry are equally beautifully landscaped. It seems to me that many of the waterfront homes are landscaped with pearock and a couple of coconut palms. This place is just the opposite. The landscape was thoughtfully designed and professionally executed. The result is like living in a park.

The dock includes a convenient boat davit and a classic rebuilt tiki hut - just the place for casting a line or sipping a cool drink in the shade.

This is an exceptional private waterfront retreat that is close to the exclusive Little Palm Island resort and just a short drive from downtown Key West nightlife and historic sights. CLICK HERE for more detailed information on 21 Boulder Drive and more photos of the interior and the grounds.

This house is a delight to show. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or email me at kw1101v@aol.com to schedule your private showing. Remember,this is a short sale that may require the approval of third parties.