The Best Deal in Key West - 221 Golf Club Drive

 I know that when most prospective buyers decide to look for a second home in Key West that they want to find a charming place in Old Town with a white picket fence, off street parking, a pool, and two or three bedrooms. Many such buyers hope to find a place that is priced in the $500,000 and under price range.  These buyers get shocked when I send them the sparse listings that actually exist in the under $500,000 price range.  We look anyway and many buyers either decide to spend more money or to go home suffering from sticker shock or down-right real estate depression.

The home at 221 Golf Club Drive is located four miles east of Old Town Key West. It is offered at $549,000 or $343 per sq ft for this 1600 sq ft home that was built in 2001.  And it comes fully furnished. It has three bedrooms, two full baths plus a potential fourth bedroom (or guest room or office) located off the living room. There is a guest bath on the main floor which makes that guest room option viable.

This home is in move-in condition. I have shown it several times to a variety of buyers with differing motivations. The people I showed it to wanted a house in Old Town. And they understood the value of this house. They just could not get around the fact that they could not get an old house in Old Town for the same price. You just can't and that is that. I did a sample search and determined a similar house would cost about $1,045,00 or $594 per sq ft.  I don't know about you, but I would not mind a brief trip to Old Town for dinner or to see a play or whatever if I could save $500,000.

 

221 Golf Club Drive is located in The Sanctuary at the Key West Golf Club. The golf club is a non-membership golf course open to the public. We don't have a country club here, but if we did, this house would be on the country club grounds. There is a manned gated entrance to the area itself. The Sanctuary has a separate gate that separates this area from the other houses in the development.  Golf Club Drive becomes a large loop that exits through the same gate. Houses on either side have various views of the golf course. The view from this home is protected by large trees. I would probably trim the trees back a bit. But a new owner may like the privacy the trees provide.  

 Like all of the large homes in The Sanctuary, this home offers a gracious entrance into the foyer which then flows into the expansive living area. French doors at the rear beckon the eye to see what is located beyond the doors that frame the golf course view. The office or guest bedroom is located just off the living room. 

A large rear covered veranda provides serene views of the pool and rear garden area. There is a similar covered porch off the master bedroom located on the second floor rear. There are four porches in this home - two in front and two in the rear. What kind of chance do you think you could find something like this in Old Town? 

In addition to the covered real porch, the master bedroom includes an en-suite bath and a large wall of closets.  There are two additional bedrooms located at the front of the home on the second floor. They share a second bath, and both have access to the second floor front porch.  

221 Golf Club Drive has never been rented as a vacation rental. But if you are a buyer that would like that option, I think this home would make a great vacation rental. In addition to the private pool and covered off street parking, the owner (or guest) of this home may use either of the two community pools or the fitness center.  I gotta tell you that the large pool is magnificent. It is huge and always super-clean and very inviting.  Guests can spend their vacation poolside at home or with others. Or they can take to the links or drive into town. But at night they can return to the sounds of silence that The Sanctuary provides.

CLICK HERE to view a slide show of more photos of this home. After you have taken a look, please call me, Gary Thomas, to see this property. 305-766-2642. This is not my listing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. If you look at this property with me I think you will agree that it is the best deal in town.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view listing photos.

607 Elizabeth Street - Old Town - Key West

Just listed by Preferred Properties Key West, that's where I work but this is not my listing, 607 Elizabeth Street.  The listing Realtor describes this cottage home as special and adds:

"Quaint cottage in perfect location in Old Town Key West. This two bedroom home has been updated. Private yard with lush gardens and small pool. Covered outdoor area provides for perfect Key West living. Both bedroom have attached bathrooms, plus an additional half bathroom. A very special home."

 I checked the old Sanborn fire maps and learned that 607 Elizabeth Street was located on the 1892 edition. That means the original house was built on or before 1892.  Today, the house looks as nice as about any cottage style home in Key West.  And we have some doozies. Compare the exterior as it appeared with a 1965 photo and how it looks today. I think you will agree that it looks great.

Today the home has two bedrooms, both of which have baths, plus a third potential bedroom and a separate half-bath. The combined living and dining area have vaulted ceilings and bright interiors that provide a more updated feel than you might be used to in some cottage style houses that can seem quite cramped. CLICK HERE to view more photos of this property.

 This home has 1400 sq ft of living space and sits atop Solares Hill - the highest point in Old Town Key West. Most of the neighboring homes are single family residences.  Some are very expensive homes and others, like this, are more moderately priced. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view more listing photos. This home is offered at $695,000 or $496 per sq ft.  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a similar home at 1101 Fleming Street. It sold in less than one week.  I think 607 Elizabeth Street will sell quickly as well. This home has the look and location buyers want. It has a small pool and easy access to all the places locals and vacation travelers want to go.  I think this home would make a wonderful vacation rental as well.

To see 607 Elizabeth Street or any other listing in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.  Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

The F Word

Even though it happened over fifty years ago, I remember exactly where I was standing the first time I heard the F Word. I did not know what it meant (because I had never heard it), but I knew it was something terrible.  At least that is how I viewed it then. Today my opinion about the F Word depends upon who says it, when it is uttered or written - how and by whom, in what context, whether it is public or private, kind or profane. I now consider it to be a noun, a verb, an adjective, and adverb, a sex act, a detestable act, a thing to abhor or maybe some one or something to adore. It is complicated. 

 I was standing somewhere near third base at Randall Park which was the auxiliary playground for the Mountain View Elementary School in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. I don't remember if I was on third base or if I was the third baseman. We were playing softball during afternoon recess. I was twelve years old and in the sixth grade - the year was 1959.  A boy classmate said the F Word loud and clear. I remember some other kids gasped. (They must have heard the word before and must have known what it meant - why else would they gasp?) That is why I knew the word was wrong.  I grew up hearing bad words in my house because my parents fought a lot. They called each other such horrible things. But they never used that word.

I think I used the dictionary to look up the F Word. I am pretty sure because I would not have asked anybody. I couldn't ask my parents because I couldn't swear. I couldn't ask my friends for the same reason, and, besides, I would look like a nerd not knowing what the word meant.

Let me add this - I don't remember my friends or classmates using profanity of any type at any time in school or any place else other than that afternoon. It just was not a part of my life in the late 1950s. Even on the two over-night camping trips I took in Boy Scouts, the other guys just did not swear. Things changed when I entered junior high school.  I think it was in the eight grade other boys started cussing.  Then they started to discuss their sexual exploits with girls. By my sophomore year almost every high school lunch conversation included some guy bragging about his recent conquest. I never believed any of them. That is until my senior year when Jim T. got his girlfriend pregnant. We were in band together. He wasn't the type of guy that would have talked about having sex. I was dumbfounded when I found out he was going to be a father. I didn't even think he knew anymore about sex than I did. I was wrong. At least he knew enough to get his girlfriend pregnant. They got married. She did not return to school. As far as I know she did not graduate which was an anomaly for my school. I think my class had the highest percentage of graduates in the State of Colorado that went on to college in 1965.

On Christmas Day in 1959 I got the most horrible gift twelve year old nerd could get - the talk from my dad.  We had gone out to a restaurant for dinner on Christmas Eve. My big brother and his wife of less than one month happened to be in the same restaurant. She had a very visible baby bump. My mother was really upset and told my dad that pregnancy explained why my sister in law could not fit into her bridal gown.  And so on Christmas day my dad took me aside, shut the door, and tried to explain the facts of life. He was probably more nervous than I was. I won't bore you with the details because you already know how pregnancies occur.  My being a total nerd and his being an awful teacher made the life lesson totally horrible. I remember leaving the bedroom and going back into the living room with the look like I had done something wrong. How F'd is that?

 About a year later was the very first time I heard the word "faggot".  This time I was playing touch football with some neighbor guys. I probably played touch football all of five times in my life. A boy much larger and older than I was called me a faggot.  I don't know why he said it.  Just like the day I first heard the other F Word, I knew the word he called me was something horrible. As soon as I got home I got out the dictionary to find out what kind of a horrible thing this kid thought I was.  I did not believe what I read.

The only other reference I recall in my life was when my mother would be watching Liberace on television. Every time she saw him she would say with such honest "Isn't he pretty!" The few times my dad saw Liberace, he would call call him a "Sissy!".  He said the word with disdain. He was repulsed by the guy. I did not know what queers, faggots, homosexuals, or sissies did, but I did know that I was not one of them.

During the second half of my freshman year in college I made friends with a boy named David. He was a bad influence on me because he swore which caused me to start to swear. He had a girlfriend with whom he really had sex.  He was the kind of guy who kissed (and whatever else) and told. When he wasn't with her, we hung out together and wrestled a lot - almost every day.  My roommate, Louis, picked up on the wrestling and the way I talked about David. He said "You sound like you love him".  I did not have to look that up in the dictionary.  David and I were supposed to room together our sophomore year. Instead, he enlisted in the Navy.  Oh, F!

Fast forward from 1966 to 2013.  I swear a lot more than I should. I even sometimes let the F Word out of my mouth when talking to customers.  I go "Oops!" and hope I am forgiven.

The F Word has become socially acceptable in a lot our culture. Kids in elementary schools swear like sailors. Well, some do. Those that don't do not have to use a dictionary to understand the meaning, because the F Word is said by so many people all day and in all places. It is said at school, after school, on playing fields and locker rooms. It is said by boys and girls, men and women, by pimps and by Presidents.

We hear the F Word in movies and in many television shows. If you watch BRAVO or the Food Network, MTV, FOX, or Discovery Channel, you will hear the F Word in a lot of the shows. Yes, Food Network. Chef's swear. Even women chefs.  I'm no prig, but sometimes I get offended by these people who cannot control themselves. The networks bleep the F word out, but you still know exactly what was said and meant. But at least with television, I can decide not to watch a particular show or network if my sense of propriety gets too rattled.
 

I am no prude.  I'm a liberal Democrat. I believe in free speech and living your life the way you want.  I don't believe in a lot of government control over any part of any person's life or property. My blog is about Key West real estate, not about politics or popular culture, or gayness.  So why I am writing today's blog about the F Word?, you ask. Partially because the F Word is posted in storefront windows up and down Duval Street in Key West.  The F word has become so acceptable that merchants freely display it.  The word that made me gasp as a twelve year old is now visible to any child or adult who can read as he or she walks on Duval Street. But that is not entirely why I write.

A few weeks ago I reported on the (temporary-maybe) closing of Banana Republic.  I feared the worst but others say it will reopen. I have had several buyers ask me about all of the closed shops on Duval.  A couple of weeks ago I drove up and down the street a couple of times taking in all of the closed spaces.  It is scary. I know some are being prepped for new tenants, but there are still a lot of empty stores that are just reminders that things are not good here.

Key West is where I live. I moved here by choice. I love this place. But I hate to walk on Duval Street.  Each time I do I feel assaulted and insulted. Loud music blares from bars and drunks walk the streets with go-cups in hand. Cops do not enforce our open container law - at least not as to tourists. They certainly do not enforce the noise ordinance. Several months ago I went to the Waterfront Playhouse to watch a play. When I was walking back to my car, a young female hooker approached me and asked if I wanted to party. WTF?

I tell potential buyers that the streets of Key West are safe, but warn them that if they are going to get into trouble, it will probably be inside or outside one of the bars on lower Duval.  The entire area is a blight.

Key West has become a safe haven for the homeless.  Many head to the beaches to set up camp early each morning.  They hog picnic tables and spaces built for tourists and locals. The new children's park at Higg's Beach is enclosed with fence and gate that warns only adults who accompany a child are permitted entry. This is to keep pedophiles and bums out.

The homeless get free medical care at our hospital and taxpayers foot the bill. This makes me more angry than just about anything.   

This is not the Key West I fell in love with on my first visit, and it is not the Key West that I moved to in 1993.  There is another variation on the F Word that has come to symbolize what is happening to Key West: Failure.

415 Bahama Street - Old Town Key West - Tropical Oasis with 4 Transient Licenses

Just listed, but not by me, 415 Bahama Street in the Old Town area of Key West. I found what I believe to be 415 Bahama Street on the 1889 Sanborn Fire Map of Key West. The houses were not numbered the same in 1889 as they are today. But the location of the house is in scale with the other properties that are (or were) located on that block.  If you love "old houses", you're gonna really love this one.

 In his book The Streets of Key West J. Willis Burke tells us that in the past Bahama Street was previously known as Chicken Bone Alley and that long time ago a Chinese hand laundry and small cigar factory were also located in this block.  I dug into the old shoe box and found a photo that dates back to around 1900 which shows 415 and 417 Bahama Street.  Today a small parking lot separates 415 and 417 Bahama Street.

 The black and white photo above shows 415 Bahama Street as it appeared in 1965. You can see that the second floor front porch was semi-enclosed after the 1900 photo was taken.  The "new" louvers provided more living space on what was the second floor porch or balcony.  Several larger Old Town homes had second floor porches enclosed with louvers during World War II. This allowed homeowners to rent theses spaces out as bedroom to the military whose population here swelled during the war. 

 I went back to the shoe box to find a photo of a vintage photo of a similarly designed Bahama house that is located at 730 Eaton Street (corner of Eaton and William Street).  Bahama style houses are noted for the expansive porches and multiple French doors that permit air to enter the house from all directions which  provides natural cooling from the heat and shelter from the rain. The second image (immediately above) is of the same house as it was immortalized in post card fashion.

The listing Realtor describes 415 Bahama Street as:
"A diamond in the Rough. A historical building in the heart of Old Town with 4 Transients Units. A great income producing property. Lots of Dade County Pine, Huge and private Courtyard with room for a pool and more parking spaces if desired. The units rent nightly. Half block from Duval, a couple blocks from the Seaport, just steps from the shops, restaurants and excitement of Duval Street without the noise. Established property manager. Unit 1 is a bright, sunny, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. Unit 2 is second floor 2 Bedrooms, 2 bath with a den and huge balcony. Unit 3 is first floor 2 bedrooms, 1 bath with one of the bedrooms being huge. Unit 4 is 2 bedrooms, 2 Bath and 2 living/ Flex rooms. Very unique set up to maximize income."

According to the Key West mls datasheet CLICK HERE to view, 415 Bahama Street has 3672 sq ft of living space under roof capable of being air conditioned.  The lot is 5983 sq ft (an irregular 57.67' x 83.83').  The front of the house sits very close to the property line. I would guesstimate the rear yard to be 57.67' x 24" which may provide room for a sizable pool and deck area.  There are three large trees which a new owner would need to address as part of any redevelopment of this parcel. The space is quite large and offers significant development potential rarely available in Old Town.

The house is divided with two units on the ground floor. The front unit consists of a living area with kitchen, dining area, and three bedrooms. This unit is the only one that has use of the front porch.

Main level front living room and kitchen

Main level front left bedroom

First floor private outdoor area

If I purchased this property I would remodel this space into something more gracious than presently exists. In my opinion the rear unit would be the "money room" with direct views of the pool. I would add French doors across the rear and relocate the stairway to the second floor rear unit. During earlier days, the two bedrooms on the right side were a "separate unit" with access to the rear porch.  The old door still exists, but the space today is rented as a single unit.

Second floor front unit rear bedroom

Second floor front bedroom

Second floor front porch partitioned into sleeping areas

Imagine the louvers removed and the front balcony restored

 The second floor is similarly divided between front and rear units. The front unit (shown above) is accessed via side exterior staircase that enters into the living area. This space includes two bedrooms, bath, and the second floor front porch which as been enclosed and partitioned into three small sleeping areas. If I purchased this property, I would remove the louvers and open the space back up. This would add street appeal to the house and provide interior light to the second floor which is currently missing. The bonus effect would be to provide guests with private outdoor space and some great people watching opportunities. If you compare the house as it presently exists with the photos of the classic home at 730 Eaton Street, you may appreciate my vision as to how significant the removal of the louvers would impact this home. Instead of cramming heads in beds, a new owner could create an elegant private oasis near Duval Street.

The second floor rear is absolutely beautiful. The entire space is a mix of Dade County Pine and bead board which provides a very warm Old Key West charm that is sorely missing in so many of the new "renovations".  This portion of the house reminds me of how houses looked like when I first started looking at houses in the 1980s - a time before granite and stainless steel overtook the island.

Most of the original clapboard siding has been covered over with asbestos shingles which are perfectly fine if left alone. They cause no harm to any person in their present state. However, being the person I am, I would remove the shingles and restore the wood siding for a more correct historic look to the property.  I would extend the balcony along the south side of the house so that the entrance to the rear unit could be relocated to enter into the living area instead of a hallway that presently takes up a lot of valuable interior living space. Finally, I would add a pool at the rear.

Estimate 57' x 24' rear yard for redevelopment

Off street parking for at least three full size cars

CLICK HERE to view all of the photos I took of this very large Old Town property. (Click any photo to enlarge.) 415 Bahama Street has four valuable Transient Rental Licenses which permits daily rental of each living space throughout the year and without any limitation.  This property is offered for sale at $1,850,000.

I offered my opinion as to what I might do to improve the property and to perhaps boost the income potential. I must state that nothing needs to be done.  The property functions fine the way it is. I really mean it when I say I love the old Key West feel this property provides.  I just think it could be such a better property if a few improvements were added.

If you would like to see this property in person or if you would like more information, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.