521 Grinnell Street, Key West - Prime Old Town Location

  The listing broker describes 521 Grinnell Street in Key West this way:

"Just Listed in Old Town Key West! This grand corner property offers over 2000 sq. ft. of living space plus over-sized deck and balconies for entertaining. The main level has a den with classic Dade County Pine walls, spacious light-filled living and dining areas that open to front deck and the cocktail pool. The kitchen has ample cabinet space, double ovens, stainless refrigerator, and a breakfast nook. There is a full bath and bedroom on main level. Upper level offers two separate master suites. This home features hardwood floors, Mexican tile, cathedral ceilings, storage space, stained glass, central AC, and off street parking. This home in is the perfect location near fine dining, Duval Street, and the historic Seaport."

521 Grinnell Street is actually one of the very first homes I got to watch being rebuilt and expanded right after I moved to Key West. In 1993 a friend of mine bought 521 Grinnell Street and the adjacent vacant lot. The original main house and extension visible in the top black and white photo was totally remodeled. A new two story addition was added to the vacant lot which is partially visible in the black and white photo immediately above. 

 The main house is an iconic Key West Grand Conch complete with first and second floor porches that overlook historic Grinnell Street. The house is located next to Lowes Lane, a small lane that dead ends about two hundred feet or so to the east. Several small cottages are located on this lane that is among the loveliest in Old Town.

When you enter the front door you are immediately transported back to an earlier day when homes were built to last a very long time by tradesmen and craftsmen who loved their work and not by corporations that bang-out new houses like autos on an assembly line. That is why old houses like this have lasted all these years. I check the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and learned that it first appeared in the 1889 map. That means it exist by that date or earlier. The doorway into the main floor study is a bit larger than a typical doorway of that era which leads me to believe my friend modernized this space a bit.

The listing broker gave me permission to use his photos for today's blog. The room above is located to the rear of the front study. If you look carefully, you will see that the walls in this room, like most in the original house, are Dade County Pine.  A door opens from this ground floor bedroom directly into the adjacent bath which is also used as the guest bath, but which is accessed by a different door off the dining room.

The living room is located in what I referred to above as the extension of the main house. French doors at the front open out to the deck in front that spans the extension between the main house and the 1994 two story addition.  The ceiling was vaulted to give the area an expansive feeling. The space is bathed in in light. Even though the original house is now at least 116 years old, the home has a contemporary feel and flow. If you buy this home, you won't feel like you are living in a museum. The dining room is located on the ground floor of the 1994 addition. Another set of French doors at the rear open out to the cocktail pool at the rear. The first time I had dinner in the then brand newly remodeled and expanded home I asked my friend why he had not built a pool. He answered he owned several gay guest houses and could use any of those pools anytime. I sold a nearby home on Lowes Lane to a couple who live very far away. When they come to town they head to Dante's at the Historic Seaport where tourists and locals can hangout by that giant pool all day and simply buy a hamburger and a coke.

French doors at the end of the kitchen open out to the rear deck and pool. There's plenty of room to sit and watch the grand kids splash in the pool or to sit and smooch with your feet dangling in the water while sipping the bubbly. The kitchen is a part of the 1994 addition to the old house. It has a clean and contemporary look but does not have the same boxy cabinets evident is so many modern places. You can dismiss the tiles as passe, but they work here.

The second floor of the 1994 house is devoted to the guest bedroom, closet, private bath, and covered front porch. What a neat place for couples who no longer sleep in the same bedroom or the teenager who wants his or her own place but still needs to live at home. This is a big comfortable space.

The master bedroom and bath pictured above are located on the second floor of the main house. It, too, has a private covered porch that overlooks Grinnell Street. In May and June the Royal Poinciana trees in front of 521 Grinnell are ablaze in millions of little red flowers. The sight is amazing. During the rest of the year you can sit up on either porch and watch the world pass by your house. You will undoubtedly overhear tourists talking about how wonderful it would be to live in one of these grand Key West houses. Everybody dreams about it. A lucky few do it. 

This home would make a wonderful Key West vacation home. A new homeowner could enliven the space with new furnishings to show off the wonderful historic architecture and modern addition. The location is a short stroll to Duval Street and the Historic Seaport. Five Brothers Deli is half a block away at the corner of Southard Street. Most of the gyms and yoga studios are within easy walking distance from this location. 

 CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and all listing photos on 521 Grinnell Street which is offered for sale at $1,250,000 or $604 per sq ft for this 2069 sq ft home located on one of the best blocks in Old Town. This is a terrific location and a wonderful house complete with garage entered off Loews Lane. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. 

Walking Money - The Cost of Walking Away from a Good Deal in Key West

Most of my customers are buyers. I identify with their wants, needs, frustrations, and frugality.  I know what it is like to dream, to plan, to save, and to eventually to buy the special place to call home. Some people have a lot of money and they sometimes treat price negotiation as a bit sport while others treat it as a genuine business matter that is to be dealt with. They leave the emotion out of the equation and usually get the deal done. They know what they want and they usually get it.

I think a lot of buyers who are pursuing the dream of buying a place in Key West are often vexed by the perceived high or inflated asking prices on houses here. They often get overwhelmed by the process and the seeming intransigence of sellers who won't budge off asking price - or at lease budge enough. Some buyers draw a line in the sand. They take their stand and avow the seller can take it or leave it.

Unlike those dazzling dandies on BRAVO TV's Million Dollar Listing LA, I don't play games when I negotiate.  How can they trust me when I tell them something if I play word games with them?  They can't and they won't.  So I don't. I am straight with my buyers. I expect the same from them. When a principal tells me something, I conversely believe what he or she tells me. I have an ethical duty to be honest when dealing with my principal. Why should I expect anything less from him or her.

The line in sand becomes problematic when either side uses it as negotiating tool and really doesn't mean it. And the words line in the sand don't even need to be said to have the same affect.  Words do matter. Failure to respond to an offer or to make a counter-offer creates a sense of unease or worse on the part of a buyer who fears the seller really does not want to sell to that buyer. Likewise, when a buyer says "X dollars is my final price, he or she seemingly cuts off the ability to find a compromise. I run into this very often when buyers reach a point beyond which they are unwilling to go.

Sometimes the breaking point is a matter of a few thousand dollars. This becomes the cost of walking away from a potential purchase. Now I know every dollar in a deal matters. But some dollars are more meaningful than others. I can tell you what that cost is. It is predictable. It is the exact dollar amount amortized over thirty years. Let's say the buyer and seller reach the breaking point at $10,000.  Buyer won't spend a nickle more. Seller won't accept a dime less. Agents won't split the cost to save the deal. The deal is lost. The deal is lost over $46.31 per month (calculated at 3.75% amortized over 30 years).  A $25,000 disparity would cost $115.78 using the same amortization.  The point is the fractional issue is often a matter or pride or ego rather a genuine breaking point.

I know the price of houses houses goes up across most parts of America, but I doubt that it goes up as much as it does in Key West. We live on a little island out in the middle of the ocean. The island can't get any bigger and we can't expand the number of houses (or condo) beyond the number the State of Florida allows each year. We can't build skyscrapers and thank God we can't. So we are forced to sell the same houses over and over again. The best houses in the best locations sell for more money than inferior locations or inferior properties. And the word inferior does not mean  there is something wrong. It means the location or house is not as good as rather than there is something wrong.

To the buyer who wants to walk away from buying your dream house over $46.31 I would suggest that is about the cost of a pair of LEVI 501 jeans. How appropriate. You can have your walking jeans but not the house of your jeans.

The Case of the One Legged Drag Queen

Loyal readers know that I live in the Casa Marina Area of Key West. My little spot on the island is just about the best place in the world on most days. My house sits on a big corner lot with lots of tropical foliage that insulates my house from the two intersecting streets. A big privacy fence surrounds the lot. My house and several more on my street and the next block have very tall Mahogany trees. In addition I have one of the tallest Date Palms on the island and a variety of very tall palms including a Washingtonian Palm, a Royal Palm, and several Coconut Palms interspersed with shorter tropical foliage that give my yard quite the tropical feel.

After returning from the gym one morning, I decided to do some yard work before going in to the office. I put on some grubby shorts and t-shirt, grabbed my rake, and started to attack the scrub under the foliage out on the right of way.

As I worked my way to the corner I noticed something sparkling through the bushes just on top of the pea rock. I bent down and saw a single fuchsia colored high heel shoe. The heel and base of the shoe had sparkles.Then I noticed a small multi colored clutch or purse.  I chuckled with delight. I pulled the shoe and purse out from under the bush. I searched for a second shoe but found none. I opened the purse: it was filled several lipsticks, rouges, and eyeliners but no ID.  I decided to grab a camera to record my find for posterity.

A neighbor walked by (actually, I think he came out of his house after he heard me laughing so loudly).  I showed him my find.  I laughed and told him that I had found the shoe and purse of a one legged drag queen. He laughed and said it's stuff like this that makes life in Key West so damned interesting.

812 Simonton Street Rear, Key West - The Affordable Escape to Key West

When I was a kid my mom and dad had this dream of buying a camping trailer to drag behind our 1952 Studebaker. We would take it up into the Colorado Rockies where we would fish and live the Life of Riley. We got the trailer but things didn't work out exactly as planned. The reality of Twenty First Century America is that you can no longer stop your car along the roadside or beachfront and set up camp for a few days of camping. There are just too many people and too many rules to allow that anymore. In fact there are too many people and too many rules - period.  For many people the dream to getaway from the job, the city, the job, the day-to-day life and all those damned rules is just that - a dream. People have expectations of what they want and how much they can reasonably afford to spend. When they start checking out prices on the internet or meeting with a Realtor they often decide that the cost of fulfilling the dream is, well, too costly! I have watched the price of Key West properties rise higher and higher year after year for decade after decade. Prices always go up, or so it seems - until now.

812 Simonton Rear sits behind the front cottage. Access is via deeded path to the right of the building.

The listing Realtor describes this 480 sq ft stand alone one bedroom fully equipped cottage this way:
"Lovely Old Town rear cottage for under $400K! This private one bedroom / one bath cottage with additional outdoor bathroom has all the amenities of home. Wood flooring throughout and additional loft space for storage. Spacious outdoor space to enjoy the Key West breezes."

The cottage is a fully contained small home. You enter the small home from the side entry and walk into the living room which has a vaulted ceiling. This gives even this small space a sense of being much larger than it is. The point is the place doesn't feel small. The bedroom is adjacent at the rear. It, too, has a vaulted ceiling. French doors open from the bedroom out to a private rear terrace. The back side of the St. Peter's Episcopal Church is the neighbor. I can imagine going to bed at night with the doors opened. It's that private. The kitchen has been revamped and has all the comforts of home stainless steel range,microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator. The kitchen door opens out to a covered porch which houses the covered laundry and another bathroom and out door shower. 

For those buyers who want to have a place where their friends can come and stay, you can either plan on spending a lot more money for a larger home or pay for a couple of nights lodging at a nearby guesthouse or hotel. The price will be a lot less and you won't have to babysit your friends.

The asking price on this little charmer has just been reduced to $399,995. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and many listing photos that show each aspect of this home. Once you've looked online, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 and ask me to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.  This could be your great escape to Key West place.

1320 South Street, Key West - Bank Owned Home

The newly listed Bank Owned property at 1320 South Street certainly is something to cheer about if you are in the market for a large home located in a superior Key West neighborhood,  This home was built new in 2008 and replaced a much smaller home that previously occupied the 4939 sq ft lot. I dug around and found a photo of the old house. The new place looks nothing like it. The neighborhood as a whole has changed as well. Most, but not all, of the smaller mid-century houses that dot this area have been replaced. The Thompson Estate is located across the street and to the west. Thompson was a buddy of Ernest Hemingway.  I remember showing the Thompson property many years ago and marveling at the huge animal trophies on the walls.

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The 3220 sq ft home sits on a 4939 sq ft lot. The facade looks like two houses were joined together to make one large home. There are three bedrooms each with en-suite bath plus a fourth bath on main floor. The great room is extra large and has doors that open out to the pool and rear deck. The adjacent family room with wet bar also opens out to the pool. Rich Tiger Wood floors are located on both floors of the house. 

 The custom kitchen has about every high-end kitchen appliance that Viking makes including a gigantic range, double door refrigerator, ice maker, dishwasher, and wine cooler. There is abundant storage everywhere. The back side of the kitchen island is extra high and provides a nice place for casual dining.

The main floor bathroom is adjacent to the wet bar in the family room. The full bath also includes hook-ups for washer and dryer. There is a second washer and dryer on the second floor. The house is wired for stereo throughout and there is also a central vacuum system.

The house has Hardiboard siding, 2 zone central A/Ca/c, house generator, impact windows/doors, custom built pool and waterfall with grotto surrounded by IPE decking and built-in custom bench. The yard is fully fenced and accessed via large electronically gate.

Both guest bedrooms are very large. Each has a large walk-in closet located adjacent to the en-suite bath. The hallway between the two bedrooms is lined with more closet space. A second floor laundry is tucked away behind one set of doors.

This house appears to be in really good condition. I did not notice any deferred maintenance or see anything that was broken. The house is painted white throughout. That's probably the one thing a new owner might want to change. It's easy. It's fun. And it's not very expensive. CLICK HERE to see more photos I took of this lovely home.

1320 South Street is offered for sale at $1,199,999 or $372 per sq ft. Most homes in this area sell at a much higher price. CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and listing photos. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this home. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

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