Key West First Six Months Sales Report 2016

I moved to Key West in 1993 because of the way all people are treated - as one Human Family. There are people here from all over the world and we all seem to get along just fine. Most of the people from third world countries are here on work permits. They work several jobs and many live in substandard housing. Many of these people work two or three jobs to save enough money to send back home to either help their families or to build a nest egg for their future.

A lot and I mean a lot of the workers in this town find it difficult to pay for a modest apartment let alone being able to buy a house here. I write about real estate properties for sale. In my Facebook page I say "I sell houses to rich people". That is really what I do because most people who read my blog know that only rich people can afford to pay the ridiculously high prices for homes here. I do work with locals, often hard working young folks who have saved as much money as they can stash away, hoping to find a place they can afford. I get no greater pleasure out of my life than being able to have that happen. And that is the truth. I know what it is like not to have money. I had to do without in school as a kid, college, and later law school.  I saved and did without so that one day I could do better. And I did.  I moved to Key West to get away from the world up north in America where for my entire life gay people were not accepted. I worked in a law firm where the senior partner found out I was gay and then demeaned me. In Later I found out about Key West in an magazine called After Dark. It was a town where gays were accepted. It had an openly gay mayor - the first in the nation. This was before Harvey Milk. What a great town this must be, I thought. And it is!

I wrote a blog in February discussing what I thought were too many over-priced homes, especially the number of homes priced over one million dollars. Most people in the United States will never earn a million dollars let alone buy a house that costs that much and even fewer will ever buy a second home that costs a million dollars or more. I decided to see how many houses sold in Key West during the first six months of 2016. I only looked at houses in Key West up to Shark Key even though our mls covers the islands up past Sugarloaf.  My readers want to buy a house in town and not ten minutes away even if it means they could save thousands and thousands of dollars.

There were 160 single family home sales in Key West during the first six months of 2016. The lowest priced home sold at just $168,000 while the highest sold at $5,500,000. The median homes sold at $942,543 at 94.99% of asking price. In previous years most homes sold at about 10% discount to asking price. The new ratio reflects the huge demand for homes in today's market.

There were 59 single family home sales in Old Town. The highest priced home was $5,550,000 (actually located in Truman Annex). The least expensive home sold at $315,000. The median home sold for $1,260,484. I am sure the big house and the cheap house skewed the numbers a bit.  These homes sold at 95.13% of asking price.

I then searched the number of sales of homes priced at $1,500,000 and higher in the Old Town area.
That $5.5 million house was still the most expensive. The least expensive sold at $1,820,00 with the median selling at $2,550,000 at an average price of $1,054.95 per square foot. These homes sold at 93.85% of asking price.

I was surprised to learn that the highest priced home in Casa Marina sold for only $2,000,000. The lowest priced home sold for $775,000. The median home sold at $1,483,222 or for $677 per sq ft. The demand for homes in the Casa Marina area is strong. There was a flurry of sales activity in May and June. There are several that are marked as contingent or pending in our mls. We shall see how well this area compares to Old Town at the end of 2016.

 In my February 8th blog I wrote:

"We have just begun the second month of our selling season. I wonder how many of the million dollar buyers we will see in Key West this year. I wonder how many sellers who have their homes listed for over one million dollars will sell and how many will not. And since we only sold 11 homes priced over $2 million 2015, I wonder how many such sales we will get this year. The stock market has not been our friend of late. I don't think we have been impacted by the ZIKA Mosquito Virus. But I am sure it will come into play sometime. Yes we do have a demand for quality homes in good areas. I just do not believe we have as many buyers as we have properties for sale."

Twelve houses priced over $2 million sold in the first six months of 2016. So we have already beat the 2015 record. The least expensive house sold at just two million in Truman Annex and the highest was the $5.5 million home in Truman Annex home. The median house sold at $3.006,250. The group of houses sold at 93.98% of asking. I was dumbfounded to learn that I sold the second highest priced home in Key West during this time period. And my office represented the buyer or seller or both in five of the twelve big sales.(And to top it off my broker, Laurie McChesney, represented the buyer who purchased the most expensive home in the Lower Florida Keys this year. That buyer paid $6 million for a waterfront home on Sugarloaf Key. )

Maybe my whining about prices was premature. We have a big election coming up. The stock market hasn't decided what will happen with Brexit, and I don't think it looks forward to a Trump presidency.
Uncertainty can rock the world. There may be a down market in our future. The thing is this is America where we always rebound. I started this blog ten years ago when the Key West market was headed downward. That created a lot of buying opportunities for people who had waited as the 2001 to 2006 market rose and many got sold out of a future. The downward spiral worked for many because our market really rebounded bigger and stronger than the rest of America as a whole.  There are buyers now. There just are not that many that can afford or who are presently willing to pay the high prices asked for most of our homes in Key West.

1108 Grinnell Street, Key West - A Fixer-Upper with an Upper!

I recently showed 1108 Grinnell Street which is listed by Preferred Properties Key West - that is where I work but this is not my listing. I was intrigued by this house because some of the architectural elements are incongruous with the CBS front fence and front porch. The CBS porch and fence have a stucco overlay. However, the main part of the house has asbestos siding which I think was probably applied over the original wood siding. The front porch sits upon a concrete slab foundation whereas the main part of the house rests upon what looks to be original coral rock piers. And that got me to thinking this house was not built in 1948 as the Monroe County Property Records indicate. Besides the jalousie windows, wrought iron trim, and asbestos siding were fads of the 1950s when homeowners across America used these materials to renovate their old homes.

I dug down into my old shoe box and found photos of 1008 and 1110 Grinnell Street which show the front porch addition at 1008 Grinnell and the front CBS fence still in the process of being completed. These photos were taken in 1965. The lower photo shows the original one story house located behind the new addition. I then searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps and learned that what is now 1108 Catherine Street was shown on the 1889 Map when it was then identified as 128 Grinnell Street. The street numerator was changed to 908 Grinnell on the 1892 map and changed to 1108 Grinnell on the 1899 map. Most of the houses in this neighborhood were cigar maker cottages (shotguns) with a long narrow hall on one side with all rooms located to the opposite side. Case closed. But not quite all the way.

The Property Appraiser records show the main and second floor as being a total of 1269 square feet. Access to the second floor is via the outdoor stairs. There is and probably never was an internal stair case. If I bought this house, I would seek permission from HARC to take down the CBS fence and front "porch" and rebuild a new open wood front porch consistent with other cigar maker cottages. I would remove the asbestos siding and replace with wood siding. I would gut all interiors and hope to find Dade County Pine walls and maybe ceilings in most places. That wood is as hard as stone now. I really doubt the renovation of fifty or sixty years ago included removal of that wood. And I'd let go of the vintage range. I would add an interior staircase and rearrange interior spaces so that I would end up with a nice main floor bedroom and bath at the front of the first floor followed by an open great room at the rear with French doors opening out to the new pool.

There appears to be plenty of room for a pool at the rear of this 2462 sq ft lot  (26.33' X 93.5').  If the wood stairway was removed, it would be really easy to put in a pool. Otherwise, it would have to be hand dug, but it could be done. The little CBS building could be re-clad with wood siding and it could be uses as laundry or maybe as a little pool bar or cabana.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and to view more listing photos of 1108 Grinnell Street in Key West Florida. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this fixer-upper. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

411 Truman Avenue, Key West

San Francisco isn't the only place with Chic Chicks, Painted Ladies that is. Key West has its own Painted Ladies. They hold court nightly under the street lamps on Truman Avenue between Duval Street and Whitehead Street.

Alex Cammerer wrote about the four painted ladies in his book THE HOUSES OF KEY WEST. He said "...they differ only in window and door treatments. Most probably they were built by one of the cigar factories for rental to employees, the most common origin of shotgun houses in Key West. Some shotgun houses in Key West would call this a Classical Revival house, but the lack of classic proportions and the minimal pediment treatment place it in the shotgun camp. This example has been decorated by brackets and door and window surrounds. Since each of the group of four has different detailing, they were probably originally all quite plain and economically built."

1965

June 2016

The listing Realtor describes 411 Truman Avenue (the Pink Lady above) this way"

"Location, location, location! One of the most photographed houses in Key West! This classic Conch cottage has appeared in the NY Times Travel Section and Fodor's travel guides. Located in Old Town on same block as Key West Lighthouse and the Hemingway House, and within walking distance of every great downtown restaurant, shop, gallery and museum. Off-street parking, sunny loft with treetop view, impact windows and central AC. HMDR zoning allows approved in-home business. Unique, charming and totally turnkey. Well cared for. Great neighborhood. Easy to love."

The mls listing shows this 800 square foot house has two bedrooms and one bath. There is an addition on the west side where one of the bedrooms is located. However, if you climb that ladder in the kitchen, you will a second floor air conditioned loft being uses as a third bedroom. That's a great place for your unemployed brother-in-law to stay when he loses his job up north and decides to move-in with you until he "finds" himself. Wait a minute, he'd have really quick access to sneak down at night and eat you out of house and home. All kidding aside, the loft adds a lot of usable living and storage space.

There is a nice private outdoor living area located on the backside of the off street parking. Let me remind readers that there are few homes in Old Town priced under one million dollars with off street parking. This house has most of the things second home buyers have on their must have needs when first starting to search for a house. This home is offered at just $549,000.

I searched the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps to determine the approximate time 411 Truman Avenue was built and found the house known as 411 Division Street first appeared on the 1889 Map. The earlier Sanborn Maps showed the Sideman Lachman Cigar Factory as occupying that spot. The building on the corner was simply identified as "Negro Sales". Division Street later became Truman Avenue.  While trying to find the date Division Street became Truman Avenue I found the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF STEPHEN MORENO WHALTON whereupon I learned that before Division Street got that name, it was previously known as Rocky Road. Mr. Whalton* further wrote:

"Another event in my life that I have never forgotten happened when I was about seven years old, at that time there were a very few houses on the Southeast side of our Truman Avenue, most of that part of the Island was a wilderness, my grandfather and my father raised quite a number of horses in the woods of Key West, and my grandfather gave me a horse and my father had him broken to harness and saddle, this was a stallion, and somewhat mean. The only time that I was put on his back, was on a Sunday morning, when one of my father’s hired men put me on him without a saddle, as soon as he got out of the yard, he started to run, and I was too small to stop him, there was a man coming up the street who stood with his arms open,but when my horse got near this man, he made a quick turn to go by him, and landed me on a flint rock, I recovered from that accident in about six weeks, but I never had a chance to get even with that horse, as my father sold him before I became old enough to handle him. This was the end of the events of my early childhood, which have remained fresh in my memory down through the years, due of course, to the fact, that they made a great impression on my mind at the time of happening."

The above photo was taken of 400 block of Truman Avenue from the Key West lighthouse in the 1920's. 411 Truman is in the bottom left corner. The old Newman Methodist Church sits across the street. The church is still there today and can be seen in the outdoor dining area above. This neighborhood is close to Duval, the Hemingway House, the Southernmost Point, South Beach, Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park and Beach, and is withing easy walking distance that brings so many people to our island city. 411 Truman Avenue would make a great home or second home for someone who appreciates life on a smaller scale.

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.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

 *There are two different streets in Key West named after Stephen Moreno Whalton. I happen to live on one at the corner of Whalton Street and Von Phister Street in the Casa Marina area. The other street is Whalton Lane which is accessed off Duval Street between Truman and Olivia Streets. Mr. Whalton's boyhood home was located there. And that house is located to the north rear of what is now 411 Truman Avenue.

CLICK HERE to read the  "Autobiography of Stephen Moreno Whalton". It's great reading if you love Key West. I promise.

323 Fleming Street, Key West - Investment Property

The Case for Buying a Law Office Biding in Key West

 

The listing Broker aptly describes the office building located at 323 Fleming Street in Key West as

"Spectacular, Historic two-story concrete block building in the heart of Old Town. Additional lot provides off street parking for 4 cars and serves the offices currently in use here. Directly across the street from City offices and the Courthouse and adjacent to the US Post Office on beautiful Fleming Street. Separate offices upstairs and down, wrap-around covered porches overlooking Street on both floors, tall ceilings inside with lots of wood floors, elaborate wood trim, private offices, reception areas, updated bathrooms and storage. Building is in great condition. This is a beautiful building."

 I dug around in my old shoebox and found an aerial photo of this part of town which was taken in the 1930s. I added an arrow to point out the location of 323 Fleming Street. The larger white building in front is the old Monroe County Courthouse. The court house was built in 1890 and it originally was painted white. That block changed immensely in the 90 years since the black and white photo was taken. The old courthouse was remodeled into county office buildings. The court house annex to the north was added in 1965. A large administrative building was added at the southwest corner as well. The large white building to the left rear of 323 Fleming is the former Cosmopolitan Hotel which was located on Caroline and Front Street (razed).

The above photo was taken in the 1920s and shows the old courthouse, the old county jail, and courthouse grounds. 323 Fleming Street is noted on this photo. Take note of the group of buildings opposite of the courthouse in the 500 block of Whitehead Street. Most of those buildings still exist today and all are either law offices or offices and a combination of some residential housing except for one guesthouse. Two of the buildings at the corner of Southard were razed and are now tourist related commercial. Several of the larger buildings in the 600 block of Whitehead are law offices with a couple of small guest houses thrown in. The small cottages in the foreground were razed. That block is now a county parking lot.

I understand 323 Fleming was originally built for the US Government. I believe the use was related to the military as was most of the ground in what is now Truman Annex. This building was sold by the US Post Office to a private party in 2000. The deed restricts the purchaser, successors, and assigns to comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards of Rehabilitation. That essentially means a subsequent owner will have a really tough time altering the historical architecture of this building. Today this 2408 sq ft building is used as legal offices. The building and adjacent parking lot sit on two adjacent parcels totaling 4611 sq ft lot. As you look at the photos which follow and read the comments I write, remember that this building was built by the United States Government. That says a lot because the government does not build cheap. It builds substantial, and it builds to last. It does not cut corners to save a buck. As a prospective buyer your long term building maintenance costs should be less as compared to a stick built building.

The above photos demonstrate the pure aesthetic beauty of this old building, and suggest the rationale for buying a law office located just steps from the courthouse. I am not a building inspector but I have a lot of experience in showing houses and buildings in Key West. I did not see any deferred maintenance. The concrete block is solid and well maintained. The metal roof was replaced in 2007 as was the HVAC and other interior features. There is no better location than this for a law firm or a building with individual offices rented to solo practitioners. Accountants or other professionals who deal with the county on a routine basis might also find the location a substantial benefit.

The main floor offices could function very well for a small firm or a group of solo practitioners. There is a central reception area and administrative assistant area. There are four offices on this floor one of which is so large it could be divided to create two smaller offices. Another office (immediately above) is so special that it could serve as a conference room as opposed to law office.

The second floor offices offer several different scenarios to an investor including rental of individual offices to solo practitioners with shared secretarial, document processing, and conference room use. This floor has three offices, conference room, substantial file storage space, and bathroom in addition to that magnificent wrap-around second floor deck. One very simple reason a lawyer would prefer to be located near the courthouse is the probability he or she is a litigator or that a large part of his practice involves court appearances. Remember the parking spaces, a lot of the law offices I mentioned on Whitehead Street do not have parking for clients. So while the offices may be close to the courthouse, they do not provide client parking.  Some share the building with apartments where clients may get to smell what's for dinner or hear dogs barking. While the excuse "This is Key West" works for some folks, clients who are paying huge legal fees expect and deserve better.

Finally, look back up at the black and white aerial photos and consider both this building and this location from the standpoint of scarcity. You will see this area of town has a limited number of buildings which currently exist and fewer buildings which could be razed or even renovated to create new office buildings. The city will not allow an existing residential use to be eliminated to create a new business use even in a area zoned for the specific business use. I think as the years pass by, this particular property will appreciate in value to a greater extent than the multi-purpose buildings on Whitehead and nearby streets. As our society becomes more litigious, there will be a greater demand for lawyers and law offices. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on 323 Fleming Street which is offered for sale at $1,275,000. 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.