629 Elizabeth Street, Key West - Buying Opportunity

I have written about or mentioned the house at 629 Elizabeth Street numerous times over the past eleven years including when it was first listed for sale as a "fixer-upper". I know a lot of buyers tried to buy the place back then, including a buyer I represented. He made what he called a fair cash offer which was rejected. The seller selected a different offer and that buyer undertook the project of essentially building a brand new house which incorporated just a few boards from the original cottage that sat on this, the highest point on the island of Key West. While the original frame was maintained in appearance, the house itself is all new. CLICK HERE to view the photos I took during the construction process to memorialize what once was to what became.  I have added a couple of the original photos below so you can see how the house appeared prior to the "renovation".

The 629 Elizabeth Street was listed for sale in December 2016 at $1,699,000 and has had periodic price reductions since then.  The asking price was just reduced to $1,399,000 which is 23.7 % lower than original asking. The reduced asking price makes this an official buying opportunity in my opinion. Last week I cited 712 Ashe Street as one of the best buys in Key West in 2017. It was a similar "renovation" situated on a smaller lot but it included a pool. It sold for $1,410,000.  The new price on 629 Elizabeth Street will attract a buyer now.

During the "renovation" the original cottage was expanded with additional living spaces. Today the house has 1647 square feet of living space which now includes an open space concept living area, three bedrooms, and three baths. The original front porch is now a sitting porch off the master bedroom. The front entry was relocated to the side of the house where guests now enter into the vaulted living area.

One of the major attractions of owning a second home in Key West is our wonderful wintertime weather. This home has collapsible doors which allows seamless movement between the indoor and outdoor spaces. The one thing the owner did not do that could be done is to add a swimming pool. There is room for a pool at the rear corner of the back yard.  Not all owners want a pool and the monthly cost associated with one. So whoever buys this home can decide if a pool is in his or her future.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos of 629 Elizabeth Street in Old Town Key West now offered at $1,399,000. Then 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. This home is designed for easy living as all rooms are located on one level.  You can walk to Duval Street or the historic seaport in about five minutes. And when you come home at night you will enter a place that is perfect in so many ways.

Fire and Fury & Fatbutt

Today's blog has nothing to do with Key West real estate except that if you want to buy a place or sell a place and you want an agent with life experiences beyond self-aggrandizement and self-promotion, you may want to call me. Info below on that.

I want to share a small true tale that may explain why so may people in the White House seem to have made derogatory statements about the boss, Mr. Trump. I think what might have happened was quite insignificant at the time. I did something similar about forty years ago and it changed the course of my life to some extent.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about negotiating with bullies where I mentioned traveling to Omaha to meet with other creditors of a farmer borrower I called "King". In the late 1970s I was a commercial loan workout guy at a big Denver bank. It was my job to correct the ill advised and unsecuredloan by getting security. The problem was there were other lenders who had also given King money, most of whom were also unsecured lenders.

We (my bank) worked out a plan to take liens on various assets of King including his homestead located in Kansas. We thought the passage of time and a good crop season would put King in a better position to repay a portion of our loan. Our short term goal was to perfect our security interest in each of King's assets against the claim of other unsecured creditors.

I went to Omaha with our bank's new ag lender to attend a creditors meeting to discuss our mutual bad boy borrower. I sat quiet throughout the morning meeting as all to the other lender reps were discussing throwing King into involuntary bankruptcy. Just before we broke for lunch one of the other creditors said something like "Gary, you have been quite all morning long and have not said a thing" (which anyone who knows me is an improbable thing).  He asked if I had an opinion at which time I said I thought we should give King time to take his crops to market to see how much cash he generate to pay to the creditors. What I was really recommending was that they do nothing which would give us the necessary time to perfect our recently recorded mortgages and financing statements.  In a contest between secured an unsecured lenders, we would then prevail over most of the other lenders. We broke for lunch and later that afternoon the group of lenders agreed to do nothing.

That night Howard Fatbutt, the ag lender, and I went to Gorat's world famous steakhouse in Omaha to celebrate our diversion tactics. For those not familiar with the name Gorat's, it is Warren Buffett's favorite steak house. I remember having a couple of drinks and eating a great steak. I have eaten there several times since that night, but that night had consequence for me because I told Fairbutt that my boss was an "***hole". I thought what I said was both a joke and more importantly private.  I assumed that most people think their their bosses are "***holes" to some extent. In point of fact I really liked my boss and respected him greatly. He was a former US government attorney and very smart.   I said something stupid that I should not have said.

The following week my boss invited me into his office and told me Fairbutt reported that I had called him an "***hole". My boss was genuinely pissed and did not care for any defense on my part.  A couple of weeks earlier he had told me about an upcoming promotion. On that day he said the promotion would not happen.  He wouldn't fire me, but he would not promote me either. I couldn't figure out why Fatbutt had told my boss anything except perhaps to recommend a bonus for pulling off a win for our bank. We worked in different areas of the bank and had not had any prior business or personal meetings before. 

I can imagine a scenario where Micheal Wolff, the seemingly ever-present bald guy hanging around the White House, would get a lot of people to make ill advised remarks about President Trump. I can't imagine anyone would have envisioned their quips would have been repeated in a tell all book about the boss. Howard Fatbutt was my Micheal Wolff. 

If you are looking for a Realtor in Key West and want someone with life learning experiences, please consider calling me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

2017 Key West Real Estate Sales Report - My View

Photo found in my old shoebox taken in the 1970s from the White Street Pier in Key West - before the condominiums and town homes were built along South Roosevelt and Atlantic Boulevards.

It is that time of the year to look back at calendar year 2017 to see the sales prices for single family homes in Key West and to compare those sales to an earlier time to glean a sense of the direction for sales in the near future. This year I decided to compare 2017 real estate sales to 2015 for the simple reason a little distance in time may reflect a trajectory rather than show a spurt or a drop.

The above photo is to remind readers of my blog what the weather is like up north right now. As if they needed reminded.

According to the Key West Association of Realtors MLS a total of 416 single family homes sold in calendar year 2015. I excluded all sales east of Shark Key (a total of 34 sales) to Stock Island from the analysis as I feel those houses are not located in areas my readers would consider as suitable for a for a new full time residence or as a second home. The revised number for 2015 shows 334 single family homes which sold between $200,000 to $5,000,000.

In 2017 I used the same search parameters and determined there were 301 single family home sales. The lowest priced single family home sold for $230,000 (on Stock Island) and the most expensive listing in Old Town sold for $5,000,000.  While the price paid for the lowest priced home increased by $30,000, the price paid for the most expensive home remained the same - $5,000,000.  The total number of sold single family houses decreased by 22% from 2015 to 2017.

Let's look at the two most important areas of home sales, Old Town and the Casa Marina areas. These are the two prime sales areas that drive a good portion of our economy. These are the areas where most second home buyers and buyers looking to purchase a future retirement home (full time or part time) want to buy a house.  My experience has been that most of these buyers will resist even looking in the Meadows area or on the "other side of White Street" which I often refer to as Casa Marina east. A lot of the homes in these two areas are equal to or better than many similarly or higher priced homes in Old Town or the Casa Marina. But if buyers won't look, the house may go unsold or the seller may be forced to reprice the house to attract buyers.

There were a total of 88 single family home sales in Old Town in 2017. (I went thru all sales and  strictly selected houses located on the west side of White Street to the water's edge west of Truman Annex. I did not include anything on the east side of White Street - period. I included all sales from the Gulf of Mexico south to the north side of South Street. The least expensive house that sold was located at 1016 Varela Street B and sold for $325.000. The most expensive home was located at 707 South Street and sold for $5,000,000. The average sales price per square foot was $726.00. The average sales price was $1,132,955.

Only five homes priced under $500,000 sold in Old Town. Up north in America a person could buy a very nice home for half a million bucks. In Old Town the house would likely need substantial to total renovation.  The average price paid on a per square foot was $473.65. Consider this - general contractors often quote a projected remodel or renovation at $300 to $500 per square foot. If you add $300 to the $758 per square foot price paid, you end up at over a $1,000 per square foot for a freshly renovated house.These high prices are having a depressing effect on our sales. I galls me that sellers demand so much a fixer. I still sell them, but I don't like seeing buyers being taken advantage of.

I then checked single family homes sales priced between $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 in Old Town. There were 27 sales where the average price paid per square foot was $758.07.  The average price paid was $1,311,346.

I did one final check to determine the number of single family home sales located in Old Town which sold between $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. There were 11 such sales. There were four sales of houses priced between $3,000,000 to $5,000,000.

I then set out to see how the Casa Marina single family homes compared to Old Town. There were no sales under $1,000,000. None! Nine houses sold for prices between $1,150,000 to $1,850,000 with an average price paid of $724.72 per square foot.. The highest price paid on a per square foot basis was for 1105 Washington Street which sold at $1,500,000 or $924 per sq ft. It was a very lovely mid-century modern totally updated with pool and guest cottage added. We had five sales priced between $2,350,000 to $3,650,000 with an average price per square foot of $876.39.  But keep in mind these homes are larger in size than those in Old Town and sit on larger lots. The higher priced sales have increased by about one million over the past five years.

 I next revisited all Key West single family home sales in 2015.  46 homes sold for $1,000,000 or higher. The median sales price was $1,612,357 at an average of $683 per sq ft. In 2017 the number of single family homes sold in Old Town and Casa Marina (strictly enforced border patrol Mr. Trump) increased to 52 with an average price per square foot of $878.25. The median sales price was $1,525,000. The average sales price per sq foot was higher - $2,018,756.

Intuitively we know prices have gone up. Statistically, the number of sales in Key West as a whole are down by 22% compared to 2015. The demand for houses has remained intense for the twenty-two years I have been selling houses here. In 1996 and 1997 a buyer could purchase a cigar maker cottage for somewhere around $250,000. Now a cigar maker cottage will cost near one million dollars.  Back in 1996 the highest priced homes sold around one million dollars. In 2017 there were no sales under one million in the Casa Marina but there were 14 over one million - three over $3,000,000. The demand for nice homes in good locations is there. The inventory of available homes for sale in the lower price range in Old Town and Casa Marina is missing. 

Buyers who were previously unwilling to look in the mid-town and new town areas are now looking there. Sales prices on a per square foot level are reduced. However, many of these homes are now over fifty years old and are in need of repair or renovation which then gins up the renovation costs.  Remember the $300 per square foot price quote many contractors give to buyers. And there are rules which restrict the amount an owner can spend on a home and limitations of the size to lot ratio. These governmental impositions are spurring many new owners to take down existing structures to build new and larger homes with cost saving features such as hurricane impact windows and Hardi plank siding which dramatically reduce annual insurance costs.
 
The 2018 sales season has just started. As of January 4th there are 181 active single family homes listed for sale priced between $365,900 to $15,850,000 in Key West and Stock Island. Seven of the highest priced homes are offered between $5,000,000 to $6,950,000.  There are already 49 single family homes under contract priced between $398,000 and $1,795,000.

The most telling thing I continue to see on a daily basis is the reduction of asking price on properties in all areas of Key West. While we have 21% of the existing listings under contract, we have about 147 days left of our selling season to sell the 181 active listings. We will need to put more than one house a day under contract. I hope we have a lot of million dollar buyers headed down to Key West looking to buy.

I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or email me at kw1101v@aol.com. Let me help you find your home in Paradise.

2017 That Was the Year That Was in Key West Real Estate Sales

Some say Key West dodged the bullet when Hurricane Irma slapped our island home in September 2017.  We were fortunate that only a couple of our homes were severely damaged, but a lot of homes did have roof and fence damages, loss of trees, and loss of peace of mind for a few weeks living in the aftermath of the storm. Earlier in the year we experienced a brisk real estate sales market as dreamers bought houses in the Old Town and Casa Marina areas at higher than ever asking prices.

Some people were fearing that Key West might be in a housing bubble similar to the one that occurred in the two years preceding the national recession that occurred in 2008.  I will soon write a new blog giving the year end statistics on single family home sales in Key West. My lament, if any, is that we have few homes for sale as the 2018 selling season begins.


Listed below the real estate sales I believe were among the best of Key West in 2017.

712 Ashe Street. This house was a mess beyond repair, but it was located in a really great Old Town neighborhood far from all the hubbub of the Duval Street area. Sold for $475,000 after 489 days on the market.  It was then totally rebuilt and the new home placed on the market at $1,450,000. It sold for $1,410,000.  The story of this decrepit old house is the story of new Key West.

Let me share a brief personal story to make my point. When I was working with Mitzi Krabil, my Realtor in the 1980s and early 1990s, I was a very difficult buyer. I insisted on getting my way and buying at my price. I did not win at that game. When I was ready to settle for a cigar maker cottage that used to be available for around $100,000, I fessed up to Mitzi and said I would then buy one. She said "Gary they are all gone." And she was right. Time had passed me by. If I was to buy, I would have to pay the higher price. If I wanted something that had been updated, I would either have to pay more for it or buy a fixer and pay to have it fixed. That has been exactly what has been going on for over the 34 years since I first visited Key West. The stark reality for new buyers is that the cost of the fixer house has gone up and the cost of renovation has dramatically risen. Moreover, buyer in the old days could do so many more things to improve a house that are no longer acceptable because ever expanding HARC rules and city building code regulations.

I warn real buyers that buying a fixer house is not as easy as one might think even if a buyer has done a similar project up north in America. Things work differently down here and buyers have a good chance of getting taken advantage of if they are not here.  The owner of 712 Ashe Street was his own general contractor and also the listing agent on the sale. He invited me over a couple of times during construction. We even discussed pricing when he was near completion.He was going to ask $1,350,000.  I told him his asking price was too low. He increased it by the date he listed the house. I am not taking credit for that, but I may be the culprit. I think the house was priced right and sold right.  This price reflects the new reality for very well done fixer houses in Old Town.This house did not have parking but many of the homes in this location do not have parking either. If it had parking, the sales price would have been higher.

830 Olivia Street. This was a bank owned property that had been listed many times over the years as a short sale. It was probably illegally divided into two or three living units. I am not sure if the prior owner actually lived there, but I suspect the income that the place was throwing off during the lengthy foreclosure was the reason none of the short sales efforts ever got approved. Another factor hindering sale was a gigantic tree that hung over the roof. Getting rid of that monster would have been extremely difficult and expensive.  Finally, the house is located across the street from the cemetery. Some people would view this house and this location as a bad omen. I think the right buyer could turn this place into a gem. It sold at $514,500.

1717 Rose Street sold at $515,000. It was a nice mid-century home in move-in condition. It sat on a huge lot that gave it potential for either expansion or to tear down and build new. Razing mid-century homes has become an alternative to renovation as the rules for renovating have put a lot of constraints on owners. It has a quickie makeover and is back on the market.

1007 Eaton Street. I listed this cute two story home that went under contract in a matter of days on the market. It sat on a deep lot with room for a pool in the rear where there was also an off street parking space. Buyers need to read the MLS description and not just look at photos. Sold for $624,000.  Key Words: room for a pool and off street parking in rear.

 227 Julia Street is a real beauty located in Bahama Village. Some buyers pass-up looking in that area, but they are the losers. I think some homes there are comparable to homes located east of Duval Street that are priced much higher.  Buyers who want a better price should look west of Duval.

 1 Nassau Lane. I listed this gem in early April. I posted an open house sign the first Sunday it was on the market but did not place an ad in the paper. I had 182 lookers. The next Sunday I placed an ad. On the day before my second open house two separate couples came to the house twice on the same day. During the two showings a different couple stopped to look at the outside. I allowed them to take a look in between the showings to the other couples. The lady came back to the Sunday open house and made a cash offer over the asking price which was accepted by the seller. This cottage style home had charm to spare and a superior location on one of the slow lanes of Key West!

806 Southard Street. I sold this house. It was a tough sale. The former owner was raised in this house. The seller's family had expectations of selling at a price over the actual appraised price. The house was in pretty good condition and sits on one the very best blocks in Old Town. The buyers had to pay a bit more for this house, but they got what they wanted - a great looking fixer property with room for a pool and off street parking in great location. They hired Matthew Stratton, one of the very best architects in town, to design the renovation. I am excited to watch what happens.

2619 Gulfview Drive. This was a bank owned property with an incredible waterfront view of the Gulf of Mexico. This is a single family home with a lot of positive features with the negatives of deferred maintenance. I think whoever bought this got a steal!

1403 Catherine Street.  I sold this house a few years ago. When we were doing the home inspection, the home inspector said "I have never seen a house with nothing wrong with it until this home" or words to that effect. This place was and still is the best built and most attractive home in Key West. The buyer got a heck of a deal! Congratulations!

411 Grinnell Street. This 1541 sq ft single family home sold for $2,800,00 - the highest price per sq ft in Key West this year - $1,871 per sq ft. The house was unique in that it included an adjacent lot with a valuable ROGO on which a new house could be built. Earlier in the year I lamented the soaring increase in the number of houses offered for sale at an asking price of over $2,000,000. I questioned how many could be sold. I will give my readers all the numbers in an upcoming blog. Suffice it to say I was mistaken as to the demand for $2,000,000 plus houses in Key West. By the way,  I sold the house next door a couple of years ago and the eyebrow house across the street five years ago or so. I think those owners must be pleased as punch to see the home values rise so quickly in their little enclave.

1026 Von Phister  This house is located caddy-corner across the street from my home. It sold for $3,000,000. The listing and selling agent is Cory Held at Preferred Properties. She sold the next two homes as well.

1023 Johnson Street. This was a total renovation plus addition of an historic Casa Marina home on a large lot. It was done to the nines.  It sold at $3,350,000.

1019 Flagler Avenue was another total renovation of an historic home. It sold for $3,650,000. That's not the whole story, however, This home sold two more times since I started to write my blog. Now that's not noteworthy, but those sales mirror the rise in popularity of the Casa Marina Area and the increased value of larger and more improved homes in that area. It first sold in 2009 for $625,000 when it was a very large house divided into owner occupied quarters at the rear of the first floor and all of the second floor. A portion of the first floor was rented out as a doctor's office. The house sold again in 2014 for $900,000. The owner/seller had not made any substantial improvements to the property. The new owner did the complete renovation which resulted in the 2017 sale at $3,650,000.

707 South Street.  I drove down South Street on my bike or in my car for years and looked at the big old house that sat at this location. I looked nearly abandoned for so long. The house itself was a feature scene in the 1989 James Bond movie License to Kill. Then it was renovated and expanded. The interiors were incredible. Craig Reynolds, Key West's premier landscape architect, did the pool and gardens. This impeccably renovated and expanded home sold for $5,000,000.

Key West Properties Blog 11th Anniversay

Today marks the beginning of my eleventh year in writing my little blog about Key West real estate.  Eleven years ago while having dinner with a couple I sold a house to a few years earlier one of the two suggested that I write a blog about Key West real estate. I asked "What is a blog?" or something like that. He explained a Realtor he knew in New Jersey was writing a blog. So the next day I Googled "blog" and found several examples. I started b blog on December 29, 2007.  I was surprised anybody read what I wrote. But they did and I continued to write. Then I started to get phone calls and emails from readers. And then a gent in North Carolina bought a house located in the Casa Marina Area from me. That's not a big deal in itself, but he never saw the house. He told me he read my blog and decided I could be trusted. We met in person a couple of years later while I was hosting at an open house. I was impressed by the power of my little blog. Over the years I have met most of my buyers and sellers who were first readers and later clients. Some have begun friends. I owe all of my readers a note of thanks for having kept me busy for these past eleven years.

One of the most viewed blogs was that of a really charming stand alone cottage located at the back of The Key West Writer's Compound on Solaris Hill.  I actually ended up selling this special home. CLICK HERE to see that blog which had 1242 hits on blogspot.  Over the years I have written about several homes in the compound which I find utterly charming. After all, the compound lured notable writers and poets to live nearby and share the beauty of this incredible spot on the island. I sold John Hersey's former home located near the front gate. Shortly after it became safe to walk around outside after Hurricane Irma had left Key West and was winding its way up the west coast of Florida, I walked around Old Town looking at the tree damage. I made my way to Windsor Lane where I saw the two giant trees that once stood sentry on either side of Hersey's house had fallen in the storm. I recently went by the house. The trees are gone, the fence was rebuilt, and the house stands undamaged.

This blog and the photos I take and put up on the internet have helped me reach a wide audience around the world that no regular Realtor website could ever have achieved. Almost every agent I know has one of those - except me. Instead, I write individual blogs about new listings, price reductions, and sometimes properties that are beyond the financial means of most readers. I try to give a good sense of what is for sale to appeal to a broad range of buyers. Most readers are looking for bargains. There are few of them anymore. But sometimes there are and I tell my readers. Our prices have gotten really high so a bargain here could often buy a very nice primary home up north. Longtime readers know I am not one for charts - I rarely understand a charts so I avoid them. But I do understand when the market is hot and when it is soft. I understand trends. I understand and admit when I am wrong. And I only boast a bit when I am proven right. And on occasion I write about my childhood or tell other stories that relate in some way about life in Key West or maybe culture at large.

In the earlier days when prices were dropping and suspicions about the end of the world as we knew it were rising, I got a lot of phone calls and emails from readers. The responses by phone or email usually start by saying "I've been following your blog..."  And then we start the sweet romance of finding the dream house the reader has been seeking.  When I meet these readers in person they often tell me the blogs they like most are the ones not about houses, but instead about the stuff that has happened to me or the machinations that go on inside my old head. That is how they develop a sense of trust in me.

I have three favorite blogs which I later  re-posted when the market was slow just to let my readers know I was still around. The first was Superman and Me CLICK HERE. This is the simple story about who I am told in little episodes in my life as a child and later in my professional life.

Another blog which I really enjoyed writing was The Importance of Finding Ernie CLICK HERE. I made up a silly little story about the Bert & Ernie after they found their way to Key West. The real life fact is that too many people who come here get lost and end up drunks or on drugs or both. I think a lot of people come here thinking they can reinvent themselves or find new meaning for their lives or whatever the heck it is that made their lives so bad up north in America.

The final blog is How Gay Was My Villa CLICK HERE. Earlier this week a nice couple from up north came to look at houses.  While exchanging small talk the gent said he had been reading my blog for years and mentioned a vignette in that particular blog which left him howling. Other readers remember the exact same vignette. It is one experience I will never forget either.

CLICK HERE to read the memoir of Atlantic Shores Resort.That one blog had 14,628 hits on Activerain alone. It's a short read on a big part of Key West that is sorely missed by many.

As of today I have published 2366 blogs on the Blogspot's platform where I have had 1,574,961 individual views. Later when I discovered the Activerain platform, I started to re-post my blog there. To date I have  re-posted 2033 blogs there where I have had 3,172,071 individual views. I have hosted most of my photos on FLICKR where the numbers are astounding - 1,951,385 single hits (not views).

I will end today's pat on the back blog by relating two little stories about readers. A few weeks ago I went over to one of the law offices to pick up something whereupon I introduced myself to the receptionist. She said something like "Oh, you're the Gary Thomas who writes the real estate blog. My husband and I loved your blog on the Writers Compound. When we came to town to look for houses, we looked at the Writers Compound and bought the house you wrote about." 

During a recent home inspection on a house I listed for sale, the buyer mentioned I wrote a blog about a house she bought after reading my blog on it.  She is still using the same Realtor now, but this time I represent the seller so I can profit a bit this time. 

It's been fun. Let's see what happens in the new year.

Key West 1989 - A Depiction of the Past

I found the above photo a week or so ago. It was taken in Key West in 1989.  I love this pic.  It depicts how much of Old Town looked nearly 30 years ago. (I invite readers who recognize the location to comment below. I will go over and photograph the location and update this blog.)

January 9, 2018 update. An anonymous reader sent me a google street view of 525 Louisa Street. I made it over there this morning and took the above color photo.  I think this is the same house with the haunting picture of Steve taken nearly 30 years ago. 

I would guess that more than seventy percent of the homes in Old Town have been totally renovated and that less than five percent look anything like the two above. The old wood telephone poles have been replaced by concrete poles which now include fast internet connection, the once heaving and cracked sidewalks have been replaced, and I doubt that you would find weeds growing anywhere in Old Town in the year 2017.

When I first came to Key West I looked at houses like this and imagined what I could do if only  I bought one.

Prices have risen so high that many wish they had bought one when prices were lower.

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West and are not working with a Realtor, please think about contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Even though prices have gone up and there is not a lot of inventory of available homes for sale, I tell buyers there will always be new houses for sale because people are always dying, getting divorced, or moving away for various reasons.

Beware the Ides of March. Better Yet, Don't Do Dumb Things!

On March 15th of this year I noticed a bank owned listing at the Key West Golf Club community that looked interesting. I contacted the listing agent to ask permission to write about it in my blog. Soon thereafter I drove to the property to take photos. I often lock the front door so that nobody disturbs me, but this time I left it unlocked. I went about my business taking photos and creating a mental image as to features that stood out.  

The second floor front bedroom was both tall and wide. It had a vaulted ceiling and ran the breadth of the house. Unlike a lot of golf course houses, this one did not have a second story front porch. I closed the door and placed my tripod at the far right side to demonstrate the size of this spacious bedroom.  But when I tried to open the door I discovered the door knob lock set had automatically locked the door.

I was trapped. This had happened before at a different location. That time I called an agent in my office who came over to rescue me. However, when I called my office to see if anyone was in who could come help me out, I was told none of the agents were in the office. I was still trapped.

I then thought of Instagram so I posted the above pic there. That did not help.

And then I thought about calling Ken who I had sold a golf course property to. He came over within a couple of minutes and brought a little gadget that pricked the little gizmo that turned the thingamabob that unlocked the lock. Ladies, it's nice to have a man around the house that knows how to use tools.

Free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty, I was free at last!

I thanked Ken profusely for saving me. 

It wasn't until earlier this morning when I searched Instagram for the photo that I realized this dreadful event occurred on the Ides of March.

The Santa Caper

 
Christmas is, for me, always a time for reflection. I look back to my childhood with such fondness for the way things were back in the 1950s.  I live in the present and don't dwell on the past, but I cannot shake my memories of wonderful times.

My parents were barely out of their teens when my sister was born in 19030.  Five years later my big brother was born. Those two kids got to live through the Depression and moved with my mom and dad from city to city wherever my dad could find work. I came along in 1947 and had the good fortune to live in a family who thought the Depression was still going on. Throughout my youth and teen years, my mother was as tight as old Ebeneezer.

Still I remember the cookies and fudge and divinity she made, the sprinkles and gum drops and hot chocolate too.  Even back then they sold Christmas trees by the foot.  She cheated and bought a shorter tree and placed it on top of our coffee table which made it look taller. There is an old photo of tiny me, looking up at that special tree. I remember one night so damned well, I pulled on an ornament, and down the tree fell. She screamed at wee me and I thought bloody hell, I'm done for.

A few years later on Christmas Eve day, I was helping my mother clean out the refrigerator to make room for our Christmas feast. I was perhaps eight or nine years old. It was on this day I really learned Newton's Law of Gravity. I placed every single thing from the refrigerator on top of the blond drop leaf dining table with its leaf extended. (I must diverge a moment: just a couple of years earlier I learned about electricity, I was crawling on the floor,  maybe ten feet away from the blond table, and stuck a key into an outlet.  Across the room I flew in flash.)

My dad liked to try new things. He also liked to buy in bulk. I guess he thought the more you buy, the more you save. Once he took me to the store and bought an entire box of Peter Paul Mounds. One was great, two were wonderful, three were till pretty good, but after four the joy was over. I was a little pig and ate the whole box. I learned that too much of a good thing is more than enough.

Shortly before Christmas my dad discovered a new product super-concentrated liquid coffee sold in a 24 ounce tin can.  The concept was simple: put a spoon of concentrated coffee into a cup, add hot water, and whamo you have hot brewed intensely rich coffee.  Back then tin cans had holes punched on either side to allow air pressure to let the contents flow. Resealable tops had not yet been invented.The last item I placed on the drop leaf table was the big can of liquid coffee.  At first the table leaf teetered, and then it tottered. I reacted quickly, but not quick enough. The table tumbled onto our brand new wall to wall carpet.  Bloody hell again!  I thought for sure I would die on this day. I raced to the phone and called my dad to come home immediately. I told him my mom was going to kill me for my bad little mistake.

I think it was the next Christmas that my folks last spent together. My dad had been in the hospital for some unspoken problem which I now think involved his prostate. I remember being surprised and so happy when he came home on Christmas Eve day.  I told him how much I missed him and loved him. I remember him hugging me so tightly that day.  A week later on New Year's Eve day we all awoke sirens screaming loudly and persistently in our little town. That sort of thing just did not happen back then. Sirens and cops and fire engines were foreign to me. We lived in little suburban town west of Denver where there was no chaos. In the dark of the very early morn we looked out from our living room window to flames and smoke more than three blocks away. I remember it well, this truly was bloody hell. The next day was New Years Day, my birthday.  I walked up to the scene of the fire - a Safeway store at 38th and Benton. The front wall was gone and water was all over the floor. I remember people walking among the ruins. People were picking up cans of food. Like a little fool I followed the adults inside and found a lime which I kept as my souvenir. These people were not poor. They were middle class white folks doing something utterly stupid.

By the next Christmas my mother and dad had divorced. My mother told me there would be no Santa Claus that year. She said I was too big. I was not too big - I was still a squirt. For several years my big brother told there was no Santa. The year prior, when my dad came home from the hospital, I remember going shopping on Christmas Eve day. I especially remember seeing a 45 RPM record of Ave Marie that ended up in my Santa stocking on Christmas Day. So I reluctantly admitted to myself that my treacherous brother hadn't made this stuff up. Well, he was still being mean. He told me because he wanted to spoil Christmas for me. Not so fast, you big dick.  I'll teach you one last trick.

So on that Christmas Eve day when I was told not to hang my stocking, I decided instead to go Christmas shopping.  I went to Woolworth's and bought some candy and small toys including pieces for my Lionel train set. After I completed my shopping, and while my mother was still at work, I found an old stocking which I crammed it the toys from my earlier day's work. I hid it in the garage.

My Christmas stocking was always an old nylon hose of my mother.  Since we did not have a fireplace I would instead hang the nylon hose on the floor lamp in our living room. Back then nobody locked their doors, but I made sure to leave the front door unlocked so so Santa could get inside just in case. I hid it in the garage.

Before I went to bed that last Christmas Eve night,  I made a point of going into my mother's bedroom to get my final stocking. I hung it on the lamp. My mother said, it would be of no use. She knew not of my soon to be ruse. I went to bed, my trap had been set, not it was time to take my Christmas nap. In the middle of the night through the house did I sneak, while my mother and brother continued to sleep. Then I crept to the garage to retrieve my shocking stocking. While my mother and my brother continued to doze, I replaced her old nylon hose.

For every year that I could remember, I would spring from my bed by dawn's early light to see what Santa had left me that prior night. I remember on year my mother yelling at me from her bedroom with the door ajar to get back into bed! So that last Christmas I stayed in bed until my mother and brother had arisen and through the door I did listen. She asked my brother if he had filled the stocking toys and treats not previously seen in our house. No he said, had she? How could it be, did Santa exist after all? I finally got up and headed straight to the floor lamp to retrieve my Christmas haul.

Merry Christmas to my Dear Readers!

Gary

Negotiating with Bullies - A Perspective Based on A Christmas Story

One of my all time favorite movies is A Christmas Story. It took place about the time I was growing up in the suburbs of Denver. Readers in their sixties and over should appreciate the town, the houses, the school, the neighborhood, the situations, and the characters that are portrayed in this classic.

One of my favorite scenes is that of dealing with the bully. We have all encountered bullies in our lives. Collectively we have one in Washington that looks a lot like the kid above. But I will leave that topic for a different forum.  About forty  years ago I attended a training session on how to negotiate hosted by Herb Cohen, the author of You Can Negotiate Anything.  I won't bore you with what he taught me and the group of commercial loan workout negotiators from across America.  It was the very best educational event I ever attended.

I encountered at least one bully in my life. It is not fun. In fact it is scary no matter if you are smaller than or bigger than the bully because small bullies can terrify some bigger guys. Not all. But some. Mr. Cohen taught me about a negotiation tactic bullies use to get their way. The stand up and say something outlandish and walk out of the room. That's it. And then he said what people in the room will inevitably do. And it is not to clap or to celebrate.

I was working for a really big bank that had loaned a lot of money to a west Kansas farmer who I will call King.  King owned or leased several sections (square miles) of land plus the family homestead. My bank's Ag lender gave King a huge unsecured loan. Lenders back then were paid commissions based on their loan production. The loan had to go through committee, so the Ag guy was not the lone screw-up involved. As soon as we (my department) got involved, we flew to Kansas and obtained mortgages on the owned land and obtained security interests on all the owned farm equipment but not his airplane.  We later attended creditor meetings in Omaha and still later Garden City, Kansas.

The group of lenders flew to a Garden City to hold a meeting attended only by his lawyer not King. His lawyer was described to me as a big shot Republican who ran for governor but lost. I don't know if he lost the election or simply did not get the nomination. But he still had his name recognition and his presence: just like the bully in A Christmas Story.

The creditors were asking for things the lawyer could not give because King did not the cash needed to satisfy the claims against him. I remember sensing the lawyer was about to erupt. Then he did. He quickly stuffed a bunch of papers in his briefcase, loudly said something, and quickly walked out of the room. All of the other lenders got up and chased him and begged him to come back - to negotiate.

I didn't go. I told the two other bank officers to sit and wait. I said the lawyer would return. What Herb Cohen had taught me was playing out in front of my eyes. The other lenders persuaded the lawyer to return. They lessened their demand and agreed to some kind of short term peace.

The three of us returned to Denver and initiated foreclosure on all of King's assets in which had a security interest. I am not claiming to have beat the bully. He was only the tough guy protecting his client. But we got a lot of money by liquidating King's assets.