Open House Sunday 927 - 929 United -- Key West - 10/31/08 08:40 AM
Open House Sunday November 2nd 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM 927 & 929 United Street Attention all of you Parrot Heads and others in Key West. This is your opportunity to preview two beautiful new homes located nest to each other at 927 United Street and 929 United Street on Sunday between 11:30 AM and 3:00 PM. I wrote about these two homes on September 30th. CLICK HERE to see what I wrote. Better yet, come see for yourself. Cory Held (the listing Realtor) and I will be present to answer your questions regarding these exciting homes. Stop by after church … (0 comments)

405 William St. Old Town Key West - Short Sale - 10/30/08 10:13 AM
The two story house located at 405 William Street is located on one of the very best blocks in Old Town Key West. Some of the most historic and architecturally significant homes are located on this block. And this home is one for the books. CLICK HERE to see the house next door at 409 William Street that is currently offered at $2,194,000 or $770 per sq ft; CLICK HERE to see the Richard Roberts House at 408 William Street that is priced at $1,075,000 or $$573 per sq ft; and CLICK HERE to see 421 William Street that is priced … (0 comments)

More Single Family Home Short Sales - Key West - 10/28/08 11:22 AM
CLICK HERE to review a list of single family "short sales" in Key West. This list is not thorough because not all short sale properties are on it. Some local Realtors have failed to identify their short sale properties correctly in the mls database as "short sales" and that prevents the inclusion of those listings in easy searches of our mls. I have been seeing some very nice and quite expensive houses start to creep into the mix of houses being offered as short sales. Some of the houses on the above list are pretty pitiful. But there are some real … (0 comments)

716 Olivia Street - Key West - Short Sale - 10/27/08 02:29 PM
The Arts & Crafts house at 716 Olivia Street is sitting vacant and looks a little forlorn. The county records say it was built in 1938 but those records have been known to be wrong because the Great Key West Fire destroyed the county records. So many buildings were given approximate dates of construction. Be that is it may, this house has been basically rebuilt with all of the features we require in the first decade of the 21st Century. The renovation to this 2352 sq. ft house of 4 bedroom and 3 bath house is nearly complete. Interior finishes include … (4 comments)

915 Washington - Casa Marina Area - Key West - Short Sale - 10/24/08 09:58 AM
I have lived in the Casa Marina Area of Key West since 1995. I have watched the fall and rise of many structures over those years. I have seen the explosive growth of the early 2000s and the decline over the last three years. Ever since I moved to the area I could be assured to hear some contractor's electric power tools buzzing from 8:00 AM until around 5:00 PM. There was always somebody doing something to their house. Until this year. The number of projects has dwindled to a trickle as the market in Key West turns on its head. … (0 comments)

608 William - Old Town - Key West - 10/22/08 10:07 AM
Just Listed ( but not by me) 608 William Street, Old Town, Key West. I wrote about this house earlier this year when it was priced the same as it is in today's new listing. But there has been a big change. The owner has done some spiffy updating as well to tide the property over until a new owner decides possibly to renovate the property. This is how the listing broker describes 608 William: "The sweetest cottage in the very best Old Town location has just had a fabulous face lift! This circa 1887 conch classic has a wonderful outdoor … (0 comments)

730 Southard Street - Historic Key West Landmark - 10/20/08 08:46 AM
Just Listed (but not by me) 730 Southard Street an historic Key West Landmark. the listing Realtor describes the property this way: "Here in the heart of Old Town Key West sits this jewel of an original Conch home built in the 1800's waiting for your special touch. The widows walk was once used by the original owners to watch wrecking vessels come into Key West bight. The history behind this home spans several generations of just one family. The rooms are large, the ceilings are high and everything is original in this 2 story home including Dade County pine throughout. … (0 comments)

Key West Bank Foreclosures -- déjà vu All Over Again - 10/17/08 09:25 AM
It seems like it was only last week that I created a list of current bank owned properties in the Key West area. Well, it actually was last week. There have been a couple of changes so I thought it best to update the list. CLICK HERE to see the new list of single family homes. Some of the houses in the above list have pools or are located on canals. A couple of the houses are really very nice and are priced aggressively to sell. A couple of the houses owned by local banks in Key West may even qualify … (1 comments)

3810 Flagler Avenue Key West - 10/15/08 09:54 AM
Just Listed and located far from the madding crowd: 3810 Flagler Avenue Key West. This 4 bedroom 3 1/2 baths home is a very spacious 3207 sq ft that is situated on a massive 14,175 sq ft lot (105' frontage X 135' depth). The rear of the property is located on the Vista Del Mar Canal and has 100' feet of dock space with an open water view of the salt ponds. The property is considered to be one of the best canal/open water view properties on the Island of Key West. And the location provides nearly immediate deep water access … (0 comments)

The Calvin Klein House - 712 Eaton Street -- One of Key West's Premier Signature Homes - 10/14/08 10:29 AM
Before it became known as the Calvin Klein House, it was the home of Angelo Donghia. Donghia was an internationally famous designer in the 1970s and 1980's whose clients included Ivana and Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Diana Ross, Mary Tyler Moore, Halston, Ralph Lauren and Neil Simon. Donghia preserved the eccentric—and now famous—octagon house which he purchased for $45,000 in 1976 and decorated it in simply with rattan furniture and white canvas coverings. He sold it in on January 1, 1981 for $975,000 to Calvin Klein. Klein sold it on September 1, 1986 for $400,000. (Source: Monroe County Clerk Public Records.) … (0 comments)

Key Haven -- "Safe" Haven? - 10/13/08 08:57 AM
With all of the doom and gloom being uttered on TV and in print this past week about the collapse of the stock market, one phrase kept cropping up: "safe haven". Commentators were being asked to tell the public "safe" places to park their money in these trying times. There are two ways to look at having cash these days. One, if you have a lot of cash you are very fortunate. Two, if you have a lot of cash you probably won't get a very good return if you park it in a bank or a CD. Interest rates are … (0 comments)

701 Elizabeth Heart of Old Town Key West - 10/11/08 09:33 AM
You know the house because of its unique design. You know the house because of its prime location. And know you know it is a deal waiting to be had. The seller just reduced the asking pirce on this unique property to only $879,000 or $443 per sq ft. This is how the listing broker describes this property: "Live at the highest point in Key West, atop Solares Hill, a premier Old Town location. The main home includes 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, river recovered heart pine floors and 10 foot ceilings. Beautiful French doors lead out to your private deck, heated … (0 comments)

More Bank Owned Key West Properties - 10/10/08 01:55 PM
A few weeks back I wrote about the new listing at 1119 Von Phister a bank owned property that happens to be right next door to where I live. I totally forgot until yesterday that I almost bought that house in 2004. I had plans to renovate it and sell it for a bunch of money. The house sold quickly after it was listed so I thankfully never got the chance to buy the beast. (I'm not putting that property down. Any renovation becomes a beast in my opinion.) Today stock markets all over the world have moved steeply downward. The … (0 comments)

The Flim-Flam Short Sale - 10/09/08 12:35 PM
One of the better morality movies from the 1960's was George C. Scott's The Flim-Flam Man. He played Mordecai Jones - a penny-ante con man that rode the rails and took the money of Southerners. "You can’t cheat an honest man" was his motto. But he had no trouble cheating would-be cheaters. I have seen several properties that have been offered as "Short Sales" in the Key West Association of Realtors MLS that are Flim-Flam. Flim-Flam can be defined as "a trick or deception, especially a swindle or confidence game involving skillful persuasion or clever manipulation of the victim". The concept … (0 comments)

1110 Curry Lane Old Town Key West - 10/08/08 09:12 AM
Right after I started this blog about Key West Properties I wrote a piece called Life in the Slow Lane CLICK HERE to read. I mused about the virtues of living on one of the slow lanes in Old Town Key West. This Old Town gem is tucked away on one of Key West's slow lanes between Frances and White Streets. The cottage has been lovingly restored to maintain all the character and charm you'd expect to find such as Dade County Pine walls, Georgia Heart Pine floors and thoughtful attention to detail. The floor plan is open and spacious and … (0 comments)

Apocalypse Now? - 10/07/08 10:59 AM
If you are like me you spent lot of time yesterday either watching CNBC or maybe checking in every few minutes on CNN.com or MSNBC.com to see what in the world the stock market was doing. Yesterday was most troublesome. The DOW plunged 800 points. The good thing is it could have been worse. It ended up only losing 369 points. But that "good" news was diminished by the world wide cataclysm of stock markets everywhere taking a similar dive. I'm no economist. My economic education is probably akin to that of John McCain. Hell, I keep urging people to buy … (0 comments)

804 Elizabeth Old Town Key West Historic Eyebrow - 10/06/08 01:30 PM
804 Elizabeth Street in Old Town Key West is a quintessential classic Key West “eyebrow” style home complete with two saw tooth additions. One sawtooth addition is the formal dining room with vaulted ceiling. Just behind the dining room is the second sawtooth addition (probably the "cook house" in olden times) with its authentic naturally weathered wood vaulted ceiling. The owner has been careful to preserve the Dade County pine walls in the older parts of the house. Upstairs there are even some of the original floors. This home is a great example of the transition from old eyebrow house to … (1 comments)

Bank Owned Homes in Key West - 10/03/08 11:02 AM
I just created a new list of Bank Owned Homes in the Key West area. Homes from Old Town up to Sugarloaf Key. CLICK HERE to checkout the list. I must add that the list does not contain all bank owned properties. Some Realtors have not entered all of their listings in the mls. Some out of town Realtors (like some from Tampa and Miami) have access to our mls but do not necessarily follow our rules and don't always get their listings entered correctly. There are some dogs on the list. Some of the houses have had the kitchen appliances … (0 comments)

Key West Short Sale Opportunities - 10/02/08 11:12 AM
A Short Sale occurs when a property is sold and the lender agrees to accept a discounted payoff, meaning the lender will release the lien that is secured by the property, upon payment of of an amount less than is actually owed. In yesterday's blog I reported that about one-half of the single family home and condo sales in Key West were either short sales or bank foreclosures. Short sales occur when troubled borrowers try to sell the property prior to foreclosure in hopes of salvaging part of their credit worthiness. Many short sales fail but others are succeeding. So I … (0 comments)

Out of Business - 10/01/08 10:07 AM
Those of you who come to Key West know the Pegasus Hotel at the corner of Southard and Duval Streets. There are several store front shops on the Southard Street side including the now Out of Business Psychic. The Psychic of all people should have seen the downside--you'd think. It's that time of the month again. Time to recap what happened in the Key West real estate market for the month of September 2008 and to compare it with the same time for previous years. I've said before I am not a numbers guy. I guess I'm in the wrong business … (0 comments)

 
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Gary Thomas

Key West, FL

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Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc.

Address: 520 Southard Street, Key West, Fl, 33040

Office Phone: (305) 294-3040 x 118

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