gary thomas realtor: BOOM! Goes North Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West
- 11/07/21 09:15 AM
A loyal reader of my blog sent me a text on Friday asking if the Hilton Garden Inn had sold recently. I knew no sale went through the Key West MLS but decided to search the Monroe County Property records. And there it was: the hotel sold on October 12, 2021 for $58,000,000. The buyer is a new LLC under BLACKSTONE REAL ESTATE in New York City. BLACKSTONE purchased a smaller neighboring property for an additional $5,000,000 on the same day. As I said these sales were not reported in the Key West MLS
Readers of my blog will recall I started posting … (2 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: Live Your Dream! Lose Your Virginity!
- 10/28/21 04:37 AM
Above photo taken October 24, 2014 across the street from Bourbon Street Pub. That's somebody's mother. It has nothing to do with real estate. Just wanted to post it in remembrance of that day.
I started today's blog on February 14, 2011 but did not post it. I found it while searching the word "auction" because today, October 28th, is the anniversary of the day I purchased my first property in Key West. Take a brief read. What I wrote then is playing again.
I hosted an Open House yesterday. Quite successful, in fact. I had 107 plus people.I got so busy … (7 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 901 Elizabeth Street. Key West
- 10/27/21 07:22 AM
901 Elizabeth Street is located in the X Flood Zone near the tippy Top of of the Island of Key West. In fact the top spot is located just one block north and was once called Buzzards Roost. The present house replaced an earlier building identified as MEAT that appeared in the 1892 Sanborn Fire Map when it was identified as 437 Olivia Street. A new house of different size and location on the lot appeared in the 1892 map. The address was changed to 901 Elizabeth Street on the 1899 map. The aerial photo above shows a carport on the … (3 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: The Nightmare on Eaton Street, Key West
- 10/25/21 07:41 AM
Do you recognize this Key West location? If you are a local or returning visitor to Key West you probably have walked or driven by it many times. The two buildings in the rear are your clue. If you are a Keywester in your late 70s you might be one of the children.
The former First Baptist Church was rebuilt using concrete block construction and 1950s architecture. The Scottish Rite Temple looks like pre-World War II design dragged into the post war building boom. Both stand today and would probably defy a fire. They did defy Hurricane Irma in 2017. That is … (4 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 1009 Southard Street, Key West
- 10/18/21 07:34 AM
1009 Southard Street, Key West, Florida as it appears today on one of the most important blocks as far as Key West architecture is concerned. I wrote about this house in my blog many years ago. I recently showed it and was reminded of all the potential this house had then and has now. Like many old homes in Key West it was re-purposed by former owners many years ago but retains critical usage advantages today that give a future owner multiple options. When we look at the historic photos below you will see how the two buildings changed and how … (2 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 1302 Reynolds Street, Key West - Just Listed in Casa Marina Area
- 10/11/21 01:03 AM
Just Listed: 1302 Reynolds Street, Key West. This smart looking 2/2 is move-in ready and priced to sell. Offered at $1,150,000. Let's take a look outside and then sneak a peek inside.
The house sits at the corner of Reynolds and United Streets. A white picket fence with gated entrance entrance welcomes visitors into this unexpected treasure.
I had searched through my old shoebox for historic photos of the house. I could not find any. I found photos of nearby houses and then realized the house originally faced United Street and that the enclosed east side porches and deck expansion re-oriented the … (5 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: Will It be Finished by Christmas in Key West?
- 10/05/21 03:23 AM
The above photo was taken from the Key West lighthouse in 1910 - just fourteen years after the Great Fire of 1886 which destroyed most of the commercial buildings and many homes in Old Town. You can see the spires of St. Mary's Cathedral near the upper right and Ernest Hemingway's House in the lower left.Most of the homes in Old Town were built by 1899. Use your wildest imagination and contemplate how so many homes could have been built on an island with few natural occurring building resources and serviced only by boats in a time before power tools, delivery … (5 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: deleted
- 09/30/21 11:13 AM
… (3 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 630 Margaret Street, Key West - Just Listed
- 09/29/21 05:54 AM
Just Listed 630 Margaret Street, Key West. This has to be one of my favorite houses in Old Town. I love it for the simplicity in design and its super-quite location abutting Carey Lane and across the street from the Key West cemetery.
Let's get the basics out of the way. The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows the house was constructed in 1938. I checked the historic Sanborn Fire Maps and actually found the house first appeared in the 1912 map. The lot was vacant up to the 1899 map. There were numerous other house built on Margaret and Angela Street (later renamed Carey Lane. … (4 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Times of Covid 19 - No Twelve
- 09/18/21 01:57 AM
This really happened. Sometime in the early 2000's. I was working as an agent at Prudential Knight Real Estate at 336 Duval Street Key West. I had floor duty that day. A woman beyond middle age came inside and asked to look around the building. She said she grew up in the property which was once the Key West school house and later was a single family home. Later it became a real estate office. I walked her through the property and then we went out back where there are six very valuable parking spaces. She pointed to the northwest corner … (4 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 316 southard Street. Key West - Just Listed - Re-Development Potential
- 09/17/21 07:14 AM
The newly listed property at 316 Southard Street in Key West popped onto my MLS platform late Thursday afternoon. I immediately sought permission from the listing agent to blog about it. You may scratching your head wondering how much medicinal marijuana I was on. Trust me, I was as sober as the Pope. Maybe more.
Southard Street is main public entry in the Truman Annex which has become the most popular residential community in Key West. The aerial photo above was taken in the 1920s. I added the X to show the location of 316 Southard. Several of the neighboring properties were … (3 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 1106 Petronia Street, Key West - Just Listed
- 09/14/21 07:20 AM
Just Listed 1106 Petronia Street, Key West. How cute is this place and what a great Old Town location on a one-way street that is only two blocks long. I dug down into my old shoebox and found a photo of the property back in 1965. It hasn't changed much. What do you think? Actually it aged better than most people do.
Let's look at more photos of the exterior where most people who live here spend most of their time. And this house has a terrific outside.
The house was built in 1893. It has been in the same family ownership … (4 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: Seem's Like Old Times in Key West
- 09/12/21 10:39 AM
Readers are aware that I have not posted very many actual real estate posts lately. That's because the market has dried up. Many well priced new listings with go under contract right away while many others are so outrageously price I won't give the agents the time of day.
There are a lot of new agents in town. Be careful who you are dealing with. Ask a lot of questions. Feel the agents out. Ask them their background - what they did and where. How did they get here, how long have they been here, and how did they become the real … (5 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: Pete's Meats Off the Streets of Key West
- 09/06/21 05:56 AM
Pete's Meats on Duval Street in Key West
Pete's Meats now located at an undisclosed
location far from Duval.
What happened?
… (3 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 3930 South Roosevelt Blvd Unit E 211 Key West - Just Listed
- 09/05/21 04:27 AM
Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West, that's where I work, but this is not my listing: 3930 South Roosevelt Blvd Unit E 211 in the Las Salinas Condominiums. This 807 square foot second floor units has been freshly renovated and is price to sell in today's crazy real estate market.
I don't know if the brand new kitchen with quartz counter tops and new stainless steel appliances will catch your attention first or if it will be the view of the Salt Ponds. Las salinas translates as the salt flats. The Key West salt ponds are a naturally occurring feature on … (5 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: A17 12th Avenue, Key West - Waterfront Home
- 08/17/21 09:10 AM
The new listing at A17 12th Avenue, Key West could be almost heaven to some. I mean how many people dream of buying a little place in the Keys where they can just hang out, do some fishing, living the good life, being able to into Key West when they want, hang out some more, not go broke paying for stuff.
That's Key West in the background, five miles to the west. That's A17 12th Street with the little boat at the bottom right. That is DEEP WATER access to the Atlantic Ocean at your doorstep.
A17 12th Street is a four bedroom … (2 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: Key West Real Estate Throwback Thursday No. 31
- 08/12/21 02:14 AM
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 … (3 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 724 Windsor Lane, Key West - Sold - A Very Little Slice of Heaven
- 08/07/21 01:43 AM
I finally sold 724 Windsor Lane a few weeks ago. This was several months after being listed in the Key West MLS during the hottest real estate market in the country. There was nothing wrong with the house nor the location. We offered several price reductions to get to the sweet spot which coincided with the house being the third least expensive house in all of Key West.
The 485 square foot house had only one bedroom which limited the universe of potential buyers. All of a sudden I had a lot of "buyers". One couple got to buy 724 Windsor Lane … (5 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: House Building
- 08/06/21 07:24 AM
Opening Montage - 1895 brick Victorian situated by a lake in upstate New York.
Interior - owner speaks:
I love my house.
Everybody does.
It was built in 1895 and still has most of the original roof.
The wallpaper in the dining room is original too.
So's a lot of the original woodwork.
You'd have to be a fool to change it.
I hope you appreciate detail.
The marble fireplace is hand carved.
The main stairs have a very gentle rise.
Everyone comments how easy it is to climb them.
I like to fill it with my friends.
Over the years we've become more like a family.
It makes me happy to have us all … (1 comments)
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gary thomas realtor: 630 Caroline Street, Key West - Not For Sale
- 08/04/21 06:19 AM
I was taking photos for my blog a couple of days ago and passed by 630 Caroline Street, Key West. It was listed for sale a couple of years ago but did not sell and it is not for sale now. I think it is an interesting property and will sell when it is once again offered. The property records show this house as being a 2/2 with 1,176 square feet of living space (including second floor) situated on a 1,774 square foot lot (32.5 X 55') at the corner of Caroline and Elizabeth Street.
I dug down into my old … (1 comments)
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