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Key West, FL Real Estate News

By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from February 14, 2018Strange Love in Key West - A True StoryI always preference my little tales of Key West by telling my Dear Readers that the stories are true as opposed to stuff that comes out of Washington and reality television. You can't make up the truth, and, sometimes, the truth hurts.A few years ago on the week before Christmas, I was setting up a listing of my office to host a Saturday afternoon open house. I turned on the lights and opened the door to the pool at the rear. I placed my open house signs out in front and prepared to talk to passersby.I had been sitting on the cute-as-can-be front porch when I noticed the neighbor was hanging Christmas lights on his two story duplex home next door to the east. I walked out to the sidewalk and started a conversation. I looked up...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
I was in the drama club in the ninth grade. I was fifteen years old. Sixty years later I sell houses to rich people. Same thing. 
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
  One of my earliest memories after moving to Key West in December 1993 was the day I was standing in the checkout line at Kmart. I spoke to the young lady behind or in front of me. I told her how cute her child was and asked if she lived here. (That's a fair question: we have lots and lots of tourists.)  She said yes to which I replied that her kid was a cute little Conch. She said her husband was in the military and they were leaving as soon as possible She was HORRIFIED at the prospect her child would be a Conch. She hated Key West and everything about it. Okay, Karen. The kid was still cute. Conch or Not Conch. Before it was a Kmart, the building was a Zayre department store. Zayre filled for Bankruptcy in the early 1990s. The facade, signage, and store brand and merchandise changed...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
 Jack be nimble, Jack be spryJack jump over the candlestickJack be spryJack buy this Legal DuplexBefore somebody else does! Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West is this cute two stories duplex located at 806 Pearl Street in The Meadows Area of Key West. This has been the craziest real estate market I have ever seen. Houses get listed for sale and then go under contract a day or two later. This place is a duplex, does not have off street parking, and it does not have a pool. But it is in good condition and it is located in a great neighborhood. And I think it is a near-perfect buy for a second home seeker who want a Key West getaway and some income to help defray the cost of ownership.  The 2022 color photo of 806 Pearl Street shows the cutification of the old girl with first flo...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from March 17, 2009614 Greene Street - Old Town - Key West They've already started the party without you folks. I just went down to take a photo of 614 Greene Street and the area is a bustle of activity with people wearing O'the green. How appropriate they are doing it on Greene Street. If you think I jest, look at the photo above with the couple in green t-shirts that read "St. Patrick's Day 2009". Anyway, St. Patrick's Day or someday soon may be your lucky day if you were to buy 614 Greene Street which is located at the epicenter of tourist activity at the Historic Key West Seaport. The listing Realtor describes this Transient Licensed Property this way: "Located just steps from both Duval Street & the Historic Seaport this commercial store front plus 3 transient rental unit property ...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
I have written about 1215 Truman Avenue, Key West a couple of times over the years, including in my Projects of Key West series. Locals refer to this style of house as a Conch House. It is large impressive house with the strong architectural lines identified elsewhere as a Classical Revival. In his book The Houses of Key West Alex Cammerer described Conch Houses as "...a simple rectangular block of more than one story. It has a low-pitched roof; the main entrance is on the gabled end. The attic story extends beyond the vertical plane of the vertical stories, forming a portico. Formal columns ...are an integral part of the portico structure."  I searched for historic photos of the house and found the old black and white postcard below dated 1929. I added an arrow to identify what I belie...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Key West was 41 degrees and that occurred twice. I can avow with certainty the only place in Key West where you can get a BLIZZARD is the Dairy Queen. This little building is not stuck in time. It is stuck in Paradise.  The listing Realtor describes 1207 United Street, Key West this way:"Established in 1950, the Key West Dairy Queen has become a staple ice cream and treats destination on the island for decades. Price includes the business and real estate strategically located near the new Key West City Hall and right around the corner from the busy White Street corridor. Property is located in a residential zoning and is being operated as a legal non-conforming use. A prospective Buyer has the option to purchase the entire package as a business wi...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from April 7, 20161521 Seminary Street, Key West - Affordable Home in ParadiseThe newly listed home at 1521 Seminary Street in the Midtown neighborhood of Key West just may be the answer to the impossible dream that so many would be buyers have. What's that - you ask.  It's a cute little place with character with a large yard that you could add to over the coming years to create your version of the perfect place in paradise and to do so at an affordable price. The listing Realtor at Preferred Properties describes this unconventional delight this way:"Lovely Mid Town Artist Home with an Old Town feel, centrally located for an easy bike ride to Downtown or the Beach. Open floor plan with Dade County Pine throughout and 10 foot ceilings. Large French Doors off of the Kitchen and one of the...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
-----Sometimes we drive by a commercial building so often that we fail to notice subtle and not-so-subtle changes. Sometimes buildings are razed and replaced with new buildings and we cannot remember what was there before. Today's blog is part of a continuing series of blogs to create an internet memory of the commercial construction projects of Key West over the past few years. I write "years" because few things move quickly in this town when it comes to construction. There are exceptions - usually an owner or developer brings in a crew from elsewhere. He ; houses and feeds the workers and gets a project built much quicker. Key West builders prefer the other method - draw the project out as long as possible. It takes time to create perfect. Lets see what has happened since the previous...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
I posted this photo before and got called out for an incorrect description. That's okay because I wasn't 100% correct. The photo shows a horse drawn tram on Division Street in 1890. Look carefully at the On Wo Laundry sign located on the lower right corner. The words "Frances Street" appear on the top rail. There is a somewhat vacant lot on the opposite side of the street which in prior days and modern times is also Frances Street. Division Street and later Truman Avenue is the main street in Key West and divides the historic district into two parts the most famous being Old Town North of Truman and the other Old Town South of Truman. The Trivia Question is what is located in the "vacant lot" today? I'll make the answer easy by showing photos in my old shoebox and some master craft dete...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
Selling a home, buying a home, dealing with inspection issues, structural defect or boundary line issues, unpleasant renter issues, code violation issues, fake news issues, and more can make anyone go half-crazy. Some sellers, buyers, agents, neighbors, renters, city officials are crazy to begin with. Many become more crazy if given the chance. I'm sure you have seen TV ads with actors pretending to be real people discussing how much money they saved by using a "Perfect Realtor"website where they saved thousand of dollars in real estate commissions. After all that Realtors do is put up a sign and collect the commission. Anybody can do that. Right? I don't know how much real world experience "Perfect Realtors" have in general. They may have a lot. Or not so much. I wonder how they deal w...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from January 16, 20143529  Sunrise Drive,  Key West, FloridaMatthew Broderick and Tom Cruise were born in 1963.  3529 Sunrise Drive in Key West Florida was built in 1963.  Each will become 51 years old in 2014.  The two movie stars take good care of themselves and probably look better than a lot of people their age.  Men and women who workout and take care of their bodies, skin, and hair normally look better than those who don't.A lot of my buyers are in their fifties. Many probably grew up in a house built in the 1960s when contemporary design was the trend.  The house at 3529 Sunrise Drive was custom built by the owner who has lovingly maintained this property ever since.  The house is big. The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows this house as having 3378 sq ft of interior living s...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
Sine there isn't much real estate being offered for sale or being sold these days, I decided to look through my old shoebox photos of buildings or events that readers might find of interest. This story really happened several years ago at the Bank of America branch located about fifty feet or so west of my office.   The building at 510 Southard Street, Key West has long been a bank building. The black and white photos were taken in the 1960s when the building housed First Federal Savings. I don't know when the ownership or signage of the building changed to Bank of America.  In fact Bank of America vacated that space about three years ago.  It is up for lease now and I am not a part of that. I took the above photo this afternoon. I added a graphic to show where two ATM machines used to ...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from July 1, 2018 Key West Realtor Understudy I was searching the Key West MLS yesterday when I noticed a new listing that reminded me of a nearby property that I sold a few years ago. My buyer and I arrived at the house on an early Saturday morning to be present during the home inspection on the house he had under contract. We met the inspector who set out to poke, prod, test, and photograph various parts of the house.Remember this was an early Saturday morning - not anywhere near cocktail time - not even near lunch. Or even brunch.  The listing Realtor was present. She was wearing heels and a tight fitting dress with a very short hem.The home inspector opened the access panel to the attic and went up. The listing agent followed. I was standing below with my buyer. We both looked up as...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
I just listed 533 Petronia Street, Key West. I held a Broker's Open House yesterday and everybody was delighted to see the home.The remembered back a couple of years ago when an older version of the house was sitting atop wood blocks waiting to be relocated forward on the lot.The relocation of the house allowed room to expand the residence to the rear and a guest cottage and a cool pool. Oh, it's cool. Let's look at a couple of the original house and during renovation.   CLICK HERE to see the former house and progress photos. The house was designed by architect Matthew Stratton. His name appears here quite often. He's good. Really good. The pool and gardens were designed by Craig Reynolds Landscape Architects.  He is really good, too! The front door stayed in place and two guest bedroom...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
Just Listed 410 Louisa Street, Key West. The listing Realtor describes this home thus: "This traditionally styled home was new built in 2002. It is on the one-way block of Louisa Street which does not go all the way through to Duval, so it is right downtown but still kind of secluded. It has a pretty front porch and off-street parking. The rear porch runs all the way across the back of the house and overlooks the heated and chilled swimming pool and covered dining lanai. There are three bedrooms and three full bathrooms, including a spacious and well-appointed master suite with walk-in closet.  This home is only a short stroll to the Southernmost Point and the galleries and restaurants of Lower Duval Street. It was recently painted and has new air conditioners and pool heater. The pool ...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
 Photos were taken yesterday afternoon at the soon to be listed restored Conch House located at an undisclosed location in Old Town. I can tell you this much: three bedrooms in the main house, a fourth bedroom in the poolside guest cottage, off street parking, pool and gardens by Craig Reynolds Landscape Design, and interiors by Ben Teague Design. That's important because this beautiful home comes furnished. More next week.   
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
Several years ago I was working with a married couple who seriously considered buying a prominent Conch House located on one the best blocks in Key West. While it was not the house pictured above, that is the style of the house which also had a guest cottage, large pool, elegant outdoor living area in the rear, and off street parking. The wife flew down to Key West to check the house out. She noticed something I had not considered - an office building located across the street. A lot of buyers will not consider buying a house across from the cemetery or on a well traveled street. Some won't buy a house next to or even near a restaurant.The office building in question was well maintained and looked attractive from the street as far as I was concerned. The wife told me the house would be ...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
from 1-30-20141012 Fleming Street, Key West - Investment PropertyBut updated today I watched the Goldie Hawn move CrissCross couple of days ago and remembered that I referenced it in a blog post. I am copying that part immediately below and added new comments below that. The charming five unit apartment building located at 1012 Fleming Street in Key West was just listed by Preferred Properties Key West. That is where I work, but this is not my listing. The listing agent describes this particularly well located property this way:"Conch House Multi Unit in a great location on Fleming across from the Eden House Hotel. 4 Rental Units and an owners unit all with their own utility meters. Great opportunity for a buyer who likes the income aspect while enjoying his owners unit." I checked the ...
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By Gary Thomas, Realtor to the Dreamers
(Preferred Properties Key West)
I reveled watching IN THE HEIGHTS on Netflix. It will make you want to sing and dance and care about someone other than yourself. You will smile and wonder how they did that. The production, photography, scenery, acting, singing, and dancing are memorable. Much of the principal action takes place in a bodega - a small grocery store especially in a Spanish speaking neighbor hood. This particular bodega is the heart of the neighborhood which is changing. The plot deals whit the lives of the people who live in that neighborhood and how they adjust to the changes in their community.The move got me thinking of all the old bodegas in Key West I had noticed while studying the studying the Historic Sanborn Fire Maps. The Maps shows the houses and commercial buildings between 1889 and 192. The m...
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