About Key West's Key Haven

"You can only not fall before you run off the edge of the cliff, not after."

A sale of the large home at 44 Floral Avenue in the Key Haven section of Key West was posted in our mls late yesterday afternoon. CLICK HERE to see the 3650 square foot, three story house with four bedrooms, five baths, two car garage, pool, tiki hut waterfront home that SOLD at $890,000 or $245 per sq ft. The public records show that the seller purchased the house in January 2005 for $1,800,000.

As of today there have only been four single family homes sales in Key Haven since January first. CLICK HERE to see what sold and at what price.

I don't know the particulars of the sale at 44 Floral, and it really doesn't matter, because that sale is only illustrative of what I have been telling my buyers which is that houses are listed for sale for one reason: to get sold. Some sellers are highly motivated (like many short sellers) and others just need to sell like folks getting divorced or a personal representative settling an estate.

There are still some wacko sellers out there. Sellers with huge edifice complexes. They are typically people who did a lot of creative things to their properties, spent a lot of money on designer kitchens with Viking or Subzero appliances, ultra expensive glass tiles, imported light fixtures, travertine floors, Ipe decks, of whatever. They think their design sense justifies a price per square foot far in excess of what similar houses in the same area have actually sold for. They will not accept the fact that a new lender will not loan new money on a house that will not appraise for a ridiculous amount no matter how chic the kitchen or master bedroom and master bath look. I am not saying or inferring that all houses priced at a high dollar per square foot are over-priced. A lot of the best homes in Key West are priced very high on a per square foot basis because they are truly unique, have a superior location, and were superbly built or renovated.

I always loved watching Road Runner cartoons. I always hoped against hope that Wile E. Coyote would smarten up and not get done in by the smarter Road Runner. But Wile E. never got it. He never learned his lesson. He always broke the cardinal rule "You can only not fall before you run off the edge of the cliff, not after."

If you are looking for a second home or a new primary residence in Key West, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. You can also contact me via e-mail at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty Inc in Key West, Florida. I'll do my best to keep you from falling off the cliff.

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 terribly low. So even though cash is king, if you park your money in a bank you will not earn enough interest to buy much bling.

I just created a list of homes for sale on Key Haven. CLICK HERE to checkout the list of single family homes priced in the low $300s per sq ft to over $1100s per sq. ft. Key Haven is a ten minute drive (on good days) from Old Town. It is our bedroom community where so many locals who got priced out of Old Town migrated to. Most of the homes are located on canals that provide boating access to the deep waters only minutes away. Click the photos to see the kind of spectacular views some of these homes have.

Some of the homes on the list are short sales meaning the seller owes more than the amount of the asking price but hopes the lender will accept a discounted payoff in order to avoid possible foreclosure. There is at least one bank owned property on the list (8 Beechwood Dive priced at $499,000 or $364 per sq.ft. - with a pool). It is owned by local bank that has had the property for two long years.

Several of the properties on the list flooded during Hurricane Wilma. Those properties may be priced at a discount because of this.

There are also several very high end properties on the list. These properties have excellent locations and superior upgrades and craftsmanship in their construction. I think there are some good buys on a price per sq. ft. basis on some of these properties. Of course there are more buyers for the less expensive homes, but some of the larger properties are real values even in this stressful environment. It is for that reason that I suggest Key Haven may be a safe haven for buyers who want to capitalize on this current market.

If you see something on the list that strikes your fancy, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, or email me at kw1101v@aol.com. If you are looking for a place in Key West other than Key Haven, CLICK HERE to perform your own search of our mls database. Then call me to help you.