Gary Thomas

The picture at the top of today's blog is of a great old house located at 625 Eaton Street. She' really old--born in 1824. She needs some nice person who help her ease gently into the 21st Century.

The present owners started to renovate this property and then stopped. No financial woes here. But the old dame is sitting growing older each month. The house has 1734 sq ft and sits on a small lot of only 1725 sq ft. There is hardly any side yard or rear yard and as the photo above shows there is no front yard. The lack of land to expand the present house is bothersome to some buyers. But for the purist who wants to restore a beautiful home, this may be the buy for you.

CLICK HERE to read more info and see more photos of this house. It's been a while since I was inside, but I was captivated by this property the very first time I stepped inside. The rooms just take you back to another time. The rooms are gracious in their simplicity.

625 Eaton is priced at only $699,000 or $403 per sq ft. There are tear downs that are priced higher than that. For those seeking an Old Town renovation project but who want a little more land or a larger house, or a better price per sq ft, CLICK HERE for a few more properties to consider.

I included the photos of the before and after of a cute little renovation that is still in progress on Windsor Lane. I still marvel at some of the transformations that occur. It takes time and money, but in the end each little project is saving a part of our little island paradise. And to quote Martha Stewart, "That is a good thing."

Do you want a project house? Then please give me a call 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. Let me help you find a sweet little old lady that needs to be saved.

SHORT SALE: 1116 Seminary Street, Key West, Fl. This 1435 sq ft home sits on a 4107 sq ft lot. It is a renovated three bedroom two bath home in Casa Marina area close to beaches and Old Town. Amenities include bamboo wood floors, cherry cabinets, granite counter tops, tumbled marble baths, heated pool and off-street parking. This house has been identified as a potential short sale property that may require approval of a third party lender to effectuate a sale.

The property was originally listed at $1,450,000. It is now priced at $1,000,000 or $697 per sq ft for a good Casa Marina area location. It has easy access to White Street and United Street that make getting to Old Town or New Town very easy--except when Key West is overrun with tourists.

CLICK HERE for more information and additional photos.

This is our listing and I'd love to show it to you. Please call Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to arrange a showing. Don't wait, this one is finally getting some activity.

It was a year ago this week that I first wrote about Paradise Harbor located at 719 Eisenhower Drive on the Garrison Bight and at the water's edge of Old Town Key West. GO HERE to read what I wrote then.

I have been watching the development of this parcel for over 2 1/2 years. And this morning I decided to ride my bike over to the property for a better view. Wow. These buildings are beautiful. Right on the water. Each unit even has its own boat slip. I didn't get to go inside, but the view from the flyover at the Garrison Bight makes one sigh. This is a beautiful and tasteful addition to our "little" skyline. There is a lot of noise from locals about other projects. I have not heard anything negative about this one.

Each unit is different in size, price, and location. But they all share these common features: a huge master suite, over sized guest rooms, high ceilings, state of the art kitchen, spacious dining area, a third floor library/game room, garage parking, and private elevator. The yards feature a pool and foliage designed with water conservation in mind. Priced from $2,250,000 and up.

CLICK HERE to checkout all of the units currently available at Paradise Harbor.

Pleas call Gary Thomasat 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com for more information.

Remember when you were a kid and you marked your age by half years or even quarter years? I just turned 61, and now I mark my age by decades.

But the good side of growing older is all the wisdom that comes with it. My life experiences help me judge the present by things I remember from the past. I grew up in Denver in the 1950s. My mom and dad got married in 1929 and had their first child, my sister, in 1930 and their second, my brother, in 1935. They raised two kids in the Great Depression. My mom never got over the Depression. And I was raised as a child of the Depression even though I was born at the very start of the Baby Boom.

I had odd jobs even as a kid to make money. I got an allowance, but not enough for my needs. Back then my needs consisted of candy and model cars and airplanes. In 1957 a friend and I talked the owner of the Spudnut Shop in the Lakeside Mall into letting us go door to door selling fresh Spudnuts. We made 75 cents each for selling a dozen bags of Spudnuts. One day I rang a doorbell and a woman's voice from the inside rang out "Whose there?" And I answered "The Spudnut Man." I swear this is true: she came to the door in a bra looking for a man and saw only a little ten year old boy. She bought a bag from me. I never saw a woman other than my mother in a bra before. It was amazing.

Sometime either before my Spudnut days or the winter after, I learned a valuable lesson about how to put a value on money and other things of value (like work). We had a horrible snow storm. On a cold and snowy Sunday I went outside with my snow shovel and got busy shoveling sidewalks. I think I charged 25 cents. The lesson came when I shoveled a particularly large sidewalk. It must have been a corner property. When I was done I went to the house to collect my money. The man asked "How much?" And I said something like "However much you think it is worth." The bastard only gave me 50 cents. I had shoveled my little tail off for this guy. And all I got was 50 cents. I wasn't so mad at him as I was mad at myself.

I put myself through college and law school. I paid for everything with money I earned and a few scholarships. I had to pinch pennies to get by. I went to the University of Denver College of Law and tuition was very expensive. But I managed to have all my college loans repaid within a year or so after graduating.

Those days of pinching pennies helps me compare the price of things today against what they cost back in the day. Its funny (no, it really isn't) that we managed to live through the Fabulous Fifties without a mortgage backed securities meltdown (they did not exist) or sky rocketing oil prices that are justified because we were in a war (I guess the Korean War didn't count as a real war).

The following are some of the benchmarks I used to determine if I am paying too much for something today as compared to what it used to cost. Way back in 1957 I had my first date. I was in the 5th grade and my "steady" and I double-dated with another couple and went to the Oriental Theatre at 44th & Tennyson in Denver. The "show" cost 25 cents. We bought a long paper bag of popcorn for a dime at the drugstore next door and Green Rivers in the theatre for another dime. Total cost for a Saturday afternoon $.45 each. Today the Regal Cinema in Key West charges $6.50 for a child to watch a movie. Popcorn and drink would be another $4 or so.

I had to buy a new car just as I started law school. I chose a 1970 VW and it cost me $2000. A 2008 New Beetle SE starts at MSRP $20,440 in Miami. My first studio apartment cost $125 per month. A studio apartment costs an average of $1100 in Key West today.

You could buy a Coke for a nickel when I was a kid. Later Coke came out with a King Size bottle for a dime. Today in Key West a can of Coke costs $1.50. I remember we used to have Crestridge Dairy deliver two gallons of milk twice a week to our house. Milk cost $.45 back then. Today in Key West the price is about $4.50. And nobody delivers milk. Way back in the 50s bread cost $.19. Last week I paid $3.39.

The summer before I started college I had a job at a small airport refueling airplanes. I was paid $1 per hour. I think I was paid minimum wage. A fellow employee who just got out of the Air Force made $1.10. He was a man, and I was still a boy. Today in Colorado the minimum wage is $7.02, but it is only $6.79 in Florida. A lot of illegal workers in Key West make more than that, but some don't make very much more.

Can you imagine working for a living at a minimum wage job and trying to house and feed your family? You couldn't do it in Key West.

I am so tired of MBAs that create justifications for their market manipulations. They are messing with our lives by driving up the cost of gas. Some smart alec MBAs got the idea they could do the same thing with corn futures because corn is being used as a bio-fuel. It worked just as planned. Now corn is gold, and everything related to corn is more expensive than it should be.

None of this has a thing to do with the price of real estate in Key West. But it does have a role in why things cost so much here. I wish we could all use the WAY BACK MACHINE and go back to the 1950s when all we had to do was worry about the Commies and duck under our desks at school in preparation for imminent nuclear attack.

If you want to buy a house in Key West please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com.

306 Peacon Lane is located a hop skip and a jump from the Historic Key West Seaport and it is just a stones throw to Duval Street. In other words, this picture perfect little home is in the right location for the buyer who wants everything just right.

Beautifully renovated historic home on highly desirable Peacon Lane. Located in the Historic Seaport District near restaurants, marinas & nightlife. This 3 bedroom home, circa 1850, is a fine example of the best of Key West architecture. High ceilings, hardwood floors, Dade County Pine walls, hand-milled window & crown moldings. Huge master suite with large closets. Bright and airy family room provides an open and spacious ambiance. Fabulous chef's kitchen, granite counters, Bosch & Jenn-Air appliances. This Smart Home has CAT-5 wiring and state-of-the-art, integrated electronics system for 21st century living. Tropical landscaping, heated pool, waterfall and wrap-around porches complete this Luxury Oasis For Island Living. There is even a patch of grass where the kids or grandkids can play.

This home is offered at $1,349,000 or $748 per sq. ft. CLICK HERE for more info and more photos of the house. There is also a virtual tour at the link. Open the virtual tour, enlarge the screen to full size, and hit slide tour. There you will see large high resolution photos of this beautiful home.

Everything about this house shows the love that the current owners have put into it. I can't imagine changing anything because everything is so perfect. The rooms are good sized, not cramped. The Dade County Pine walls and floors are what bona fide second home owners want. The wood trim and painted surfaces are crisp and clean. The kitchen is open, warm, and inviting. And the location, off street parking, and the equally charming cottages on this very private little lane just make you feel "I want to live here!"

CLICK HERE for an aerial photo that shows the location of the house in perspective to its location to the Historic Seaport.

The listing agent says the Sellers have identified a larger home that they want to move into as soon as this house sells. They are anxious to move onward and upward to a larger home. If this little charmer sounds like the kind of place you want to own, please call me, Gary Thomas at 305-766-2642.

If the attributes of Peacon Lane seem appealing but your needs require a larger home, CLICK HERE to view 315 Peacon Lane which is listed at $2,250.000.