Sally's Key West

In The News Today 20 Jan 2008

Living through a bubble from start up to cresting the wave is quite the education. Looking back, there are definite signs along the way. This Times of India article pointing up what we would now call, in technical terms, "a biggie":

Property rates double in 2 yrs
Times of India - India
"Normally, real estate rates appreciate at around 20 per cent a year or even lesser. So, doubling of prices in two years is big indeed," said a realtor. ...

Many spending less, just in case
Houston Chronicle - United States
By many measures the Houston economic picture is far rosier than the nation's, thanks to a sturdier real estate market and thriving energy industry. ... (video below)

It's Time to say GOOD BYE !
By Susanne in Key West
It's time to say Good Bye to Key West! After living for more than 7 years on this wonderful island we are ready to move on. Ready also to move on in life to other horizons, to another destination. Where exactly that will be and what we ...

No Name Bonneville
By Conchscooter
... on No Name Key so you'll need to learn to maintain the generator, replace the batteries from time to time, and drive 20 minutes just to get to the Overseas Highway, which still leaves you an hour from the fleshpots of Key West. ...

HIGH-TECH GPS TOURS DEBUT TO SHOWCASE LOW-KEY KEY WEST
KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Visitors are using high-tech handheld global positioning system units to tour the low-key island of Key West following the January 2008 debut of Go GPS Tours’ interactive audiovisual sightseeing experiences. ...

Financial Times on Property

The economic news in London's Financial Times is not cheery, but it is also not emotional. As opposed to the hype and drama we read in U.S. economic news. We 'mericans like our drama. Well, ok, I do. But even I must say it's refreshing to read opinion and observations based on reality.

It is also noteworthy that the FT speaks in terms of a global economy, something the U.S. press avoids like the plague. Are we too good for the globe? Actually, we used to be. We used to be the pinnacle. If we don't control our spending and get our financial house in order, other countries of the world will be shaking their heads, too embarrassed for us to even look our way.

Here's our national debt:

The Gross National Debt

The National Debt has increased over $3,000,000,000,000 (Three Trillion Dollars) - that's 30% - since W has been in office. In your house, when you are deeply in debt, can't pay your current bills... do you keep spending?

We all joke about how, with a mortgage, "the bank owns my house." So, who owns the U.S.?

(Answer: The Federal Reserve. Which is not a government agency. It's a group of private bankers. So private we don't know who they are! And they own our country. But that's another post. Perhaps another blog...)

100 Dumbest Moments in Business

There are a few moments in here so priceless - like these:

13. Disneyland

It's a fat world, after all

Disneyland announces plans to close the "It's a Small World" attraction to deepen its water channel after the ride's boats start getting stuck under loads of heavy passengers. Employees ask larger passengers to disembark - and compensate them with coupons for free food.

33. Oral B

And we just thought our wives were really into oral hygiene

Lawyers representing Procter & Gamble send a 66-page cease-and-desist letter to British sex-toy company Love Honey, demanding that it stop using images of its Oral B electric toothbrushes to promote a product called the Brush Bunny - a rabbit-shaped piece of plastic that slips over the top of an Oral B to turn it into a vibrator.

91. Iberia Airlines
Fly the someone-in-the-marketing-department-is-out-of-his-freakin'-mind skies

Spanish national airline Iberia advertises its service to Cuba with a cartoon featuring dark-skinned Cuban women in bikinis bottle-feeding a tourist baby as he sings, "Feed me, mulattas ... come on, little mamas, take me to my crib." The women then transport the baby to the beach, dance for him, and massage him. After an outcry, the commercials are pulled.

Some very interesting real estate and corporate "dumbest moments." This list is definitely worth scrolling through!

This Week's Blue Paper Online!

The Blue Paper, where journalism is a contact sport!

News Nosh: 11 Jan 2008

Key West to honor first Pan Am flight to Cuba
(Photo courtesy of Monroe County)
By Ken Kaye | Sun-Sentinel.com, January 8, 2008

On Jan. 16, 1928, a Pan Am Fokker Trimotor airplane -- with eight passengers lazing comfortably in white wicker seats -- took off from Key West and flew 90 miles to Havana. It would become the first international passenger flight over water.

Eighty years later, officials in Key West, a place where it doesn't take much of an excuse to throw a party, plan to hold a little soiree in honor of that flight ... continue reading...

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Cuban Defector Sues Over Alleged Threats
By CURT ANDERSON
The Associated Press, MIAMI

When former Cuban Gen. Rafael del Pino defected to the U.S. in 1987 by flying a twin-engine Cessna to Key West, it was hailed by the Reagan administration as one of the greatest intelligence coups in the long Cold War against Cuban President Fidel Castro.

At the time, del Pino was the highest-ranking Cuban military officer ever to defect ...continue reading...

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Head-start home
Pair prepared for design business by decorating their own Island Walk home
By MAXINE GINSBERG, Thursday, January 10, 2008

Two former Key Westers living in an Island Walk town home are as bowled over by their home decor as are their admiring guests.

“We’re true believers in the saying that everything happens for a reason,” Joe Swenarton declared. “Because real estate prices were so high in Key West in 2000, we decided to come to Naples. Because art for our new home seemed so expensive to buy, I decided to try painting some myself. “

Their search for a Collier County home ended when they walked into a town home model at Island Walk ...continue reading...

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Tonya Ware - The Voice You Have To Hear
Top40-Charts.com - New York, NY

Tonya Ware is a native of Key West, Florida. When you hear her crystal-clear voice, you will wonder why you have not heard it before. She started singing at the age of 6. Once she was older, her father, who is a minister, would take her with him to local jails. She would sing before he preached. As soon as she opened her mouth, the inmates would get quiet and come to the front bars to hear the "little girl with the amazing voice."

Her voice is strong. Her songs are pure and honest. Tonya's classically ...continue reading...

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Fight Night In The Keys
TravelVideo.tv (press release)
KEY WEST, Florida Keys

The Key West boxing tradition that dates back to Ernest Hemingway's residence is to return to the island city in a series of bouts set for Friday, Jan. 18, overlooking Key West Harbor at Mallory Square.

Dubbed "Fight Night in the Keys," the seven-bout evening  ...continue reading...

U.S. Credit Crisis Adds to Gloom in Norway

By MARK LANDLER, The New York Times

NARVIK, Norway, Nov. 30 — At this time of year, the sun does not rise at all this far north of the Arctic Circle. But Karen Margrethe Kuvaas says she has not been able to sleep well for days.

What is keeping her awake are the far-reaching ripple effects of the troubled housing market in sunny Florida, California and other parts of the United States.

Ms. Kuvaas is the mayor of Narvik, a remote seaport where the season’s perpetual gloom deepened even further in recent days after news that the town — along with three other Norwegian municipalities — had lost about $64 million, and potentially much more, in complex securities investments that went sour.

“I think about it every minute,” Ms. Kuvaas, 60, said in an interview, her manner polite but harried. “Because of this, we can’t focus on things that matter, like schools or care for the elderly.”

Norway’s unlucky towns are the latest victims — and perhaps the least likely ones so far — of the credit crisis that began last summer in the American subprime mortgage market and has spread to the farthest reaches of the world, causing untold losses and sowing fears about the global economy. Continue reading here...

December 2007 MLS Report

This report is for Key West ONLY for the month of December 2007. For an explanation of the codes, see:

• Types of Residential properties
• Status
• DOM is Days On Market

You can access the data in .pdf or Excel.

• If you want to manipulate the numbers and change the order of the listings based on different criteria (sale date, dom, $/sf, etc), then download Dec 2007 Update in Excel.
  

• If you just want to be able to see what sold when for how much, download Dec 2007 Update in pdf.*

If you have any questions, please ask. Have fun!

*You'll need to download and install the free Acrobat Reader. If your computer is fairly new, the reader probably came installed. First, try downloading the update and see if it opens... If it does, you have the reader! If not, you'll need to download it... easy, don't worry!