Thanksgiving

While there isn’t much going on in the real estate world this week before Thanksgiving, a lot of people associated with the industry are showing their gratitude. The Greenwich Association of Realtors, no slouch during the rest of the year in raising money for, among other organizations, Greenwich Red Cross and Kids in Crisis, has raised something like $25,000 for hurricane relief. Considering that many agents had already contributed independently, it’s an impressive sum. The Realtors in town are really good about giving back. My old firm, Round Hill Partners and the people at Shore & Country participate in “Christmas in April”, fixing up houses for those who can’t afford to. My new firm raises (a lot of) money for the Breast Cancer Alliance as well as being a soft touch for just about every charitable organization in Greenwich. Other firms are just as generous. My point here is not to blow my horn (too loudly) for the wonderful folks in real estate but rather to suggest that, just like so many of their fellow residents, they appreciate their good fortune to live here. Besides the high-society fund raising parties (which, wisely, no one invites me to), a lot of people in town work in the trenches: Dr. Rob Michler and his volunteer team who travel to Central America to perform heart surgery on children; drivers for Call A Ride and Meals on Wheels; Red Cross volunteers, and on and on. Despite our image around the rest of the country and excepting access to our beaches, we are a generous town.

Green Demolitions

Here’s another organization I like. Steve Feldman, its president, came up with the idea of homeowners donating their (soon-to-be-demolished) kitchens and baths to his non-profit charity which in turn sells the countertops, appliances, whathaveyou to the general public and building trades. The proceeds benefit a non-profit organization, The Answer to Addiction, which claims a very high (no pun intended) success rate. What do you, the homeowner, get out it? Plenty. First, a nice tax-deduction based (your choice) on your own assigned value or, because Green Demolition keeps meticulous records on every item contributed, its actual sales price. You save on dumpster fees which are about $700 per these days. You save on your contractor’s labor fees because Green Demolition uses its own trained, insured workers do the demolition. You help keep things out of landfills, as well. And, of course, you’re doing a good deed. Not bad, when you can have a feel good experience and put money in your pocket at the same time.
This is not a call for someone’s twenty-year old Kenmore range, however; there has to be a resale value or it doesn’t work. It would shock you, though-or perhaps it wouldn’t – to know how many nearly-new, top end kitchens and baths are tossed out by new owners who want to start anew. In fact, you may be more interested in buying what your neighbor threw out. Either way, Steve is in Riverside and can be reached at (203) 969-4345. Greendemolitions.org.

Blue Grass

One of the projects Green Demolitions supports is a blue grass band, Basket Landing, comprised of five young people 15-30 years-old. They’re playing a repeat performance at Arcadia Coffee House in Old Greenwich November 25th. I missed them the first time through but they got rave reviews then and will presumably do so again. 7:00 pm, admission five bucks.

Real Estate, Finally

There is still some life in the market, of course. Thirty-two houses went to contract last week, including 11 Red Coat Lane which I liked very much. Thirty-eight price reductions, one price increase (20 Church Street – there’s a contrarian!) and sixty-six new listings (even if a lot of those are retreads showing up with new agencies). So if you’re already bored with holiday preparations, go house looking.

25 Shore Acre Drive

This new listing of Doug Fainelli, our former beloved school principle now working at Shore & Country, was my favorite of the week. It’s a small cape just right for a single person or a couple, on one of the nicest streets in Old Greenwich. Very private back yard with pool and, if you must, expansion room for more bedrooms upstairs. $1,795,000 which, for Old Greenwich, is probably about right.

Would You Buy a House From This Man?

So an associate of mine is selling her Stamford condo and the buyer brings in a house inspector. Former cop from Stratford, for what that’s worth. He’s inspecting away and comes across the alarm system. “What’s this?” says he, and he pushes the “help I’m being attacked and set on fire so send the SWAT Team, firemen and EMTs” button to see what happens. What happens is just what anyone else would have expected so, as the alarm shrieks and the response teams gear up, this former cop rips the wires from the alarm to stop the proceedings. That works no better than his first attempt, naturally, so everyone shows up at the party. Don’t know whether the buyer paid him for his time.