Someone just posted the following comment regarding the house on Sheephill Road:
Terrible location/neighborhood? Are you kidding? Convenient an close to everything, and quite a few houses around the corner on Riverside Lane were listed and/or have sold in this very same price range.
In five years, the whole street and neighborhood will look just like this house. Why beat up the owner for being first and smartest for having the vision to tear down an obsolete house?
I don't disagree, nor do I think that the Havemeyer Lane house I mentioned is a terrible buy. But the historical fact is that houses north of the Post Road in Riverside and Old Greenwich have never sold for what their neighbors to the south have. "Pioneers get arrows" one builder told me when he refused to buy property on the then-undeveloped Dialstone Lane. He saved his money but lost a great deal because the guy I did sell it to renovated and sold the first property on the street to exceed $1 million.
But if you're going to go where no one else dares to tread, be prepared to wait awhile before your judgment is confirmed.
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4 comments:
I agree. But the thing to remember is that sometimes things do change radically.
Twenty-five years ago, Greenwich proper was the place to be if you were an up-and-coming Wall Street Master of the Universe. OG and Riverside were more affordable, and I can remember our agent asking if we would "consider" OG or Riverside, since she'd have more to show us there in our pitiably low price range.
And let's not forget what has happened downtown in just the last few years. Not so long ago, some of the streets off Milbank and Mason were actually questionable in places, full of unkempt multi-family conversions and [gasp] renters. Now condos go for $4 million, and developers tout their proximity to shopping and restaurants.
Frankly, I don't think there's really a bad neighborhood in this town if you're looking at things for a long haul.
77 Sheephill is a fine home. The problem as I see it is that it’s a renovation on a busy street. Sheephill is not Riverside Lane where, by my quick count, nine new houses going back to 2001 or so (excluding the Finny homes and new houses on the side streets off Riverside Lane) have been built and turned over at prices in the $1.5-$2.0M range. All of the Riverside Lane houses are new, larger and for the most part on better lots. Otherwise, yes Sheephill is a very central location for eastern Greenwich and it close to both the zoned elementary school and services on rte 1. The Sheephill side walk is also nice as it is wider and set further back than most streets in town. All that said, the cars on Sheephill go 30-40mphs and 77 is really the very first modern renovation in its locality. It has no immediate comps as far as I am concerned. I agree however that this area of Sheephill is primed for teardowns, but until that happens, I don’t think the home can command top dollar. Perhaps in the next upward cycle.
I really like the exterior of the home; its lovely. I just don’t think buyers will compare it favorably to nearby Riverside Lane, particularly because it’s i) a renovation, ii) its on a busier street or at least a street with faster traffic and iii) it has no good comps in its immediate surroundings.
Cos Cobber
Well said Cos Cobber
-Riversider
Am I crazy or did you take the orignal post on 77 Sheephill down?
Advertizers complaining again? I didn't know your blog could influence the market so...
Cos Cobber
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