83 Riverside Avenue
Sold!
I first praised this house this summer when its price was reduced from $1.750 to $1.599 million. I thought the first price was fair, the new price a bargain. It was reported sold today for $1.5 million or about 15% off its original ask. That's a nice value for the new owner, I think. By the way, this place went to contract some time ago but news of that happy development was withheld (publicly) for 3-4 weeks, until the mortgage contingency was met. There's nothing under-handed about that - I, too don't disclose contracts until all contingencies are fully satisfied because once you report a house as under contract all showings stop, and if the deal later falls through, the seller's been disadvantaged. I mention it only to point out that the days of gaining a mortgage approval in a mere matter of days are over, at least for now.

Drinking the Kool-Aid
Governor Rell was delighted to announce Friday that she and her co-leaders in Hartford intend to shut down the economy within 40 years - her Global Warming Law goes into effect October 1st. I won't be around to pick gleanings from the (organic) farm fields but I feel bad for my kids. Here's our Gov:

“Our goal is to cut emissions 10% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 2001 levels by 2050,” Ms. Rell said. “We are committed to achieving this in the most cost-effective way possible and at the same time develop new opportunities for alternative energy. That is an important, emerging sector of our economy, one that will create jobs and enhance our quality of life.”

The scary part is that Rell and cohorts actually seem to believe this.

Why you never want to let your Goldman Sachs competitor become Secretary of the Treasury
Or, how Lehman's fall triggered collapse.

OwlGore and Streisand heading for Bangladesh?
Well darn! The developed world's cutting CO2 emissions but those pesky poor folks on the other side of the world insist on living!
Update (hat tip, Instapundit.com)European countries are cutting back on emission control efforts as their economies falter. We're all Bangladeshians now, eh?

Storm Clouds Over Miami?
This real estate consultant thinks that the market's in the tank until 2011 and that big houses are dead. Does this apply to Greenwich? Different markets, but are the buyers different? I don't know - I'm going to call a Bentley salesman and ask how things are going. Here's the consultant:

Sherry expects the housing hangover to linger in part because mortgage lenders have returned to old-fashioned lending standards. In contrast to the no-money-down loans that were easily available during the boom, banks are likely to demand 20 percent down payments for years to come, he said.

Moreover, Generations X and Y - those born after 1964 - are making less than their Baby Boomer parents, carrying credit card balances and student loans.

"They're going to have less money, and they're going to have a hard time getting a loan," Sherry said. "They're not going to do what the Boomers did, which was every couple of years to move up, move up, move up."

So good luck selling a McMansion to members of Generations X and Y, he warned. They're pursuing what Sherry calls "frugal chic" - buying a small home but putting a big-screen TV in it.

"They're not buying Mercedes, they're buying Volkswagens," Sherry said. "They're not buying big houses, they're buying small houses."

The Cavalry has arrived!
Business is so hectic these days that I've had a hard time keeping up with my postings. So imagine my delight when Amanda Von Stuckle, Greenwich's top Realtor and speculative home builder, offered to join forces and provide her unique insight into the Greenwich housing market. Amanda grew up in Bedford but shopped on Greenwich Avenue, attended Rosemary Hall and Sweet Briar College, then returned to Greenwich to start up, in sequence, a biotech company, an internet provider of popcorn and pickles, and a dog walking service. After selling all three of those enterprises at an enormous profit in early 2000 Amanda went into commercial and residential real estate development here in town. She's a fast friend of Greenwich Post's new gossip columnist, Susie (in fact, they often tour the town together) so she knows everything about who's who, who's doing whom and what they're buying. We'll be hearing from Amanda on a regular basis but for now, here's an introductory interview.

For What it's Worth (FWIT): So, Amanda, tell us a little about yourself. Grew up in Bedford, and I see that you attended Rosemary Hall - that's impressive.
Amanda Von Stuckle (AVS) Oh, not that much so - it was post graduate - they have a program for people like me, kids who, I guess took a few too many hits on the ol' bong to really succeed in high school. They take you in after 12th grade, assign a smart student to take your exams and write your papers for a year and presto! You're off to college. Choate has the same program but they mostly limit it to basketball and hockey players who are needed on a college team. Rosemary just requires a rich daddy, and I had one of those.
FWIT: Hmmm. Do anything notable at Sweet Briar?
AVS: Drank.
FWIT: Okay, so what about this real estate thing - how'd you get into that?
AVS: I know everyone who counts in town, and I know what makes them tick. That's all I needed to land in real estate on both feet and start running. I sold $100 million my first year.
FWIT: That's amazing - so, what makes these people "tick", as you say.
AVS: Fear. Fear at losing what they have, fear of not getting what they want. Oh - and greed, of course. I play those emotions like Yehudi Menuhin and that's all I need, baby.
FWIT: That's all there is to it? Fear and greed?
AVS: For the people I deal with, sure.
FWIT: How's that working out these days?
AVS:(coughs) Not as well as before, frankly. I've got the fear thing working but right now, these chumps are afraid of losing the house they have, rather than the house they want. Thank God my commercial ventures are doing so well.
FWIT:You were dumped out of that Stamford redevelopment project, I understand.
AVS: That's a retrenchment, not a dumping. Now we're going to concentrate on building an office complex at Bruce Park.
FWIT: The town's going to let you pave the park?
AVS: Sure - once we agreed to leave a little playground for the cripples, we were in. Besides, we've got the Lowell Weiker precedent to guide us. Remember him? "I'm a Weiker Liker?" When he was First Selectman he sold the air rights over the railroad to his pal and campaign manager, Ashforth, blocked the view of Long Island Sound for everyone in town and there wasn't a peep. Ashforth paid $15,000 to the town, God knows how much to Weiker and faster than you can say. "Greenwich Plaza" it was done.
FWIT: You're not saying you've bribed Peter Tesei, surely.
AVS: Who's saying that? Not me.
FWIT: Why don't we leave it there for now, Amanda. We're really excited that you'll be posting on this blog and we can't wait for your thoughts on what's happening and what will happen in these turbulent times.
AVS: It's going to be fun. I'm off to Valbella! for lunch - there's been another Regis sighting - but I'll be back with news later.

Can you spell "schadenfreud?"
I'm not sure I can, either, but read this, and see if it doesn't warm the cockles of your heart.

The "money quote", so to speak, is this:

Not all Wall Street CEOs have escaped unscathed. Cayne sold a Bear Stearns holding once worth $1 billion for $61 million in March. Lehman's Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, who made $165 million between 2003 and 2007, sold 2.88 million of his firm's shares for 16 cents to 30 cents apiece, or less than $500,000, according to a regulatory filing.

The next shoe?

Tom Wolfe, who coined the term "Masters of the Universe" to describe the hot young traders pillaging Wall Street in the 80's says not to worry, Greenwich, all the smart young guys abandoned their trading desks, joined hedge funds and moved out to Greenwich long ago. Wolfe says that they're ensconced on Round Hill Road and Field Point Circle and their manors are paid for.

We'll see. Meanwhile, in the paper's same edition, there's this report that hedge funds are bracing for a massive capital outflow perhaps as soon as Tuesday. And there's this fun quote:

One little-known hedge fund barometer is pointing to trouble, however. The alphabet soup of complex investments that Wall Street created in recent years — R.M.B.S.’s, C.D.O.’s and the like — includes C.F.O.’s, short for collateralized fund obligations. Virtually unknown outside the industry, these investments are the hedge fund equivalent of mortgage-backed securities: securities backed by hedge funds.

We live in interesting times.

Stay or leave?
Interesting article from The Chicago Tribune on the pros and cons of staying in your house until it sells or clearing out. The reporter finds "experts" on both sides (that's what real reporters, rather than this opinionated blogger are supposed to do) so read it and make up your own mind. My personal preference? It's easier to sell an empty house but, then, I also think that staging is a waste of money and plenty of my peers disagree with me on that, too. Especially the ones who have a staging business on the side.

It's not just houses
According to the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank, Gulf Steam GIV jets are a drag on the market, with the used inventory up 3X from last year. Just like Greenwich spec houses until a few months ago, prices remain high in the face of declining demand but Frank quotes one dealer who predicts a 30% price drop in the coming year. Doesn't builder Mark Mariani claim to own such a jet? I wonder if he still does.

Hurricane headed for Maine

Now, I understand that Maine doesn't have all that many people living on its easternmost edge, and I understand that a Category I hurricane doesn't pack the punch of a Category III, but if more of this country's citizens approached difficulty with this lobsterman's equanimity, I think we'd be better off:

Many lobstermen moved their boats to sheltered coves to ride out the storm, said Dwight Carver, a lobsterman on Beals Island. Some also moved lobster traps from shallow water, but most were caught off-guard by the storm's short notice.

''I'm sure we'll have a lot of snarls, a lot of mess, to take care of when it's done,'' Carver said. ''It'll take us a few days to straighten things out.''

The man must have missed the memo advising him to wait for FEMA's help to arrive.

Slappy the Happy Clown says ...

It's a quiet Sunday morning so I thought I'd look up some statistics (usually, I reserve this kind of scintillating behavior for soporific purposes, but ....)
There are 121 active listings for "new" - built 2005 and later - houses. Most of these, but not all, are spec homes waiting for their first buyer but, as they all compete with others in their price range, I'm lumping them together.
19 Houses are priced from $8 million to the top of new construction, $25 million.
12 between $7-8
14 between $6-7
14 between $5-6
15 between $4-5
14 between $3-4
17 between $2-3
16 between $1-2.
0 below $1.0

How are we doing getting rid of this inventory of houses? Not so well, I think. In the period of June 1,2008 through this past Friday, 18 new house went to contract. By my math, that's a touch over one a week, which, barring any more new spec houses joining the party, would clear things out in oh, say 2 1/4 years.

One little fly in this otherwise-cheerful ointment: From August 1 to date, we've only moved 5 new houses. If that keeps up, figure 4 1/2, 5 years before some builders get their money. I can barely spell foreclosure, but I can smell it. But, as my fellow Realtors and Slappy the Clown like to say, "don't worry, be happy!" No doubt something will turn up, eh? Until then, if you need your car washed, you'll probably see some real estate agents (and builders) competing for your dollar with the GHS kids. Be kind. And generous.

Wow!
If this article in The New York Times is accurate, one tiny segment of A.I.G., led by an arrogant, over-paid hot shot in London, brought ruin to a trillion dollar company. The article's written by Gretchen Morgenson who, back in my lawyer days when I was chasing wicked stock brokers, always seemed to produce Wall Street reporting that was spot on - go read this one.

Taking the High Ground

I have been accused of stupidity by a liberal commentator and, while I'm cut to the quick by his resort to such mean-spirited name calling, I stand abashed. I have failed to appreciate his allies' use of logical reasoning to support their arguments and in fact, until he wrote, I dismissed those people as lightweight morons. My mistake, as these examples demonstrate: Consider, for instance, the story that liberal pacs are readying an attack ad concerning McCain's battle with cancer, or the Democrat Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and tax cheat, Charles Rangel,calling Sarah Palin a retard. But wait, there's more! Madonna, that arbitrator of all things tasteful compares John MacCain (unfavorably, one assumes) to Hitler and Mugabe and Obama himself terrorized old folks in Florida by telling them that McCain wants to cut their Social Security payments by half.

I hadn't recognized all this as the reasoned argument our new commentator friend calls for but then, I'm just a real estate agent and can't appreciate nuance and feeling-based "facts". Darn.

My friend Claudette at Greenwich Diva is a bit dissatisfied with the Republican ticket and, sadly, has threatened to leave us should it be elected: "If McCain should win, I will leave my adopted country that I have come to love. As much as I love living here, I will move until they are out."

My sadness at losing a friend, even if only for 4-8 years (unless Gov. Palin is subsequently reelected in her own right, in which case it could be 16 years before I see Claudette again) is tempered by the consoling thought that she'll have the company of plenty of expatriates who have also vowed to vamoose. Robert Altman did but, sadly, departed this mortal coil before making good on his promise as did, I think, Pierre Salenger. But there'll always be Alec Baldwin, Barbara Streisand and Lynn Redgrave (possibly) to keep her company, as well as Susan Saranden and a bunch of musicians I've never heard of.

Next time I see Claudette I'll have to get her address in her new paradise: Venezuela? Cuba? I hear that Russia's got things going again, finally. And of course, there's always Iran - don't know whether Claudette will enjoy wearing a chador and stoning homosexuals but at least it will be a different experience. So bon voyage, friend, and call when you (or Gary - time to get that guy moving!) find work.

Can't we find a candidate who can think on his (or her) feet?
So I spent a few minutes listening to the debate last night (a crashing bore, I'd say) and heard Obama droning on and on about McCain's lack of compassion for "wounded veterans". "It's a Lloyd Bentsen moment" says I to myself, and I leaned forward to hear the Republican reduce the presumptuous twit to a puddle of twitching hyperbole.
What he should have said was, "Senator, I know wounded veterans. Senator, I was a wounded veteran. Senator, don't you dare lecture me about compassion for wounded veterans, ever again."

It could have been game, set and match for the man from Arizona. Instead, he mouthed some platitude about how the troops loved him and let Obama off the hook. Go for the jugular, Senator, no more Senatorial courtesy.

Doesn't he have a staff to prepare him for these things? Missed opportunity.

Nancy of Arabia

Bail out bill swells from 3 pages to 147 and still growing.

How large will the bill be after this weekend? Hell if I know, but I'd guess 350 pages. The Democrats, seeing their opportunity, are larding it with pork. Here's what Pelosi and our own Senator Dodd have dreamed up:

TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.
DEPOSITS.Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).
USE OF DEPOSITS.Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)
65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and
35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).
REMAINDER DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY. All amounts remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

The Housing Trust Fund is yet another give away of taxpayer money for the deserving poor. It's enmeshed with the ACORN Housing Fund which helps po' folks get surprise! No doc mortgages.

The Capital Magnet Fund is more of the same.

Gee, between Pelosi and Dodd's perpetuation of our failed housing policy, Senator Reid's move to ban off-shore drilling and shale oil mining, you'd suspect that they like the way things are and are determined to keep things screwed up until after the election when, of course, they will fix everything and we'll move forward to the land of milk and honey. I can't wait.

Greenwich Time has a more complete story this morning on yesterday's foreclosure auction on Dwight Lane.
I'm glad, for the neighbors' sake, that someone is finally going to fix up this eyesore but I do wish the new owners good luck in renovating it. To my eye, the rotted siding, failed roof, windows, pool and tennis court, the obsolete electrical system and the obnoxious, all-pervasive stench of mildew would suggest that a bulldozer rather than a carpenter be brought on site, but the happy owner-wife has apparently had an architect review the dump and if he thinks it can be successfully restored, I bow to his superior knowledge.
One of my readers comments below that he thinks this property was a steal - I would only point out that, out of all the people in the world, only one person was willing to bid.
Update:

Here's the Tax Assessor's card on this property. Highlights include its "value" of $4,327,000 (someone's in for a tax reduction), the surprising (to me) revelation that it has 4 bedrooms and 7 1/2 baths, and, no surprise here, its condition is "below normal for age".
10-1975 LAUER MICHAEL DWIGHT LANE 0007 101
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
PARCEL NUMBER
10-1975

Parent Parcel Number
0

Property Address
DWIGHT LANE 0007

Neighborhood
180100

Property Class
101 Single Family

TAXING DISTRICT INFORMATION

Jurisdiction 57

Area 1

Corporation 57

District 10

Section & Plat 116

Routing Number 2310E0003

Site Description

Topography:




Public Utilities:
Water:
Sewer: N
Electricity: Y
Gas:
Cable:
Well:
Septic:
Other:
Shared Well:
Shared Septic:

Street or Road:



Neghborhood:


Zoning:
16 RA-4 Single Family 4 acre

Legal Acres:
5.1

OWNERSHIP
LAUER MICHAEL

7 DWIGHT LANE
GREENWICH, CT 6831

LOT NO 46 DWIGHT LA E3


CURRENT ASSESSMENT

Assessment Year 10/31/2005
Reason for Change 2005 Revised
VALUATION L 3027100
Market B 1300800
O 0
T 4327900
VALUATION L 2118970
70% Assessed/Use B 910560
O 0
T 3029530


PREVIOUS ASSESSMENTS

Assessment Year 10/1/2005 10/1/2001 10/1/2001
Reason for Change 2005 Reval 2001 Final 2001 Reval
VALUATION L 3027100 2030800 2030800
Market B 2734400 2067100 2012000
O 0 0 0
T 5761500 4097900 4042800
VALUATION L 2118970 1421560 1421560
70% Assessed/Use B 1914080 1446970 1408400
O 0 0 0
T 4033050 2868530 2829960




Dwelling # 1
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Style: Contemporary
Year Built: 1986

Occupancy: Single family

Story Height: 2
Construction Type: Wood Frame
Finished Area: 7653
Attic: None
Basement: 3/4 Bsmt, 1/4 Crawl

EXTERIOR
Covering: Wood siding 99%
%

Condition: below normal for age

ROOFING
Material: Asphalt shingles

INTERIOR ACCOMODATIONS
Finished Rooms: 14
Bedrooms: 4
Half Baths: 1
3 Fixture Full Baths: 5
4 Fixture Full Baths: 1
5 Fixture Full Baths: 1

HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING
Heating Type: Forced hot air-oil
Air Conditioning; Y

OTHER
Retaining Wall
Res Pool In Ground
Res Tennis Court
FSP

The Bad News Gazette

Weekly roundup
Well, 6 single family houses went to contract this week, compared to, say, 10 per day in a normal September market. Top (asking) price was $3.995 million, the rest dropped rapidly from there -1 above a million, the rest below.

Sales weren't any more exciting: only 4 and, other than one whopper, prices were all well below $2 million. Langhorne Lane, Antares' disaster, "sold" for $13.750 million, down from its ask of $28.0, but if this was a settlement of a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled investor, and I believe it was, the price might just reflect a litigant salvaging what he could. Want an apples to apples comparison? 22 Bramble Lane, in Riverside, was purchased for $1.525 million in 2005. It was listed for $1.575 this summer and sold almost immediately for $1.525. So no whopping profit there (okay, a loss) but the seller was smart to take what money he could, and run.

24 Old Wagon, in Old Greenwich, asked $849,000 and after 141 days sold for $720,000. Ooops.

There were 77 price changes, all downwards, and 65 new listings. A bunch of the "new" listings are just re-treads returning to the market at a new, lower price and a fresh listing date.

As of this Saturday morning, there are 607 single family homes for sale in town, ranging from $125,000,000 to $445,000, so there's something for everyone. At 6 sales per week, they all should be gone in about 2 years, as long as no one else gets the bright idea of trying to sell his house before then. Stay where you are, damn it!

Nah, just kidding. Price your house to meet the new reality and you'll be in and out of the market long before a lot of these houses move.

To end this sales report on a happy note - and my peers demand it - 999 North Street, an antique way up in Banksville (but still in Greenwich), was listed for $672,500 and sold - bidding war! - for $685,000. So that still happens, even if only in the lower end of the market. Have a nice weekend.

Fun at the foreclosure sale (Missed the actual buyers because I can't seem to use my iPhone - what a dummy)
IRS auctioneer (in blue suit)


Crowd of non-buyers disperses, counting its blessings.

21 Desiree
Intriguing?
This perfectly nice house has sat unwanted since May 2005. Priced as high as (here's a case where raising the price definitely did not help) $5.950, it was lowered today to $4.995. That might do it, but I wish the owner had picked that price originally.

Utube on the housing bust
Greenwich Roundup readers might benefit from watching it.

My pal Brian over at Greenwich Roundup shore can't spell but he is nice enough to link to this blog from time to time; I wish he'd read it, too. If he did, he wouldn't post things like this:

Earlier this year when it was reported that 4,000 Coneticut families had lost their homes to forclusure the heartless Wall Street Big Shots said it was thier own fault. They should have been smarter they had no business getting a subprime loan in an attept to experience the American dream of owning a home.
There wasn't a damn dime available to these famlies who needed to learn to pick their selves up by ther bootstraps and go find a new place to rent....

But those who are primarily to blame are walking among ushere in Greenwich , smug, unrepentant, still rich.
Maybe some government agency will grow some balls and manage to indict these bums for racketeering.
It is time to seize those bonuses and put them in a fund to help home owners that are in foreclosure..

Brian, last Thursday I provided a link to and quoted extensively from a 1999 New York Times article that showed Dodd and his partners in crime, Bill Clinton and Barney Frank,forcing Fannie Mae to increase its mortgage portfolio's holdings of sub-prime, non-verified loans to 50%. This was supposed to increase minority homeownership. Instead it set in motion today's train wreck and I, at least, find those politician's present wailing and gnashing of teeth both hypocritical and a bit angry-making. Your poor foreclosees knew they were engaging in fraud, knew they couldn't afford what they were "buying" - if no money down can be considered buying - and were counting on an ever-rising market to make things right. Sometimes, life doesn't turn out the way we hope.
I'm not impressed by Wall Street's acumen in this matter but I'd look a lot further back than the inauguration of George Bush for the root causes of our troubles.

Can you hang on for a few years? I promise I'll get back to you.
98% of commercial real estate professionals are bearish on the market and most, 62% don't see the market stabilizing before 2010 - another 22% see 2011 as the magic year.

The majority of real estate executives — 60 percent — say the current credit crisis is the event with the single-greatest impact on the commercial real estate industry during the past 20 years, according to a national survey conducted by law firm DLA Piper.

The survey measures attitudes and perspectives of 424 top executives within the commercial real estate industry.

The majority of all respondents — 62 percent — don’t expect the real estate markets to stabilize until 2010, and 22 percent don’t expect to see stabilization until 2011.

About 51 percent of all respondents expect foreign investors to be the most active in the United States during the next year. Ninety percent describe themselves as bearish, up sharply from 68 percent in last October’s survey.

Eight out of 10 respondents do not believe that the recent developments concerning Lehman Brothers, AIG and Merrill Lynch signal the “bottom” of the cycle, nor do respondents think they provide the “first sign of light” at the end of the credit crisis tunnel.

Those views are for commercial, not residential real estate, but I'd guess you'd find a lot of residential brokers who agree with the sentiments. Of course, residential agents are handed rose-colored glasses at birth so there may be more optimism in the residential field.

James Lileks as usual, posts a pretty good summary of the current mess in Washington and Wall Street:

I’m of two minds on the bailout – reasonable people object, but on the other hand, let’s not just wreck everything today because we want to stand on principles, okay? I don’t mind people standing on principles except when they’re also standing on my throat, and if it’s a choice between Liquidity with Troubling Implications and A Firm Stance On Sound Ideas that Incidentally Throws Everyone Into Super-Harsh Bankruptcy A-Go-Go, well, I cave. I’d also like to see the Congress manage to pass something without yoking a hundred dead-eyed hobby-horses to the bill, too; when I learned that Sen. Reid wanted to attach an amendment that extended the ban on shale oil exploration and drilling, almost 16% of my brain liquefied and shot out my ears.

25 Birchwood
If at first you don't succeed...
This house has finally gone to contract, price unspecified. It came on last year at $4.188 million and then yo-yo'd (yoyoed? I have no idea how do spell yo yo in the past tense) through 12 price "adjustments", dropping down to $3.950, up to $4.175, then $4.2, down as low as $3.65 (in a couple of steps) and finally coming to rest at $3.995. So perhaps it's an example of raising the price actually working to sell a house, or perhaps the buyer ignored the asking price and bid what he wanted. I'll let you know after the sales price is reported.

Okay, we can call off the financial crisis
7 Dwight Lane did find someone willing to meet the minimum bid of $2.5 million. This wasn't exactly what the IRS representative told me and a few other amused skeptics last month, when he insisted that his "biggest problem was only having one of these to sell" and assuring us that he had bidders lined up the door, ready to buy this dreadful property for far more than the minimum but a buyer was found among the 20-30 people who showed up to laugh.
The buyer was an elderly gentleman from, I think, out of town (ED - do non-Greenwich residents look different from us? Why, yes, I believe they do - besides, no one from Greenwich would think this place was worth what they bought it for). He and his 3rd (?) wife, who probably sprung him from the asylum just for the day, succumbed to the rep's rather unoriginal mantra of "Greenwich, Greenwich, Greenwich, location, location, location" and parted with their money - there's a picture of that act above.
Regardless, it did sell and out governmental coffers are now full. Let's all relax and enjoy the weekend.
Update
Greenwich Time reports that the befuddled buyer was a 68-year-old retiree from Scottsdale, Arizona (I told you he didn't look like he was from Greenwich - take that, Editor!). No pictures yet but Bob Luckey, GT photographer and one of the best in town, was on site so check the paper tomorrow. I snapped some shots with my trusty iPhone and will post a few as soon as I can abandon this worthless office Window machine and get home to my Mac.

Look out below!

Realogy and its credit woes
According to The New York Times,

Dozens of other companies are being closely watched for signs of trouble, according to Mr. Penniman. Among those he cited whose debt showed distress were Sbarro, the Italian fast-food chain; Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, the rental-car company; and Sealy, the mattress maker whose predecessor helped lead to the fall of First Boston.

Analysts are also watching Claire’s Stores, the costume jewelry purveyor, and Realogy, the parent company of the Century 21 and Coldwell Banker real estate brokerage firms.

What will probably happen to Realogy is that, once the money managers of Apollo Management grow tired of losing, not making money on their real estate venture they'll unload Realogy and with it its branches like Sotheby's and Coldwell on someone else. Those firms themselves will stick around - why, they're as solid as Washington Mutual!

Mr. Sanity to the rescue?
Picking up on my brother Gideon's observation that there are plenty of buyers out there but their offers are being rejected as "crazy" by sellers, I suggest to sellers that the market is, with the exception of Wall Street, usually not crazy. If you're receiving offers that are way below what you'd hoped to get for your house, it may be time to either pull the property off and hope for better times or to get real: you're receiving a message - tune it in.

7 Dwight Lane
One story that GT has posted today (a month after this blog reported on it, with pictures) is the IRS auction to be held at noon up on Dwight Lane. The auctioneer claims it will sell way beyond its asking price of $2.5 million - I say it won't. I'll be there this afternoon and will let you know what happens, and who was right.

"Hey, where're ya goin'?"
Police officer of the month
Another story that Greenwich Time refuses to share with its on line readers is the announcement of a patrolman's selection as "officer of the month", a distinction earned by his alert response to and prevention of a burglary at 1 Stallion Trails (if you're in the market for house in Greenwich, by the way, either avoid houses that are right by a Merritt exit or invest in a great alarm system - our burglary friends from outside the local area like the "EZ-off, EZ-on" aspects of such locations). The cop did a fine job and hats off to him but I liked the part that said the police "noticed that the man was wearing an ankle bracelet". What kind of dummy goes on a house job wearing a probation department - installed ankle bracelet? I once complained to a colleague as we exited Stamford's criminal court that our clients were eff'in idiots and he responded, "if they weren't, we'd be out of a job". Touche.

45 Upland Drive
Why I don't bother with Greenwich Time's real estate reporting
In today's edition of our local paper Susan Nova writes about "a magnificent mansion" that's for sale on Upland Drive (no link, because the paper hasn't put Nova's column on line today). While the "reporter" accurately recites the house's many charms, and there are many, I'm sure,I'd think that readers would be interested to know the (non) sales history of this spec home. If I'm right, and you're one of those readers, here goes:
The house was finished and went on the market in January, 2007, for $9.250 million. The first broker couldn't sell it so the builder listed it with another, who dropped the price to $8.650 million, and there it sits. I admire the second broker's marketing skill in persuading Nova to highlight this house but I suspect, and I'm sure I'm wrong, that price, not lack of publicity, is what's keeping this property around.
Just as an aside, when I went on line to search for this house I just punched in some price parameters: $8 - $ 12 million. There are 41 houses for sale in that price range. Barring an extraordinary turnaround on Wall Street today, I'd bet that the majority of those will still be available next Monday.

Stop, look and listen
I almost hit three Greenwich Academy girls this morning - my fault - I saw them walking parallel to the road, took my eyes off the road for a second and they were suddenly in the crosswalk. I got some well deserved sneers from the dears as I braked to avoid them but in my defense, these kids never looked for traffic, just strode into the crosswalk secure in the knowledge that cars would stop for them. I'm sure that growing up in a Back Country mansion and having one's own tumbled-marble bath suite conveys certain advantages in life but it will all be for naught if our little princesses don't look before crossing the road. Outside of Greenwich life, including inattentive drivers, happens.

Here's a shock:
Greens have bigger carbon footprints than us little people

According to the researchers, people who regularly recycle rubbish and save energy at home are also the most likely to take frequent long-haul flights abroad. The carbon emissions from such flights can swamp the green savings made at home, the researchers claim.

Stewart Barr, of Exeter University, who led the research, said: "Green living is largely something of a myth. There is this middle class environmentalism where being green is part of the desired image. But another part of the desired image is to fly off skiing twice a year. And the carbon savings they make by not driving their kids to school will be obliterated by the pollution from their flights."

Some people even said they deserved such flights as a reward for their green efforts, he added.

Of course, here in Greenwich we drive our kids to school and jet off on vacations, but we've got just the cutest "save the earth" bumper stickers in the world! See y'all at Whole Foods.

69 Mallard Drive
That was then, this is now
When this place was listed as land in September 2004 at $899K, it sold via a bidding war in mere days for $952,500. Ah, 2004! The new owner built a spec house and in November 2005 offered it up at $2.575 million. It took a year (usually a sign of trouble, no?) but it eventually sold, in November 2006, for $1.960 million, or 76% of its asking price. That's a reflection, I think, not of a crumbling market but rather the house's location on a busy street; for the most part, 2006 was a good year for real estate. The buyers seem to have forgotten this lot's history and must surely have cut off their newspapers and stopped watching the news because they've listed it today for $2.495 million, 27% more than they paid for it back then. I wish them luck, naturally, and I'm awed by their optimism.

12 Druid Lane, Rvsd
Nice house, but not selling
This new house has been officially on the market since April 2007, but was only finished in June of this year, which is usually when the clock starts running (few people are willing to buy a hole in the ground but it's nice when it happens). It's been priced at $3.850 until today, when it dropped to $3.550. That's probably a little aggressive, but it's a nice house on a good street so I think market conditions are more to blame for its failure to sell than its price, although these days, some very nice Riverside houses are climbing down into this price range and the competition is building.
One drawback, perhaps, is the builder's decision to drop the house below street level. He did so because he's a thoughtful guy and didn't want his house to tower over its more modest neighbors but, in my experience, buyers hate driving down, even a few feet, to a house. Too late to re-think that now, unfortunately. Nice guys finish last?

This so pleased my liberal friends that I thought I'd share it with readers.

I lost again!
Damn contest is fixed, obviously.
MacArthur Genius Awards Announced

Why aren't I popular?
I'm tired of being chastised for my negative views so from now on, I'm going to try to write articles like this: Real Estate Sales in the Sunshine State are Going Great!

Camel's nose under the tent?
What I don't like about the trillion dollar payoff
By nationalizing our banks, we're setting the stage for another very long step towards socialism. This bill will regulate the salaries of executives who take the bailout but Barney Frank wants more, he wants Congress to
set the pay of every executive in the country. Today's assault will be just the beginning, according to Frank:

On CNBC early this afternoon, Frank said that the initial moves to limit pay and golden parachutes at firms which receive government help are only a first step. He said the current negotiations would also “lay the groundwork” for plans next year to place restrictions on executive pay on all US companies.

One of the most influential books I read as a young tot was Friedrich Von Hayeks' Road to Serfdom, in which the author, having had a close up and personal look at collectivism, both in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, warned that socialism led inevitably and logically to tyrany. Like Al Gore, Von Hayek won a Nobel Prize but I suspect that's the only thing the two men have in common. And I doubt that Barney Frank and his cohorts getting ready to pull this fast one on us ever read it, either. If they did, they're using its precepts as a roadmap to seizing power.

You don't have to be an Einstein to deal with this market
The owner of 40 Sawmill Lane paid $6.0 million for his house in May, 2006 and put $500,000 in improvements into it. He is now buying a house in another town and asked his agent, Julianne Ward, what price would sell it. The result is that he's written off the cost of his improvements and priced it just below where he bought it: $5,995,000. Who knows if that's going to do the trick but the seller is obviously smart enough to know where to begin and, as suggested here yesterday, he's looking at the total picture: he may get nipped in his sale here, but he's saving a bundle on his new house up the coast where the market has been hit even harder than in Greenwich. So he'll probably come out ahead of the game or close to even, which is not a bad result today. Hats off to him.
40 Sawmill Lane

504 North Street
Another price cut on North Street
This spec house has enjoyed an interesting pricing history. Originally listed for $11.795 in November '06, it was bumped to $12.960 7 months later. A year after that, the new higher price having inexplicably failed to produce a buyer, its price was reduced to $11.995 and today, 6 months after that drop, it's been cut $1.4 million to $10.595. What's the right price? Obviously its builder doesn't know but, eventually, the market will tell him.

22 Indian Head Road
Open House Report
I didn't mention any houses I saw on Tuesday's open house because I'm not mean enough to give my opinion about some houses. But the house pictured above caught my eye today. Originally listed for $2.695 million in April, 2003, it took until January of the next year to sell, at $2.4 million. In a strong market, that was some evidence that there were "issues" with the house. Its cramped flow, the graveyard behind it, whatever. The buyers then are the sellers now and, although they've done nothing I can see since their purchase, they've marked it up a million bucks and offer it to you for $3.4 million. It's entirely possible that I missed certain hidden charms here and that it will be snapped up by an eager public but I look down the street at what's available for $3.6 million and consider other houses in this price range and I, for one, wonder what on earth these people are thinking. Still, everyone has an opinion and mine is no more valuable than anyone else's. For all I know, this could be somebody's dream house, just waiting for the right buyer.

Dear Editor: I view with concern and alarm
State of the market
Brother Gideon writes,

I keep running into listing brokers who are getting "ridiculous" offers on their houses. Seems like people are trying to buy but Greenwich sellers aren't impressed.

All very possible - I don't know, obviously, what these offers were, and I'd advise you to run your potential offer past a good agent to see whether you've veered across the line from painful but acceptable into, "see you in Hell" land.

What I do know, however, is that I passed along some offers a few months ago that were scorned by sellers as beneath their dignity to reply and, today, those offers would look pretty good. So ....

Off to the open house tour. A quick look at the hot sheet seems to indicate that sellers still aren't getting it, but perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised. If so, you'll read about it here, first.

OwlGore urges
civil disobedience to stop construction of coal-fired power plants

I assume that he'd like to see us emulate England, where vandals were recently acquitted of trespass and violence on the grounds of "self defense" - they were, according to a British jury, just trying to save their own lives and that of everyone else in England by ending global warming. Gore, by the way, approves of this violence at any plant, anywhere in the world, thus distinguishing himself from that other great orator, Joe Biden, who supports coal-fired plants so long as they're in China or India or some godforsaken place populated by foreigners.

What struck me about OwlGore's speech to young terrorists, aside from his advocacy of shutting down the world's power supply, was this:

"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."

Now, the man did attend law school, even if he borrowed Teddy Kennedy's notes, so he should know that our Supreme Court has long recognized the right of commercial entities to engage in free speech; his desire to see "carbon companies" (by which I assume he means most businesses in the United States) hamstrung by lawsuits in 50 states (or 57 states, if Obama's right)seems a bit ... ignorant, therefore, if not malevolent. According to Gore and his friends, the debate over global warming is closed and anyone who says otherwise should be prosecuted, but those darn scientists keep coming up with data that suggest otherwise.For instance, yesterday's NY Times reported that the permafrost isn't melting after all and in fact, has survived numerous periods of warming before. According to scientists, (reported by my cousin Henry Fountain but I assure you, Henry is as on board with OwlGore as the most befuddled college freshman) the ice up there has hung around for at least 740,000 years.

But Gore did win the Nobel prize, they tell me, and he's got the 100', diesel powered houseboat to prove it. What a guy - can't we persuade him to be our president? Air Force One may be a tad smaller than his current jet but when it comes to sacrifice, Gore understands. And when he doesn't, Barbara Streisand can explain it to him.
Streisand Eco-Cottage

Rain on the parade?
7 Dwight Lane
This place is to be sold via IRS auction Friday at noon, minimum bid $2.5 million. I reported before that the auctioneer claims his only problem is that he only has one of them to sell and that buyers are lined up out the door. Maybe. I'm going early, with camera, and hope to interview potential bidders. I'll report back on what happens and what sort of pharmacological inventory they used before bidding.

15 Shoal Point, Rvsd
The acid test
This house sold, finally, for $3.275 in 2005, $1.0 million less than its deluded builder originally asked. It's newly back on the market, asking $3.3 million. If the "15% off 2005 prices" theory is accurate, the selling price should be $2.783. I hope that, just this once, I'm all wet and that the house sells for a new record. It's right up the creek from me and as that great tax cutter JFK once observed, "a raising tide raises all ships".

When in danger, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout
The Wall Street mess
Rather than pass out a trillion dollars to the same wonderful folks who strove so mightily to bring about our and their own ruin, why not cut taxes by the bucketful and see what happens? I bet we grow our way out of all this. And if I'm wrong well, just think how cheap Greenwich real estate will be.

For a more cogent article along somewhat the same lines, try this.

It could be that a Congressional rejection of the bailout proposal, rather than clogging the markets, will unclog them. If Congress goes home having sent financial institutions a clear signal that there will be no bailout of any kind, then sellers will bring their securities to market, and we will find out what the market thinks they are worth.

In the worst case scenario, the market will assign low values to the securities. Firms that are sufficiently capitalized to hold mortgage securities will earn profits at the expense of weaker companies that have to sell securities or go bankrupt. In the end, it may turn out that the winners really took advantage of the losers. That is capitalism at work in financial markets.

Or this:

"I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana. "The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal."

(I suspect that you can profitably use Rep. Spence's advice the next time you talk to one of us real estate agents, too).

83 Riverside Avenue
You missed this one, too
I wrote about this Fran Ward (Shore & Country) listing earlier this summer, praising it as a good deal. It started in May at $1.750, which wasn't crazy, and dropped to $1.599, so I suppose (contract prices aren't reported, only sales)that it went for somewhat less than that. This was the old stable/carriage house for a larger estate and had been completely renovated. Not for those who insist on the very newest of new houses but it certainly matched my taste; I'm delighted that someone else agreed.

Peter Tesei
Okay, that's not really our First Selectman pictured here but the poor ol' guy was panhandling on the Town Hall steps and I felt sorry for him so I posted his image - he'll feel better now, I'm sure, once he gains access to a computer and sees his smiling visage.
Anyway, I did hear Mr. Tesei speak today and he did an excellent job discussing our town's budget and a number of problems afflicting Greenwich. I came away thinking we're in good hands, even if I did vote for his opponent.

Tesei told us that Greenwich sends Hartford $600 million each year in taxes and gets back $5 million. This is particularly distressing because, just the other day, I heard a panel discussion of certain liberals bemoaning the fact that cities like Waterbury hit their citizens with property taxes 5X greater than Greenwich. The solution, according to these redistributionists, was to tax Greenwich more heavily. They ignored the one commentator who pointed out that, while Connecticut's population has decreased over the past two decades, the number of municipal employees has increased 39%. Why cut spending when there's a golden goose down the road, just waiting to be plucked?

The answer to our declining schools, Tesei suggested, was to bring some accountability to the School Board (which, by charter, Tesei can't control). Right now, our two political parties each put just two members up for election every other year and, by default, they are elected. The parties could select 4 candidates and create a real contest at the expense of making the incumbents nervous. Tesei seemed to think this was a good idea and so do I. Go put some pressure on your local Democrats and Republicans and consider running for the Board yourself. And don't forget to toss our current superintendent, Betty Sternberg, out of office next year. She's not to blame for everything bad about our schools, I suppose, but heck - it's a start.

Diane Fox, P&Z head honcho, also spoke. I usually disagree with everything the lady has to say and today was no exception. If she has her way, and she always does, watch out for new, stricter requirements for elevating additions to houses along the waterfront. Ms. Fox has smoked a bit too long from the Al Gore bong and seems to think the sea level is going to rise 50' next year. Fortunately, she'll be there with her regulations to save us.

She also wants to see "affordable housing" apartments built along the Post Road and in downtown Greenwich all for the purpose, she claims, of providing housing for our municipal employees. This is a crock and I suspect she knows it. When pressed on the issue of who, exactly, was going to occupy this housing when cops, firemen and teachers all seem to want what everyone else does: a single family house with a backyard, Fox fell back on 'elderly". Nothing against old folks downsizing, but I wish our town planners would be honest enough to admit that that's who we're building for instead of casting these projects in the glow of a "we're providing housing for our workers" argument.

30 Bayside Terrace
You missed it
When this house (building lot, really) dropped from $2.495 to $1.6ish, I brought it to the attention of every builder and home building client I knew; to no avail. Two other agents who, like me, grew up and/or live near here experienced the same lack of success. Janet Milligan and her client were smarter and now the place is under contract. Riverside waterfront, even Grade B waterfront, will never again be so cheap (I say, hopefully, as a Riverside waterfront owner). Whatever, it was a great buying opportunity.

No surprise here
Existing home sales fell 2.2% in August
Raveis's Greenwich mortgage officer, Mark Hawkins, says that Connecticut appraisers are noticing that house prices have stopped falling in areas outside of Fairfield County. The hope is that we'll soon see that same phenomenon here but I find it a little disturbing: traditionally, Greenwich is the last to feel a real estate downturn and the first to emerge, so something odd's going on - can you say, "collapse of Wall Street"?
Update:
Prices aren't doing so well, either, according to Bloomberg

Get out your checkbook?
Some readers have complained that I'm boring them with reports of price reductions but I keep harping on this subject because it's such a good indication of what's happening in the market and, as a bonus, illustrates the perils of over-pricing your house in the first place. So here we go again. Bored readers are invited to turn to other blogs and return later.
20 Langhorne, an as-yet-unbuilt mansion, has dropped from an asking price of $14.900 million in March '08 to $10.998 today. Same house as promised at the first price, you can now save $4.0 million. I'd offer still less, just to test the waters.

8 Hobart, new construction, has dropped from $7.8 in July to $6.995.
29 Byfield, a financial disaster in the making, was reduced an additional $500,000 today. It started at $9.495 in April, it's down to $5.198. If it doesn't sell now, look for it at auction.

I mentioned 38 Langhorne, unimproved (except for a new septic system) land on Monday questioning how it could be worth $1.2 million last year and $4.15 million on Monday. Coincidence or not, the owner, Mark Mariani, lopped $1.0 million off the price today and now offers it at $3.15

89 Perkins was priced at $5.875 last September and didn't sell - apparently I wasn't the only person who thought its price was ridiculous. It's been dropped $1.5 million and is now asking $4.375. There are still, to my taste, some serious layout issues, but at least the price problem is being addressed.

Fire Sale

So you want to sell your house
A man much wiser than I (a low hurdle), one who's made millions in residential real estate over the past 35 years, told me recently that he saw a house in Florida much larger and nicer than his own, selling for 50% of its original asking price. He sold his current house by cutting 15% off what he paid for it in 2005 (and ignoring the money he'd spent on improvements) and made the deal. His thinking was that, yes, he was losing money on his sale, but was buying a much more valuable property at a bargain price, thereby more than making up what he'd "lost".

That makes sense to me, especially the part about cutting 15% off what your house was worth 3 years ago. And if you can take advantage of this market to switch to a nicer house, so much the better. Money is fungible, after all, so in evaluating your own house sale, pay attention to the other end of the transaction and see whether you net out ahead of the game.

If you're not planning on buying another house but still want to sell your existing home, that theory is still a good idea. Use a good real estate agent to provide the market value of your house - owners themselves tend to be too emotional to do this objectively - then price it at least 10%, and maybe even 15% below what houses comparable to yours are asking. You may have to cut your price still further but at least you'll get the attention of every buyer out there. Yours will sell, while your competitors's linger.

Most disgusting headline of the year
PETA urges Ben & Jerry's to use human milk in ice cream.
My personal theory is that Bush and Cheney have infiltrated PETA and now are turning it into the laughing stock of America, thereby destroying it. Good riddance.