(Two Greenwich residents, one named Lauer, who have absolutely nothing to do with this story)


7 Dwight Lane
Soon - to -be felon Michael Lauer may have lost his Greenwich house but he's still got a fan following in the financial press. Nothing new here but it must be reassuring to Mr. Lauer that he hasn't entirely disappeared into obscurity. Yet.

Short sales, or scooping up bargains when the homeowner is screwed
A reader asked about short sales, which occur when a borrower's house is worth less than what he owes the bank (picture that 6 year car lease in year 5, when the ol' SUV's worth $3,000 and you're still in the hole to the bank $12 grand). Our GMLS has added the category "short sale" to listings in order to alert agents that they're in for a long haul on that listing - these things are tough to negotiate because there are often multiple parties involved and none want to lose money, which they'll have to do, if the sale is to go through.

I believe that the category was added proscriptively: everyone "knows" we're about to see a flood of these sales but, so far, they're still rare. May that continue.

This company claims to act as a go-between for buyers and sellers in short sales situations. I know nothing about them but one principal is coming to Raveis next Tuesday to tell us what she does and how she does it so I'll have a better picture then, maybe. Details to follow, as they say. I note that their website has no Greenwich listings; that may be because we don't have any short sales right now or, more likely, this company doesn't. The latter would explain why they're coming down to speak with us - they want business.

One thing that does set my teeth a little on edge is this quote from the company's website:

CT Property Network
is a network of creative, friendly real estate investors, with heart.

Believing in tooth fairies is probably what got you into trouble with your sub-prime mortgage to begin with.

Hmm - pretty small area for a riot - do you suppose they used wiffle ball bats? Riots resume in acre after lull

I blame Bush

Record snowfall in Boise

Things are tougher than I'd thought

Under the headline AIG Gallows Humor Gives Bankers a Laugh the Washington Post reports this bit of hilarity:

Insurance giant American International Group (AIG.N), on the receiving end of a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve, was trying hard on Saturday to look on the bright side of life.

"Credit markets do not function. Why not, because the word credit comes from credibility," AIG Vice Chairman Jacob Frenkel told a group of top global bankers at a lively luncheon where he took a philosophical view of the upheaval in financial markets.

"The left side of the balance sheet has nothing right and the right side of the balance sheet has nothing left. But they are equal to each other. So accounting-wise we are fine," he told the Institute of International Finance.

Hoo hoo hoo! These bankers - what cut-ups!

You want the latest banker joke? "So I went out to buy a toaster yesterday and they gave me a bank."
Ha ha ha

Two morons who didn't read the headlines below:
Gunmen tie up, rob real estate salesman

What'd they get, his Timex and IRS bills?

News you can use:
Use caution when buying property
Suddenly, it's a buyer's market
Economy slows real estate sales

Slow day for headline writers, too.

Okay, let's put the bailout on hold and try nationalizing the banks . Does anyone else remember Richard Nixon's wage and price controls? I can't stand the Democrats but I sometimes think Republicans are more dangerous precisely because they pay lip service to capitalism and free enterprise.

They've got your back

Here they come!
The Demmerkrats, confident of victory, are already planning to reconvene Congress after the election so they can add an additional $150 billion to our budget woes. This is in addition to the $150 billion they added to the $750 billion bailout bill and is doubtless only a taste of what they have in store for us. Yes, paradise is growing closer but there is one consolation: even if they confiscate every penny of income over $100,000 they can't possibly fund all this largess, so perhaps the booboise and illegal aliens will have to pitch in. I wonder how popular some of these massive giveaway programs will be then?

Stale news?
Greenwich Time's real estate reporter devoted yesterday's column to an upcoming auction of an unfinished New Canaan mansion.
Sure you could have read about that house right here on this blog one week ago but then you'd have missed the lyrical descriptive style that is GT's hallmark:

A 20,000-square-foot lakeside chateau in New Canaan is going to auction at noon Thursday, Oct. 16, through United Country The Redfield Group in Gadsden, Ala. Beyond a stone wall and spruces that shade from green to blue are six acres of woodlands with a private, tree-fringed lake and a French Manor house with six bedrooms, seven full baths, three half-baths, an infinity swimming pool and a guest house.

The owners are moving abroad, and because the main house is not finished inside, the buyer will choose interior finishes, fixtures, trim and flooring. Completion of the four-level, 32-room house is estimated at $1.5 million to $3 million as planned, according to owner Emil F. Jachmann.

That's all very nice and the house itself looks nice, too, but I did enjoy one streak of independence shown by the writer: the auction house described the task of finishing what is essentially an abandoned project as an "opportunity for the buyer to select his own finishes, fixtures, trim and flooring". As reported, that came out as "the buyer will choose". So much for that opportunity.

As I suggested last week, however, at the right place, I think this would be a cool place for a few Greenwich couples, former Lehman partners, perhaps, to move into as a sort of older hippie commune. There's plenty of space and you could all get your minds off the current disaster by focusing on choosing those finishes and fixtures.

(former) Greenwich resident

Oh, Great. Guess who's coming for another bite of Greenwich taxpayer?
Connecticut Pension funds scandalously underfunded

[State Treasurer Denise Nappier] didn't quite say it, but taxpayers should be more than worried; they should be freaking out. For even before the market crash the state pension fund did not have enough investment to meet its commitments, pension underfunding being a chronic scandal in Connecticut, most other states, and the federal government. And should the pension fund not cover those commitments, they would have to be met from the state's general fund, which would mean more taxes.

The pensions enjoyed by Connecticut's public employees -- pensions called defined-benefit plans, plans that pay a fixed level of benefits, a level long known in advance -- are lavish and a glaring manifestation of the disconnect between the government class and the working class. For most working-class people long ago were left to fend for themselves [empasis added] with 401(k) and individual retirement account pension savings plans, plans that guarantee no benefits at all, plans whose benefits vary with their investment success. When markets fall, as they are falling now, the working class, unlike the government class, does worry about its retirement, and then has to worry again as part of the taxpaying class, even as public employees need not worry.

At her meeting with the legislators Treasurer Nappier disclosed that there is even more for Connecticut's taxpayers to worry about. That's because for what may have been the first time, state government recently was unable to refinance debt, about $400 million. While this problem was not peculiar to Connecticut but rather a matter of the breakdown of the credit markets nationally, it was still, as state Rep. Arthur O'Neill, R-Southbury, remarked, "really scary."

I don't often agree with our elected representatives, but I'd say "really scary" sums up the situation neatly.

Stalwart souls on the other side of the world, too.
Turns out that even in New Zealand they're building palaces and the owners and agents there are as obtuse as here. 50 $10 million + houses are on the market. One lady, unable to unload her place since 2005, has successively raised her price until it's now over $33 million. That ought to do it. Agents say they aren't worried because "international buyers are sure to bail them out: money means nothing to these folks." I anticipate that the next press release from the Antares Group wil originate from Auckland.

Happy Lesbians
Before you all start enjoying the Ct. Supreme Court's latest abrogation arrogation of power, you might want to consider what I warned about yesterday: The ruling increases the chances of voters approving a constitutional convention. Where, I predict, all hell will break loose.

Byram Building Committee's other project.
When first announced in November, 2006, this project was estimated to be completed in "12-14 months". Things must have gotten a bit off track because actual construction didn't begin in April, 2007 but that should still have seen books and patrons returning from exile in May, 2008. The latest communication from the Library board looks forward to completion in the month of September. I'm no building expert but looking at the project's current condition, I don't think it's finished yet. In fact, it doesn't look close to being finished. I understand that the geniuses working on Hamilton Avenue School may have been distracted by that disaster and lost their focus on this one, but it still makes me wonder at the ineptitude of our various citizens groups that run municipal improvements in this town and whether there isn't a better way. Like hiring experienced construction contractors, for instance, and then getting out of their way?

What's happened to the Black Knight and his fellow Somali pirates?
Not much. The major powers seemed to have stopped Ukraine from paying a ransom and now the pirates threaten to blow up the ship.
Well, that would be one way to resolve it. As an aside, a "Russian Frigate" has been said to be on its way to the area for at least a week now and it still hasn't arrived. Are their ships that slow or do they just want nothing to do with this situation? Let's ask the CIA.

Don't mess with this agent!
So you work with clients for eight months, they buy nothing from you but do buy a house from another agent? If you're tempted to do this, don't try it in Colorado Springs, where a thrown-over agent recruited a couple of 13 - year -olds to spray paint and vandalize the ungrateful clients' new home.

And here's a tip for agents: if you're going to buy vandalism supplies don't pay for them with your personal check.

Here's some good news for those of us planning on sticking around. Hard times thinning real estate agent's ranks
Perhaps (and I'm hoping) the current fun will see the ladies who "do lunch" and sell a house or two every once in awhile will return to their country clubs. One lump or two?

Is there no end to this misery?

Goldman Sachs honcho puts his Nantucket manse up for sale for $55 million..

Sure, you'll be sleepless tonight worrying about this sad tale, but it may console you to learn that Goldman paid the man $56 million in 2006. With luck, his 5th wife left him some of that.

What kind of wussies are our colleges turning out these days?

Hartford: Woman slips her real estate agent marijuana-laced gingerbread and he gets ill

Who, me? Voter fraud in Connecticut
A local spokesman for Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) denies any sort of fraud in its voter registration drives. Hartford Democrat spokeswoman Nancy DiNardi sides with Acorn:

DiNardo said Republicans are trying to make an issue out of ACORN's national registration drives because Democrats have the advantage.
"People are registering far more as Democrats than they are as Republicans," DiNardo said. "And they will throw out anything about 'voter fraud' to see what sticks on the wall."

The most recent story about ACORN is that of the man ACORN paid in cigarettes and dollar bills each time he registered - in his case, 72 times.

That's not the end of the story. As Ron Popiel would say, "but wait, there's more!"
Kansas City officials find hundreds of bogus registrations
Nevada raids ACORN offices
More registrants than voters in Indianapolis
Three ACORN workers in Seattle plead guilty to voter fraud scheme
Washington state prosecutors indict seven ACORN workers
It's worse in Kansas City:

City officials scoff at that. They say it's up to Acorn to explain why over 1,000 addresses listed on its registrations don't exist. "We met twice with Acorn before their drive, but our requests completely fell by the wayside," says Democrat Matt Potter, the city's deputy elections director. His election clerks were already putting in 13-hour work days and "dumping this on them isn't fair." In the past, several Democrats, including Mayor Francis Slay, have complained about bloated voter rolls leading to stolen votes.

So why no outcry? Because St. Obama is up to his neck in ACORN's campaign of fraud

"I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career," he told the group last November.

Indeed, in the early '90s, Obama was recruited by Talbott herself to run training sessions for ACORN activists.

ACORN also got funding from two charities, the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation, when Obama served on their boards, and from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge - the radical "education reform" outfit Obama ran from '95 to '99.

And any attack on Obama or ACORN is, of course, Racist!

This campaign is about race, plane and simple. ACORN is helping minorities to vote -- and guess what, that scares Republicans. Politically they fear losing elections, but this is about something much deeper.

I thought the campaign was about change.

Update: You want to know more about ACORN? Here's more about ACORN Turns out, voter registration fraud is just a sideline - they have much grander plans in store for the country. Lucky us.

He's back!

Russian's palace on Simmons Lane downsized
Only 45 toilets and three swimming pools proposed this time. The Ruble must be declining.

Darn it, first he steals my name, now he's having all the fun

Hollyoaks stars put on skimpiest threads for Chris Fountain's birthday

Meet a mortgage broker from Greenwich Bank & Trust Thursday, October 23rd
Diane Dutcher, an agent who's always dreaming up bright ideas for her listings, has arranged for a banker to discuss what's happening with mortgages these days (not all bad, or I presume the lady wouldn't agree to spend an evening talking about it). Details are in the link below but basically it's being held at 9 Boulder Brook from 5-9 PM, some form of food and beverage provided and of course, a chance to inspect the beautiful house built by Diane's client, York Construction (and an excellent firm it is), asking price, if memory serves, around $6.75 million. Temporarily a little short of cash? Come anyway for the information - Diane's not the type to lock you in a closet until you agree to buy (or if she is, she'll let you out early enough the next morning that you can still catch your train.)

Call the number on the linked flyer for a phone number to call - you don't want to arrive at 5 and learn that the dancing girls and wine aren't scheduled until 8!

Update:
Okay, that link didn't work, so here's what it says:
SECURING A MORTGAGE AMID THE BAILOUT
What the Financial Crisis Means to You… And How You Can Still Secure a Mortgage

Come hear personal mortgage banker Lisa Edson from Greenwich Bank & Trust talk about the financial bailout and mortgages and what that means to homebuyers in the Greenwich market
Also view the recently completed Classic Georgian style home by York Construction & Development. 8,600 square feet of fabulous living space, 6 bedrooms and ensuite baths, gourmet kitchen, media room, wine cellar, exercise room, and more, located in the “golden triangle” of mid-country Greenwich.

Open House: 5:00 – 9:00 p.m., Thursday, October 23

Mortgage Presentation: 7:00 p.m.

Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served

9 Boulder Brook Road

Greenwich, CT 06830

Free and Open to the Public

Call 203-698-3460 for more information

Don't you dare hurt that plant's feelings!
It's illegal in Switzerland.

ZURICH -- For years, Swiss scientists have blithely created genetically modified rice, corn and apples. But did they ever stop to consider just how humiliating such experiments may be to plants?

That's a question they must now ask. Last spring, this small Alpine nation began mandating that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant's dignity.

The world's going to end soon, one way or the other.

The blame game
I like this WSJ's columnist's idea: put Chris Dodd under oath and in the witness seat. I'd like to see his pal Barney Frank in the same chair with him, goosing Connecticut's senior Senator every now and then.

Okay, this kind of sucks
Real estate impact to be "massive".

"I don't think anybody has lived through what we are living through right now unless they are 100 years old. The magnitude is so massive," said Tim Ballard, chief investment officer of Buchanan Street Partners, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate subsidiary of The TCW Group Inc. of Los Angeles.

"This will affect ... job growth, consumption and other things. The [savings and loan] collapse did not have nearly the same effect," he said.

Commercial real estate is in the second or third inning of a game that might go into extra innings, industry insiders said.

The article is about commercial real estate not residential but the basic themes: no loans, need to sell, etc. are roughly the same. Note the good news buried deep within, however: there will be buying opportunities for those with access to funding.

So if I can't sell houses in this market,
maybe I'll rent them.

340 Stanwich Road
Nice house but ...
This house has been on and off the market since April 2006 for $4.295 million. The seller is obviously convinced that she, not the market, knows the right price so she's stuck to her guns despite being unable to sell it. Until today, when she lowered the price 7%, to $3.995 million. It's lakefront (well, pond front, but we realtors have never in our lives seen a mere "pond") and very nicely finished inside and so, ... we'll see.

The People's Paradise is rationing food

Well of course, they've always done that under Castro, except for party officials (attention liberals - don't let this interfere in even the teensiest way with your admiration for this Island heaven) but I guess things are getting tighter. I blame Bush, naturally, but at least every individual (or family, who knows?) is allowed to buy two whole pounds of lettuce. Our own collectivists must be green with envy.

GE at $18.99??!!
this is getting ridiculous. I may call my stock broker.

Greenwich Landing
Here's a tiny spot of good news
Two units in this Byram condo were reported as under contract today. No idea of selling price but asking prices were $1.695 and $1.595.

Owie

Courtesy of John Cooke, here is September's Inventory


Click on the picture to read it better, and don't miss the number of houses listed at $8 million and above: 73. If even a handful of those start dropping (and some already have), they can bring everything else down with them.

Oh, Goodie! A replacement!


Vlad Putin gets a tiger cub to rear and shoot again



I worried he'd run out

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies ...

I'll bet you think I make this stuff up:
World Wildlife Fund to tour the world and save it from global warming via private luxury jet

Join us on a remarkable 25-day journey by luxury private jet,” invites the WWF in a brochure for its voyage to “some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans.”

For a price tag that starts at $64,950 per person, travelers will meet at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Fla. on April 6, 2009 and then fly to “remote corners” of the world on a “specially outfitted jet that carries just 88 passengers in business-class comfort.”

You're probably wondering: "are these the same people who've been telling us not to fly jets?" Sure they are, but then they were instructing the Little People. You'll see that, from its price, this tour will include Barbara Streisand (if she can be persuaded to disembark from her own jet) and very much does not include you. But here's their parting advice:

Tips for Saving Energy
Almost everything we do impacts the planet. Simple changes in our everyday lives can make a big difference and help stop global warming. Here’s what YOU can do: ....
Reduce your air travel.
Although air travel can be very convenient, the emissions from planes contribute significantly to climate change. When possible, use another form of transportation such as the train or bus.

Aren't you glad you know? Maybe they'll bring you back a T-Shirt. Organic cotton, of course.

Apparently there is serious thought of
shutting down the world's markets and reconstituting them under "global rules". I haven't been all that concerned with the panic until today, but I now fear that the collectivists, for so long shut out of power, are going to use this crisis to seize complete domination. I think I'll go home now and watch Oprah.

Update: a Socialist Tsunami's in the Works

(Not married to one another, but isn't it a cute picture?)

Connecticut Supremes Approve Gay Marriage, 4-3.

Whatever - I'm not planning on marrying anyone right now, of either sex, so I don't care. But I will say this: certain liberals, including unionized labor and teachers, are terrified of the constitutional amendment on the ballot that would, if approved, call for a constitutional convention (and voter referendums, if I haven't conflated two different ballot issues). When appointed officials overturn existing state law and put their thumbs in the eyes of citizens, the chances of something like a re-opening and re-drafting of our constitution become more likely.

49 Cutler Road
Pssst! Wanna buy some land?
Over the past few years this property in our NW corner has been offered for sale in a variety of permutations and at a variety of prices, all unsuccessful. Over that time you could have bought it as land at $1,495,000, $1,995,000, $1,750,000, or with a new house at $4,000,000 + (never built) and now as land again at $1,499,000. I can't say for certain, but my guess is that no one is buying land right now, at any price, so go ahead and drop the price: won't do any harm and who knows? Someone might bite.

Lose you desk on Maiden Lane?Have you considered a career change, like fishing? I understand it can be quite restful. Pay sucks, but hey - let's just say you'll be working on a different scale.

Putnam Hill
Downtown Condo's, updated.
This isn't my all time favorite project in town (I don't like co-ops, generally and this and its neighbor, Putnam Park, are co-ops). But the price is attractive: a 2 bedroom, probably in need of some updating (ok, the listing makes no mention of it ever having been touched since it was built in 1956 or so) asking $399,000. Last year, that might have been considered cheap and this year it's still not a whole lot of money, for Greenwich. Next year? Who knows!

Fun at the opening bell with Djbouti and the Gang

What, me worry?
You may have noticed, or perhaps heard, that the stock market's been doing a bit of gyrating lately. If so, you sure didn't get that news from the NYSE's web page which, every day, runs a charming photograph of yet another happy group ringing the opening bell. That makes me feel better; how about you?

Update: A spokesman for the NYSE informs me that they had considered posting something a bit more reflective of the times, like this, but decided against it.

Wall Street 1929

Okay, they laughed when his critics called Obama the Mesiah
How about Louis Farrakhan?

"You are the instruments that God is going to use to bring about universal change, and that is why Barack has captured the youth. And he has involved young people in a political process that they didn't care anything about. That's a sign. When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking."

Good enough for me - I just changed my vote.

17 Hendrie, Old Greenwich
Here's a disappointment
This house is just across from my family's two and I would have been delighted to see it sell for April's asking price of $7,750,000. It didn't happen, alas, and today it was knocked down to about 83% of that, or $6,450,000. I guess I won't retire this year. As an aside, it strikes me that, in most cases, when you post a picture of the view, not the house, you're probably in a bit of trouble. But speaking as a creek resident, it is all about the water, so ....

The sounds of silence
Candidates agree to wear lie detectors during debate!. Well that will be a quiet evening. Imagine if they tried this stunt at a lawyer's convention.

Well, here's a tired old voice from the past
Of all people, James Earl Carter has weighed in on the global panic. And surprise! It's all Bush's fault. I remember being the beneficiary of this dotard's wisdom back in the 80's when the inflation rate was 18% and I paid 14.5% on my mortgage. Since being driven from office the man has convincingly claimed the title as worst ex-President in history, wandering the world condemning America and Israel, cozying up to Castro, lauding Hugo Chavez and generally just spewing spittle-laced invective across the globe. And in my book, he'll go down as our worst sitting president, too. I'll admit that the current occupant of that office may end up edging him out for top position but regardless, I can think of no man I'm least interested in hearing from on any subject,especially on how to run an economy.

Modular Homes
A reader asked about these and I'll have more to say on them later (I like them, if they're made well, customized and erected by a good, experienced builder). In the meantime, here's an older column from my archived newspaper column (which is supposed to be linked to the current post and, for some reason, is not -I'll work on that, too):
May 14, 2004

A New House
A builder named Dave Tilly is building a new house on Irvine Street in Old Greenwich that’s worthy of mention for a number of reasons. First is its design. While I mourn the loss of so many small cottages in town, buyers today want larger houses, and builders, if they expect to stay in business, must comply. That said, this house, to my eye, fits into the streetscape very nicely, neither dwarfing the cottage next door nor crowding its own lot. Tilly speaks of ratios and proportions like an old Greek architect, and he’s achieved it here. Second is quality. The poured foundation is set on a foot of gravel, with an air system underneath the concrete floor that creates a negative airflow, sucking out any damp air. The furnace is a new German design so efficient (97%, compared to the usual 85%) that its exhaust gets blown out via a fan – it is too cool to rise on its own. That’s just the basement. Upstairs, the sheathing is plywood, not oriented strandboard, the shingles are hand dipped, Alaskan yellow cedar which, unlike its less expensive cousin, eastern cedar, bleaches grey, not black. The fenestration is by Marvin, there is custom millwork and cabinetry throughout the house and, all in all, it’s obvious that the building is being erected by a fussy, detail-oriented perfectionist. The third reason to take note of this house is that forty percent of it is (gasp!) modular – built in a factory by Haven Homes and shipped to the site. Despite what you may have read elsewhere about the poor quality of such construction, the only differences I can see between a “stick built” house and this one are the speed with which the initial building blocks went up and the craftsmanship in this one: it’s far better than most stick-builts. In evaluating a home, its place of construction —factory vs. on site— is irrelevant; it is the quality of construction you should worry about because, as they say in the computer business, garbage in, garbage out. Dave Tilly’s house is a finely-crafted piece of building which will still look good decades from now.

Update 10/10/08
The house sold for a then record price for that street and resold for even more a couple of years later.

Good Lord
This company is liquidating 15 of its money market funds. For one investor, gaining access to his money took weeks and he was lucky at that:

Volko's orders to withdraw the money were frozen for a couple weeks until he managed to get the cash back this week. But other investors still in the fund don't know when to expect their cash back, now that the fund is being liquidated.
"There are a lot of people stuck in these funds who have no idea yet they are even frozen out," Volko said.

Not that any Greenwich house buyers seem to need immediate cash these days but if lightening strikes and they decide to buy something, it'll be a real bummer if their down payment money is frozen or, worse, lost. Ugh.

Well if Greenwich isn't your cup of tea right now ...
Why not invest in Cuba?
You can't, for one thing, if you're an American citizen. And I wouldn't, for political reasons. But I'd always hoped Castro and his dictatorship would fall and I could explore the island before it was ruined. The article I link to suggests that I'll be too late: the English, the Canadians and Middle Easterners are already building golf resorts and eying the old historic homes confiscated by the bearded one 50 years ago. What a shame.

Shiver me timbers!
By happenstance I discovered that the Stamford Advocate now runs a real estate blog. I checked it out out of curiosity and at first it seemed like a real blog and even covered, as you'll see from the link, the price cutting going on over at Leona's place.

But the more I poked around and noticed links to Georgia chiropractors and a comments section mostly taken up with ads from readers looking to sell in Texas, rent (to film makers) homes in California and so forth, I realized that it's some generic, national "blog" generated by an anonymous writer (or writers) for the parent company of the Advocate, whoever the hell that is these days.

All of which tells me that traditional newspapers, doomed as they are, are hastening their demise by refusing to understand the internet. What could be more local than local news? And local real estate is part of that news. Instead of assigning some Stamford reporters to create blogs on various topics so that the paper could provide up-to-the-minute opinion, news and reader feedback, the parent company has done its best to shed its local reporters and turn as much of the operation of its local outlets over to some amorphous entity based in-I don't know, Kansas?

By the time these dinosaurs succumb to meteor dust, will there be any readers left to mourn their demise?

Greenwich Capital Markets
A reader points out that RBS bought Greenwich Capital Markets, the company Chip Kreuger founded and ran on Steamboat Road. His point is that not everyone involved in the sub-prime and derivative mess worked on Wall Street. I know that, and merely use Wall Street as a handy abbreviation, but I also gave our former Greenwich company a pass for a couple of reasons. Kreuger sold out to RBS several years ago and, at least according to the article I linked to in the original post, it's the present CEO who lost his mind and drove the whole company off the cliff. Kreuger was obviously a master of good timing, though.

Second, Greenwich Capital was a great benefactor to the town. It supported lots of local charities and, nearest to my heart, stepped in to fund the Old Greenwich fireworks one year when local residents (I include myself in that category) were too cheap to support them. Greenwich Capital continued this largess for years and even expanded into Greenwich when that fireworks crowd put the touch on Kreuger.

So I suppose the latter isn't a great excuse, but so what? And, in view of Greenwich Capital's being folded into RBS and that company's current fiscal woes, we townies had better be prepared to dig into our own pockets if we want to watch fireworks in the immediate future. Darn it, where's Gandalf when we need him?

They laughed when we called him "The Messiah"

From guest columnist Marge Robben at OurGreenwich.com

My worst nightmare is that fear will win out over change and that Barack Obama will lose the election and I will sadly be saying on the morning of November 5, 2008, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.

I think we should sit back, take a deep breath, and relax our minds.

Buying vs. Renting Calculator
I liked the calculator link a reader sent me so much that I've linked it permanently over on the right. Give it a try, if you're interested.

Hey, Milbank! Here's how to move those $6 million condos! (Courtesy NYT)
Bring in $1,000 lap dancers

Oh Geeze, now even PBS's Ray Suarez is climbing onto the racism wagon.
And I used to like him, too.

Opinions about Obama's inexperience, his childhood in Indonesia, and the persistent but untrue rumors of him being Muslim are stand-ins for something his detractors cannot admit, Suarez said.[emphasis added]

O.K. - questions about terrorist Bill Ayers, out. Inexperience, out. Political programs, out. Cronyism with Chicago pols, out. Campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and its CEOs, out. I got all that - is there anything we can question about this gifted, caring man without exposing ourselves as racists?

I didn't think so.

(Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gifford
dining at Mr. Fountain's house)
If Kathie Lee Griffith didn't exist, would the Greenwich Post?
Lord knows, we all adore Kathie Lee, and we certainly want to know if she's spotted at CVS, McDonalds, or the Tobacconist of Greenwich, but is there nothing else to report on in this town? Budgets? Inflated police union contracts? School Board hi jinks? Nope, says the Post. No link, because the Post can't link its articles, but here's a quote:

Scene ... Riverside resident and Today co-host Kathie Lee Gifford was seen having lunch at Terra Ristorante on Greenwich Avenue on Friday afternoon.

That's nice to know, isn't it?

Spindletop
Wow! A contract! Sort of, maybe.
4 Old Round Hill Lane was reported today as under contract, which must be a relief to its builder who first placed it for sale in May, 2006 at $14.5 million. Last asking price was $10.995 million and I think we can guess it went for less than that. But, while the contract was officially posted today, it was signed on September 3rd, a long, long time ago, far, far away and in a deteriorating but still different market from the present.

So much for that $25 billion, bar keep. Add it to my tab.
GM sales slump, stock price plummets

Update: Stock price is lowest since springtime, 1950. Would you lend money to a company like this? You just did.

Harry Reid is boring - this is exciting, in a sick sort of way. Dow below 9000

384 Round Hill Road
One good thing about a dead market
This 1745 house on 6 + acres of meadows and lawns is being marketed as land or residential at, naturally, the same price: $4,850,000. In a better market it might have been snapped up by a builder by now but it hasn't. I don't happen to have this kind of money around but if you do, and want to save this house, here's your chance. And, because of current market conditions, you probably have some time to do so.

Confusing moments in advertising
Priced at $4.55 million in November of last year, this house has slowly drifted downward, changing agents as it sank. Today it's back as a "new" listing (new after the original listing expired yesterday) at a "new" price (same as the last old price) of $3.6 million. Here's the part I don't get: the listing says,

UNBELIEVABLE VALUE, INVITATION TO BRING ALL OFFERS.

Isn't "unbelievable value" undercut a bit by following with "bring all offers"? I say, make up your mind.

Timber?
The Royal Bank of Scotland's stock is down 82%. CEO Fred Goodwin, who got the bank into this disaster, is on his way out:

``His credibility is shot to bits,'' said Ken Murray, CEO of Blue Planet Investment Management in Edinburgh, where RBS also is based. He has no holdings in any U.K. banks. ``Acquisitions are a risky business and they cost a lot of chief executives their jobs. If you get it wrong, you've got to go.''

But what's going to happen with RBS's still uncompleted, 600,000 square foot headquarters in Stamford? The state piled a lot of our money into this deal in anticipation of 3,000 new jobs, $204 million in tax revenue over ten years and $1-2 million per year in City property taxes. Sure hope neither budget, state or municipal, was counting on that because if the stock's worth nothing, I doubt the headquarters will be all that busy.
Update: It was a bit more than "a lot of our money" diverted to RBS. Connecticut gave them $100 million in tax credits . I hope they appreciate it.

Update (10/11/08): Britain to take control of RBS Monday. I wonder if the Queen will want an office building in Stamford?

Harry Reid greets American public
Harry Reid says Radio Host is racist for tying Obama to Fannie Mae Exec., Franklin Raines
At least one of my readers thinks that there is a racist opposition to her candidate, Barack Obama. Who knows? She may be right. What I posted earlier is that it's getting boring to hear, endlessly that McCain, Palin and anyone else who opposes the Messiah does so because of racist hatred. An ad against Obama's friend and advisor, disgraced, fired and fined Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines? Racist. Another ad, released 12 hours later, against Obama friend and advisor, disgraced, fired and fined Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson? Silence on that one, because Johnson is white. This is stupid. And tiresome.
Obama only served 186 days in the US Senate before beginning his campaign yet he's already second in campaign contributions received from Raines and Johnson's personal piggy bank, Fannie Mae (our own Chris Dodd leads the hogs at the trough, but heck, he's had years to stretch out his hand). Google Obama and contributions from Raines and you'll see that Raines was doling out cash to Obama at least as early as 2004, when Obama was a lowly state senator in Illinois. So is it fair to assert a link between Raines and Obama? I think so. If you disagree, that doesn't make me a racist.

Open House Report
Nothing to report. A few retreads, still over-priced and .... I did see one last Tuesday that was of note because its price was so grossly off the mark. Everything conspired against it: wrong section of town, crowded in with its neighbors, parking on one side and the front entrance all the way around the house (technically, that would be half-way around the house, but you get my meaning) and then that price. I won't blame the seller because it was her agent who crowed, "it's priced to sell". It certainly isn't, and if the agent believes her own hype, the market has a rude surprise in store.