History of Voting Rights
Inspired by an ongoing discussion in the comments section, I thought I'd dig up the history of property requirements for voting. Interesting footnote: Connecticut was the first state to impose a literacy requirement, in 1855. Couldn't we at least bring that one back?

A reader emails:
At North Street School, I stepped into a “privacy booth” that was situated between those being used by Dick Fuld and his wife. I was not the only one who recognized Fuld and, upon leaving, overheard this conversation between two other voters:

“Gee, I thought the guilty were not allowed to vote”

“Well, he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet.”

“I guess your perspective depends on whether you worked for Lehman or not”.

Only in Greenwich.

20 Chieftans

Another example of the death by a 1,000 cuts. This house was originally listed in February, 2007, for $4.350 and has dropped in price, slowly, ever since. Today it was reduced another 8% to $3.5 million, or 20% from its original price. The sellers aren't my clients and certainly don't want or need my advice but as an object lesson, it's hard not to conclude that it's better to cut deeply, all at once. I'll bet a surgeon would agree.

The crushing of dissent
The polls aren't yet closed and the Demmerkrats are already licking their chops, preparing to shut down talk radio. Senator Chuck Schumer compares Rush Limbaugh with pornography, which should give civil libertarians pause but won't - these are the same people who adore Che, after all.

414 Stanwich Rd.

How not to sell your house?
This property was bought for $2.1 million back in February, 2003. Three years later in March, 2006 the buyers put it back up for sale asking $2.695 which I thought at the time was a tad aggressive. For the ensuing three years the house has lingered, suffering the indignity of five price cuts, each too little to stir a buyer into action but gradually reducing its price to exactly what the sellers had paid for it: $2.1 million. Today they took a sixth cut, knocking another 5% off to $1.995, but wouldn't someone who liked the house (but not its price) before have offered 5% less to begin with? I think so, in which case this latest cut won't help.

My advice is, try to price your house right to begin with and if it turns out that the market disagrees with what you thought that right price was, don't dither. A $50,000 price cut, as this one once endured, won't accomplish anything. Move aggressively and swiftly and you'll be able to sell before something bad happens, like the DJI dropping off the face of the earth.

Go soak your head!
Some readers have had bad experiences with Summer Rain, complaining that as the business has prospered and expanded customer service has suffered. I have had no experience either way but for those looking for an alternative, reader CEA writes:

"Kevin Zosiak: 203 509 9568

My parents and I have both used him. He is prompt, he does great work, and is very professional."

Sounds good to me - I'll post his contact info in the column to the right.

Just voted at District 5 and discovered that there's no name printed on the ballot for the Libertarian candidate. I was limited to merely casting a vote to cancel that of the Greenwich Diva's but I have now found out that the Libertarian's candidate is
Bob Barr. Too late for me to write him in but it's not too late for those of you who have yet to vote. There's still time to avert disaster! Go vote.

27 Vineyard Lane
This 1920's, 2500 sq.ft. house on 3+ acres has been on the market since February. The owners switched brokers but until today, stuck fast to their price: $4.995 million. Now they've cut that 20% to $3.995. It's still a land deal, in my opinion, although it would be wonderful to see the house restored. And, oversized lot or not (it's in the RA-2 zone) $4.0 million seems rich, even for Vineyard Lane.

But it's more realistic than $5 million.

"And there shall be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth"

This woman thinks Obama's going to pay for her gasoline and mortgage

Oh, things are going to get interesting next year.

From John Cooke of Prudential Connecticut, October's Inventory (no, John, I didn't deliberately cut out your identifying material - I just couldn't fit it in the screen shot - it's down below.) Click on the numbers to enlarge, if you wish.

After tomorrow, this kind of horror will be a thing of the past.




Exotic dancer sues for discrimination

"Onward, Comrades!"

Fuel of the future:

Ethanol producer goes bust.

Update: Goldman drops coverage of all ethanol producers

Will those Republicans stop at nothing?!


Florida officials refuse to establish polling place for nudists.

I blame Katherine Harris.

17 Marks Rd. Rvsd

Here's what's happening with at least one property in town:
Sold $2.250 million-5/10/2004
ACT $2.835 9/01/05
Sold $2.494.5 7/24/06
ACT $2.695 4/10/08
Now $2.295

I'd say we're back to 2004 prices and still dropping.

Feminists lose sense of humor, Criticize GPS-fitted chastity belt. Well when the One is elected and shuts down our electrical plants no one will have to worry about these things after the first battery charge. Unless, of course, insecure macho-types can fit their loved ones with solar powered units.

I've lost my socks - is my shirt next?

Hilfiger Sale
435 Round Hill Road was purchased for $18 million by Tommy Hilfiger back in October '05, had a ton of new (and expensive) modifications dumped into it and was put back up for sale earlier this year for $27.9 million. It was reduced today 21% down to $21.995. Subtracting the money spent improving it and commissions, taxes and all the other assorted transaction costs, I'd guess that Mr. Hilfiger is already out-of-pocket from owning this house for three years; and he hasn't sold it yet.

It's "Think of a Pirate Day"!
Or it is on this blog, at least, so I thought to check up on our Somali pirates who've been sitting on a Ukrainian freighter stuffed with tanks and big-time weapons since September 25th. The update? They're still there! The long promised Russian warship is finally approaching but other than that, no one seems to be going anywhere.

I knew you were curious.

"Of course it's safe - trust us, we're Swiss!"

UBS - the next Bear Sterns?
If you believe these allegations - and I do - UBS peddled Lehman Brothers' notes as "Good for Retirement" when, of course, they were unsecured promissory instruments which are now worthless. UBS wasn't the only bank selling junk it described as valuable but they do seem to have engaged in a large number of activities like this or that were just plain illegal, and pretty much continue to insist they did nothing wrong even as they pay back billions. Those auction-rated securities come to mind - UBS was unloading them for its favored corporate clients while dumping them into private clients' accounts even when it knew they were illiquid. Aiding and abetting tax dodgers via Swiss banking secrecy laws hasn't helped the bank's reputation or its bottom line, now that federal prosecutors are on to them.

What gives with this bank? The people I know who work for UBS are outstanding individuals who would never act unethically - never. So how did rogues come to get free run at the place? It has to be the fault of upper management but, regardless of the cause, things look increasingly dismal for this institution.

(I notice that one of our town weeklies ran a chart purporting to show sales statistics for the month of September, 2008. The paper obviously failed to notice that the numbers provided it were for the year, not just one month. Since I had run the actual sales numbers for September and October just last Friday, I thought I'd repost them here, for easy reference and to set the record straight.)Here are the same sales statistics for Sept.- Oct., grouped by percentage of original listing price. Again, forgive the poor formatting but the numbers are, original price, selling price and % of final to original.


69 Rockwood $2.295 - $2.729 - 119%
7 Ginko $1.150 - $1.275 - 111%
28 Lockwood Dr. $1.495 - $1.595 - 106.6%
18 Orchard Hill $1.895 - $2.0 - 105%
990 North St. $ 672 - $ 685 - 102%

11 Island Drive $15.75 - $15.5 - 98.4%
22 Bramble $1.575 - $1.525 - 97%
25 Ridge St. $1.695 - $1.650 - 97%
18 Sherwood $5.4 - $5.2 - 96%
37 Sachem $ 915 - $ 860 - 94%
5 Hollow Wood $ 699 - $ 650 - 93%
5 Lockwood Dr. $1.575 - $1.4425 - 92%
27 Dandy $2.549 - $2.349 - 92%
4 Cross Ridge $1.340 - $1.210 - - 90%


123 Shore Rd $3.2 - $2.8 - 87.5%
25 Birchwood $4.2 - $3.6 - 86%
83 Rvsd. Ave. $1.750 - $1.50 - 86%
101 Brookside $6.995 - $5.995 - 85.6%
17 Suburban $1.995 - $1.695 - 85%
29 Old Wagon $ 849 - $ 720 - 85%
62 Cat Rock $2.25 - $1.9 - 84%
49 Arcadia $2.495 - $2.075 - 83%
29 Irvine $2.585 - $2.150 - 83%
67 Hillside $2.8 - $2.325 - 83%
10 Keofferam $2.940 - $2.415 - 82%
268 Round Hill $5.6 - $4.6 - 82%
29 Spring St. $1.950 - $1.6 - 82%
70 Pecksland $3.7 - $3.0 - 81%
752 North St. $4.9 - $3.9 - 80%

60 Gold $ 610 - $ 481 - 79%-- [paid $495, 2003]
3 Old Farm Rd $1.995 - $1.525 - 76% --[pd.$1.75, 2003]
4 Old Round Hill $14.5 - $10.875 - 75%
12 Deep Gorge $1.250 - $ 937 - 75%
16 Beechcroft $8.295 - $6.15 - 74%
47 Will Merry $1.895 - $1.350 - 71%

11 Hettiefred $3.375 - $2.349 - 69.6%
83 Circle $2.795 - $1.885 - 67%
21 Wilshire $3.495 - $2.180 - 62%
279 Davis $ 899 - $ 550 - 61%


11 Langhorne $28 million - $13.75 - 49%

30 Nearwater Lane
Then and Now
In January 2005 this property was listed for sale as a building lot for $1.199 and sold immediately via bidding war for $1.305. 18 months later the builder, having done little to improve the lot other than tear down the existing house, put it back up for sale asking $1.595. Buyers weren't convinced that scraping off an old house was worth that kind of premium so the property didn't sell until July, 2007 and received only $1.215. If you think that this story illustrates that the ones who make out best are those who sell at the beginning of a boom, rather than at its end, you'd be right.

In any event, the new owner has indeed built a very nice new house and has been trying to sell it for $3.195 since April. Today it was marked down 6% to $2.995. That might be enough to move it; then again, it might not.

Nickola Tesla at work raising money
The real estate agents' carmaker of choice, Tesla Motors
has raised $40 million from existing investors. They were shooting for $100 million but settled for what they could get, I suppose. Just as soon as there is any real real estate news to report we'll get back on track here. Until then, perhaps you'd like to learn about Mr. Tesla's 19th Century version of the tinfoil hat.
Would you order a car that was based on this "science"? So far, 1,200 techies have - perhaps that shield against delusions doesn't work so well after all.

Were you wondering where your favorite Savings and Loan officer got to?

The New York Time's Gretchen Morganson writes today on mortgage fraud at Washington Mutual. The only surprising thing here, if it's any surprise at all, is that this is exactly the same behavior that was going on at the S&Ls in the '80s. Weren't there supposed to have been regulations passed to curtail this? They didn't work.

Pixie Dust and propeller Beanies - that'll be a change!

Obama vows to bankrupt coal industry. So that's no nukes, no coal, but how much light do we really need to join hands around the campfire and sing Kumbaya?

Update: a reader says that, according to candidate Jim Himes, we'll do everything with windmills, which is certainly reassuring. This article by British historian Paul Johnson, however, is less sanguine. The author concludes with this vignette

I don't know whether this year's financial catastrophe will shock the politicians and people of the West into a new seriousness. There's certainly no sign of it yet. I had to laugh when a Chinese visitor recently said to me: "I see you're going back to the windmill in Britain. We Chinese cannot afford that."

Still more good news: In the same interview, The Messiah vows to "make energy costs skyrocket."

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

Oh, we're in for a good time!

A spiritual awakening in Greenwich?
Not in Greenwich, not yet. I included a chapter in my first book, The New Millionaire's Handbook entitled "Spirituality". The text simply read, "just kidding". Nothing much has changed in 10 years, apparently.

Abortion politics

The lady pictured above is a Chester, Connecticut real estate agent named Leslie Strauss who wants customers to know that she supports abortion. I personally find this an odd position to take by someone who is a self-confessed mother and grandmother but whatever. I obviously don't hide my own politics from potential customers so more power to Ms. Strauss. But abortion, an issue that so many people are at best ambivalent about, strikes me as something best left outside of business. Just my opinion, and perhaps Strauss will attract the huge amount of our populace that suffers from Bush Derangement Syndrome (recovery classes are scheduled to begin this next Wednesday at the YWCA). She'd better hope, however, that not too many of her customers practice what she preaches or who will be around to buy her houses?

The trouble with politicians

They think that driving around town in silly cars "builds excitement" and encourages people to vote. My solution for voters swayed by a wave from a fat politician in the rumble seat of an old car is the same as for those who are persuaded by a dozen candidate signs littering the grounds of our railroad stations: disenfranchise the idiots.

Selling it
In this otherwise banal press release I noticed that current real estate conditions are referred to as "choppy". This is the new preferred term for a market in the tank, as evidenced by a quick Google search. "Real estate Choppy" turns up 241,000 entries.

I don't know who dreams these things up but I do sympathize - it's got to be a tough job putting the best face on things day after day as things fall apart. My personal opinion is that the PR flack's job will be considerably eased come Wednesday morning, when the media will stop reporting bad economic news and will turn instead to trumpeting the arrival of the Jubilee. Happy days are almost here again - we just have to get through three more days of choppy weather.

Global warming should fix this

Britain labels Iceland a terrorist haven. Once those icebergs melt and wash these Eskimo bankers out to sea, peace will reign, eh?

The trouble with enacting broad, overreaching laws is that governments will be tempted to interpret them broadly and overreach. Support your local anarchist.

We were allies once, and strong

So U.S. commandos storm a terrorist hangout, kill at least seven and kill or capture the leader, one Abu Ghadiya, described as the “most prominent” weapons smuggler for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

How does the Times of London see it? A "botched raid" that "seems to have gone spectacularly wrong."

The Times does concede that
"Despite the furore over the raid, there can be little doubt that the Americans will celebrate the death of Abu Ghadiya, whom they described as the “most prominent” smuggler for Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He allegedly ran guns, money and foreign fighters along the “rat lines” that lead across the desert into northern Iraq and sometimes led raids himself."

The Times reporter isn't mollified by such success and demands contrition: "American officials refused to apologise for the botched raid on Syria, " he notes disapprovingly. "They said the administration was determined to operate under a definition of self-defence that provided for strikes on terrorist targets in any sovereign state."

After castigating the wicked forces of the U.S., the article concludes with a reluctant admission: "For Al-Qaeda militants, the safe haven of Syria will be looking decidedly cooler as winter sets in."

A few more botched raids like this and we'll have to pack our bags and go home, heads bowed in shame.

How dare you be productive?!

Last week, the One promised to punish anyone earning over $250,000. His partner in The Great Taking, Joe Biden, revised that downward on Monday to $150,000 and today, the official definition of "rich enough to steal from" was lowered to $120,000.By the day of anointment we'll all be rich - but not for long.

The New York Times doing what it used to do so often, and so well.
In depth report on the banking shenanigans that dragged down municipal dupes - $200 million leveraged into a $20 billion exposure, no appreciable payments in exchange for that risk and, of course, huge profits for the guy who sold the stuff.

It's all reminiscent of the stuff I used to go after when Wall Street was still content to defraud individual investors - these guys just figured out how to go big time.

One thing the article passes over but which will be the next, huge financial disaster of the coming decades: the bankruptcy of municipal pension plans. General discussion of this latter sorry subject can be found here.

Buy land!

Okay, that's a shot of Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, where I'd prefer to live but if, like me, you're stuck here in the Hell Hole of Greenwich, you can still make the best of things by building a nice house. I mentioned yesterday that my pal Lou Van Leeuwen and his company, Greenwich Construction LLC (698-9420)were offering 20%-30% off construction projects and suggested that other contractors could probably be persuaded to be equally as generous. I mostly discussed renovations and additions but of course, this isn't a bad time to build new, either. Same lower building costs and the same pressures on sellers of building lots.

The Greenwich MLS currently shows 105 land listings, ranging from $35 million for waterfront on Field Point Circle (discussed yesterday - I think there ought to be some give in that figure)to $245,000 for a tenth of an acre on Peck Avenue. Plus, there are many house listings that would be suitable for new construction: my own listing, at 34 North Porchuck, adjoining Audubon property and available for somewhere between $1.6ish to $1.75 ish is just one example.

So look around. My sense is that a lot of these properties were priced when builders were active and buying. That's not true right now and in fact, most builders I know have put their land inventory back on the market. Deals can be had.

Figure it will take a year or so to build a new house. By that time, the market may have recovered in which case you'll have an easier time selling your existing house at a price you like and you will have constructed a new house for far less than you could have a year ago or perhaps you could a year from now. Not a bad deal, I think.

That should do it for this afternoon. Have a great Halloween.

If you can't move, improve your present situation
It's all very well for me to suggest, as I do below, that this is the perfect time to take advantage of our economic mess and the uncertainty it's created by buying a house cheap but what if you can't do that? What if, for example, you'd have to sell your current home to buy a new one and you're not looking forward to some smart ass heeding my advice and showing up on your doorstep with a ridiculously low offer? Well, there's another way to take advantage of these bad times: stay put, and improve your existing house - all the things you wanted in your next house? Maybe you can add them to what you own and stay put, quite contentedly, for the next few years while you enjoy them.

My fishing buddy, Lou Van Leeuwen, recently sat down with his subcontractors and basically proposed that they all (including Lou himself) cut their prices and offer to do renovation and new construction projects for 20% - 30% less than they'd have charged last year (building material suppliers, alas, are immune from Lou's gentle persuasive powers, for the moment, or costs could drop even further). The theory is, naturally, that it's better to be working and making a little money than not working at all. Lou ran an advertisement last week announcing this offer - I haven't spoken with him to find out how it played but it makes sense. Here's Lou's contact information and a list of the sub contractors who are participating - top quality people, every one:
Louis Van Leeuwen,CEO, Greenwich Construction, LLC Office: 203.698.9428 Cell: 203.223.0634 Home: 203.637.3619
Braga Flooring
Complete Carpentry
CTX Concrete & Foundations
Greenwich Drywall
Interstate Lumber
Janeczek Contracting
Mathews Roofing
Pinho Landscaping
Quezada Painting
Roger Arnow & Sons Excavating
Sottile HVAC
Stamford Plumbing Supply
Summer Rain
Vartuli Electric
VPI Contracting

I mention Van Leeuwen because I know he's specifically offering this. But any contractor should be willing to bend, and bend considerably, to get work in this climate. Dig up Lou's ad and beat your own contractor over the head with it, if you wish.

Other top people I know who would welcome work, including small jobs: Rick Hvolbeck 249-2297 and his partner, Al Oliveira (914) 273-7316. I'm not suggesting that you call them to build that rabbit hutch you've always wanted (but you might) but Rick and Al did an incredible job on our place recently replacing trim, a porch deck, insulating the foundation and replacing rotten windows and columns, all at a price I couldn't have touched a few years ago. These guys are builders and carpenters, not the half-skilled handymen who were all you could get in years past.

There are more, but you get the picture. If you're stuck where you are, put some money into addressing long-deferred maintainence issues, add a room or a deck or even completly renovate the entire house (rents are low now, too, so you'll have a place to stay). You'll get a good price, save a lot of money, improve your existing house and maybe even increase its value, all while keeping these ruffians off the streets. A good deal for everyone.

The month is (almost) up
Absent a flurry of reporting in the next 45 minutes, we'll have seen just ten contracts for single family houses this month. That compares to 33 last October, which was not a banner month itself. So sales activity is dormant. I think it may be an excellent time to buy, and here's why: uncertainty.

No one knows what's going to happen to our economy in the next year, although it's a pretty good bet that we won't like it. A year from now, the median price of a house in Greenwich may very well be below what it is today but it's also possible that we'll be beginning to see the start of a recovery. If so, sellers will be tempted to hang on awhile and resist truly low-ball offers. That's not the situation today. I know of one buyer who waited until the close of business after that first horrendous market dump a few weeks ago and, after the markets had closed, raised his ridiculously low bid by a few hundred thousand and got the house he wanted. The seller, already unnerved by September's goings on, just decided the Hell with it and took what he could get. If the economy had been showing signs of strength, rather than imminent collapse, that buyer's bid would never have been considered, let alone accepted.

And you can do the same. There are certainly sellers out there determined to get their price and, if they don't have to sell, they'll be stubborn. But there are many more in whom I sense a great deal of trepidation and who, I think, would be greatly relieved to be shed of a house they don't want and don't need. And there are also, of course, the spec builders who have to get out of their projects or risk losing everything they own to their lenders. So, while the bottom may not have arrived, the peak of uncertainty may have - in which case, it's a fine time to be out there making offers.

Real estate pricing theory, high-end style

So let's say that you paid $25.75 million for waterfront at 112 Field Point Circle in June of '07 (the Old Victor Borge place, now missing his house). You decide that you may have made a slight miscalculation, or maybe you see better opportunities elsewhere, like horning in on that ever-growing AIG bailout, which started at $20 billion and is now, where? - $160 billion? Whatever, you want out - where do you price the land?

How about $35 million? You've owned it for over a year, for Chrissake, and no one's built any more Belle Haven waterfront since then, have they? And aren't you entitled to some kind of compensation for exhaling CO2 over the once-verdant lawns during that time? It works that way on Wall Street and it damn well ought to work that way here!

The difference between the original owner of this place and the current one? Victor Borge only played a clown.

Did you hear the Happy News?

(From someone else's column)

" For the nation, existing-home sales increased last month as buyers responded to improved housing affordability conditions"

A cynic might describe "improved affordability conditions" as the bottom dropping out of sales prices, but he'd run the very real risk of the NAR stripping him of his brass-colored Realtor's pin.

Sales since September 1, 2008
A reader asked what's been happening to sales since Septemeber so I looked it up. Remember that some of these sales were contracted for as early as April so their price today might not match that agreed to six months ago. That said, here goes, all 43 of them. (address, original asking price, sell price and % to original - formatting in Blooger is a bitch, so bear with me)

11 Langhorne $28 million - $13.75 - 49%
11 Island Drive $15.75 - $15.5 - 98.4%
4 Old Round Hill $14.5 - $10.875 - 75%
16 Beechcroft $8.295 - $6.15 - 74%
101 Brookside $6.995 - $5.995 - 85.6%
268 Round Hill $5.6 - $4.6 - 82%
18 Sherwood $5.4 - $5.2 - 96%
752 North St. $4.9 - $3.9 - 80%
25 Birchwood $4.2 - $3.6 - 86%
70 Pecksland $3.7 - $3.0 - 81%
123 Shore Rd $3.2 - $2.8 - 87.5%
67 Hillside $2.8 - $2.325 - 83%
21 Wilshire $3.495 - $2.180 - 62%
10 Keofferam $2.940 - $2.415 - 82%
29 Irvine $2.585 - $2.150 - 83%
27 Dandy $2.549 - $2.349 - 92%
11 Hettiefred $3.375 - $2.349 - 69.6%
69 Rockwood $2.295 - $2.729 - 119%
49 Arcadia $2.495 - $2.075 - 83%
62 Cat Rock $2.25 - $1.9 - 84%
83 Circle $2.795 - $1.885 - 67%
18 Orchard Hill $1.895 - $2.0 - 105%
3 Old Farm Rd $1.995 - $1.525 - 76% [pd.$1.75, 2003]
29 Spring St. $1.950 - $1.6 - 82%
17 Suburban $1.995 - $1.695 - 85%
25 Ridge St. $1.695 - $1.650 97%
83 Rvsd. Ave. $1.750 - $1.50 86%
22 Bramble $1.575 - $1.525 97%
5 Lockwood Dr. $1.575 - $1.4425 92%
28 Lockwood Dr. $1.495 - $1.595 - 106.6% [April contract]
47 Will Merry $1.895 - $1.350 - 71%
4 Cross Ridge $1.340 - $1.210 - 90%
7 Ginko $1.150 - $1.275 - 111%
12 Deep Gorge $1.250 - $ 937 - 75%
37 Sachem $ 915 - $ 860 - 94%
29 Old Wagon $ 849 - $ 720 - 85%
5 Hollow Wood $ 699 - $ 650 - 93%
990 North St. $ 672 - $ 685 - 102%
279 Davis $ 899 - $ 550 - 61%
60 Gold $ 610 - $ 481 - 79% [paid $495, 2003]

So not nearly as bad as it has seemed. Of course, we're way down on contracts this month and of the few we have (9? 10?) some are way off asking price but still, the sky isn't falling (or hasn't yet fallen, take your pick)

With enemies like these, it must be a great idea
We voters have a choice next Tuesday to call for a Constitutional Convention - no agenda beyond that, but all hell is bound to break out if citizens meet to discuss what our state government should look like going forward. Support of a political position based solely on who's against it isn't fail-safe - Barbara Streisand was against the invasion of Iraq, for instance - but it's a reasonable starting point and everyone who should be opposed by people like me is against this proposition: The Lady's League of Women Voters, the UAW, the teachers' union, political incumbents, Ed Krumeich, you name them, they don't like it.

So I do. Besides, think of the theatre it will produce, to entertain us during the coming months of darkness.

Conde Nast cutting staff.

Readership and advertising is off and many people are cheering. Not me, because I have friends who work there, but I long since stopped subscribing. The comments to the article announcing the cuts all seem to be from former subscribers to the New Yorker and Vanity Fair who cancelled their subscriptions after both magazines tilted entirely to the left.
A typical comment:

It is a curious thing, how about fifty percent of the reading public is right-center, and how 100% of the publishing world goes to such strenuous efforts to insult the right-center. You've willfully alienated half of your potential customers with your incessant lobbying and condescending, contemptuous editorial attitude. 5% is only the beginning.

No fear of that here! Well, no fear of tilting to the left - condescension and contempt, we can do.

Here's a sad story:
Murtha pleads for money to save his seat after calling constituents racists

“We need to raise another $1 million to compete,” his campaign fundraiser Susan O’Neill wrote in the e-mail obtained by The Hill. “We need money immediately.”

O’Neill blamed Republicans from outside Pennsylvania for Murtha’s problems.

Those damn outside agitators - can't we just arrest them?

I realize that different jurisdictions can have different laws
But what law sees students arrested for hanging an Obama effigy when a Sarah Palin figure or or an effigy of a U.S. soldier is hanged with impunity?

Well this isn't going to pay for a house in Greenwich!
Laid off Wall Streeters turn to bartending.

On the other hand, this might: Wall Street execs say they won't kill bonuses. I think that, politically, these guys are morons but since they've already demonstrated that they're financial idiots, why not? If those with ability won't stay without a bonus, is that a bad thing? Let them go on to better firms that aren't tethered to the government teat and the losers can stay behind and take orders from the likes of Henry Waxman.

Now that it's too late,
CBS finally fact-checks Obama's ass. And guess what? His numbers don't add up.

If he closes every loophole as promised, saves every dime from Iraq, raises taxes on the rich and trims the federal budget as he's promised to do "line by line," he still doesn't pay for his list. If he's elected, the first fact hitting his desk will be the figure projecting how much less of a budget he has to work with - thanks to the recession. He gave us a very compelling vision with his ad buy tonight. What he did not give us was any hint of the cold reality he's facing or a sense of how he might prioritize his promises if voters trust him with the White House.

With all respect to the main stream media, the time for this analysis was months ago, before the great unwashed was convinced by y'all that a free lunch was coming.

Spec houses
A reader asked for an updated figure on the number of spec houses currently on the market and I'm happy to oblige. Without examining each and every listing, I can only estimate, but I ran a search for houses built in 2006 to date, on the assumption that most are being offered by their builder and, if not, they're new enough to compete with other houses that have remained vacant - besides, I know of several 2004 and 2005 spec houses that remain unsold, so the numbers should work out about right.

Of the 795 single family and condominium units on the market today, 172 were built in 2006 or later. Fifty-eight of those are condos so we have 114 new single families for sale. Nine of the latter are priced between $10.9 million and $25 million, 61 are between $4 - $10 million. So 70 high-end spec houses, all looking for buyers. How fast are they moving? Seven sold in the past quarter and of those 7, only 1 sold in October: 16 Beechcroft, reduced 26% from $8.295 million and "dumped" for $6.150. If the market picks up, I suppose we have only ten quarters - 2 1/2 years, right? - before we're through the inventory, assuming nothing else is completed and put up for sale until then. If this month's activity is a harbinger of sales activity to come then, Houston, we have a (bigger) problem.

Lower my price? Are you mad?

Saw a couple of houses on the open house tour today that will never attract offers, in my opinion. One seller, according to the listing agent, had rejected her pricing advice and insisted that buyers would realize how unique and special his run-down little cottage is. Fat chance.

The other seller - again, according to the agent - is content to sit on his property, floors sagging like a sway-backed mare's, highway noise rushing in, until the market meets his price. That's fine, and good luck to him, but why is he wasting our time? Call me when you get serious or, if the market ever does reach your price, I'll call you - I'm confident the property will still be available.

895 Lake Avenue

I mention below a new condo on Suburban Avenue that seems to have been disposed of at or near cost. Here's another builder who is apparently having second thoughts. BSF Builders, a very successful firm in town with a great track record paid $3.1 million for this place on August 25. They've now put it back on the market for $3.495 million, although why someone else would pay $395,000 extra for the opportunity to pick up BSF's discard is a bit of a poser.

This location has an interesting background. It was part of the Martin R. Frankel compound - he of the insurance fraud, diamonds, international manhunt and all that. Our police ignored many complaints about activities here - they did show up once when the nude body of one of Frankel's Russian sweeties was discovered hanged but, as demanded by the Greenwich Police Manual, labelled the death a suicide and returned to headquarters. Only when Mr. Frankel set fire to the place in preparation for flight did anyone take official notice of the goings on here and even then it was the Fire Department, not the police.

Oh well. Someone bought the house, out of foreclosure, I believe, and did a very nice job renovating it. He listed it for sale in June, 2005 for $3.765 million and eventually sold it for $3.187 a year later. The next owner was not so fortunate and resold it to BSF this August for, as noted, $3.1 million.

And now it can be yours, for the seller's cost and a wee finder's fee.

Here's a sale
Always nice to see any activity, I suppose. 17 Suburban Avenue is a nice, brand new, free standing condo that was originally listed in May, 2007 for $1.695 million. It was reported sold today for $1.259 million. I doubt its builder made much money on it at that price, but at least he's out of there.

Twin Lakes Revisited
Well this was a disappointment. I mentioned this new listing yesterday and today got to see what's been done to it in the past 35 years. Not much, it seems. Instead of the waterfront I remember, all that's left is a view easement and a physical easement that will permit you to cart a Sunfish down to the water, when there is water. The 5 houses I remember being carved out of the original acreage are seven, at least, and they crowd in on this one on every side. The owner of this place was rumored to have money but if he did, he obviously preferred to spend it on legal fees suing his neighbors rather than improving the house - as a lawyer, I applaud such passion; as a real estate agent, I do wish he'd done a bit more than slap up some fresh wallpaper during his tenancy. The staff that ran the kitchen in 1928, for instance, is long gone and won't be returning. Buyers today tend to do their own cooking, at least occasionally, and when they do, they want more than a ship's galley to work in.

Ducking one's head as one passes along a dark corridor to what serves as the master bedroom "suite" feels awkward for someone of my gigantic height. Sure, few people grew to my 5'10 stature eighty years ago but today, many men are approaching 6 full feet, and they'll bang their heads on these low ceilings.

Etc. I'm a little surprised at the $15 million price tag on what is essentially an obsolete house with a view of the water (or mudflats, depending on the tide) but heck, you won't know if you don't try. Or something.

Update: reader ACF says, "Funny, I don't remember having to duck my head but then again, the last time I went upstairs in that house the Teicherts still owned it, so I was probably around three feet tall."

And I also heard from this group:Well, we don't have to duck our heads!

Aaaghhh! The Gore effect strikes again!
Snow blankets London during global warming debate

Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday - the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922. The Mother of Parliaments was discussing the Mother of All Bills for the last time, in a marathon six hour session.

In order to combat a projected two degree centigrade rise in global temperature, the Climate Change Bill pledges the UK to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The bill was receiving a third reading, which means both the last chance for both democratic scrutiny and consent....

Recently the American media has begun to notice the odd incongruity of saturation media coverage here which insists that global warming is both man-made and urgent, and a British public which increasingly doubts either to be true. 60 per cent of the British population now doubt the influence of humans on climate change, and more people than not think Global Warming won't be as bad "as people say".

Both figures are higher than a year ago - and the poll was taken before the non-summer of 2008, and the (latest) credit crisis.

Sounds like some people are wising up - but I thought the debate was over?
Update:
Record snows in Switzerland!
Record cold in Florida!

I'd read that OwlGore would be in Florida campaigning for the Messiah, but how'd he get there from Switzerland - private jet?

So, how's the rental market?
I've heard it said that the town's just buzzing with young New Yorkers, snapping up our listings in preparation for buying next year. That's nice. I also see this in today's open house listings:

$5,000/MO
6 YEAR YOUNG COLONIAL, 5 BEDROOM, DUNDEE SCHOOL, MINT. WILL ENTERTAIN ALL OFFERS.

As I like to say, your results may differ.

More on Joe
State investigation of Joe the Plumber more extensive than first admitted

A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it first acknowledged.

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.

The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.

This should anger people of any political persuasion. The fact that it is instead justified and defended by Obama supporters lends a frightening foretaste of what's to come.

21 Lia Fail, Cos Cob

Want your own, 500 seat marble amphitheatre? Here's your chance. I've been intrigued by this property ever since Aimee Liu walked me through it on our one date (and only date - Aimee was a really sharp girl) back when we both attended Eastern. Aimee went on to much better things, including Yale and, later, a successful writing career but the amphitheatre is still there, along with a small residence built in 1940 or so from material salvaged from the Havemeyer mansion over in Old Greenwich. First sold in 2004 for $2.2 million (after languishing at $2.8 million for a year - I told the seller not to price it there but she went with the broker who promised more and delivered well, less), the new owners have tried since 2006 to sell it again. They first listed all of its 5 acres (two building lots) for $3.5 million, which, even though they'd updated the original house a bit, didn't strike buyers as much of a bargain. They eventually dropped the price to $2.795 and now offer just the house and amphitheatre on 2 acres for $1.6 million - no mention of what's to be done with the second lot across the driveway.

This is a magical place,set far off of Valley Road and at the right place, would be a wonderful buy. If I were in a buying mood, I might offer the asking price for the full 5 acres and see how badly the sellers wanted to move.

Is this a "Georgian"?

According to the listing agent it is, and who am I to argue? It's at 14 Martin Dale, if you care to drive by and see for yourself. Its builder has been asking $5.995 million since April, so far without takers. Now he offers an "Aspen vacation" to the selling agent. I suppose, if that perk were disclosed to the client, a buyer's rep could take advantage of that deal but if I were the potential buyer I think I'd wonder if the advice I was receiving to buy the place was tempered by the desire of my agent to go skiing. And once I started wondering about that, I think I'd start wondering about lots of things about our relationship. The best way to keep a deal clean, in my opinion, is to forgo offering selling agents any extra bonuses and cut your price, instead.

If he won't help his family, why should I? Obama's aunt, uncle living in Boston slum
Just asking.
Update: Here's a good point:

His campaign obviously found her. It shouldn’t have been hard, in spite of being an apparent illegal immigrant, she and her husband have been cited in several newspapers over the years. But once they found her, rather than help her, the Obama campaign shut her up.

Spread the wealth indeed.

Howard Dean, now and then:

Howard Dean, 2008:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that he’s looking forward to one party controlling all aspects of government, despite GOP charges that it would be a disastrous Nov. 4 outcome. “Republicans had a chance to rule. They failed miserably. I think it’s time to give the other party a chance,” Dean said on MSNBC.

Howard Dean, 2005:

We need more than one party in charge. And the vote on Tuesday is going to be critical to decide whether American democracy still allows those of us who didn't vote for the president to have any say in running the country whatsoever.
[...]
Someday, the Democrats will be back in charge again. Do we want a Democratic Party that's in charge of everything? Well, you know, I suppose it's my job to say yes. But the truth is, as an American, it's better when parties share power. It's better when even those people who didn't win the election have something to say.
[...]
[There] is a culture of corruption and abuse of power in Washington. This is what happens when one party is in charge of everything.

Politics for a change!

Stock Market: These days, that last five minutes is a bitch!

"Built Date"?
A reader asked why 396 Round Hill Road was listed as having been built in 2006 when it had been on the market since January 2005. The best I can determine from checking its listing history is that, maybe, it didn't receive a certificate of occupancy until 2006. Here's what it looked like in the beginning of January 2005, when its built date was shown as "2005 - u/c" [under construction]:
Clearly, this structure was not ready to receive a final c/o at the time this picture was taken. So, if construction lingered for another year, then 2006 would be the right date. In any case, it never hurts to have your attorney examine all relevant building documents before you buy.

A happy reader asks,

Funny topic...A friend once bragged to me she was building an "authentic Georgian" house...it's been on the market until recently (MLS# 68755) but I think it was taken off. It's a gorgeous home but I am not sure how "authentic" it is.
Doesn't Georgian usually connote a red brick house? What's with all these faux Georgian's?

Good question, reader. First, the house your friend said she was building is pictured above. It does have the requisite red brick but it was built in 1989, long before she bought it (for $11.2 million in 2005), so perhaps her claim of authorship is a bit overstated. It was put back on the market in February this year for $12.5 million but found no takers and was withdrawn in August.

But what about the faux Georgians you mention? In the real estate world, we build, and sell, "in the style of" which means, of course, that there's nothing at all in common between the real thing and whatever pile of bricks we're unloading on the newly-rich. Here's a definition of Georgian from the Wikipedia article cited in the post below:

"Georgian architecture is characterized by its proportion and balance; simple mathematical ratios were used to determine the height of a window in relation to its width or the shape of a room as a double cube. 'Regular' was a term of approval, implying symmetry and adherence to classical rules: the lack of symmetry, where Georgian additions were added to earlier structures, was deeply felt as a flaw."

If a house like that ever existed in Greenwich, it was razed long ago - we're into eclectic!

"How can I enjoy this when polar bears can't afford to attend school?"

College costs soar above inflation rate so the natural response is to increase student aid!
Here's another idea - cut college aid and see how schools respond to fewer applicants. Sounds crazy, I know, but shoveling ever-increasing piles of money onto school administrators or, worse, bailing out the student loan shysters hasn't seemed to encourage a sense of thrift - maybe trying the opposite will help.

Wisdom via the Catskills:

The media is regarding the election of Barack Obama to the presidency as a foregone conclusion and the pollsters seem to back up that conclusion. If that is indeed the case, so be it. As Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York, put it with superb prescience after losing in the primaries to his eventual successor, David Dinkens: "The people have spoken. It is now time for the people to be punished." Dinkens' spectacular ineptitude led to his being soundly defeated for re-election after only one term by a Republican(!), Rudy Giuliani (Dinkens, the mayoral equivalent of Jimmy Carter, has been bitter about it ever since). New York City flourished during Giuliani's administration. Similarly, our nation will survive an Obama administration and will surely flourish anew in time.

Of course, the blogger quoted believes in the Resurrection, life after death and all that, so his sense of "in time" may be larger in scope than it is for some of us.

Where is the left's outrage?

We all heard the howls when those two Nazis, Bush and Cheney, eavesdropped on cellphone calls between terrorists. So why, when the Ohio Democrats, state officials all, searched "Joe the Plumber's" background to dig up dirt , did no one on the left complain? No one. That's presumably because, unlike terrorists, ol' Joe doesn't hate America and probably doesn't think much of Obama, so he's got to be destroyed. I don't think I'm particularly paranoid but I have a dreadful feeling that this is what's in store for anyone who dares question the Messiah. What's truly scary is that my friends on the left can hardly wait.

Twin Lakes Drive, Riverside

Waterfront at the end of Gilliam Lane

"Twin Lakes" was the silly name a would-be developer, Jack Brod, stuck on the this end of the road when he had it in mind to festoon the place with 35 houses. He lost that particular dream and was limited to 5 lots, two of which were carved out of this, the original mansion's yard. Still 1.82 acres remain, leading down to Cos Cob Harbor and providing tidal access to Long Island Sound. I don't think I've been in the place since the Fritzsches owned it and, with all possible fondness for the Fritzsches and their 7 (? - seemed like that many) kids, the house was a tad run-down. The listing says this was "renovated" - there's that word again - in 2006 and there's an open house tomorrow so I'll go see and report back. $15 million, if you're wondering.

Oh: the "Twin Lakes" are - you guessed it - a pair of little brackish ponds, but nice enough in their own way. We used to play hockey on the first one, when Muzz Patrick (Patrick Division was named after his grandfather, Muzz was a Rangers player and, later, their manager) lived on its edge. And Dorothy Hamill first skated there, on her way to Innsbruck. Good memories, nice neighborhood.

Realtorese, continued, courtesy of CEA

Definition and picture of Georgian architecture - moderate size, simple.


What Real Estate Brokers Say Is Georgian - gargantuan, bells & whistles:
Like this,

like this,

and, of course, like this.

396 Round Hill Road

Great moments in real estate pricing?
This is a really nice house, designed and built by one of my favorite architects, Alex Kali-Nagy. Really - he has a great eye for proportion and each room in every house he's done seems just right; this house is no exception. But I do wonder at how he's trying to sell this place.

It was first listed at $8.950 in early 2005 and didn't move. In November of that year he withdrew that price and replaced it, the same day, with a new one: $10.9 million. That didn't work so he lopped off a million bucks four months later, eventually dropped it to $9.395 and watched it expire, unsold, in November 2006. In February of this year it returned to the market, four years older and priced at $11.5 million - it still won't sell. Perhaps raising it to $125 million will do for this house what it didn't do for Leona's.

Mark Mariani, Builder to the Stairs?

Why isn't this man smiling?
Perhaps it's because he's just lowered the prices of two of his unsold projects, 10 Dairy Road (the terminal resting place of Andy Kissel, bound, stabbed and no longer investing in earthly things) from $10,750,000 to $8,450,000 and One Meadowcroft, from $14,500,000 to $13,500,000. The latter reduction is a mere 7% off ask, but a million bucks is still a million bucks, or so I was led to believe.

So how's this town's most aggressive spec builder doing? From what I hear, he tells anyone who'll listen that he's doing just fine, "no worries, mate". But he has at least three unsold projects on the market and, if this article's right, 250 people on his payroll. That's a lot, eh?


By the way, for an interesting look back at Hedge Fund Greenwich as it was just a year ago, check out this article in Vanity Fair. Things have changed - permanently? I doubt it; we're all just waiting for the next crop of Masters of the Universe to emerge from the primordial ooze. Though I do worry, sometimes, that we natives are like the Cargo Cultists of Vanuatu who were blessed during World War II by manna falling from heaven when planes were shot down or had to ditch. For years after that conflict ended (and in fact, continuing today) the natives constructed crude replicas of airplanes, hoping to encourage the Gods to return with more largess. Should we be building mock trading floors?

Update: I notice that 10 Dairy Road's address has been changed back to its original number, 8. Did the Post Office require this or did Mariani decide that the stigma attaching to the property because of Mr. Kissel's unfortunate demise had passed? Beats me.
A reader asked about the third Mariani spec house on Sabine Farms (actually, 27 Doverton, off of Sabine). That house is a mirror image to the Dairy Road house but, perhaps because of its location off Round Hill Road, was originally priced at $11.750 million. Now it's down to $8.450 so it's obvious that, at least as Mariani has come to see things, identical houses should command identical prices, regardless of location (or dead bodies).

Realtor-ese
A recurring topic because we real estate agents are so darn creative! In no particular order:
"Lake": any body of water large enough to hold a (small) frog.
"Trout Stream": any trickle of water too small to be called a lake.
"Renovated": if no mention is made of anything specific, assume that there's nothing to mention, so count on the dust bunnies having been swept from under the beds and, maybe, ashes cleaned from the fireplace.
"On the Stamford/Greenwich border": in Stamford
"Enjoy as is, renovate or start anew": Reserve a dumpster.
"Has great potential": Reserve a dumpster.
"Convenient to transportation": backs up to I-95.
"Not a drive-by": It's a drive by - and keep driving.
"Must see": Same advice - keep driving.
"Motivated Seller": We can't possibly unload the place at its current price but the dumbass seller won't publicly admit it - bring a low-ball offer and let's talk.
"Won't last": It did, or we wouldn't still be advertising the turkey.

Send in your own favorites and I'll add them here.

Reader Updates: "seasonal water views". Go up on the roof, climb a step ladder and wow!. I myself, because I'm a truthful sort of guy, prefer to call these nature sightings "seasonal water glimpses".

"Much loved" = obsolete

"Charming" = small

Cozy – means that it’s really a dollhouse or doghouse

New paint – it’s amazing how far $5 per gallon paint goes

New carpet – covering up the scratched hardwood floors

Close to Park – SO close that you’ll never find a parking spot
Peaceful backyard– because 36,000 cars drive by the front yard each day.
Professionally remodeled – the owner and their siblings didn’t do the work, the neighbor’s sister’s husband’s son did.

Movable center island – the kids ran into it so many times it came loose.

Quaint - it’s pink!

Steps to the creek – be ready to sandbag the front yard each spring.

On golf course – high insurance for broken windows

"Classic": brand-new, trying to look established

"Georgian": anything with stone, no matter how little of it, on any part of the facade, even if you need a magnifying glass to find it.

"Condo alternative" - so small that only a single person or couple can live in it.

"Compound" or "retreat" sounds like it's in the middle of a war zone

"First time on market in 70 years" : Last updated when Grandpa sold the horse and used the proceeds to replace the outhouse.

"Lovingly maintained"--the harvest gold appliances still work like a charm and the sheet vinyl in the kitchen has been so carefully patched, you'll hardly notice.

Riverside/Old Greenwich vs. Mid and Back Country?

It all depends on your taste. I grew up in Riverside and raised my own children there and really enjoyed the ability to find friends to play with in every back yard. Of course these days, where there is no such thing as pick-up game of baseball and "playdates" are scheduled 5 years in advance, there is less opportunity for spontaneous fun but it was still nice not to have to chauffeur my kids around - they'd walk or bike home from school, stopping by a friend's house on the way and we'd see them in time for dinner. Great stuff.

But other people feel suffocated by the close quarters - a claustrophobia made worse in the past 50 years by the constant erection of new houses and the destruction of the meadows and woods that used to be here. They'd no sooner live in a house 25' from their neighbor than drive an old beater car to the station. Aaaghh! And I understand that (well, the former, if not the latter). I worked with a great couple who lived in Riverside but, the more I listened, the more I heard that the husband, who'd grown up on lots of land in the mid-west, felt cramped on a piddling 1/3 acre and the wife was more interested in a classic pre-War home than she was its location. I suggested we look at a great old house on two acres, with a pool, that was selling for the same price as Riverside homes on far less land and with far less charm and they loved it. The move made perfect sense for them.

The one complaint I hear from Back Country parents is about the driving - 45 minutes to drop kid #1 to soccer practice and kid #2 at a friends house, then go home for 1/2 an hour and repeat the process. If your kids are old enough to drive, that's not an issue.

So yes: per square foot, Riverside and Old Greenwich are more expensive and have been for a long time - families with young children particularly want to live in the area. The trade off is in privacy and room - some people insist on those, others do without them for the convenience. The nice thing about Greenwich is that there's room enough to satisfy both tastes.

82 Buckfield

Here's a nice house in the Back Country that was, I think, aggressively priced back in 2005 at $4.790 million. It languished for awhile at that price, was pulled, and eventually returned at $4.495 million. Today the sellers chopped a cool million from that and now ask $3.495 (do I have to do all the mathematical heavy lifting around here?). I wish for the sellers' sake that they'd started here, when the market was stronger - ok, when there was a market at all - but it's now a lot of house for a reasonable amount of money. I wish the sellers well.

5 Raymond Street, Old Greenwich

When this house (click on title above for listing details) was last on the market back in 2004 it was listed at $1.625 million and sold quickly at full asking price. That was then. It's now on the market again - the listing claims it was "renovated" in 2008 but I'm pretty sure that's just realtor speak for tidied up and painted. In May, the seller asked $2.250 million; it's now down to $1.788, still 10% over what they paid for it four years ago. If the seller is lucky he'll manage to break even, in my opinion.