Location, location, location

"Longvue Point". ain't that cute? THOSE SOTHEBY'S FOLKS ARE SO VERY CREATIVE

Sotheby's is offering a 45-acre, 2-lot parcel up in Conyers Farm, 0000 Lake Avenue, for $9.750, right on the pond (or, as a realtor would describe it, a "lake", and broadcast a reminder of that listing to all agents this morning (in fact, it's been on the market since 2016, when it started at $12.9 million). It all looks very pretty, but if you click on the link to property's own website, you get this, which, I'm pretty sure isn't its exact location. I wonder whether anyone at Sotheby's has checked thIs link since they first posted it two years ago?

If a Greenwich helicopter parent loves her child enough to get her to 4:00 AM hockey practice, surely this isn't too much to ask

Parents are now tattooing their children's artwork on themselves.

Some parents are getting their children's drawings and paintings permanently tattooed on their bodies. And their kids aren't necessarily little Rembrandts...

In fact, some of the stories here are poignant, but still ... As I told my boy John when he wanted to join a hockey team that started in the wee hours, "it ain't happening".

Apropos of nothing: Shopping Malls, demise of

While I wait for my freshly-fed sourdough leaven to rejuvenate, and have nothing better to do on a quiet Saturday afternoon, I thought I'd post on my experience yesterday at a local mall.

I went there to visit an Apple store and, wandering its long corridor to reach it, I looked at the various stores, and realized that there was nothing they offered that I couldn't buy from Amazon, without the bother of driving to a mall, parking, and then taking a long hike down hallways and up stairs, and waiting for an item to be rung up. 

Not that there was much there that I desired or would buy, but if I, a 60-something shopper, have deserted these kind of establishments (although admittedly, I've never been a mall shopper), it's easy to understand the woes of traditional brick and mortar stores.

Nothing new here: the demise of malls and retail stores has been well documented, but it was still a revelation to personally experience and understand why malls are obsolete.

Many years ago, one of my assignments as a young associate was to help draw up leases and such for mall developers. Those developers were making a killing back then, and I assume they continued to make still more in the following decades. Not that I found those clients particularly attractive human beings, but I hope for their sake that they bailed out early.

Oh dear oh dear

Yes, that's a Coca-Cola sign — it gets worse

108 John Street was custom built in 1995 Dinyar Wadia, one of Greenwich's finest builders, but was unfortunately desecrated by the (former?) NYC interior design team of Diamond Baratta. We had great fun here some years back with one of their other assaults on a house on Lake Avenue: that was foreclosed on, "neutralized" by the lender's agent, and finally sold for a pittance. [1038 Lake Avenue, in fact, once owned by a gentleman named Steven Braverman   .Listing has disappeared, but a sample photo is shown below]

New York City residents creating an Adirondack vacation home in "the country"? Bad acid?  It's been on since November, when it was priced at $6.3 million, and reduced today to $5.995. I'm not certain how much it will cost to neutralize this one — it will surely cost less than the $1,000,000 plus that Diamond Baratta charged to ruin it — but subtract that cost from the new asking price and perhaps you'll reach market price.

Perhaps.

The general rule in selling a house is to depersonalize it. These owners are flamboyantly defying that advice, bless their hearts

The steven braverman residence, also decorated by diamond/baratta

There's one born every minute

28 Dairy Road is reported as pending, last asking price $4.250 million. A pre-fab on a so-so street, it sold new in 2004 for $5.125 million (proving my point), and was put back up for sale in 2014 at $5.995. That didn't work, so it was pulled in 2015, dolled up and returned to the market in 2016 at the more sober price of $4.825.

I suppose $4.250 seemed like some kind of bargain to this buyer, but I didn't like the house in 2004 and see nothing to recommend it now.

Riverside sale

242 Riverside Avenue, $3.150 million. Sold in 2011 for $3,297,500. No real yard: it was carved out of a narrow lot-split, and detached garages are never popular, but nice enough inside. 

I'm not even going to say it. Okay, I will: ZEBRA!

Riverside Contract

89 Summit Road, asking $2.150 million. Prices for this area have edged up recently: it sold for $1.875 in 2013, but have yet to climb back to the 2007 frenzy, when this same house, new, then, sold at $2.275.

Not my favorite house on Summit, but the railroad is below grade here, minimizing noise, and the owners have done a nice job of hedging it off. 

Some hard negotiating might have persuaded the seller to throw in the stager's ZEBRA, but I doubt it — that poor animal is in constant demand throughout the town.

No real surprise here: contract on Park Avenue, Old Greenwich

7 Park Avenue, to be specific, asking $1.515 million. There's quite a bit to be overlooked here, including a regrettable kitchen and the master bath, but the $1.5 range in OG is pretty hot, and the inventory slim. Previous iteration was listed at $1.497 in 2013 and sold for $1.5.

I can attest to the popularity of the listing this time because Mickster and I had a client interested in it, but it had already gone to accepted offer status within a few days of its hitting the market.

Feel free to criticize the house, but it's a decent one, on a good street, in an excellent location, and this price fairly represents the market for houses that meet those criteria in OG.

No to the pseudo-Roman bath, but the shower looks attractive

Photo Shopped fire — does the fireplace actually work? Most don't.

A price cut, and a non-price cut

11 Round Hill Club Road, now down to $11.950 million. I've been following this spec project since 2015, when it was newly built and priced at $17.950. Probably still has a ways to go.

No price cut at 4 Lauder Way, however, still firmly fixed at the same $12 million it was priced at in March, 2016. Mr. Ogilvy had his listing renewed today, and loyalty is a wonderful thing. It's a grand old mansion, built in 1937 and well maintained over the ensuing 81 years, and Lauder Way is close to town, so that's all to the good.

So far, buyers in this price range have resisted its charms, however, and I guess it's a battle between the sellers' determination to get their price, and buyers who are equally determined to get fair value. We'll see who wins out.

Sorry: I was busy yesterday, and bored with writing about real estate, Here are some reported contracts.

43 Mimosa

43 Mimosa Drive, asking $1.595 million. Just 56 days on the market, which suggests that it will be selling for close to that price. Useful as a price comparison for those looking in this price range.

652 Lake Ave

652 Lake Avenue, $2.750 million. Sold for $2.750 back in 1998, so no hone run here. On the market since 2015, when it asked $3.4.

704 Lake Avenue, $1.595 million. Perfectly acceptable house on the 2-acre property, but being marketed as a building lot. Started off at $1.995 a year ago.

Ho hum.