A fool and his money

Give it a hearty guffaw

A reader sent along this link to new construction at 42 Stag Lane, listed at $9.285 million. It’s not listed on the Greenwich Multiple Listing Service and is instead running on some web-based sales site. That’s probably wise, because no Greenwich agent could show this place without laughing hysterically throughout the tour, and no ethical agent would let his client even be tempted.

Stag Lane isn’t a bad street at all, but it borders the Merritt Parkway and, especially for properties like this one on the Merritt side, there’s a noise issue. And it’s inconvenient: no easy Merritt access, which might otherwise be a plus for New York commuters, and it’s a long way to town.

More important, nothing on Stag has ever sold for anything close to this price. The highest price paid was for Rick Harris’s spec house at 26 Stag, which, after a very long stay on the market, finally sold for $4.250 in 2007, and even then, it resold in 2012 for $2.6 million.

In fact, with the exception of that brief fling at 26, there has never been a sale on Stag for $3 million; only three houses have sold in the $2s, and everything else in the $1s.

$9.285 Million? Wait for the foreclosure auction.

(UPDATE: as an aside, I note that Zillow “Zestimates” this structure’s value as $8,697,487. Gee, down to the dollar — how precise! Zillow’s algorithms may work in neighborhoods of identical streets and identical houses, but they’re totally useless in Greenwich — rely on them at your peril.)

Selling direct

11 Nawthorne Road, Old Greenwich, is reported as pending at $6.395 million, but as a direct sale; usually, that means there’s no buyer’s agent and, if the ultimate buyer was excluded from the listing contract, no commission for that poor agent either. Bummer.

It’s pricey for non-waterfront, but if this property holds a view easement over the lot to its east and south, that’s not so bad. And if everyone is neighborly, these new owners can probably use that neighbor’s dock — that’s not uncommon, and something the Fountains did with our friends the Beins on William Street..

You can't always get what you want

16 Chimney Corner (Indian Harbor Association) went to contract October 1 and closed today at $7.450 million. The sellers paid $8.5 for it in 2017, completely renovated it, and put it back up for sale in 2018 for $11.995. If this was supposed to be a profit-making venture into renovating and flipping, it failed.

Nice house, though; the new owners should be happy here.

Trump vs NBC

When did you stop supporting QAnon?

“I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion – a blind and aimless Fury.”

Lewis Carroll

I dipped into Trump “Town Meeting” twice last night, and left after just a minute or two each time; it wasn’t Trump and voters, it was Savannah Guthrie vs Trump, and I had no interest in watching a talentless flack hijack the evening.

So I learned nothing there.

In the meantime, did anyone here watch the Biden meeting? Anyone? Bueler? EOS? Over at PJMedia, hardly a neutral observer, mind you, they were live blogging the event, and although they gave Biden high marks during the first house (with Joe taking rest breaks every 12-6 minutes), three of the PJ bloggers started commenting on Biden’s slow collapse as the performance stretched past that first hour.

Did he really begin slurring his words and blanking out? Again, I wasn’t watching, but if he did, it just reinforces the criticism of Trump’s first debate: he should have just let him talk, ad let the country see who they were being asked to vote for. Let’s hope he does that at next week’s debate, if a debate is held.

Mid-country price cut

106 Husted Lane, down to $4.995 million. Depending on the day of the week, this builder seemed to produce in a range from top to middling, and I don’t know which day it was in 2001 when this went up.

It has a curious sales history: It sold for $5.3255 in February 2002 and then resold just three months later for $5.950. I should have asked the listing agent for that May sale what the story was, but never did. Regardless, that buyer seems to be in for a disappointment.

Of note to cedar roof fans, this roof was replaced in 2019. Cedar roofs are very, very expensive, but an 18-year lifespan isn’t unusual. Think twice, perhaps, if you’re considering a house roofed in wood, or at the very least, make sure to learn its age and, depending on the answer, negotiate accordingly.

Old Greenwich contract

186 Shore Road, $6.250 million, 14 days. These owners fared better than their predecessors, who bought it new for $6.625 in 2010, added a pool and made other improvements and put it back up for sale in 2014 for $7.995 before finally selling it to these folks for $5.5 in 2018.

Nice house, and this section of Shore Road (just before the entrance to Tod’s) becomes essentially a dead-end after the beach closes, so traffic is acceptable, sort of. For non-waterfront, an impressive price.

This is how free speech is supposed to work

Daddy, make it all go away

Over at HotAir, Ed Morrissey raises some legitimate questions about Hunter Biden’s purported laptop and the odd story of the computer repairman who turned it in.

Legitimate questions, but ones that can be discussed and, maybe, answered. As opposed to a lockdown and complete embargo on the story, which is a tactic associated more with China or Russia than the United States.

Xi's got (the) game

Just don’t count on support from corporate America

Houston Rockets bow to China and fire general manager Daryl Morey. Morey tweeted out a short message of support for the Hong Kong protesters last year and China immediately retaliated by banning the broadcast of all NBA teams. That ban was lifted last week, a year after it was imposed, and clearly, part of the price it demanded was Morey’s termination.

Le Bron James was unavilable for comment, as he was on a Nike promotional tour in Wuhan.

Twitter locks Trump campaign account, three weeks before election

It’s all-out war

The Left will cheer this, just as it cheered Harry Reid’s ending the Senate’s filibuster rules for judicial appointments in 2013 but this time I don’t think it will take three years before the worm turns; no politician of either party will abide a company like Twitter threatening their communication, and I think we’ll see a repeal of Section 230, or a declaration that these sites are public utilities and subject to regulation in the coming year.

And that’s too bad, for those who’ve cherished an independent internet.

on the other hand, this one WAS Gideon's listing

Just around the corner from Pilot Rock, 32 Indian Point Lane has sold for $17 million. It’s outside of Harbor Point, but that’s often considered a feature, not a bug, and besides, it has its own dock.