Two more end-of-day sales: one end-user (presumably), one dumpster diver

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stanwich road

151 Stanwich Road, listed at $2.950 million, closed today at $3.8 million. It has the obligatory “babbling brook”, but oddly there’s no mention of the “coveted, gourmet, professional chef’s kitchen” that’s included in every reputable GMLS offering. Listing agent Ellen Mosher is one our top agents, so I’m sure the omission was part of a deliberate strategy and, judging from this sale price, it obviously worked.

And to the east …

Now you see it, soon you won’t. 33 Sound Beach Avenue, listed at $1 million, sold for $1.2.

Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's pizza oven

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New to the Cos Cob market today, 59 Dandy Drive, 1963 construction that was remuddled in 2015, is offered for sale at the perhaps aspirational price of three-point-five million dollars — which would beat the previous high sale in this 60s development by $700,000+.

Hey, in this hot market, who knows? And besides, according to the listing agent, “Rarely does a home in this coveted pocket of Greenwich come to market.” And she continues, waxing lyrical:’

This beautifully expanded six-bedroom residence offers turnkey living on a private one-acre lot on a quiet cul-de-sac. A two-story foyer sets the tone, opening to sun-filled living spaces designed for both grand entertaining and everyday ease. The gourmet kitchen, appointed with granite countertops, a professional-grade Wolf range, stainless steel appliances, skylights, and a generous center island, flows effortlessly into the family room at the heart of the home. The serene primary suite is complete with a dressing room, walk-in closet, and spa-inspired bath, while heated towel warmers grace three full bathrooms.

Well! That certainly makes it seem worth every penny that’s being asked, except there’s this list of items that aren’t being conveyed:

Exclusions: Outdoor pizza oven, swing in family room, smoker {would that be Granny, in the swing?] white refrigerator in lower level, dog fence only (not dog door).

It’s certainly understandable that a homeowner would have a deep, abiding affection for his basement refrigerator, and who among us wouldn’t dig up our dog fence and take it with us when we move? An this seller’s graciously willing to leave the dog door and, probably, the dog itself, eh? So quit yur yappin. But the pizza oven? Can’t part with that, even at $3.5 million? That’s true love.

dog fence

Sale at 7 Indian Head Road

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They’ve pulled the pictures, so no link (although I’m added some representative ones from other sites) but 7 Indian Head Road, listed at $8,050,000, has sold for $7.750 million. Previous sale was $4.650 in 2020.

The listing describes the property’s location as “Elegantly positioned in the heart of Riverside, just moments from the shoreline” — in fact, it’a a house that was shoehorned sideways into a narrow sliver of an undersized lot, and the north end of Indian Head could only be considered “moments from the shoreline” by a resident of Colorado calcutating comparative distances, but whatever.

Well, they just tried this in the wrong town — bring them to Greenwich, where houses are so much more commodious, and residents more welcoming

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“There was living space for 13 families in this one house”

And count on it: if, having been asked nicely, if homeowners persist in their stubborn selfishness, the new Democrat Party has other tools held in reserve

Portland's Adopt-A-Bum Program Isn't Working Out As Well As the Mayor Hoped

Victoria Taft:

Mayor Keith Wilson [said he] had good intentions when he announced last February that Portland homeowners who offered a spare bedroom for rent for $200 or less per week making them eligible for a $1,000 spiff, would go a long way toward helping the "homeless," but as we all know, inviting in a crackhead who has the sensitivities of an alley cat wasn't going to work out. 

Wilson said if Portlanders would squint really hard and look at the horizon at Golden Hour, they could see, "one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways we’ve ever provided housing to Portlanders," according to Willamette Week. 

But …

Oregon Catalyst noted that, "Since its launch in February, only five homeowners in Portland have offered to rent rooms for $200 or less per week under Mayor Keith Wilson’s pilot program designed to reduce homelessness and increase affordable housing in the city."

Portland paying the rents of homeless people isn't all it's cracked up to be. It turns out that when crack/fentanyl/meth addicts don't want to get help, they'll stay on the streets rather than go inside and not be crazy in someone else's house.  ….

The fact that the program is a spectacular flop will not stop the intrepid heroes of the mayor's office. They will soldier on, giving away other people's money to crackheads and the people willing to house them. All five of them.

Indeed, they say that the money giveaway to house crackheads is in the "early days," and their undaunted courage will continue until they can't make money from grants anymore. No, they didn't say that. We just know that when there's no more money in it, they'll quit and move on to another NGO where they can get a slice of the government pie.

“Home sharing is among the most cost-effective affordable housing tools available, but it is not designed to be instant," Executive Director Candice Smith told Willamette Week. 

"On our platform, participants often spend three months or more getting to know one another before signing an agreement,” Smith told the weekly newspaper. They go slowly on purpose. Oh, so that's it.

The group's target audience is baby boomers who are on a fixed income but own their own homes.

Uh huh.

Here’s the future, disinterred from the past by the DSA:

And, very much related, this story from last April:

Just down the road from Portland, Riverside CA County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a GOP gubernatorial candidate for the California governorship took a look at the billions of dollars spent to “solve” the homeless-addicts problem, and wasn’t impressed:

Bianco said he doesn't even want to hear the word "homeless" anymore:

We are not dealing with homeless, so stop calling it homeless. It has nothing to do with homes. This is drug and alcohol-induced pyschosis, mental illness causing the other; it doesn’t matter. But these people are suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness. We would have fixed this problem probably already had the Democrats in California in state legislature and our governor funded Prop 36 to give us the treatment that we need. … This has nothing to do with a home.

And of course, what’$ really driving this:

Bianco also addressed fraud, saying that all the wasted money going to nonprofits and NGOs for the homeless will end the day he takes office. 

Bianco lost; that doesn’t mean he wasn’t exactly right.

Sales reported

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33 Highland Road, listed at $8.480, sold for $7.250. Good location, nice grounds and interior, but I never liked the yellow stone facing since it was built in 2002, and neither, judging from its sale history in the past decades, did the majority of buyers who looked at it over the years.

6 Wyngate Road, listed at $3.150 million, sold for $3, 850,700, proving that , no matter how badly an agent misses the mark when pricing a house, the current market will correct it.

This property’s photographs were removed from the internet immediately after the sale closed, an increasingly common practice on on our GMLS; I find it annoying, so I’ve decided to provide my own “representative” pictures when I encounter it.

9 Benders Drive. $2.5 million asked, $2.650 got.