A Move’s as Good as a Fire
My father always cited this adage in tribute to the value of de-cluttering one’s life. Unfortunately, it only works if, unlike a friend of mine I just helped move, you actually throw things out. If you merely shift possessions from one location to another you’ll make your movers happy but you will end up with the same stuff that made your old house seem crowded. So rent a dumpster and toss away. College text books, support documentation for your doctoral thesis, toys that your now-twenty-year-old discarded when he graduated kindergarten, wedding gifts in their original boxes, OUT! And while you’re in the deaccessioning mood, let go of those “window treatments”. As a real estate lawyer I used to fight fiercely at the insistence of my clients for the right to take the curtains to the next house. But they never fit the new windows or décor and they always ended up, rueful clients confessed, gathering dust in the attic. You’re selling your house—move on.
(And, having done so, if you find that you miss your clutter there’s a neat web site where you can restock: deaccession.com sells discards from museum and private collections. Need a pair of Confederate cavalry spurs? Here’s where to find them.)
Pricing Mystery
There’s a very nice house on a lake for sale in the mid-country that remains unsold due to its high price. The neighbor right next door brought his house to market but, unlike the first house, this one’s a tear-down. So if one house won’t sell at, say, $2.6 million (I’ve started disguising some of these prices so that other brokers will continue to speak to me), do you think that the dump next door should sell for almost the same amount? I don’t, the owner does. We’ll see.
On the Other Hand
Pat Brandrup’s new listing at 13 Martin Dale was well-priced at $2.295 and went to contract immediately. Martin Dale is a dead end (another year or so of this and I’ll be referring to them as cul de sacs) off of lower North Street. It’s quiet and wonderfully convenient to town; houses there always sell well. The house next door, 9 Martin Dale sold in January for $4.4 million (and the listing agent for that one, Virginia Ridenour, also described the street as a dead end-there’s hope for the profession yet). Number 2 Martin Dale just went to contract-asking price was $2.7. Thirteen hasn’t undergone the renovation that number Nine has but it sits on .73 of an acre in the R-20 zone, has a great yard and, as they say in this business, “good bones”.
Or There’s Always Kenilworth
For those who missed the Martin Dale opportunity, another home right up North Street, Lucy Gelb’s listing at 3 Kenilworth Terrace offers a bit more land (1 acre), a heated pool and a nice siting high on a hill. I like it.
Attention Special Ops
Way, way up in the Back Country is a new listing decorated in a manner that made me, at least, look about for Saddam or his son, Uday. No velvet pictures, but tons of marble and a freshly-minted opulence that would draw swarms of Baghdad looters if they learned of the place. When our forces grow tired of searching the rubble of that restaurant for the bones of the old dictator perhaps they should come up here and look around. Or in Paris.
The Market Continues
Martin Dale wasn’t the only well priced home to go to contract last week. 17 Cathlow Drive in Riverside ($4.25), 173 Stanwich ($2.19) and my favorite, 74 Old Orchard Road ($1.3) all sold. There is a bit of doom and gloom among other real estate pundits about a soft market but, from what I can see, the only difficulty is with unrealistic prices. There are plenty of buyers available for the right house at the right price.
Mum’s the WordI overheard the designer/builder of a new house explaining that he had painted each room with a palette of different, odd colors because he “wanted them to speak to each other.” The result is more cacophony than civilized conversation and reminds me of my own childhood when the Fountain boys would “talk” to each other: “Gimme that!” “No way!” Whack! “Maahhm!” My advice to builders is, even if the dealer offers a “buy 6, get 6 free” deal, you’re better off sticking to just a few, neutral colors.
My father always cited this adage in tribute to the value of de-cluttering one’s life. Unfortunately, it only works if, unlike a friend of mine I just helped move, you actually throw things out. If you merely shift possessions from one location to another you’ll make your movers happy but you will end up with the same stuff that made your old house seem crowded. So rent a dumpster and toss away. College text books, support documentation for your doctoral thesis, toys that your now-twenty-year-old discarded when he graduated kindergarten, wedding gifts in their original boxes, OUT! And while you’re in the deaccessioning mood, let go of those “window treatments”. As a real estate lawyer I used to fight fiercely at the insistence of my clients for the right to take the curtains to the next house. But they never fit the new windows or décor and they always ended up, rueful clients confessed, gathering dust in the attic. You’re selling your house—move on.
(And, having done so, if you find that you miss your clutter there’s a neat web site where you can restock: deaccession.com sells discards from museum and private collections. Need a pair of Confederate cavalry spurs? Here’s where to find them.)
Pricing Mystery
There’s a very nice house on a lake for sale in the mid-country that remains unsold due to its high price. The neighbor right next door brought his house to market but, unlike the first house, this one’s a tear-down. So if one house won’t sell at, say, $2.6 million (I’ve started disguising some of these prices so that other brokers will continue to speak to me), do you think that the dump next door should sell for almost the same amount? I don’t, the owner does. We’ll see.
On the Other Hand
Pat Brandrup’s new listing at 13 Martin Dale was well-priced at $2.295 and went to contract immediately. Martin Dale is a dead end (another year or so of this and I’ll be referring to them as cul de sacs) off of lower North Street. It’s quiet and wonderfully convenient to town; houses there always sell well. The house next door, 9 Martin Dale sold in January for $4.4 million (and the listing agent for that one, Virginia Ridenour, also described the street as a dead end-there’s hope for the profession yet). Number 2 Martin Dale just went to contract-asking price was $2.7. Thirteen hasn’t undergone the renovation that number Nine has but it sits on .73 of an acre in the R-20 zone, has a great yard and, as they say in this business, “good bones”.
Or There’s Always Kenilworth
For those who missed the Martin Dale opportunity, another home right up North Street, Lucy Gelb’s listing at 3 Kenilworth Terrace offers a bit more land (1 acre), a heated pool and a nice siting high on a hill. I like it.
Attention Special Ops
Way, way up in the Back Country is a new listing decorated in a manner that made me, at least, look about for Saddam or his son, Uday. No velvet pictures, but tons of marble and a freshly-minted opulence that would draw swarms of Baghdad looters if they learned of the place. When our forces grow tired of searching the rubble of that restaurant for the bones of the old dictator perhaps they should come up here and look around. Or in Paris.
The Market Continues
Martin Dale wasn’t the only well priced home to go to contract last week. 17 Cathlow Drive in Riverside ($4.25), 173 Stanwich ($2.19) and my favorite, 74 Old Orchard Road ($1.3) all sold. There is a bit of doom and gloom among other real estate pundits about a soft market but, from what I can see, the only difficulty is with unrealistic prices. There are plenty of buyers available for the right house at the right price.
Mum’s the WordI overheard the designer/builder of a new house explaining that he had painted each room with a palette of different, odd colors because he “wanted them to speak to each other.” The result is more cacophony than civilized conversation and reminds me of my own childhood when the Fountain boys would “talk” to each other: “Gimme that!” “No way!” Whack! “Maahhm!” My advice to builders is, even if the dealer offers a “buy 6, get 6 free” deal, you’re better off sticking to just a few, neutral colors.
posted by Chris Fountain at 12:46 PM
<< Home