Dressing Up
It’s Not Entirely About Price
While the wrong price will kill all interest in a home, I visited David Ogilvy’s listing on Oakley Lane the other day and was reminded of how important a home’s appearance can be when presenting it for sale. This one, like most (all?) Ogilvy listings, was neat, well–decorated and inviting. Buyers like to imagine themselves in the home they’re looking at. If what they imagine is a cluttered, cramped life in a dirty home, they’ll probably imagine themselves right out of the picture. You needn’t spend thousands of dollars on fru-fru “window treatments” and designer throw pillows, but hire a cleaning crew, rent a dumpster and give your house an appealing air. Then price it right so you don’t have to spend the next year and a half keeping it looking like that.
What’s Going On?
Life in this ongoing construction zone called Greenwich is always interesting, if noisy and there are a number of building projects that have caught my eye. I thought it might be informative to inquire about them and report what I learned in this column. Readers with their own “what the heck is that?” questions are invited to contact me and I’ll try to find out what’s planned for their neighborhood. In the meantime, here is my own effort:
40 Lincoln Avenue (corner of Milbank), sold in August of last year for $760,000 (from an original asking price of $895,000-selling agent Nance Minchin did a nice job of negotiating for her client) and is being completely renovated with the siding stripped off, an addition added and a new garage. It will remain a single family residence and that, I believe, reflects a developing trend in town: people are returning to the downtown area for its easy access to shops, theatres and restaurants. There are a number of houses currently for sale in the area that would be ideal candidates for this type of renovation, including 58 Washington Avenue and 219 Milbank. The latter, at $1.780 million, is probably destined for condominiums but it would make a fabulous in-town mansion for someone with deep pockets and the patience to restore it to its original 1900’s glory.
Architect Jay Haverson is erecting a new home on the shores of Frye Lake at 314 Stanwich. I’ve seen the plans and while “Adirondack” style possibly implies a bit more rusticity than the actual design, the house has great, soaring ceilings and nifty architectural flourishes. The bad winter has slowed construction but completion is tentatively set for early this fall. Probable asking price in the mid $5s, it looks like a very nice house on a fantastic setting.
Just Say No
I see that the Starbucks proposed for central Cos Cob has been shot down for the usual reason: “traffic”. This catch-all objection is used to prevent just about anything new being constructed anywhere on Route One where, presumably, commercial activity might sensibly be concentrated. In Cos Cob alone, it was the excuse given to forbid a video store, a diner, a drive-in dry cleaners and a car dealership, if memory serves, and my own section of town, Riverside, forbade the A&P from expanding on the same grounds. I never understood why, say, a couple from Hartford would drive all the way to Riverside to clog our streets and buy a banana but the P&Z does, and they won’t stand for it! Personally, I’d prefer a thriving coffee shop in downtown Cos Cob to another derelict, abandoned gas station but judging from the vociferous opposition to any new businesses opening up in that section of town, the people there seem to like things just the way they are. Fine by me.
I Have a Dream
A house in the mid-country just came on at a price that seems to be $2 million more than the market will support. If you are ever tempted to stick a pie –in-the -sky price on your home to “see what happens”, I’ll tell you now: nothing. Your house won’t sell, agents won’t bother showing it and it will languish, forgotten. We would love to sell your big, over-priced house and collect the commission, but our customers aren’t stupid. In fact, they’re quite sophisticated, and if we waste their time showing them $4 million dollar homes masquerading as $6 million showpieces we’re the ones who look dumb. Our buyers, God forbid, may then decide to try someone else with a bit more savvy, and we hate when that happens.
While the wrong price will kill all interest in a home, I visited David Ogilvy’s listing on Oakley Lane the other day and was reminded of how important a home’s appearance can be when presenting it for sale. This one, like most (all?) Ogilvy listings, was neat, well–decorated and inviting. Buyers like to imagine themselves in the home they’re looking at. If what they imagine is a cluttered, cramped life in a dirty home, they’ll probably imagine themselves right out of the picture. You needn’t spend thousands of dollars on fru-fru “window treatments” and designer throw pillows, but hire a cleaning crew, rent a dumpster and give your house an appealing air. Then price it right so you don’t have to spend the next year and a half keeping it looking like that.
What’s Going On?
Life in this ongoing construction zone called Greenwich is always interesting, if noisy and there are a number of building projects that have caught my eye. I thought it might be informative to inquire about them and report what I learned in this column. Readers with their own “what the heck is that?” questions are invited to contact me and I’ll try to find out what’s planned for their neighborhood. In the meantime, here is my own effort:
40 Lincoln Avenue (corner of Milbank), sold in August of last year for $760,000 (from an original asking price of $895,000-selling agent Nance Minchin did a nice job of negotiating for her client) and is being completely renovated with the siding stripped off, an addition added and a new garage. It will remain a single family residence and that, I believe, reflects a developing trend in town: people are returning to the downtown area for its easy access to shops, theatres and restaurants. There are a number of houses currently for sale in the area that would be ideal candidates for this type of renovation, including 58 Washington Avenue and 219 Milbank. The latter, at $1.780 million, is probably destined for condominiums but it would make a fabulous in-town mansion for someone with deep pockets and the patience to restore it to its original 1900’s glory.
Architect Jay Haverson is erecting a new home on the shores of Frye Lake at 314 Stanwich. I’ve seen the plans and while “Adirondack” style possibly implies a bit more rusticity than the actual design, the house has great, soaring ceilings and nifty architectural flourishes. The bad winter has slowed construction but completion is tentatively set for early this fall. Probable asking price in the mid $5s, it looks like a very nice house on a fantastic setting.
Just Say No
I see that the Starbucks proposed for central Cos Cob has been shot down for the usual reason: “traffic”. This catch-all objection is used to prevent just about anything new being constructed anywhere on Route One where, presumably, commercial activity might sensibly be concentrated. In Cos Cob alone, it was the excuse given to forbid a video store, a diner, a drive-in dry cleaners and a car dealership, if memory serves, and my own section of town, Riverside, forbade the A&P from expanding on the same grounds. I never understood why, say, a couple from Hartford would drive all the way to Riverside to clog our streets and buy a banana but the P&Z does, and they won’t stand for it! Personally, I’d prefer a thriving coffee shop in downtown Cos Cob to another derelict, abandoned gas station but judging from the vociferous opposition to any new businesses opening up in that section of town, the people there seem to like things just the way they are. Fine by me.
I Have a Dream
A house in the mid-country just came on at a price that seems to be $2 million more than the market will support. If you are ever tempted to stick a pie –in-the -sky price on your home to “see what happens”, I’ll tell you now: nothing. Your house won’t sell, agents won’t bother showing it and it will languish, forgotten. We would love to sell your big, over-priced house and collect the commission, but our customers aren’t stupid. In fact, they’re quite sophisticated, and if we waste their time showing them $4 million dollar homes masquerading as $6 million showpieces we’re the ones who look dumb. Our buyers, God forbid, may then decide to try someone else with a bit more savvy, and we hate when that happens.
posted by Chris Fountain at 8:49 AM
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