422 Riversville Road
Mandy Fry put this house on the market at $1,895,000 and sold it immediately: one accepted offer and a full stable of back-ups. Why so fast? A smart price, of course. This is a beautiful, well built 1948 center hall colonial on three acres of lawn. It has obviously been well maintained over the years and although I think it’s perfect as is, new owners could easily expand it without ruining the original lines (depending on the skill of their architect, naturally). This was a classic, and if you’d like proof that Greenwich’s street scape has deteriorated, look at this one and the beautiful house across the street, then continue along, say, Porchuck or Lake Avenue and see what the building trade has been up to lately.
Time is of the Essence
422 Riversville was not the only new listing to sell quickly. Ninety-eight Round Hill Road, listed for $4,950,000 and described in this column a short while ago went to contract, as predicted, within days. So too did Anthony Place ($699,000), 42 Owenoke ($1,895,000) and, so on. An over-priced house is a delight when representing buyers; there will be plenty of time to bring clients out from New York, look the thing over and then wait, often for months, while the price gradually falls. No competing bids to worry about, no harsh contract terms, no worries. But the well-priced house goes instantly, so if you as a buyer are done looking and ready to buy, get prepared. Line up your financing, list your existing house, if necessary (bridge loans can lessen the pain of owning two houses simultaneously) and stay by your phone. Good houses, by which I mean those in good condition with spot-on pricing, sell quickly, often within hours. That should tell you something, by the way, about pricing your existing house. Fortunately for buyers, the majority of sellers continue to think more of their house than the market does, and cling to their illusion far longer than you might expect.
What’s Up?
Not the high end of the market, certainly. 71 Rock Maple Road, asking $5,995,000, finally has an accepted offer after two years of being on and off the market (original asking price was $7,250,000). New construction on Glen Avon Road in Riverside , asking $3,999,999, also has an accepted offer but that’s about it for new action in higher end of the market during the past two weeks. Big houses are still selling: 58 Dawn Harbor, in Riverside, sold for $12,500,000 so we know that direct waterfront is still popular and 98 Field Point Circle sold for $10,750,000. Still, if I were a spec builder of one of the many 9,000 square foot monsters gracing our town I would be … nervous.
Four Million?
I have great difficulty with this particular segment of our market, I think because it’s in such an awkward place: not quite expensive enough (!) to merit mansion-like amenities but far enough away from three million that something special has to be happening. It is (only) my opinion that many of the houses in this range are over-priced by close to a million dollars. One that is not is Marie Bates’ listing at 25 Skyridge Road, off of Taconic. Set on four acres with incredible views of Long Island Sound far below, this house was completely renovated a few years ago and shows it. Five bedrooms, five fireplaces, heated pool and (unheated) tennis court, this is a very nice house that is fairly priced at $4,200,000. Owners of similarly-priced homes might want to check it out for comparison purposes and then, possibly, lower their own asking price.
Rubik’s Cubes
It isn’t just builders who are ruining our town’s street scapes; they’re receiving help from our Planning & Zoning Board’s FAR regulations. As explained to me by local architect Eris Crist, the P&Z’s latest tweaking of the rules now counts space in attics with seven feet or more of headroom as part of the allowable square footage. On small lots, this makes builders choose between a nicely pitched roofline and a second floor. Not surprisingly, they often choose the latter, so that we’re seeing squat, bulky cubes springing up like deformed mushrooms. Take a look at 43 Lockwood Lane in Riverside for an example. I have not spoken with the architect of this box and for all I know he likes the dwarf-on-steroids look. It’s more likely, however, that his design was forced on him by the FAR regulations. Too bad.
Mandy Fry put this house on the market at $1,895,000 and sold it immediately: one accepted offer and a full stable of back-ups. Why so fast? A smart price, of course. This is a beautiful, well built 1948 center hall colonial on three acres of lawn. It has obviously been well maintained over the years and although I think it’s perfect as is, new owners could easily expand it without ruining the original lines (depending on the skill of their architect, naturally). This was a classic, and if you’d like proof that Greenwich’s street scape has deteriorated, look at this one and the beautiful house across the street, then continue along, say, Porchuck or Lake Avenue and see what the building trade has been up to lately.
Time is of the Essence
422 Riversville was not the only new listing to sell quickly. Ninety-eight Round Hill Road, listed for $4,950,000 and described in this column a short while ago went to contract, as predicted, within days. So too did Anthony Place ($699,000), 42 Owenoke ($1,895,000) and, so on. An over-priced house is a delight when representing buyers; there will be plenty of time to bring clients out from New York, look the thing over and then wait, often for months, while the price gradually falls. No competing bids to worry about, no harsh contract terms, no worries. But the well-priced house goes instantly, so if you as a buyer are done looking and ready to buy, get prepared. Line up your financing, list your existing house, if necessary (bridge loans can lessen the pain of owning two houses simultaneously) and stay by your phone. Good houses, by which I mean those in good condition with spot-on pricing, sell quickly, often within hours. That should tell you something, by the way, about pricing your existing house. Fortunately for buyers, the majority of sellers continue to think more of their house than the market does, and cling to their illusion far longer than you might expect.
What’s Up?
Not the high end of the market, certainly. 71 Rock Maple Road, asking $5,995,000, finally has an accepted offer after two years of being on and off the market (original asking price was $7,250,000). New construction on Glen Avon Road in Riverside , asking $3,999,999, also has an accepted offer but that’s about it for new action in higher end of the market during the past two weeks. Big houses are still selling: 58 Dawn Harbor, in Riverside, sold for $12,500,000 so we know that direct waterfront is still popular and 98 Field Point Circle sold for $10,750,000. Still, if I were a spec builder of one of the many 9,000 square foot monsters gracing our town I would be … nervous.
Four Million?
I have great difficulty with this particular segment of our market, I think because it’s in such an awkward place: not quite expensive enough (!) to merit mansion-like amenities but far enough away from three million that something special has to be happening. It is (only) my opinion that many of the houses in this range are over-priced by close to a million dollars. One that is not is Marie Bates’ listing at 25 Skyridge Road, off of Taconic. Set on four acres with incredible views of Long Island Sound far below, this house was completely renovated a few years ago and shows it. Five bedrooms, five fireplaces, heated pool and (unheated) tennis court, this is a very nice house that is fairly priced at $4,200,000. Owners of similarly-priced homes might want to check it out for comparison purposes and then, possibly, lower their own asking price.
Rubik’s Cubes
It isn’t just builders who are ruining our town’s street scapes; they’re receiving help from our Planning & Zoning Board’s FAR regulations. As explained to me by local architect Eris Crist, the P&Z’s latest tweaking of the rules now counts space in attics with seven feet or more of headroom as part of the allowable square footage. On small lots, this makes builders choose between a nicely pitched roofline and a second floor. Not surprisingly, they often choose the latter, so that we’re seeing squat, bulky cubes springing up like deformed mushrooms. Take a look at 43 Lockwood Lane in Riverside for an example. I have not spoken with the architect of this box and for all I know he likes the dwarf-on-steroids look. It’s more likely, however, that his design was forced on him by the FAR regulations. Too bad.
posted by Chris Fountain at 10:32 AM
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