Movin’ On Up!
The Greenwich Board of Realtors, having labored hard, has produced a beautiful new map of Greenwich for distribution to customers. It’s colorful and vibrant and quite detailed but I notice that Millbrook and its country club have been moved to Cos Cob. There’s nothing to be said against trying to improve one’s house value, but I wonder whether Cos Cob’s residents were consulted about this move and whether they approved?
The Houses are Coming, the Houses are Coming!
Historically, January sees about one hundred twenty new houses placed on the market, December just thirty-five. This year is living up to that average and a number of very nice houses have made fleeting appearances. 12 Taconic Road, three acres in the two-acre zone, was a perfectly nice ranch that came and went almost immediately—I’m told that building inspections are being done, which is ordinarily an indication that an offer has been accepted. But check with your agent; if it’s still around, it is a real bargain at $1,750,000. And, while I have difficulty writing “bargain” and $4,500,000 in the same sentence, 98 Round Hill Road, is certainly fairly priced. It is a really nice brick colonial set high on a hill overlooking the road. Built in 1934, beautifully maintained, seven bedrooms, six baths and a pool, all close to town. As of this writing, it is still available, but not, I suspect, for long. Nice house.
Who Knew?
The market continues to speed along. I just had a listing that, against my advice, was priced twenty-percent higher than it sold for three months ago. Shows what I know. We had an accepted offer within twenty-four hours and have two back-up offers waiting in the wings. Now before the reader looks at his own house and calculates its value according to that same formula, understand that: (a) this house was bought, I think, at a real bargain price; and (b) there is nothing else available in its price range. If your own house is one of the dozens of $4 million + homes presently on the market, your results may vary. Still, an impressive gain, and one that surprised a number of agents, including me.
Sales Pitch
I recently had occasion to peruse a stack of solicitation letters sent by agents to the owner of a house and passed along to me. Every agent offered different reasons why the expired listing should be revived and turned over to them. Those reasons included a deep interest in skiing, sailing, a Harvard education and even, sadly, a handicapped child. All notable distinctions but neither the owner nor I could see what exactly they had to do with selling real estate. If you need a skiing companion so badly that you must buy one, I suppose you could proffer your house’s sale commission, but you could more cheaply just travel to Vail and hire a professional instructor for the day. And, while I hesitate to insult anyone who spent four years in Cambridge, I have known and worked with a number of such people and was never struck by their particular, special knowledge of Greenwich or its real estate market or, for that matter . . . .
Through the Looking Glass
One quandary that confronts owners of older homes is what to do with the windows. Unlike modern double-glazed thermopanes, old windows tend to leak cold air, rattle and display a vexing tendency to stick. Replacing them will save fuel, but it’s a long payback period: in addition to the cost of the new window itself, you’ll pay for its installation and the extra labor, in an old house, of customizing the trim on the interior and exterior to compensate for the uneven settling of the house over the years. To these costs can be added the intangible one of esthetics: old windows are often beautiful; modern ones usually aren’t. A company called The Greenwich Window Doctor promises to repair old windows so that they operate as they were originally intended. I have not done business with this firm but it’s been in business for over a decade , and its principle , Andy Coviello has provided case histories demonstrating that he saved homeowners tens of thousands of dollars by providing a alternative to complete replacement. This makes sense to me; years ago, when I was renovating an 1838 farm house in Maine on a very limited budget I spent a great deal of money on new windows, money that might well have been better spent on, say, a working furnace. I wish I had had someone like this around to call on then. The phone number is (203) 531- 4485.
The Greenwich Board of Realtors, having labored hard, has produced a beautiful new map of Greenwich for distribution to customers. It’s colorful and vibrant and quite detailed but I notice that Millbrook and its country club have been moved to Cos Cob. There’s nothing to be said against trying to improve one’s house value, but I wonder whether Cos Cob’s residents were consulted about this move and whether they approved?
The Houses are Coming, the Houses are Coming!
Historically, January sees about one hundred twenty new houses placed on the market, December just thirty-five. This year is living up to that average and a number of very nice houses have made fleeting appearances. 12 Taconic Road, three acres in the two-acre zone, was a perfectly nice ranch that came and went almost immediately—I’m told that building inspections are being done, which is ordinarily an indication that an offer has been accepted. But check with your agent; if it’s still around, it is a real bargain at $1,750,000. And, while I have difficulty writing “bargain” and $4,500,000 in the same sentence, 98 Round Hill Road, is certainly fairly priced. It is a really nice brick colonial set high on a hill overlooking the road. Built in 1934, beautifully maintained, seven bedrooms, six baths and a pool, all close to town. As of this writing, it is still available, but not, I suspect, for long. Nice house.
Who Knew?
The market continues to speed along. I just had a listing that, against my advice, was priced twenty-percent higher than it sold for three months ago. Shows what I know. We had an accepted offer within twenty-four hours and have two back-up offers waiting in the wings. Now before the reader looks at his own house and calculates its value according to that same formula, understand that: (a) this house was bought, I think, at a real bargain price; and (b) there is nothing else available in its price range. If your own house is one of the dozens of $4 million + homes presently on the market, your results may vary. Still, an impressive gain, and one that surprised a number of agents, including me.
Sales Pitch
I recently had occasion to peruse a stack of solicitation letters sent by agents to the owner of a house and passed along to me. Every agent offered different reasons why the expired listing should be revived and turned over to them. Those reasons included a deep interest in skiing, sailing, a Harvard education and even, sadly, a handicapped child. All notable distinctions but neither the owner nor I could see what exactly they had to do with selling real estate. If you need a skiing companion so badly that you must buy one, I suppose you could proffer your house’s sale commission, but you could more cheaply just travel to Vail and hire a professional instructor for the day. And, while I hesitate to insult anyone who spent four years in Cambridge, I have known and worked with a number of such people and was never struck by their particular, special knowledge of Greenwich or its real estate market or, for that matter . . . .
Through the Looking Glass
One quandary that confronts owners of older homes is what to do with the windows. Unlike modern double-glazed thermopanes, old windows tend to leak cold air, rattle and display a vexing tendency to stick. Replacing them will save fuel, but it’s a long payback period: in addition to the cost of the new window itself, you’ll pay for its installation and the extra labor, in an old house, of customizing the trim on the interior and exterior to compensate for the uneven settling of the house over the years. To these costs can be added the intangible one of esthetics: old windows are often beautiful; modern ones usually aren’t. A company called The Greenwich Window Doctor promises to repair old windows so that they operate as they were originally intended. I have not done business with this firm but it’s been in business for over a decade , and its principle , Andy Coviello has provided case histories demonstrating that he saved homeowners tens of thousands of dollars by providing a alternative to complete replacement. This makes sense to me; years ago, when I was renovating an 1838 farm house in Maine on a very limited budget I spent a great deal of money on new windows, money that might well have been better spent on, say, a working furnace. I wish I had had someone like this around to call on then. The phone number is (203) 531- 4485.
posted by Chris Fountain at 10:27 AM
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