May 6,2004
Zoning
Our state Senate has passed a bill intended to overturn the decision of Poirer v. Town of Wilton which, you may recall, held that zoning regulations imposed after a subdivision has been approved are ineffective against properties in that subdivision. Poirer had the welcome effect of providing some homeowners relief from Greenwich's flawed floor area ratio regulations but, over-all, the bill repealing it was bound to happen and properly so. Poirer not only created a hash of all our zoning rules, its logic would seem to invalidate our environmental regulations as well. Say what you will about FAR, draining swamps and erecting mansions on beaches does not improve our town. But, if you're inclined to cram that starter mansion on your quarter acre or otherwise assault the environment, hop to it: the bill's next stop is Connecticut's House of Representatives and from there it's a short trip to the Governor's desk. Whoever is sitting at that desk when this bill arrives will surely sign it. That will restore order to the zoning world, but will still leave us with our Byzantine FAR regulations. A missed opportunity, I think.
Three Houses
Three houses caught my eye last week. Gussie Tipper has listed 19 Home Place, near Bruce Park, for $849,000. A smallish, two bedroom house on a beautiful yard, it seems perfect for a single or couple who want an easy walk to town and the station. Peter Joyce has listed 4 Osceola Drive for $1,495,000. Not much bigger than Gussie’s, but the yards in this neighborhood are quite large (this one’s on 0.4 acre) so you could expand if you wanted and still have a great property. Comes with a pool and a greenhouse. No pool, but with four acres plus to put one on, is Joe Barbieri’s listing at 718 North Street for $4,350,000. The house, I’m told, was originally built in 1938 by the head of the American Water Company and I presume he sited it here so that he could overlook his investment in the new reservoir. Just a great house in every way, with a new kitchen, updated baths and mechanicals and all of the original beauty left intact. Gardens abound.
Show me the House, I’ll Show You the Money!
I spent a frustrating weekend trying to show a couple of properties in town. Frustrating, because the owners insisted on approving all showings in advance and then left for the weekend, making it impossible for their listing broker to reach them. No approval, no show and therefore no sale. Most houses for sale in town use a keybox system—a key is locked in a device that can only be opened by a licensed member of the Greenwich Board of Realtors. An electronic record is kept of the identity and time of each entry. Some owners, out of perfectly legitimate concerns about privacy and security, demand more control over who can see their house, and when. Fair enough, but sellers should consider that, the more impediments there are to viewing a house, the fewer people will see it. Consider a typical situation where a couple is coming out from New York for an afternoon of viewing homes. Their Realtor can show them, say, six houses in that timeframe. A vacant house with keybox is a no-brainer, and goes on the list. If the listing broker must accompany the showing agent, then that can work if the two agents’ schedules mesh; otherwise, not. There may not be time to swing by the listing office and pick up a key, so houses with that impediment go on the “return visit” list. And so forth. The point is this: you have only one house to sell. The buyers can pick from a great many houses, but certainly won’t pick a house they haven’t seen. If your house isn’t in the seen group, you’re not going to sell it, simple as that. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that real estate is complicated.
Patient Sellers
Here’s another simple truth: the “patient seller” who overprices his house and expects to wear down reluctant buyers is fooling himself. Buyers (as distinguished from lookers) aren’t patient, they’re ready to buy a house, move their families in and get on with their lives. If they perceive that a house is overpriced they’ll move on to the next one. What the seller is really doing, besides missing the market, is counting on the rising price of real estate to eventually make his house competitive. When that happy equilibrium is achieved, the house finally sells and the owner tells his agent, “I told you so.” But the agent probably wonders why anyone would suffer such inconvenience. If you want to sell your house next year, put it on the market then. If you want to sell it now, price it right.
Our state Senate has passed a bill intended to overturn the decision of Poirer v. Town of Wilton which, you may recall, held that zoning regulations imposed after a subdivision has been approved are ineffective against properties in that subdivision. Poirer had the welcome effect of providing some homeowners relief from Greenwich's flawed floor area ratio regulations but, over-all, the bill repealing it was bound to happen and properly so. Poirer not only created a hash of all our zoning rules, its logic would seem to invalidate our environmental regulations as well. Say what you will about FAR, draining swamps and erecting mansions on beaches does not improve our town. But, if you're inclined to cram that starter mansion on your quarter acre or otherwise assault the environment, hop to it: the bill's next stop is Connecticut's House of Representatives and from there it's a short trip to the Governor's desk. Whoever is sitting at that desk when this bill arrives will surely sign it. That will restore order to the zoning world, but will still leave us with our Byzantine FAR regulations. A missed opportunity, I think.
Three Houses
Three houses caught my eye last week. Gussie Tipper has listed 19 Home Place, near Bruce Park, for $849,000. A smallish, two bedroom house on a beautiful yard, it seems perfect for a single or couple who want an easy walk to town and the station. Peter Joyce has listed 4 Osceola Drive for $1,495,000. Not much bigger than Gussie’s, but the yards in this neighborhood are quite large (this one’s on 0.4 acre) so you could expand if you wanted and still have a great property. Comes with a pool and a greenhouse. No pool, but with four acres plus to put one on, is Joe Barbieri’s listing at 718 North Street for $4,350,000. The house, I’m told, was originally built in 1938 by the head of the American Water Company and I presume he sited it here so that he could overlook his investment in the new reservoir. Just a great house in every way, with a new kitchen, updated baths and mechanicals and all of the original beauty left intact. Gardens abound.
Show me the House, I’ll Show You the Money!
I spent a frustrating weekend trying to show a couple of properties in town. Frustrating, because the owners insisted on approving all showings in advance and then left for the weekend, making it impossible for their listing broker to reach them. No approval, no show and therefore no sale. Most houses for sale in town use a keybox system—a key is locked in a device that can only be opened by a licensed member of the Greenwich Board of Realtors. An electronic record is kept of the identity and time of each entry. Some owners, out of perfectly legitimate concerns about privacy and security, demand more control over who can see their house, and when. Fair enough, but sellers should consider that, the more impediments there are to viewing a house, the fewer people will see it. Consider a typical situation where a couple is coming out from New York for an afternoon of viewing homes. Their Realtor can show them, say, six houses in that timeframe. A vacant house with keybox is a no-brainer, and goes on the list. If the listing broker must accompany the showing agent, then that can work if the two agents’ schedules mesh; otherwise, not. There may not be time to swing by the listing office and pick up a key, so houses with that impediment go on the “return visit” list. And so forth. The point is this: you have only one house to sell. The buyers can pick from a great many houses, but certainly won’t pick a house they haven’t seen. If your house isn’t in the seen group, you’re not going to sell it, simple as that. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that real estate is complicated.
Patient Sellers
Here’s another simple truth: the “patient seller” who overprices his house and expects to wear down reluctant buyers is fooling himself. Buyers (as distinguished from lookers) aren’t patient, they’re ready to buy a house, move their families in and get on with their lives. If they perceive that a house is overpriced they’ll move on to the next one. What the seller is really doing, besides missing the market, is counting on the rising price of real estate to eventually make his house competitive. When that happy equilibrium is achieved, the house finally sells and the owner tells his agent, “I told you so.” But the agent probably wonders why anyone would suffer such inconvenience. If you want to sell your house next year, put it on the market then. If you want to sell it now, price it right.
posted by Chris Fountain at 10:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home