October 29, 2004
The Market Marches on
I see that Joan Epand’s listing at 59 Riverside Avenue, priced at $1,299,000, went to contract after just nine days on the market; given the lag time between an accepted offer, house inspection and attorneys’ wrangling, that’s just about instantaneous. This was a nice house, built in 1925 and renovated just last year but I’m still surprised, a little. Prices are lurching forward so quickly these days that I’m having trouble adjusting my expectations. I suspect that other agents and home buyers are, too.
I was less surprised, on the other hand, that Shelly Tretter’s listing at 94 Dingletown Road, asking $2,795,000, went to contract in eight days. This 1970’s builder’s special was unprepossessing on the outside but everything inside had been really nicely renovated and the house, with five bedrooms, was in absolute move-in condition. In addition, the owners had carved a beautiful, park-like yard out of the surrounding woods, an act of creation other homeowners might emulate. Robert Frost might have been inspired stopping by woods on a snowy evening but most buyers dislike the darkness cast by too many trees crowding too closely to the house. Deer ticks, by the way, don’t like lawns, so there’s another good reason to fire up that chainsaw. I’m not suggesting that your dwelling resemble the little house on the prairie but some judicious, selective grooming will add value and enjoyment to your property.
What a Difference a Price Makes
When I first saw Joe Barbieri’s listing at 286 Taconic last June, it was priced at $4,995,000 and I wasn’t awfully impressed. A nice enough house, well built, with a separate, renovated two bedroom guest cottage and four acres, but I felt there were nicer houses in that price range. I went back the other day because one of my fellow agents in the car pool hadn’t seen it. It’s been reduced to $4,150,000. At its new price, this house is a bargain (I’d call it a steal if I could wrap my mind around the concept that it’s possible to steal anything while paying four million dollars). I think it beats everything out there in its price range, hands down.
Broker Open Houses
The Taconic saga illustrates why owners should put up with the violation of their personal privacy and permit their agent to hold multiple open houses. Agents often can’t get to every house on a given day, either because they’re holding their own showing or because there are just too many houses to see in a given day. And, because buyer/clients come and go, we tend to view houses with different eyes when we have no customer in that price range and when we’re actively working to find a suitable house. You only need one buyer for your house, so show it early and often, to as many agents as possible. As an example, I missed Wanda Scheifele’s first open house for 98 River Road and only saw it last week. It’s a great house but I wouldn’t have known that without going inside. Built just three years ago, it has an enormous amount of space: dining room living room, family room, four bedrooms and a huge finished basement, all for $950,000. I liked it a lot; the consensus in our car pool was that it was the star of that day’s open house tour.
Election Prediction
Every legitimate poll seems to be producing different results so here’s my own, based on an entirely unscientific survey of bumper stickers: I’ve been traveling New York and Connecticut these past few weekends to hike in various localities and have noticed a blizzard of those yellow “Support Our Troops” ribbons on cars otherwise silent as to their presidential preference. Having nothing better to do as I drove, I pondered the phenomenon of missing political stickers. I concluded (and I recommend to readers the Monty Python skit where Ann Elk reveals the theory that is her own) that these drivers are not happy with the mess Bush has stirred up in Iraq, yet haven’t been convinced by Kerry that he’s got any better ideas. On election day, I suspect the yellow ribbon voters will reluctantly decide to stick with the guy what brought’em to the ball rather than entrust the troops to the man from Massachusetts. Or not – the fun thing about predictions is that anyone can make them. We’ll know on Tuesday, or whenever the last post-electoral law suit is resolved.
I see that Joan Epand’s listing at 59 Riverside Avenue, priced at $1,299,000, went to contract after just nine days on the market; given the lag time between an accepted offer, house inspection and attorneys’ wrangling, that’s just about instantaneous. This was a nice house, built in 1925 and renovated just last year but I’m still surprised, a little. Prices are lurching forward so quickly these days that I’m having trouble adjusting my expectations. I suspect that other agents and home buyers are, too.
I was less surprised, on the other hand, that Shelly Tretter’s listing at 94 Dingletown Road, asking $2,795,000, went to contract in eight days. This 1970’s builder’s special was unprepossessing on the outside but everything inside had been really nicely renovated and the house, with five bedrooms, was in absolute move-in condition. In addition, the owners had carved a beautiful, park-like yard out of the surrounding woods, an act of creation other homeowners might emulate. Robert Frost might have been inspired stopping by woods on a snowy evening but most buyers dislike the darkness cast by too many trees crowding too closely to the house. Deer ticks, by the way, don’t like lawns, so there’s another good reason to fire up that chainsaw. I’m not suggesting that your dwelling resemble the little house on the prairie but some judicious, selective grooming will add value and enjoyment to your property.
What a Difference a Price Makes
When I first saw Joe Barbieri’s listing at 286 Taconic last June, it was priced at $4,995,000 and I wasn’t awfully impressed. A nice enough house, well built, with a separate, renovated two bedroom guest cottage and four acres, but I felt there were nicer houses in that price range. I went back the other day because one of my fellow agents in the car pool hadn’t seen it. It’s been reduced to $4,150,000. At its new price, this house is a bargain (I’d call it a steal if I could wrap my mind around the concept that it’s possible to steal anything while paying four million dollars). I think it beats everything out there in its price range, hands down.
Broker Open Houses
The Taconic saga illustrates why owners should put up with the violation of their personal privacy and permit their agent to hold multiple open houses. Agents often can’t get to every house on a given day, either because they’re holding their own showing or because there are just too many houses to see in a given day. And, because buyer/clients come and go, we tend to view houses with different eyes when we have no customer in that price range and when we’re actively working to find a suitable house. You only need one buyer for your house, so show it early and often, to as many agents as possible. As an example, I missed Wanda Scheifele’s first open house for 98 River Road and only saw it last week. It’s a great house but I wouldn’t have known that without going inside. Built just three years ago, it has an enormous amount of space: dining room living room, family room, four bedrooms and a huge finished basement, all for $950,000. I liked it a lot; the consensus in our car pool was that it was the star of that day’s open house tour.
Election Prediction
Every legitimate poll seems to be producing different results so here’s my own, based on an entirely unscientific survey of bumper stickers: I’ve been traveling New York and Connecticut these past few weekends to hike in various localities and have noticed a blizzard of those yellow “Support Our Troops” ribbons on cars otherwise silent as to their presidential preference. Having nothing better to do as I drove, I pondered the phenomenon of missing political stickers. I concluded (and I recommend to readers the Monty Python skit where Ann Elk reveals the theory that is her own) that these drivers are not happy with the mess Bush has stirred up in Iraq, yet haven’t been convinced by Kerry that he’s got any better ideas. On election day, I suspect the yellow ribbon voters will reluctantly decide to stick with the guy what brought’em to the ball rather than entrust the troops to the man from Massachusetts. Or not – the fun thing about predictions is that anyone can make them. We’ll know on Tuesday, or whenever the last post-electoral law suit is resolved.
posted by Chris Fountain at 9:02 AM
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