January 14, 2005
What If?
Way back in 1978 when Saturday Night Live was still funny they ran a skit called “What If”. A panel of experts was told “ tonight’s question, like all our questions, comes from a Mr. Kevin O’Donnell, age 10, a paperboy from Alton, Illinois.” Kevin asked what would have happened had Superman fought for the Nazis —the humor lay in the experts taking the question seriously. Garrett Morris, resplendent in a general’s uniform, stroked his chin and ultimately concluded that things would have gone very badly for the Allies unless we’d developed a Kryptonite bomb. Residents who miss the good old days of SLN might want to drop in on our town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, where questions like Kevin’s are addressed at each session. The latest comedy-fest saw the Commission entertaining a complaint from the mother of a seven-year-old boy who, it turns out, likes to play by the water on East Point Lane in Old Greenwich. An applicant wanted to install a dock on his property (down and across the street) but the mother was concerned: what if, she asked, her boy happened to be playing on the waterfront during a hurricane and the dock blew on top of him? Instead of suggesting to the frightened parent that she keep her child inside during wind storms the Commission members straightened their uniforms, stroked their chins and proceeded to deny the application in order to keep the young toddler safe.
Everyone enjoys a good bit of amateur comedy and the P&Z offers the best entertainment in town, but these volunteers are hardly cost free. Their decisions, seemingly based on nothing but thin air and gossamer wings, delay construction and expose the town to the costs of litigation. It doesn’t have to be this way: the P&Z’s own Board of Appeals seems quite capable of rendering intelligent, defensible decisions, so what’s with the Commission itself? Greenwich deserves better.
Who’s That?
A number of readers (well one, actually) asked about the “Trustees”, usually lawyers, who regularly appear in the real estate transaction pages. Rather than stumble my way through an explanation I called local real estate wizard Tom Ward and made him do my work. The purpose of these trusts, in a word, is privacy. Some folks are appalled to learn that the price they pay for a house is a public record and so they take title in their lawyer’s name instead of their own. I had assumed that use of these trusts was limited to celebrities and recluses but Tom mentioned another user, the young over-achiever who doesn’t want his boss to know that he can afford a better house than his chief executive. According to Tom his firm, Ivey Barnum & O’Mara has a standard three page trust agreement for exactly this purpose and there’s no extra charge for its use. Title is officially taken in the name of the Trustee while the equitable ownership rests with the buyer. Often, after a few months have passed, the Trustee will quit claim the property to the owner for a peppercorn as consideration and it’s as though it all never happened. The most common difficulty in using a trust arises when a lender makes rude noises about the Trustee signing the underlying promissory note. Tom has surely grown wealthy from his vast restaurant holdings but he’s not that generous; an educational phone call is in order. All in all, given the complexities involved with having a third party on all your documents: insurance, tax records, loans, etc., I’d suggest that you relax, take title in your own name and hope that your nosey neighbors will forget what you paid for your house when they turn to their next favorite section of the newspaper, the police blotter.
Nice Houses
Nance Minchin’s new listing at 33 Morgan Avenue in Glenville is nifty little updated cottage right on the Byram River. In the two years the present owners have lived there they’ve completely renovated the house, adding central air, a new kitchen and all sorts of good features. I expect that they’ll earn a decent return on their investment. It has just two bedrooms and a bath, which is a mite small for a large family but not for a young couple. And, as noted, both the street and the lot will support an expansion. Priced at $795,000, I liked it a lot.
Cate Keeney’s listing at 16 Suburban Avenue in Cos Cob is just as nice, albeit without a river in its backyard. Updated in 1996, good location, all for $775,000, which probably means it will be gone by the time this is published.
If so, and you want to spend a little more, you might consider Carol Clarke’s listing at 60 Shore Road in Old Greenwich. A fabulous 1860 house with high ceilings renovated kitchen (among other rooms) and deeded water and mooring rights. $3,395,000, which might get you a kayak thrown in if you dicker.
Way back in 1978 when Saturday Night Live was still funny they ran a skit called “What If”. A panel of experts was told “ tonight’s question, like all our questions, comes from a Mr. Kevin O’Donnell, age 10, a paperboy from Alton, Illinois.” Kevin asked what would have happened had Superman fought for the Nazis —the humor lay in the experts taking the question seriously. Garrett Morris, resplendent in a general’s uniform, stroked his chin and ultimately concluded that things would have gone very badly for the Allies unless we’d developed a Kryptonite bomb. Residents who miss the good old days of SLN might want to drop in on our town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, where questions like Kevin’s are addressed at each session. The latest comedy-fest saw the Commission entertaining a complaint from the mother of a seven-year-old boy who, it turns out, likes to play by the water on East Point Lane in Old Greenwich. An applicant wanted to install a dock on his property (down and across the street) but the mother was concerned: what if, she asked, her boy happened to be playing on the waterfront during a hurricane and the dock blew on top of him? Instead of suggesting to the frightened parent that she keep her child inside during wind storms the Commission members straightened their uniforms, stroked their chins and proceeded to deny the application in order to keep the young toddler safe.
Everyone enjoys a good bit of amateur comedy and the P&Z offers the best entertainment in town, but these volunteers are hardly cost free. Their decisions, seemingly based on nothing but thin air and gossamer wings, delay construction and expose the town to the costs of litigation. It doesn’t have to be this way: the P&Z’s own Board of Appeals seems quite capable of rendering intelligent, defensible decisions, so what’s with the Commission itself? Greenwich deserves better.
Who’s That?
A number of readers (well one, actually) asked about the “Trustees”, usually lawyers, who regularly appear in the real estate transaction pages. Rather than stumble my way through an explanation I called local real estate wizard Tom Ward and made him do my work. The purpose of these trusts, in a word, is privacy. Some folks are appalled to learn that the price they pay for a house is a public record and so they take title in their lawyer’s name instead of their own. I had assumed that use of these trusts was limited to celebrities and recluses but Tom mentioned another user, the young over-achiever who doesn’t want his boss to know that he can afford a better house than his chief executive. According to Tom his firm, Ivey Barnum & O’Mara has a standard three page trust agreement for exactly this purpose and there’s no extra charge for its use. Title is officially taken in the name of the Trustee while the equitable ownership rests with the buyer. Often, after a few months have passed, the Trustee will quit claim the property to the owner for a peppercorn as consideration and it’s as though it all never happened. The most common difficulty in using a trust arises when a lender makes rude noises about the Trustee signing the underlying promissory note. Tom has surely grown wealthy from his vast restaurant holdings but he’s not that generous; an educational phone call is in order. All in all, given the complexities involved with having a third party on all your documents: insurance, tax records, loans, etc., I’d suggest that you relax, take title in your own name and hope that your nosey neighbors will forget what you paid for your house when they turn to their next favorite section of the newspaper, the police blotter.
Nice Houses
Nance Minchin’s new listing at 33 Morgan Avenue in Glenville is nifty little updated cottage right on the Byram River. In the two years the present owners have lived there they’ve completely renovated the house, adding central air, a new kitchen and all sorts of good features. I expect that they’ll earn a decent return on their investment. It has just two bedrooms and a bath, which is a mite small for a large family but not for a young couple. And, as noted, both the street and the lot will support an expansion. Priced at $795,000, I liked it a lot.
Cate Keeney’s listing at 16 Suburban Avenue in Cos Cob is just as nice, albeit without a river in its backyard. Updated in 1996, good location, all for $775,000, which probably means it will be gone by the time this is published.
If so, and you want to spend a little more, you might consider Carol Clarke’s listing at 60 Shore Road in Old Greenwich. A fabulous 1860 house with high ceilings renovated kitchen (among other rooms) and deeded water and mooring rights. $3,395,000, which might get you a kayak thrown in if you dicker.
posted by Chris Fountain at 7:02 AM
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