Last Night’s Mystery Call

Around 9:45 PM last night we got our third “robo-call” from Greenwich Police Captain Michael Kordick, this time warning that the storm surge was now estimated to be “17 feet above normal”.

That was a game-changer so my brother John, getting the same call, decided to evacuate my mother from her (well-elevated) waterfront home. That put him and me in a variety of dangerous situations over the next few hours.

Turns out, the water only rose about one foot higher than the No-name storm of 1992. No question this was a horrendous surge, but “17 feet”?? More like 11 feet, in my estimate.

My question: What state agency ordered the Greenwich Police to make that call and where, oh where, did that surge estimate come from?

Accepted Offers For Last Week 10/22-10/26: 25 Total

25 accepted offers.

That’s not bad for one week, hell, I’d even call that “damned busy”! (Sorry for all the salty language).  But seriously, that’s a good level, and it’s just single-family homes; I haven’t even gotten to condos and land.  Furthermore, are you sitting down?  I’m aware of three bidding wars last week and there may have been more than that.

So how’s the market?  Good! (except for that pesky high-end segment)

2 Parsonage Lane (near the North Street stoplight), among last week’s 25 “accepted offers”. I liked this place, showed it, tried to sell it, didn’t. Sarted at $4.295M, reduced to $3.975M.

Hurricane Sandy: The Storm That Was?

UPDATE: &@%#! Wow!

It’s 3:30 PM, where’s my hurricane? Where’s the 10-12 inches of rain?

Hmmm….hold on whilst I check yonder satellite image….

Ok, I’m back: Well, Sandy appears to be sneaking up behind Connecticut, very crafty, so maybe the worst is yet to come. But can you blame me for being skeptical? Most of my storm news comes from the same media that ignores major stories, highlights minor ones, and has spent the last 12 hours openly discussing how the storm might help Obama (by allowing the media to show him in an even more favorable light than usual, jetting around, looking “presidential”. Bah and phaw!

A lonely basketball in Riverside seeks sensible refuge from the power of Hurricane Sandy.

Multi-Families? Land?

These are not “chopped liver”, my friends.  You could do worse than to park some money in a Greenwich multi-family property.

In the last 30 days

8 multi-families  got deals.

Land? Yes, in the last 30 days, there were

5 land deals

But this category can be misleading and confusing.  You will note, for instance, that the above link contains a couple of repeats from the multi-family list.  In addition, quite a number of properties sell in this town as “house” sales, when in fact they are “land” sales.

1 Glenville Street (corner of Riversville, across from firehouse and Rebecca’s).’Member this one? Two apartments and two stores, what a deal! Last ask: $1.249M

Yes, But What About Condos & Co-Ops?

I am so happy you asked…

29 condos and co-ops  got deals in the last 30 days.

Once again, I’m lumping solds, accepted offers, and executed contracts all together…  Price range turns out to be $2.695M – $442K; that’s fine, I guess, but where are the 3,4,5 million dollar condo sales?

44 Soundview Drive (starts up around Town Hall, ends at Grwch train station). Yep, these babies have taken a l-o-o-o-n-g time to sell but you know what? They are gradually getting sold! Last ask: $2.695M.

What Has Sold In The Last 30 Days?

The answer is:

96 listings!

I’m lumping everything together here; accepted offers, executed contracts, and solds. The highest priced property on this list asked $7.8M, the lowest, $395K. Of the 96, only 12 were $4M+, so Greenwich’s high-end continues to merely “limp” along.

Note: A few of these listings sold so quickly that they still don’t have photos (and the listing broker may not bother to add photos at all).

69 Rockwood Lane  has a deal. This “spec” house by Stone Harbor Land Co. took a while to get going, but I liked the result. 549 days on market. List: Lyn Stevens Sell: Marie BK Bates. Last ask:  $6.495M.

Damon Lawner, a California broker, is pitching this “1960’s re-creation” in Bel Air

This is a modern house, built (and completely furnished) in the style of the 1960’s. You like?  Your offer should be “in the $5M range”.

I kinda like this place….it’s groovy and swingin’ (click on the small photos, they get bigger).

Tonight’s “Town Hall” Debate

Yes, but what did Gideon Fountain think of it, that’s the real question…

 

Who “won”? Maybe tonight was a tie, but that means Romney won.

The answer is, unlike last time, this time both sides were probably happy with their guy’s performance.  But I think Romney’s chances were once again strengthened, Obama’s weakened.  Why?  Because these debates, particularly this stupid “Town Hall” format, actually elevate the contender; the contender is put on equal footing with the President of the United States, and tonight, Romney looked at least as “presidential” as Obama.

Another advantage for Romney is Obama’s record.  Obama spent so much time talking about what he’s going to do, you’d swear he was the contender running against an incumbent!

The classic contender question is “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”  For most, the answer is no.

What Do You Get For $3.2 Million – $4.8Million?

Do you like that headline?  Of course not.  Compared to a snappy one like “What Does $4 Million Get You?”, why, it positively pales in comparison.

Nevertheless, reader “Anonymous” has (needlessly) reminded me that the range between 3.8M and 4.2M is far smaller, percentage-wise, than that between $800K – $1.2M, hence the tiny number of reported sales in that higher range.  Makes sense, and sure enough, when we run the numbers that way, we come up with a much larger sample; 29, in fact:

Greenwich sales in the last 6 months, priced $3.2M-$4.8M.

But I still prefer the clean, simple question, “What Do You Get For $4 Million?”

7 Clark Street, Old Greenwich, one of the many left out of my earlier survey results. Asked $3.2M, sold for $3.2M. List: Julie Church. Sell: John Horan.

1 Tavern Island (75 Bluff Avenue, Rowayton, CT)

Hmmm…I love Greenwich, of course, but this one calls to me for some reason…

1 Tavern Island, $12,900,000.

Note: Map shown with listing has been corrected!

1 Tavern Island comes on for $12.9M. This could be very well be Rowayton’s best.