33 Valley Road, Cos Cob, CT. Asking price $1,650,000. Now has deal (sold immediately). List: Denise Rosato of Coldwell Banker Sell: Lisa McGinn of Berkshire Hathaway
Today’s Wall Street Journal declares California has become a one-party state. As a result, it has the highest everything: highest taxes, highest regulations, highest illegal alien population, highest number of people on welfare, and, to top it all off, mediocre public schools! Oh ,and the roads are in terrible shape, and getting worse.
Can all this happen in Connecticut? Yes, by gosh, it’s happening right now! So, is it time to get out? That, old chum, is YOUR decision. In the meantime, you might as well invest in some income property, what say?
Here’s a damn good example: 33 Valley Road is a four-family dwelling, with rental income of $8,800 per month, $105,600 per year. Taxes are low (for now), only $9,783 per year. All in all, a good investment in a central location that is near everything and will always be easy to rent.
Unfortunately, it just got snapped up, so forget about this one. But there are still eight more on the market (click link below) so go out tomorrow and buy one!
35 Close Road, Greenwich, just closed at $11,180,000. List: Danielle Malloy, Five Corners Properties Sell: Debbie Huffard, Houlihan Lawrence
Besides last Monday’s $48,000,000 closing, we’ve had 56 house deals in the last 30 days or so, ranging in price from $11,180,000 down to $549,000. Is that good? Yes, that is a “brisk” pace for this time of year, especially when you add to that total my certain knowledge of a whole bunch of other deals that are presently “contingent”, so brokers are reluctant to report them. All in all, things are good. As long as you don’t over-price, you will be on and off the market in 60 days or less.
Here’s the break-down:
Of those fifty-six, thirty-three of them are priced between $1.5M and $3.995M. The 2Ms are particularly strong, where we see fourteen deals, but it really is broad-based activity, up and down the price range. Hell, we had three deals in the $500,000s, not bad for fancy Greenwich, CT.
And here is a link to the 56 properties (the damned link only remains active for a month or two):
It’s all well and good for us brokers to puzzle over the value of $48,000,000 properties, but most of the time, we come down from the stratosphere and work on the more common, every day starter-homes, like for instance, 107 Meadow Road, Riverside, recently put back on the market for a piddling $8,695,000.
Regular readers will recall my earlier post from 2017 where I called it “Bargain of the Century” because eight pages of deed restrictions had reduced its value from around $12,500,000 (highest and best use of this 3.22 acre waterfront property would have been a 5-lot subdivision) down to its eventual sale price of $3,700,000.
The buyers, a couple who have built new and/or renovated on at least five previous occasions, really know what they’re doing, so they have taken this classic antique and brought it beautifully into this century, in particular, creating a fabulous kitchen/family room and a luxurious master bedroom and bath (and the improvements list goes on and on and on).
Could you do more here? Sure, you could continue even further with the owners’ already massive upgrading, both inside and out, but most importantly, you could continue their successful negotiating with the Greenwich Land Trust, which is empowered to enforce those pesky deed restrictions, and thereby get them to let you add a few things here and there, like maybe a larger garage building? (or underground garage?)
The point is, the present owners have shown the way for the next owners. Despite all the legal advice to the contrary, that so many would-be buyers were discouraged by, it is clear that the Greenwich Land Trust is willing to be reasonable and flexible. Does that mean you can build a nice guest house? Probably not, but a tennis court? Very likely. Upgraded swimming pool? Sure. And, at 40 feet above mean high-tide, I don’t see what objection anyone would have to some underground garage space.
The absolute best part of this property is the wide open space, so rare and coveted in Riverside that desperate property owners now frequently acquire adjoining lots for millions of dollars, just to give themselves breathing room and protection from yet another giant mansion peering down at them. With 107 Meadow Road, you spare yourself the entire hassle of buying neighbors’ houses and tearing them down! It’s all done here, nothing to buy, nothing to add, and absolute guaranteed views that will never be taken away. That is worth the price they are asking.
Greenwich Bored And Razed 