Monthly Archives: August 2008

Sounds like Greenwich: coddled princes. Except many families in town have the resources to pull it off.

Why I don’t like the Olympics, especially when hosted by China.There’s bad sportsmanship in baseball; cheating about girl gymnasts’ ages;cracking down on dissidents;and massive cheating in general, in all sports. I’m pleased that Mr. Phelps won his eight gold medals … Continue reading →

What’s an ugly Greenwich woman to do?Assuming there is one, she can move to Australia. No such invitation for me. alas.

Save your money?44 Greenwich Hills Drive, a 3 bedroom condominium, was originally listed for $849,000 in October 2006. It didn’t sell so it was pulled from the market in March of 2007 and renovated: new kitchen, new baths, hardwood floors, … Continue reading →

The link is to today’s WSJ’s editorial denouncing the Green’s efforts to block any sort of transmission of energy whether produced by windpower, solar or cow farts. We said it earlier here, repeatedly, but perhaps the WSJ says it best: … Continue reading →

Nalgene updateI mentioned a week or so ago that my favorite plastic water bottle, manufactured by Nalgene, had been pulled from the market due to hysteria – “if it saves the life of just one baby” sort of stuff. Friday, … Continue reading →

Slowly, oh so slowly44 Calhoun Drive sold Friday for $4,041,050. It was originally listed on the Ides of March back in 2006 for $6,200,000, so I suppose its sale was a relief to the sellers, even at 1/3 off.

The city of Bozeman, Montana has put its city hall up for sale and isn’t using a Realtor. This has the local real estate organization up in arms but what the heck, they can always try again with professional help … Continue reading →

Nantucket blues?A reader who’s hiding up in Nantucket sent this link – to my eye, things don’t look any worse (or better) up there than they do down here. Which makes sense, sort of, because the island is more or … Continue reading →

For some reason that eludes me the blogger at Greenwichroundup.com chooses to link to a story today about poverty in Fredericton, Canada. I’d never heard of the place but it turns out to be in the middle of nowhere in … Continue reading →

Last year, in a rather transparent attempt to demonstrate buyer interest, any buyer interest, in its collossal (35,000 sq.ft) blunder on Langhorne Lane, Antares hired a publicist who “toured” the place with NY Yankee A Rod and made certain that … Continue reading →

Apples to Apples 97 East Elm Street, a nice old 1920′s single family house that was renovated in 2004, sold for $1,612,000 back in December, 2004. It sold again Friday for $1,795,000, which was full asking price and after only … Continue reading →

Speaking at a fund raiser held among San Francisco pan-handlers desperate for change, Obama raised $7.2 million in just three hours while basking in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s adoration, who called him “a leader that God has blessed … Continue reading →

I’m beginning to think that Times reporters simply don’t know anything at all about what they write about, which is an improvement, I suppose, over my earlier thoughts that they were part of a vast conspiracy designed to feed off … Continue reading →

New vs. renovate A reader asks, “Sorry to be off topic, about the new construction per feet cost. What is a new addition to a house cost nowadays per feet. Also, was told the cost to build a second floor … Continue reading →

If you want to know why we’re in the current mortgage mess, read this puff piece from 1998. Money quote: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate independently each with a preferred lender base, but both are in the business to … Continue reading →

Appraisal woesInteresting article here on the difficulties in appraising houses in a falling market. Lenders are more cautious and, because house prices are falling so rapidly in some areas, won’t accept a “comparable” sale that’s six months old. “In San … Continue reading →

White Elephants and such Reader Juan asks, “Will you provide the link for article by the ‘colleague who compared assessed value…’? “ I would be glad too, if Greenwich Citizen posted the guy’s stuff on line, but it doesn’t (they … Continue reading →