Would some of you please relax? I promise you, I pretend to no more knowledge than anyone else, I look at what’s recently sold, make a judgement on new listings and post it. The only difference between me and your neighbor down the street is that I bother to post a blog and they don’t. I think rather highly of my own opinion because - well because – but for heaven’s sake, price your house where you want to and please – please!- ignore me. I’ll get around to you maybe three months from now, but it disturbs me to read comments that some people aren’t listing their houses on the MLS from fear that I’ll ridicule them. (Of course if you do fear that, then in your heart of hearts, you know that you’re being preposterous, but that’s another matter). Get a grip.
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For What It’s Worth · Greenwich, Connecticut real estate, politics, etc.
Sounds like you are being heckled by the audience. I suggest you ignore it. If you broadcast your fustrations, then they are “winning.”
I think buyers, especially those who make their living on Wall Street, DESPERATELY desire a contrary opinion. They’re used to getting pro-con opinions in the world of finance but in real estate it’s not so common. So I agree with you, what the hell DO you know? You have to guess, just like the rest of us.
But I do contend that a half-way decent broker who gets out there and visits 10-20 open houses per week and then follows up that research by keeping track of sale prices does indeed know what a particular property is worth. To the penny? No, but within a hundred thousand or so.
Wait you aren’t the sole determinate of housing prices in Greenwich???
CF:
Because something is written in a blog doesn’t mean that it has no rules or legal barriers.
For those individuals that feel you have overstepped those bounds, there is, naturally, a way to make the authorities pay more attention.
Complaints of a real estate nature can be lodged; here is a helpful link.
https://www.elicense.ct.gov/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx?s=fountain
I wonder how you feel when you are the target.
Too soon.
Is the heat of the summer getting to you, CF?
Personally, I haven’t noticed a change in your tenor over the past year. So not sure what all the complaining is about.
Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s informative, but anyone with half a brain should know that it’s also only your opinion. So everyone else, accept that fact and move on if you don’t agree…
And sellers, my God, CF doesn’t make the market. Thousands of buyers and sellers making independent decisions in real-time make the market. So STOP blaming Chris for macro-economic issues well beyond your and his control.
Whence this rant, CF?
Ja, if you are offended by a blog, and it’s not actually libeling you inthe legal sense, GO READ SOMETHING ELSE.
Lord knows, there’s enough out there.
“Opinions are like a***holes, everyone has one, and they all stink.”
The Pity Party you are hosting for yourself is getting tedious. Do I have to drive to Riverside and slap you upside your head, boy? Repeat after me.
I am man.
I am smart.
I have character.
I have an amazing sense of humor.
I write good
I have great kids.
I have a wonderful mom/sibs
I am lucky to have a gorgeous roof over my head.
I am healthy.
I am invincible.
Capisce????
If one queries -as little as- “for wha” in their Google browser, one gets a link to your blog.
A year ago, one would have to type “for what it’s worth, chris fountain” or “for what its worth greenwich” to find a link on the first or second query results page’s.
Very impressive to say the least.
——————————————-
Do you know why your real estate readership has vastly increased.? Because in Cos Cob liguistics, you know what the fuck you are talking about.
Just by following your blog and implementing your r/e insight we were able to sell our home quickly and very profitably.
Want to bring in buyers? Pricing is everything.
We did not follow conventional greenwich real estate wisdom of pricing high. We priced low, got 3 times the buyers they could have got, a bidding war ensued, and we sold at a HIGHER price than the ‘conventional wisdom’ original estimate.
I truly do not beleive we would have attracted the buyers we did, if we had stuck to the ‘conventional wisdom.’
Thanks Chris
Love you Towny, and don’t know you. But what a wonderful compliment, Thank you.
I could use a slap upside the head, young lady and you’re probably just the woman to give it to me. But i am going on line to see about learning Dutch. Maude’s grandmother is a de la Fontaine, and I figure 500 years should make us kissing cousins, even if she doesn’t, but it can’t hurt to learn a new language, eh?
Thanks, CC, I’m growing tired these days.
Hang in there, CF. If you are not pissing somebody off, your are not doing it right!
Would someone please explain to me whatever I must have missed here?
CC, what does “Sounds like you are being heckled by the audience. I suggest you ignore it. If you broadcast your fustrations [sic], then they are “winning.”” refer to?
I regularly follow CF’s blog, but all of a sudden I feel like I’m on the outside looking in (Moody Blues).
Hey Towny, there is a house in my neighborhood that listed a bit on the low side sometime in the past 6 weeks. It picked up three offers to date, all above asking price thus far. As you experienced for yourself, CF’s advice has been correct, price it to sell and see if buzz can push the price up. The absolute last thing you want is to become a stale listing.
Chris, I beleive we met briefly-last fall- at the johnny b (lol) event in moodus.
fred sends his regards as well.
Christopher,
You are a person of integrity who expresses his opinion with grace and forcefulness. If you are growing weary, post less, but please don’t stop. You ability to stuff so much wit and wisdom into so few words, frequently accompanied by a picture with an amusing caption, is a joy to encounter. Many thanks.
Boy of Weasel -
Buck up, you slob. What exactly are you growing tired of?
Driving a schill to an open house? Dropping a duece in a flush monster that isn’t yours?
I can tell you have colic. What is the problem, my friend? You want a carrot?
You need a break? I can host this blog for a bit. I will get these turd “readers” of yours in line.
Plus I will bitch slap Fake Walt, Priapus, Pierre the Homo, AKA Hiram into Kingdom come. It is easy to slap one asshole all at once. Right?
So enough about you. You want to hit Beamers? Nude ballet? What is not to like?
Or Thataways?
My treat. You load.
Your Pal,
Walt
I wake up at first light on ACK, check in to catch up with the brilliant and entertaining Oracle of Greenwich, and what do I find, a woeful Jean-Paul Sartre rant of melancholy and angst.
Chris, get a grip. Your following is vast and growing. The law of large numbers explains the certainty that you will also attract a growing number of absolute whackos who will try their best to provoke you. Get a move on with the hot 40 something gal and ignore this riff raff – it comes with your well earned stature. Do you think Warren Buffet worries about his critics?
Dear sellers
A fair deal is one in which you would take either side of.
We buyers have to wade thru all the happy talk from the media, the selling realtor, the NAHB, NAR, etc etc. All you have to do is find one unsuspecting sap.
You should have sold 3 years ago instead of buying, likely when your spouse or friends told you to do so.
Deal.
Nederlands leren? Probeer de middelen in Greenwich Bibliotheek. Zij hebben toegang tot Rosetta Stone software.
We, the normal Noel family, want to thank you for your self-analysis, you schnook. Now stop calling us schnooks, we are hard working and honest. Direct your negatives toward Madoff.
Oh, I can only hope you really are of the Noel family! Friggin’ crooks, stole hundreds of millions of dollars and are offended that people want it returned? PLEASE be a Noel. It would make my year.
Rosetta Stone it is, EOS. But can I possibly charm this woman in Dutch? Henry the Fifth wooed Kate with bad French so I have hope, but I didn’t win at Agincourt.
Women are charmed by the gentle touch of a hand on the shoulder or the small of the back, by laughter that causes the eyes to twinkle, or by a kiss on the cheek. Language is inconsequential, really.
i just learned about “quiet” listings kept in a book at a real estate office, that you can only see if you physically walk into that office to see that book. i’m sure the sellers are overpriced, or not motivated, or possibly are scared of your opinon….. just wondering if you knew about these “secret books”, or if the realtors were hiding their existence from you!!!
when i was looking to buy (which i eventually did), i wonder if there was some amazing listing i never knew about? i was looking for a deal however, and im sure all “deals” are listed on the mls.
the truth is that some sellers don’t care if they overprice their home bc they don’t need to sell. as much as i hate the expression, “this is greenwich”, it does ring true at times. If you have a fabulous home, someone will probably pay a steep price for it, even if you have to sit and wait a few years for the right buyer.
Havana—What bounds? How about spelling it out rather than being cryptic and hoping it passes for authoritative? Chris is a lawyer so I’m sure he’d be readily able to digest what the legal bounds of blog writing are. As far as people being afraid to list lest they be the subject of ridicule–that’s just dumb and can’t be true. People make decisions to sell houses or not sell houses for real life practical reasons. Any hurt feelings felt by buyers from some guy on the web that most of the world is unaware of (it’s a blog–not the front page of the NYTimes) can certainly be soothed by the smoke their realtors will blow up their derrieres to get the listing.
Dairy Ann:
I may be alone in this, but if this blog is all about buying and selling real estate, I have to cut back my dosage or get a better dictionary.
This is a rant and if you side with your beloved leader, your rant gets posted. If, on the other hand, you take a far more jaded view of cf and his antics, you find yourself in the shit can.
Now, as rants go, I’m all for a good one, as long as it is two-sided. If I call cf a twit, I want it posted. If I point out his foibles as he so enthusiatically judges others from on high, I want it posted. That said, it is HIS blog and he can play by any rules on it wishes. Almost.
cf has every right to his opinion. He has no right, however, to venture into libel and as a former lawyer, he should know that. As a representative of the real estate community, a certain level of dignity and character and professionalism are not too much to expect. Good ones know this and bank on it. Ones that are, well, less good, blame buyers or sellers or whomever.
Once words, words he chooses to post or to toss out, hit the web, it is published material and then a whole other set of rules–not his–apply.
Hey Fidel -
You douche bag. I often times disagree with Chris. And he always publishes my posts. Well actually, he has deleted a few, but what do you expect. He is a load. And I probably crossed the line. So no harm, no foul. And your loss.
You say: “As a representative of the real estate community, a certain level of dignity and character and professionalism are not too much to expect”
Are you shitting me, or what? Who appointed Weasel Boy the representative of the real estate community? I want to know. And where is this community? I want to see it.
And dignity, character and professionalism? Now I know you are shitting me. We are talking sellers of dirt here. No more. No less. Get off your high frigging hor… Get off your pedestal and start to realize your shit DOES stink. Just like everyone else. We are all human. None better, some worse.
And quit being a total jerk off with this libel crap. I know it is hard, and I don’t know you, but you can do it if you try. I saw nothing said here that was personal, or meant to hurt any one person. So he can say what he wants. I wish he would write it better, but that is a different story.
Your Pal,
Walt
For the first time I could understand you Mr. Walt…and actually agreed (with most of the, uh “message”).
Having just looked over Mr. havana’s link to the licensing site, I just want to know who Christopher D. Fountain the hairdresser is, and if he could get you a halfway decent haircut. god knows you need it
Dear Wishing & Hoping:
It is not my fault you can’t keep up. That is a genetic thing. So blame your parents. Not me.
And it isn’t an “uh message”. It is a comment. My opinion. So you can agree with it or not. I have no problem with that.
The fact that you can’t comprehend my post saddens me. But that is your problem, and good luck with it.
Your Pal,
Walt
I don’t know why, but this blog is starting to seem very romantic to me.
Did Slapped get his passport stamped?