I’ve noticed that, as the price of gasoline soars, I take an increasingly critical look at the open house list. Re-treads get no second visit, houses in the fringe areas – north of the Merritt, west of Round Hill, etc., get no visit if their price is ridiculous, and even closer to town, if the price is wrong, I’m not going. Just a year ago, I did my best to see every new listing but I’m not doing it now. I don’t know if other agents are doing the same thing – if they are, the homeowners are missing the boat. If the other agents are still going around the full circuit, then I suppose I could be at a disadvantage, but I can always go see a place if the price drops to a reasonable level. The way I figure it, most of these houses aren’t going anywhere for a long time.
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For What It’s Worth · Greenwich, Connecticut real estate, politics, etc.
Chris, a question — suppose an older house and obvious teardown sits on a nice piece of property in a good part of town with lots of potential for a much larger/modern house. If a developer were interested in the property, would they pay whatever the fair market value of the house+property, or do they seek to pay only a discount as they have no intent to keep the house? Thanks.
Moshi, an “obvious teardown” commands land value only, whether from a builder or an end user. I suppose there might be some slight premium for the house but really, the house represents an extra expense, rather than a benefit, especially now days, with all the restrictions on disposing of asbestos, lead paint, etc. The “fair market value” of the property really is just the property, even if the town assessor attributed some vaklue to the buildings.
west of round hill is a compromise? because we all need to be closer to stamford? i don’t get it.
I could be wrong but I get the impression that the value of land/tear downs are still down versus finished homes. With Patriot Bank no longer lending money out to anyone who can hammer a nail. Its much harder for builders to spec build homes. The few spec builders still around are buying the land and then waiting for someone to pay them to build the house.
You posted about two properties in Riverside, and I see 33 Club road is back on the market with a new house plan and a much larger price, that places has been looking for financing for at least two years.
Xyzzy, 33 Club Rd is almost finished and already receiving offers but you’re right; there was little or no financing available for spec homes the past two years – now there is. Plus the builder of Club (Greenwich Construction) is a very cautious, smart guy, and he himself pulled out of the spec house back in 2007. So the combination of no money from banks and builders’ reluctance to build has actually created a shortage of new construction. That’s now reversed and we’ll probably soon see another glut.
ClubBuilder may be a very cautious, smart guy, but where did he get the plans for that house? IMO it does not have anywhere near the curb appeal of the construction on the other side of the lot.
Shows you the last time I drove down club road! Hadn’t realized they had started building.
interesting to see what it sells for ( Club Rd )…. It’s at least 1mm overpriced, if not more
Hi Chris,
Wasn’t sure if you were aware that I’m getting ads/links to other realtors in Ads by Google in your blog. I’ll try to get some screen shots for you to look at but google is cycling through some other ads now. It’s always something…..
Never underestimate Club Road
I second Forever Looking. Everyone has their favorite part of town. You couldn’t pay me enough to live in OG/Riverside/CC. North of the Merritt is where I want to be, my preference being off of of Riversville or Round Hill. I would rather be closer to the Westchester County line than the Stamford border any day.
I totally agree with forever looking and anon. What’s so great about Stamford!? I prefer White Plains any day.
Go ahead and dump on Stamford. When the cumulative weight of Obuttf*uck’s incoherent foreign, economic and fiscal policies collapses the economy, his voting demographic in NYC’s northern borough will be hungry and they’ll surely head north and east. While they’re eating you and enjoying your wives and daughters, I’ll be loading my bug-out buggy.