Do you really want to see a Realtor’s face on the license plate in front of you?

Illinois considers selling ads on plates. Bad ideas like this tend to spread.

Fallen out of contract

52 Pecksland Road, originally purchased for $2,000,000 in 1999, was foreclosed on a year ago and put up for sale at $2.150 million. It was recently reported as under contract but now it’s back for sale – the deal fell through. Any number of explanations for this one of which might be the listing showing it as 1.8 acres in a 1 acre zone when in fact it’s in the R2 (Frank Farricker noticed this immediately, but don’t you think one of the listing agents during the six years this was for sale might have confirmed what she was selling?). Poor land, tired house, some properties aren’t worth what they were in 1999.

Another stick in the spokes of the foreclosure machine

I’m told that in Stamford Superior Court this morning one of the big mortgage mill law firms tried to introduce an appraisal of a doomed house dated April, 2011 and signed by a certain appraiser, who wasn’t in court. Turns out the listing broker supplied an affidavit stating that the only apprisal ever performed occurred in October, not April, and was done by a person from the Bronx, not upstate Connecticut. Oops! A phony appraisal? The judge seemed to think so and has scheduled the deposition of the second appraiser to find out what he knows about the matter.

This has been going on all along, of course, but it may have just been stopped. False evidence introduced into court? That’s frowned upon.

That was quick

36 Binney Lane asked $6.795 and got $6.795 in nine days. Nice house.

A number of contracts seem to be taking out some of the better houses in the “lower” range – 19 Ivanhoe Lane, asking $2.595, 21 Pierce Road, asking $1.350 and 38 Hidden Brook, asking $2.150.

22 Webb Avenue in Old Greenwich asked $1.050 sold for $1.040 in eleven days.

But he’s keeping the pictures for sentimental reasons

Rep. Himes returning Weiner campaign funds.

When bad things happen to good houses

Upstate New York retirement home slides into the abyss. Turns out, homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover this sort of event. Poor guys.

Hmm – maybe we should keep our powder dry

As several readers have pointed out, we’re still getting reports of mountain lion sightings (near the Audubon). On the one hand, I’d expect some false sightings after a real one just because that’s how the imagination works (or mine does, anyway). But these are large animals, hard to confuse with a house cat or small child so … Kind of neat if we have a native population returning, but a development that would probably give me pause on some of our hiking trails.