For what it’s worth

(Feel free to completely disregard what follows as it is based entirely on viewing houses with either clients or on recent open houses and there’s been no review of actual statistics)

I sense that the $2-$2.5 million range is now, for the most part, offering reasonably-priced houses in comparison to the $4 and up range. The few houses in that upper range that do seem to offer value have usually been reduced from the mid-to-high fives, while those that started in the $4s and have stayed there feel, to me, more like they belong in the $3s or even lower.

If the unwisely-priced $4 houses do drop down it will presumably squeeze the existing $3s and they, in turn, may eventually make the current $2.5 inventory look overpriced. As of now I haven’t seen that happening on a wide scale so the $2s continue to look good.

Nawthorne tree removal decision released

Relax, kid, this micro-chip we’re implanting is just to help us identify you after you’re squashed.

The Tree Warden has spoken: two of the sixteen trees will be removed now, the remaining maples, all rotting, are estimated to have a life span of “5-10 years” and will be removed as they complete their life cycle and die. The warden punted on CL&P’s request to trim the trees back from the electrical wires, saying only that such trimming would be done “in consultation with this office”.

Hey, it’s a decision, and the warden’s the one who’s supposed to know about trees, not me, so good. Personally, I’d be nervous about my kids riding underneath these rotten trees with their weak branches but my kids aren’t in town anymore and the Nawthorne residents strongly expressed their willingness to take that risk so there you have it.

Sales, price reductions

Nothing to report in current activity; there is none (though I know of at least three active contracts – ahem – that will be showing up in the next few weeks) so here are some older contracts gone to closing. As demanded by the GAR all links, photos etc. are courtesy of Trulia, although why they wouldn’t want their listing and selling members to get credit is beyond me.

22 Pond Place

22 Pond Place, Cos Cob, asked $875,000, got $796,500, which is certainly in the ballpark. Nice house, I thought.

13 Oval Avenue, Riverside-on-the-train, $1.825, sold for $1.6 million. Wow.

168 Henry Street

168 Henry Street, Byram-close-to-the-old-pool, asked $795,000, went for $740,00. Someone loaned $816,000 on this property in 2009, after the gold rush. That was nice of them.

2 Kernan Place, Old Greenwich. Forgot to raid Trulia for this one’s details but asked $2.395 and had a contract for $2.3 in just 36 days.

548 Stanwich Road

In the price reductions list there’s 548 Stanwich Road, down from its February price of $7.9 million to $7.2 million today. Sold for $6.450 in 2002 and I wonder whether our current market will support that much now? There’s probably going to be plenty of time to find out.

Okay, now this is taking affirmative action too far

Job applicants rush to headquarters

Help Wanted

Drudge:

Transgender males wanted for knife-point robbery

Surely a heterosexual male could do just as good a job of knife-point robbing – seems like a discriminatory hiring practice to me.

We’re back

Not quite a yawn, but nothing much to write here about. The property up at the end of Lake was very pretty but that’s because it’s right on the lake. The house itself was custom built for the current owners and while it must suit their tastes I can’t even imagine who I could sell it to – extremely personal, with winding, twisty corridors, dark rooms, and a layout that would require a trail of breadcrumbs, if you could see them, to avoid getting lost. At $17 million (annual Westchester taxes alone are $127,000) I think it’s going to be a tough sell. A new buyer who wants the spectacular lake frontage and is willing to tear down a very high quality but oddball house might take it but otherwise, hmmm. Still, what do I know? This house is above my pay scale.

So off we go on the weekly open house tour

GI Joe toy figurine used for illustrative purposes only

Brad Hvolbeck’s got a new listing waaay up Lake Avenue  on the Conyers Farm lake and spilling over the New York line – it’s priced at $17 million so I have no reasonable expectation of  any of my current buyers springing for it but Brad says it’s fantastic, he’s offering a free lunch and there are only two other houses I’d like to see, so why not?

I’m not tempted by one listing that promises “posh and gorgeous grounds” just because I hate the term “posh”. Hey, with the price of gas what it is today, one has to be selective.

Roger Clemons acquitted – where’s the outrage?

Roger Clemens makes charity appearance

Not at the verdict but at the idiots who brought this case in the first place. After millions of dollars, Congressional hearings, a full court press by the Department of Justice and a five-week trial, Roger Clemens was acquitted yesterday of  lying to Congress.

I suspect that Clemens may have benefited from a bit of  ”jury nullification”, where jurors ignore/disregard the evidence presented and even the instructions of the judge and acquit as their own conscience moves them (an entirely proper procedure under our laws) but so what? Congress lies to us every day, with impunity, and no one holds hearings because of that.

The real anger here ought to be directed at our elected representatives who wasted enormous amounts of time and money “investigating” an issue – steroid use by baseball players – entirely devoid of national interest. The economy’s failing, the Middle East is going to hell, Afghanistan isn’t doing so well and these charlatans spend our money showboating and preening in front of television cameras? hang ‘em (note to GAR: this suggestion to engage in physical harm to another person is hyperbole only and not intended to be perceived as a genuine threat).

How about the Justice Department, that can’t be bothered to investigate leaks from Obama’s staff that jeopardize national security, whose head lies to Congress about Operation Fast and Furious, who sends ten (ten!) FBI agents to Florida for the sole purpose of investigating Zimmerman’s racial views and dozens of lawyers to prosecute the man himself when in Chicago alone this year almost twice as many young black men have been murdered than American soldiers killed in Afghanistan (248 vs. 123)?

Justice in America has been hijacked by politics with the result that real crimes go unpunished and individual cases are investigated by Congress and prosecuted by the Justice Department based on their telegenic appeal rather than any sense of proportion. ugh.

Morning rant finished, let’s go see what open houses are on the schedule today. (Figurative) Flak jacket may be required.

JHouse Restaurant, Riverside

I haven’t been to the new restaurant that’s replaced the old Howard Johnson’s in Riverside yet but a friend whose judgment I trust tells me that he dined there last night and had a great time. Food, he reports, was excellent, there’s a great chef from the Ivory Coast in charge and the atmosphere was “fun”. I don’t know what fun in a restaurant entails, although I understand that watching low-level Mafiosi at Valbella’s on Saturday night is entertaining, but heck, good food in Riverside is always welcome, and rare.

I’d be more impressed if they held a rally for those expected to pay for, rather than use the Byram pool

If it’ll keep them out of the Field Club’s pool, is any price too dear?

The Junior League holds a party to advocate for a new pool. Everyone loves a good party of course and the Junior Leaguers doubtless need some place to use up all that perky energy, but what exactly does this particular event tell us? We already knew, even without asking, that folks love free ice cream and swimming pools – hell, there’s a constituency for anything free, even flu shots. What about appealing to those who will be expected to pay for this “free” facility? Where’s their party?

Here’s a business that stopped short of what the GAR did: this guy only threatened to call the cops on a blogger

Don’t like what a blogger says about your ballet studio? Threaten to file a complaint with the police. Or if you’re the Greenwich Association of Realtors, go ahead and do it – what could possibly go wrong?