Ain’t never, ever gonna happen

A friend sends along this $3.2 million listing (originally $9.6) on 191 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield. Yes, it looks like an office building but it actually purports to be a house, one designed – surprise! – by an “internationally acclaimed architect”.

Oh dear. The building has two bedrooms, is burdened with $77,000 annual property taxes and has all of the cold sterile charm of an operating room. Sure, whoever paid to erect this monster was certifiably insane, but how much crazier is the broker (William Raveis) for accepting this listing at any price?

Value it as land only, minus the cost of deconstructing it, so to speak.

UPDATE: Started out at $10 million, long ago, and then sold for $1 a year ago December, suggesting a foreclosure. And it was Sotheby’s that was the original chump – Raveis came along later.

Video here: 8993

UPDATE II: Zillow thinks it’s worth $3.4 million, which is why you should never trust Zillow.

UPDATE III: Mystery solved. I was right – the place has no value so it was given away to Fairfield University who has been trying to unload it ever since. The best part of this story is that the late donor paid $18 million in legal fees disputing her brother in law’s handling of her husband’s estate before agreeing  to a 40% contingency fee in lieu of further hourly charges. Her lawyers then promptly settled her case for $100 million and demanded $40 million (in addition to the $18 already received)  of that for five month’s work.  Although an appellate court hinted that it took a dim view of the lawyers’ activities, the justices clearly forgot that old legal axiom that large fortunes are just too important to waste on the heirs when there are lawyers to be fed.

Where is Eric Holder and his federal goon squad?

Don' you mess with my little mind!

Holder has sicced the Justice Department on South Carolina for requiring photo id from voters and has threatened to do the same to any other state that dares interfere with the right of illegal aliens to vote for Democrats. No objection to the same photo id requirement for flying (constitutional right to travel) or gun purchases (right to bear arms). But what about this one, Big Boy: Photo ID required to buy drain cleaner?

Best chance to beat this one is probably to claim that people with clogged drains are proportionately more likely to be poor, illegal and Democrat voters. Then, just as soon as they can break free from detaining citizens indefinitely and without hearings, Holder and his bunch will ride to the rescue.

Just a suggestion

Where you going with my goat, mister?

Now that Chase is set to open in Cos Cob, becoming the 20th (or so) banking institution in that blighted section of town, isn’t it time for a little sprucing up? How about a name change: “Little Switzerland”?  I like it.

Obummer and the 1%

Oh, dear, I certainly hope not!

Rumor has it that our former community organizer is in the market to buy Katharine Hepburn’s house in Old Saybrook for $18 million. Only in America – or China, Russia or Venezuela – could a man of no talents and no wealth endear himself to a local political mafia and get rich beyond his wildest dreams in just a few short years. What a country.

As a sidenote, Fudrucker got peripherally involved in this property when he was hired as an expert witness to opine on the monetary impact of a paper street (one mapped, but not built) that runs between this house and the sea. Old Saybrook never asserted its rights to that street when Miss Hepburn lived there but as soon as the present owner showed up, they were there, hands outstretched. I don’t recall the resolution but I’m sure that if Barry does buy this playground the imaginary road will once again sink beneath the sands.

UPDATE: Obummer now says he isn’t interested in the place. “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk free?”, asked our prez, quoting Stalin. Why indeed?

Stamford

56 Cherry Hill Rd

That area way up Taconic with a Greenwich mailing address but located in Stamford (a holdover from horse days, when the Greenwich post office delivered Stamford residents’ mail up here) has some pretty good bargains. Number 56 Cherry Hill Road, for instance, asking $729,000 and offering 2.2 acres, a pool and a decent house in the bargain, just went to contract. That’s a lot of land and house for what passes for not a whole lot of money.

Taxes aren’t bad: $12,000, and if you don’t care that you’re closer to Bedford (Armonk? One of “those” places) than downtown Greenwich, well gee – wouldn’t you rather live here than in Havemeyer? For that matter, it’s not all that long a run down Taconic to Victoria’s Secret, so long as you arrive before the closing scheduled for January 15th.

See you, in September … September, 2017

Trailer for sale or rent ... (GT Photo)

A reader who should know (does know) informs me that Chip Skowron reported to prison today to begin serving his five-year sentence. No news report yet so I don’t have an address to send “get out of jail soon” cards, but his lawyer had requested Pennsylvania. Whatever, he won’t be seen driving any of his ten-car Ferrari collection on Doubling Road any time soon.

Bidding war!

46 Locust Street

Okay, just a teensey one, but Greenwich Hospital just sold this two-family on Locust Street for $680,000 after listing it at $675,000. I guess the hospital needs the money to buy out the YMCA and convert it to a profit center.

She may be Swedish but she pisses away money like the best capitalist

The former Mrs. Woods (are they divorced yet?) has just torn down the $12 million Palm Beach mansion she recently bought so she “can start again”. Nothing against the lady, but I wouldn’t shed many tears were she to end up as broke as she started.

Price reduction in nosebleed territory

Three Ashton (off Zaccheus Mead) has been dropped from $11.750 million to $8.5. Nice house; bring your hanky.

Pricing and Wall Street

With a few rare exceptions, new listings seem to be coming on at levels that suggest the sellers think we’re back in early 2007. Either they hang out with an unusual crowd or they don’t hang out with anyone at all and have spent the past five years huddled in their basement in the dark. Or, I suppose, they’re Obummer fans and are counting on the Messiah to right the ship of state.

Regardless, they might want to speak with some of the ordinary Wall Streeters who make up the bulk of our buyers here in Greenwich. Many of them aren’t doing so well. I know of one guy who, despite having a very profitable year trading, works for a bank that did not. He’s just back from Europe where he recieved word that bonuses world-wide won’t be anything like what the employees had been hoping for and he’s adjusted his price ceiling accordingly. Another trader tells me that the $500,000 in options that he’d been saving to contribute towards a house just went underwater so poof! Let’s rethink this purchase idea.

I could go on, but my point is that I’m probably not the only agent in town whose friends and clients aren’t feeling as prosperous now as they did awhile ago. If I’m not, then I wonder how many fnancial types are still left out there ready to pay crazy-assed prices dreamed up by delusional home sellers? Not so many, I’m guessing.

Still in the doldrums

(Horses by PhotoShop)

I spent the morning showing houses, which was gratifying – at least there’s someone interested in buying a house – but I came back to check the MLS hotsheet just now and the activity is … nada. Forty Locust Road, up near the airport, reports an “accepted offer, continue to show” status which means its offer is well below its last asking price of $1.995. Originally priced at $2.795, this is nice land with a location problem. And a mortgage problem, because there’s a $2.0125 million mortgage from CountryWide ( a wholly owned subsidiary of Chris Dodd). Assuming the seller isn’t getting what he asked, and “continue to show” strongly suggests that he isn’t,  he’ll be digging deep into his pocket to get out of this illiquid investment. That’s too bad.