Pecksland Road sale

87 Pecksland Road has sold for $2.350 on a final asking price of $2.595. In September, I noted the latest price cut and wrote this:

I’ve said that the current price seems reasonable, but note that the owners put it up for sale on June 20 at $3.191, dropped it $296,000 to $2.895 30 days later on July 20, and now, just 26 later, they’ve dropped it again another $300,000 to $2.595: that’s 20% down from where they started.

The owners clearly want to sell, and this aggressive pricing shows that. I might be tempted to offer them the opportunity to avoid waiting another 30 days, and offer them $2.295 now, just to see what happens.

Pretty close.

N.B. Not everyone agreed with me that this was a pretty good deal: One reader more familiar with the house and its location said this:

06830 Blogmaster Snoop Dog • 3 months ago

Neither of you are correct. Of the 2.5 acres, 90% of it is a front yard which consists entirely of a swamp and is unusable. There is literally no backyard, at all. Zero. Maybe 10 feet between the house and a sheer rock face that is paved. The small flat grassy area is a side yard, not a backyard, and must be <10,000sf - i.e., smaller than most lots in Riverside or OG. There is a very good reason why the developer only built 3,700 square feet.

Those are valid points, but now that my kids are grown, I wouldn’t personally object to these perceived drawbacks, at this price, and obviously, one buyer shared my sentiments. But that’s what makes real estate interesting: not every property meets ever buyer’s needs. English common-law, carried over to this country, holds that every parcel of real estate is unique to itself, and a defaulting seller can be compelled to sell it — specific performance — rather than merely pay money damages, which is ordinarily the remedy in most breach of contract cases.

So, there you have it.