Swing and a miss

36 Shore Road in Old Greenwich hit the market at $6.5 million back in July, with a rather silly (and grammatically challenged) admonition by the agent that the laggard buyer would lose out: “This is a rare opportunity to be indulged by the best of Greenwich waterfront living. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS TO FULLY APPRECIATE HOW SPECIAL IT IS. DON'T WAIT!!!”

I say silly, because when, as here, the house doesn’t sell in six months, and you have to mark it down to $5.295, the owner and especially the agent looks foolish; don’t do it.

Very good friends of my family sold this house for $2.9 million in 2014 and built a new waterfront home in Maine. They did well on that exchange, and this owner probably will too, even if she’s disappointed, because she’s put almost nothing into it since that $2.9. Here’s the “improvement” list, which is really just a recital of some repairs. Those expenses are essential to maintain a house, but buyers won’t pay extra for them: they expect a house to have working air conditioning and hot water, and a seller will get no bonus points for supplying them.