Havemeyer sale

9 Robin Place, $2.585 million. 2006 construction, it was listed at $2.649 million for six weeks last fall, and then withdrawn. It never made it back to the MLS: this was a sale arranged between two Compass agents, but there’s nothing unusual or underhanded about that; one agent has a buyer looking for a specific house or neighborhood, but can’t find a suitable active listing, so he goes through expired/canceled listings searching for an old listing that might work and then calls the former agent (if he’s smart —there are agents out there who call the owner direct, hoping to get a double commission and, usually, their ethics in other areas match their behavior in instances like this) to see if the house might still be available. Often, it is, and the owner gets an acceptable price without having to go through the unpleasant, inconvenient process of house showings all over again.