Another diplomatic and domestic triumph

Please, oh please?

Beginning on his first day in office, Biden set about destroying America’s oil and gas industry. Six days ago, he begged our friends at OPEC to increase their own production to make up for his self-created shortage. They’ve told him to pound sand.

Hmm: Afghanistan debacle; 2 million aliens crossing our open borders, — what's the most important issue I address first?

where’d everybody go? Kampallawalla, where are you?

Biden vows to crack down on schools that won’t let boys play with girls

They should feel right at home.

quick change artist

UPDATE: Same thing? No, though our Ladies in Red like to pretend otherwise.

6,425 miles later, we're back

It was great to see family, but probably the best part of the hiatus was ignoring the news and social media for two weeks. Anything happen while i was gone?

Secrets Only Realtors Know

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain…

There’re plenty, but I’ll give you two good ones that apply to buyers:

There will always be another house.

There will always be another buyer.

Really , Capt. Obvious, those are examples of your big real estate secrets? Yes, my sarcastic friend, it is true.

Let’s take that first one, “there’ll always be another house”. If you are a real estate agent and your clients are absolutely desperate to win a bidding war for some particular property, you could, if you were feeling especially honest that day, remind them that other, equally nice properties will appear, maybe even in the next few days. But typically, we brokers do NOT whisper those magic words and are only too happy to have you bid $300,000+ over the asking price. Don’t lose your dream house!

And what about “There will always be another buyer”? That applies to you buyers who are making life miserable for a seller by demanding all sorts of concessions like repairs, delayed closing , reduced deposit requirement, demands for furniture, etc., etc., etc. You are convinced that you’re the only one in the world who wants this property and the seller is “dammed lucky you came along!” And then, it happens. Out of the blue, the listing agent picks up the phone and receives a new offer from a much nicer buyer with no demands, no delays, and maybe even a higher price! How quickly will the seller dump you, Mr. First Buyer? The closest that scientists have been able to measure it is 1 millionth of a second, but it might be even faster.

So, human nature being largely unchanging, these two real estate truisms have likely been in place since Babylonian times (1895 BC), but lately, one of them has been altered. That one, “there will always be another house”, has been shaken to the core, if not utterly destroyed. The lack of inventory is so bad right now that, if your broker doesn’t urge you to bid higher and higher, that broker is guilty of malpractice. In various parts of town this year, if you lost a bidding war, the odds are good that you are still out there looking. It’s that bad, and no end in sight.

In summation: for the nonce, bid hard, bid high when you find a house you like. It may be the last one you’ll see for a year.

And for you buyers making it tough on a seller? the second rule still applies. You can and will be replaced!

25 Shore Acre Drive, Old Greenwich, CT: asked $1.789M, sells for $2.3M. Buyer paid $511,000 over ask. Would you have done that?

If you answered no, and chose to wait for the next house on this street (or any nearby street) with first-floor master bedroom, cute little pool, and street association beach rights, under $2.5M, guess what? You’re still looking!

Listing broker: Cynthia De Riemer of Coldwell Banker

Buyer Broker: Cynthia De Riemer of coldwell banker

Oh, My Aiken Back (16 Years And Done)

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain…

There’s nothing wrong with making fun of house sellers who sit on the market for decades but there is one fact about most of these people that must be acknowledged: they’re rich and they don’t need the money.

When you or I go to sell a house, we expect the whole thing will take a month or two, right? Maybe, if we really screw things up with an ill-advised (stupid) asking price, perhaps we waste a whole year. But the type of seller Chris Fountain and I like to write about? One year is just the beginning! And real estate agents, you hire ONE, right? Not these guys… one broker just won’t do! You will need at least FIVE or, in the case of 13 Aiken Road, a total of SEVEN agents fought and died for this hill. Now THAT’S how you sell real estate when you’re rich and just don’t give a [hoot].

FUN FACT: The final listing agent for this property was in 6th grade when it first hit the market in 2005!

13 Aiken Road, Greenwich, CT FINALLY FINALY FINALLY has a pending deal! The fun began in September, 2005 at $11,975,000. Seven brokers, 12 price reductions, and 16 years later, with an ask of $3,999,000, a deal gets struck, say hallelujah!

Listing broker: Joy Kim Metalios of Houlihan Lawrence.

Buyer broker: Robin Bartholomew of Berkshire Hathaway

Is It Even Possible To Blackmail Hunter Biden?

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain….

Seriously, what more horrible crap could this guy be involved in? Maybe a contract for murder? Kidnapping? And would it make a difference to his media protectors? Would they finally cover the story or, like NPR, FaceBook, Twitter, et al, declare it to be “Russian disinformation” and refuse to report on it? You know the answer.

Here’s his latest video, as usual, shot by himself in his continuing Nixonian need to chronicle every moment of his wretched life. In one part of this repulsive display, he worries aloud about being blackmailed, I love that! By who? The Chinese? Maybe the Russians? And what would they do with this damning evidence that is already fully available to anyone who has the stomach to watch?

He admits to everything here, the crack, the prostitutes, the selling of access to his father (and complains about the 50% kick-back to Dad!), but who is left to be shocked and outraged? The answer is, no one. His Pop will be re-elected in 4 years, and all of Hunter’s escapades will not have mattered one bit.

A Shack By The Sea?

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain…

This place is not far from my own little shack by the sea and I will be absolutely thrilled to see it fetch $2.5M. The creek we live on is exceedingly tidal, so half the day, you get to see mud (and an interesting array of shore birds) and in the other half, you can kayak, sail, motor out to Long Island Sound. Not a bad place to live, I’ll admit. Somebody go buy this place, would’ja?.

346 Riverside Avenue, Riverside, CT. Asking $2,495,000.

Listing broker: Ann Simpson, Berkshire Hathaway

More impressive from the back…. n’est-ce pas?

Your own little sea-side cafe, monsieur! (but be sure and time the tide)

Mystery Sale Of The Week

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain…

Every once in a while, we see a report of a sale price that seems “off”. Very rarely is it a ridiculously high price, more often it’s a price that is clearly too low. Today’s MLS hotsheet includes one of those “reporting purposes only” sales where a property sells off market but usually still involves a couple of brokers. The brokers report the sale, pretty much as a courtesy to fellow brokers, because all of us are in constant need of fresh ‘comps” to help us price things.

Got the picture? Ok, so today we learn that 4 Chasmar Road, Old Greenwich, has closed at $850,000 which, to me, seems surprisingly low. And it’s not just me, the Town of Greenwich has it at $959,000 and (those Bozos at) Zillow have it at $1,427,100. For once, I agree with Zillow.

So what happened here? Certainly there are property owners out there who shrink at the thought of putting their house on the market and “having all those people come walking through”. In fact, that fear, or reservation, is particularly common among the ultra-high-end clients. They instruct their broker to sell their $20M+ property “quietly”, off-market. It almost never works so eventually the broker wins the fight and puts it up on the MLS and bingo! it sells immediately.

So that’s just rich people being silly, but what was the excuse on Chasmar? A quick, easy sale is nice but if it comes at a cost of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, maybe not.

4 Chasmar Road, Old Greenwich, closed today at $850K. Previously sold for $760K in August, 2001. (lot is .43 acres in the R-7 zone, about 2 1/2 times the size of the minimum lot requirement in that zone)

What Do You Get For $645,000?

Gideon Fountain posting for Christopher Fountain…

You get 4 Relay Court in the middle of downtown Cos Cob. Does that amount of money buy you a nice big house with a 3-car garage and maybe a swimming pool or two in more normal parts of this country? Yes. But if you really, really want Greenwich and $645,000 is your budget, this isn’t such a bad little spot.

How little? The lot is .09 acres, just a tad larger than the mat you throw down for the game of Twister. The house has 1,029 square feet. and is actually pretty nice. You get three bedrooms and one bath, everything updated in 2014. And here’s the kicker: the newly renovated Chicken Joe’s is approximately 300 feet from your back door, how sweet is that!

4 Relay Court, Cos Cob, CT. Started at $685K, reduced to $650K, closes at $645,000.

Listing broker: Angela Swift of Compass. Buyer broker: Angela Swift of Compass. both sides, baby!

Hey! We could build a house on this thing!