Ken details how self driving cars may affect local real estate
After two weeks of an avalance of real estate closings last week’s 18 closings was still a welcome addon to a great summer season. $27.5 million in sales came from 15 singlefamily homes, 2 condos and a mixed retail/residential sale on Putnam Avenue, the Al Oliver Pianos store with two apartments above.
My “buy of the week” selection was priced to sell and disappeared from the active listings in only 66 days on market. It’s a renovated Colonialstyle home on a culdesac just off Round Hill Road and was designed and then expanded to 7,688 square feet by the owner, a wellknown Greenwich architect.
My “sale of the week” selection, another culdesac located home was a brick ranch that sold for virtually its asking price in 27 days for 38 percent more than the Greenwich Tax Assessor thought it was worth.
Buy of the week
When an architect designs his dream home and then later embellishes it you know it must be special. This one is and it didn’t take long to convince a buyer to make an acceptable offer on a 1956 Colonialstyle home on Greenbriar Lane. Sited on 2 acres of land with a heated pool the home features a great many details and concepts that could be included in an architectural textbook.
The fivecar garage allows eight vehicles to be housed with the three lifts that were installed. Seated in the dining room you could be looking at two fires burning at the same time, one in the room and the other outdoors directly across a patio.
Everyone seems to gravitate to kitchens and this one will make you stay there for a long while. It’s not only open concept with a large island, fireplace and dining area, but it also has a dramatic woodplanked ceiling that ties, yet separates the areas from each other. The floortoceiling windows around the dining area truly bring the outside in.
The bar and billiards room is worthy of a home in a much higher price tier. Suffice it to say that a home of this size and splendor could not be built today in this neighborhood for under $2.5 million. This buyer got a great deal.
Sale of the week
My “sale of the week” selection is a brick ranch home with two bedrooms and two baths and includes a full 1,100 square foot walkout lower level. The extra space adds considerable value but the open concept kitchen/family room with fireplace makes this home very special.
Obviously the buyer agreed and got an offer accepted in only 27 days on market at virtually the asking price. On 0.19 acres in Glenville, the lot slopes down in the back exposing the walkout from the lower level. This home has good access to Glenville and King Streets and to the Merritt Parkway for commuting.
Are you ready for level 5 autonomy?
No, this isn’t an automotive column but it’s my job as a Realtor to think about the impact that technology has and will have on real estate. The technology that’s beginning to emerge and, state by state will be allowed, is driverless cars. That’s cars with no steering wheel, no pedals, and, of course, no driver. It’s called level 5 autonomy in the automotive world and it’s coming sooner than you think.
So what does that have to do with real estate? For one, it makes suburban homes more desirable for those who, because of age or inclination, don’t want to drive to work, restaurants or shopping. Aging populations will be able to stay in their homes much longer. Younger families will be able to spend the commuting time in the back seat preparing for work or relaxing rather than in the front seat in stopandgo traffic.
Rather than sell the ranch and move downtown to the city, suburban and country homeowners could own or be picked up by level 5 autonomous vehicles. This will change how we think about mobility and where we live. Our back country to downtown or city migration may make a Uturn.
It will also be massively disruptive for parking lots and garages (not needed), gas stations (some of which will be turned into electric charging stations), or auto dealerships (many of which will be transformed into residential apartments).
We’ll probably be driven in or picked up by a driverless car as we head to the Concours d’Elegance on the Greenwich waterfront to see the vintage auto classics that we’ll tell our grandchildren or greatgrandchildren about. It’s time to be looking ahead and not be driving looking in the rearview mirror. Please note, however, that I didn’t say this was all happening next week.
This Week’s Success Quote
“Always listen to the experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.”
— Robert Heinlein, American sciencefiction author, aeronautical engineer, and retired Naval officer