Fall home sales begin, unofficially

I know, summer ends “officially” in 17 days on Sept. 2, but you have to go with the flow. The “unofficial” end of summer happened on Labor Day and that means that fall began on Tuesday. Maybe we can agree that autumn starts on the 23rd? Just trying to make everone happy.

Last week’s real estate closings reported to our local MLS in Greenwich added another 14 sales transactions to the total. In a continuing sign of weakness, the average sale, as a percent of original asking price, fell to 88 percent with no homes fetching their first asking price or higher. So with interest rates dropping to record lows, this is a great time to be buying as homes become more affordable.

My “sale of the week” selection is a waterfront home with dock in Old Greenwich’s Lucas Point community. It sold for over $5 million in only 58 days and got 91 percent of its neverreduced asking price.

A score on the buy side happened with the sale of a 1929 stone and shingle estate on Pecksland Road, south of the parkway. It took 786 days to fetch an accepted offer which closed on this truly spectacular property. It looks almost like a movie set or a painting with wisteria vines over windows at the front of the house. This one’s a real charmer.

Buy of the week

32 Pecksland Road

My “buy of the week” was an estate that would put a smile on almost any buyer’s face. It truly looks like a movie set or a painting of a home in the English countryside. Built in 1929 and renovated in 1998, it’s a large 9,027 square foot home with eight bedrooms, eight baths and two half baths. Address

38 Birch Lane

7 Buena Vista Dr.

5 Finney Knoll Ln.

41 Greenway Drive

27 Meadow Road

20 Mohawk Lane

32 Pecksland Road

1465 E. Putnam Av., #536

408 Riversville Rd.

633 Round Hill Rd.

53 Sheephill Road

80 N. Sound Beach Av.

11 Tory Road

21 West Way

Total

Average

Median

*For reporting purposes only; information not available.

There’s a fourcar attached garage, a heated pool, and almost for acres of land in this twoacre zoned parcel off Round Hill Road, south of the parkway. With a taxappraised value of $5,633,000 it’s a great buy at less than $4 million. That’s a third off its $5.9 million asking price at the beginning of this listing, but only 55 percent of its asking price when the selling process began two plus years ago, asking $7.2 million.

Sale of the week

21 West Way

Waterfront homes with a dock sell in Greenwich. It’s supply and demand 101, but when you do a spectacular renovation, you add a lot of additional value to a home that is now highly sought after, with water views. With a little over a quarteracre of land and 4,027 square feet of finished space, this contemporary beauty has stunning finishes inside.

Multiple gas fireplaces in the living areas and master bedroom show a unique design aesthetic which complement the beautiful flowing design elements of the curved rear decks and stairs that lead down to a dock. There’s also a spa built into the deck to enjoy as you gaze at the Greenwich Cove.

This is a great home to entertain in and it shows what can be done in the coveted Lucas Point community. Congratulations to this lucky buyer.

Home Buying 101

Last week I promised to finish the home buying advice I give to my clients when we’re searching for their next address. The subject ended with what we can spend now that the bank has set a limit on what they’ll finance.

To make it easy you can divide the preapproved amount by the percent of financing you’re offered. To make it easy let’s say you’re offered $400,000 of financing with 20 percent down. Divide $400,000 (or whatever number you’re working with) by 0.8 and you’ll see that your top dollar amount is $500,000.

That’s overly simplistic, however, since you shouldn’t empty your bank accounts and sell all your assets and move in with nothing in your pocket. The buyer’s cost of sale, depending on your purchase contract, usually needs to cover anywhere from 3 to 4 percent of the sales price according to HUD.

Here are some expenses you shouldn’t forget:

Your attorney should have given you a closing document that includes his/her fees to represent you. Then there’s the loan origination fee, survey fee and document preparation fees.

Next is title insurance which will defend you against a lawsuit from someone who comes out of the woodwork and claims title to the property you thought you just bought. That’s called a “title defect.” There’s also the possibility of liens by contractors and others who haven’t been paid and claims by other property owners with easements and other issues to resolve.

Real estate title insurance for at least the loan amount will be demanded by the bank to cover their exposure, but you can insure the whole purchase price. Many buyers do.

Don’t forget about your moving expenses, too. And finally (if there is a finally) you’ll want to repair or replace some of the defects that your home inspector pointed out that you couldn’t get the seller to cover in your purchase contract.

Then … there’s fixeruppers, but that’s a other topic!

This Week’s Success Quote

“I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.” —e.e.cummings