Foreclosure Watch: 46 Bowman Drive

This property was forclosed upon in January 2009. The outstanding mortgage then was $688,000. The purchasor and current owner paid Washington Mutual Bank $860,000 for the property in February.

This history is indicative of what is happening throughout town though not captured in the GMLS database, by many agents or the local newspaper. As a sidebar kudos to Zillow and other sites that manage to capture this data and make it publicly available (I, on the other hand, rummaged through Town Hall records to find it). For a property buyer or seller this type of data is relevant for determing market value and useful for establishing list or offer pricing. I expect that a property appraiser would look at these distressed sales comps in determing an appraisal value to support Bank financing, so I figure a real estate agent should also.

This 4bedroom, 3 bath, 3,266sqft modified Cape was listed for $1.295mln in April '04 and went to contract less than a month later. The sale closed in July 2004 for $1.280 (see house as it was in 2004 to the left).

After upgrades which included a new septic, driveway, hardwood floors, Kitchen countertop and appliances, and new baths, according to the list sheet, the property was relisted in July 2007 for $2.475mln. The listing expired in October 2008 asking $1.495mln.

The party that purchased the property in 2004 secured a Pay-Option-ARM to finance the purchase. The loan principal was $1.15mln or 90% of purchase price. In this type of mortgage the borrow could roll the interest payment into the loan principal up to a cap, which in this case was 115% of the original principal or $1,322,500 before they had to start paying. The same party secured a Personal Line of Credit for $150,000. So no wonder the borrower didn't want to sell for less than $1,472,500 (the total of the Maximum principal plus the line of credit).

Pemberwick Sale & What you get for $500k In Greenwich

10 Pemberwick Rd closed yesterday for $500,000 after a mere 35 days on the market. Kudos to the seller and the List Agent, Patti Meyer. These parties were not playing around. The property was listed at $545,000 and the agent noted in the list sheet that the property was priced for "quick sale."

This sale gives us our third sale in the Pemberwick area and the Hamilton Avenue School district this year and establishes a decent benchmark for what to expect for $500k. Based on the sales data (see table below) one gets a two bedroom, two bathroom, 1,400sqft house on 0.14 acres. Based on my viewings of these properties, the appliances and fixtures are functional, but dated. Two of the three sales are located on double yellow line streets, which means moderate to high traffic flow (or at least more traffic than on single or no line streets).

Not long ago, there were no single-family properties for sale under $500k. A client and I looked and waited for two years (2005-2007) to find one. We had no no luck. The client finally bought a multi-family, where she could offset the higher cost with rental income. Now there have been three sales in Pemberwick and at least two others in Byram. Greenwich is becoming more affordable.

49 Hillside Dr. vs 477 Riversville Rd.: Comparing $4+mln Sales

Table 1.

These two properties closed within $300,000 of each other a day apart.

Table 1 contains selected data from the purchase, build and sales of the properties.

If I assume no change in the land values, the two properties sold around +/- $310/sqft plus the original land cost. Its a safe bet that the land values dropped.

If I take a different tack and assume a $350/sqft price (and assume lower level finished space sells for half of above grade living area), the land value for Hillside and Riversville drop to $1.52ml and $1.64ml respectively, or -23% and -9% of purchase price. It seems odd that the Riversville land would decline less than the Hillside property. But maybe the nearly 5 1/2 acres at Riversville buoyed the price, because I don't think the house did.

'

I consider the layout and configuration of the Riversville house poor to middling--shallow room depth on main floor; confusing and inefficient space layout in master; non-practical/functional elements--a fireplace in master bedroom seems to be inches from what looked like the only place the master bed could go. Greenwich has enough hot heads without builders trying to create more. Hillside is better designed and built structure, while Riversville has better piece of land.

Table 2.

Another point of interest, at least to me, and contributing factor to sale price is that the list agent for Riversville was not local and she represented both sides of the sale. In Greenwich Non-local agents frequently bring buyers who overpay for property. Second, if an agent represents both sides of a sale, there is always a chance that the property owner will get a discount on RE commision and net greater proceeds.

6 Irvine Sells for $1.14ml OR 3 years waiting and a 33% price reduction

I saw this sale notice on the MLS this morning and wondered if the wait was worth it for the owner. This shore colonial, that's what the list agent calls it, came on the market June 15, 2006. After nearly 3 years and 4 price reductions, from $1.699mln to a last list of $1.347mln, the property closed today at $1,143,500.

And talk about commitment, the owner stayed with the same agent over the whole period! I'm sure both parties are glad to move on.

6 Ernel Dr - Sale Under $1.0mln

This well maintained and presented property on a cul-de-sac off Sound Beach Avenue Ext in Riverside sold for $750,000 Friday. This sale is a good pointer to value below the $1.0mln mark.

The property previously sold for $792,000 in June 2005. It was relisted for sale in March '08 for $850,000. The owner lowered the list price to $770,000 in Feb '09 and it went to contract shortly after.

I like Ernel Drive. Its a cul-de-sac of 7 houses and offers a low-traffic environment for residents with young children to stroll safely. The street has not been overbuilt and maintains a scale and balance that I find attractive. The 50s-era Capes sit well on their sites and from the several houses I've been in, the houses have been upgraded over the years and well maintained. It makes a difference when all houses on a street are in the same good condition.

The house itself sits on a flat 0.14acres and has a nice backyard enclosed by a decorative fence. It is not a large house, but at nearly 1,500sqft with 3bedrooms and 2 baths, it offers more than an apartment in the City or most condos in town. Plus it gets good light, has new appliances and infrastructure. It is a skip to the Post Road, I-95 and two skips to the Old Greenwich train station. Overall the property offers much.

80 Perkins Rd and Yankee Baseball

Sounds like the recently hired NY Yankee first baseman, Mark Teixeira purchased this property.

The team website also notes that, "By committing to a eight-year, $180 million contract, Teixeira is in New York for the long haul. His wife, Leigh, is busily moving into a new home in Greenwich, Conn.,...".

Congratulations to the family and welcome to Greenwich.

80 Perkins Rd

Word on the street is that this property sold to a professional baseball player fresh from signing a $180mln contract. Nice house by a good builder. Sale price was $6.70mln or +/-16% off the list of $7.95mln. The property sold yesterday, but went to contract in Jan '09 about 2 1/2 months after being listed for sale--that's darn good! For background, the developer purchased the property in Nov '07 for $2.695mln.

21 Bobolink Ln: What it takes to sell

The owner of this property figured how to deal with the market: sell at 28% off your last list price and 44% off your first list price in May 2007. The $5.0mln sale price would allow you to downsize into an attractive townhouse or condominium in the center of town, in the event those are your plans, and you would still have some change left over.

I find it noteworthy that the seller is a professional real estate owner and investor. I expect this experience helped him close at a price significantly lower than he originally anticipated.