Bloom off the rose?

2 Buxton Road is off the rental roll and “new” to the market at $2.595 million, down a bit from its previous attempt at $2.795, and now below its 2014 purchase price of $2,732,500. I know the house pretty well: it’s a modular built by a dear friend of mine who delivers a sound product (especially so with his ultra-expensive, custom homes, but this one is totally solid) and I was delighted by his good fortune in selling this spec project for $1.7 million in 2003. Buxton is in I-95 territory, and this lot, fronting on busy Riverside Avenue, was “challenged”, but it sold quickly nonetheless.

I was gobsmacked when that buyer collected a cool $1.1 million over his purchase price eleven years later, but hey, that’s the real estate game: ride the wave, and know when to bail out.

The latest rental for this house was $10,000, and the Greenwich rental market seems to be our most robust sector these days, so I’d guess that number can be replicated. You investors with cap rates can figure out what you want to pay for this

Parsonage price drop

5 Parsonage Road, down from $3.895 to, today, $3.595 million. The owners paid $4.456 for this 1962 Colonial in 2005, renovated and added on, and yet here they are, a million-plus down. A very nice house, good land and location. I would by no means say that Greenwich is in free fall, but the days of, say, 2005, when what were then considered the premier real estate firms put their clients in and out of homes at, er, “elevated” prices seem to be over.

Town assessor pegs this at $3 million, for whatever that’s worth.

A curious decision to build

(The former) 99 porchuck road

Local builder, and a good one, Peter Thalheim, bought 99 Porchuck Road out of foreclosure for $762,500 last year, and now offers “new construction on experienced foundation” for $2.095 million. There’s no question that Peter will deliver a quality house for that price, but I’m surprised he took on the risk of this project. Porchuck is not a high-demand location these days, and this particular piece of land has low appeal and a dismal track record.

You can find pictures of the original house and the land it sits on here, but basically, the lot’s a narrow piece of property, bisected by a waterway, and not particularly amenable to development. Someone with a dream paid $1.7 for its 4 acres in 1999, but sold it for just $1 million in 2002 after reality set in. Of course that buyer, failing to reflect on the lesson to be learned on his predecessor’s experience, believed that he’d snared a bargain rather than a tar baby and put it up for sale as a building lot in 2005 for $3.8 million. It took a while, but the eventual foreclosure resulted in this latest sale price of $762,500.

So I wish Peter well: he’s one of the good guys, but I’ve followed this property’s lack of progress for 18 years now, and I personally would not have rushed in to develop it. On the brighter side, a buyer looking for new construction in this price range in this neighborhood will find an excellent house.

Greenwich Tax Collector moves to auction properties

Richman, poor man

“I’m from the government; I’m here to help

Howard Richman, Democrat, and new sheriff in town, schedules properties for auction this spring.

Reached for comment by FWIW, Richmond was unapologetic. “We’re being pretty kind, actually. Hell, over In Germany they take deadbeat property owners dogs and sell ‘em on EBay”, he chuckled. “In fact, I hear that when they came and grabbed one family’s pug, they considered taking the father’s wheelchair, too, but decided that might be a little over the line — I mean, for a cripple, sheesh — so desisted. And I agree, at least for a first offense. Second time, maybe not. And gerbils and guinea pigs will always be fair game.”

Gotta love a woman like this

Divorced in October, wife who was ordered to pay deadbeat husband support payments want’s nothing to do with him even after he wins multi-hundred-million dollar lottery.

Eileen Murray told The Post on Thursday she has no plans to get back together with her ex, Mega Millions Jackpot winner Mike Weirsky, — and won’t be calling him anytime soon.

“He’s not appealing to me all of a sudden because he has this money,” said Murray, 53.

During their 15-year marriage, which ended in divorce in October, Murray worked as a cost analyst for a utilities company, but her 54-year-old husband was unemployed. She’s still paying him spousal support, she said.

Still, she has no plans on coming after him for any of the $162.5 million lump sum he’ll be collecting.

“I’m not going after anything. I have morals. I know what I’ve worked for and its everything that I have.”

From follow-up stories I’ve read, many of these lottery winers blow through their cash within a decade. I wish no ill will for this lady’s ex, but I’m impressed by her character, regardless.

In a mostly dormant market, some sparks of life

Mostly rental activity reported this days, but here are two big items;

35 Winding Lane, $7.495 million, is reported as pending after just 42 days on market, which is a good indication that it will be selling for something reasonably close to its asking price. Owners paid $6 million for it new in 2016 and put some major money into improvements, but I’d guess they’re making out here.

And while it took longer, 29 Meadowcroft Lane finally has a pending sale. Last asking price was $5,499,500, which, while a disappointing come down from its initial 2016 price of $8.9 million, is still an impressive price. It’s a 5.5-acre building site, so someone presumably has plans for a $15 million mansion here, and his fellow taxpayers should be pleased.

Our Hartford spenders will be disconsolate to discover that their captured prize isn't as large as they imagined

2 Lauder Way, sold for $6.2 million in 2013 and back on the market since 2017 at $7.295, has dropped to $4.995.

Just as Martin Looney was rubbing his knuckles in gleeful anticipation.

And speaking of a cut and run ...

32 Pecksland Road, purchased for $5.2 million in 1997 and put back in the market in 2017 at $7.2, dropped its price today to $4.350. It’s a grand, 1929 house, nicely maintained, and surely a home that almost anyone would enjoy living in, but the market has moved on.

Connecticut Democrats to millionaires: Get out!

extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds

If you’re not willing to stay here and be fleeced then, damn you, go away — who needs you?

HARTFORD — A proposal from Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, would force the state’s wealthiest to pay higher taxes, without raising the income tax.

Looney’s bill, awaiting action in the legislative Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee, would create a statewide 1 percent property tax, forcing those with higher-value homes to pay more, whether or not they live in the state.

It would also end local taxes on motor vehicles, creating a statewide vehicular tax of between 15 and 19 mills.

“This is looking to target high-income people with high assets, some of whom play the game of living out-of-state for six months and a day,” Looney said in an interview. “One thing about the property tax is it’s the most reliable to predict. This idea has more progressivity.”

A large number of state residents: gardeners, attorneys, and plumbers among them, earn a decent living serving the needs of the wealthy. But no, these people must go.

Flip, or flop?

66 Perkins Road (off Dingletown), 1961 construction, was purchased for $2.2 million in 2006 — go figure — then totally renovated, and put back up for sale in 2007 for $3.6. I don’t know whether the owner had hoped to make a profit on this deal or intended to stay in the house and his plans changed but regardless, no buyer appeared, the house was pulled from the market in 2008, and now it’s back at $2.245 million.

All those renovations are 13-years-old and essentially worthless now, but you still have a house that someone thought was worth $2.2, once upon a time, so there’s that. Perkins remains a nice street.

I’d be tempted to rent a Bob Cat dozer to address this problem, but others may differ