I think Scott Elwell would agree.

How to Sell to My Generation

I cannot stop laughing every time i look at internet explorer – Imgur.

Greenwich MLS… please get with the times already!

After 20 days on the market, 89 Hendrie Avenue has gone to contract.

Asking $895,000, I’m told there were several offers on this property, and wouldn’t be surprised if sells above the ask. Awesome location, super cute home, priced very competitively…. this comes at no surprise.

Stamford, CT hasn’t hasn’t had the best of times these past couple of weeks. With rumors of UBS picking up shop and heading to the new World Trade Towers in a few years, one can imagine this will not help the already high vacancy rate on commercial space in the city (is it 30%?)

With the new Fairway Market, and Chelsea Piers in the works, the south end of Stamford is finally starting to see signs of its intended future.

This is all fine and great, but what I really think south end Stamford needs is a “claw.”

The Claw

I’m not joking. The traffic would be a logistical nightmare, but Stamford’s coolness factor would quadruple instantly, and maybe the “claw” is what UBS needs to attract that A-List talent to their Stamford offices. Maybe UBS won’t have to move after all.

The article.

Nothing about this article is encouraging, but I’ll add my two cents about the Greenwich School District.

Personally going through the Greenwich School System, I had no complaints. What was obvious though, especially at the High School level, is how easy it could be to get lost in the mix, given the size of the school. The Town of Greenwich is truly a city. And while the ranking of our school district is nothing great, the only school system that is ranked higher than us with a larger student population is Fairfield (Greenwich has 8,847, compared to Fairfield’s 10,108.)

Not many people realize how racially, economically and culturally diverse Greenwich is. Our school district offers some truly cutting edge programs, but it is obvious we are dropping the ball when it comes to servicing the needs of our broad student population.

For buyers looking to build new construction in Greenwich, CT, my new exclusive listing may be exactly what you are looking for.

The details:

Address: 0 South Street
Acreage: .2904 Acres
Zoning: R-12
School District: North Mianus / Eastern Middle School
Town water, sewer and gas are all available

Competitively priced at $530,000, this is a fabulous opportunity for someone looking to enter the Greenwich market on a budget but still enjoy the luxuries of living in a newly constructed home.

South Street offers a quiet residential setting, and is located just minutes to school and town. If you’re interested in more information, call me at (203) 921-9966.

I have to disagree with Chris, and felt there was at least one worth while new listing to check out today on the open house tour.

21 Chapel Lane, offered @ 1,595,000. ( Also offered for rent @ $6,900/month.)

A tastefully maintained colonial on a desirable cul-de-sac, this 2,800 square foot home should fit the bill for most new families looking to get into Riverside.

Compared to other recent similar sales (like 6 Hendrie Ave, ) I think the agent and owner smartly priced this listing, and I expect this to sell very quickly.

Prospective tenant beware.

While recently representing tenants, I negotiated a lease for a condo in Stamford and came up on the issue of pest control responsibility. I had always assumed any sort of pest control and eradication would be the responsibility of the landlord, but this lease (made specifically for the landlord,) tagged the tenant with this duty.

Immediately, I took this to be a red flag. Did the condo have a history with bugs? Were Mickey and Minnie Mouse once tenants? I consider pest control to be in the landlord’s best interest, so why would they want to rely on tenant’s to protect the unit from pests?

It turns out more and more landlords are now taking this route, in an effort to protect themselves from messy tenants, which in many ways makes sense. However, there are too many “what if” scenarios to convince me that this should solely be the responsibility of the tenant.

A couple of year’s back I came about a pest issue in an apartment I was renting. We were fairly clean and never had issues with pests before, but one day we started to notice mouse poop all over our kitchen. Fortunately, our landlord took responsibility of the situation and immediately remedied the problem.

As it turned out, the tenants that had lived above us had just moved out, and were not the cleanliest of people, and had presumably been hosts to some very grateful mice. When they left, the mice had to migrate elsewhere, and out of desperation, embarked on a journey to our kitchen.

I think this story is appropriate because we were ultimately the victims of other, less cleanly tenants and in no way were we responsible for our new roommates. It would have been outrageous if the landlord expected us to fix the problem.

So, if you’re looking to rent a place, it goes without saying- read the lease before you sign. If pest control isn’t defined, I would suggest making sure the lease is amended to do so to alleviate any future confusion. And if the landlord is suggesting the tenant is responsible for pest control costs, do your due diligence to make sure you are comfortable moving forward with the lease.

I have always had big ideas for this little blog (and its amazing name,) but last year The Real Greenwich was just another statistic: A new blog that didn’t get the attention it needed from its creator.

I intend to turn this around though, and sincerely want this to become a valuable resource for my readers.

So, to reboot the website, here is a short list of my future plans for The Real Greenwich.

Looking Ahead

Along with regular postings on Greenwich Real Estate, I intend to have several recurring themes featured on this blog. This will include…

Open House Feedback: Here in Greenwich, Tuesday and Thursday’s are our designated broker open house days. After these tours, I plan to do write ups on anything I deem offered at a value (this will be rare,) or impressive.

As much as I’d love to run my mouth on properties listed with absurd sticker prices, I will keep shut to avoid confrontation with my higher ups. For unhinged open house feedback, I suggest also following the current king of the Greenwich Real Estate blogosphere.

Homebuyer 101: As many in my age group are now starting to consider purchasing their first home, this series of articles will highlight topics for new homebuyers, but could also be helpful for seasoned buyers as well. Of course this series will have a slant towards people buying in lower Fairfield County, but I suspect these will be useful to most homebuyers.

If there is a topic you’d like discussed, or a question you have, please reach out and maybe I’ll write an article on it.

People Making Greenwich Great: Pretty self explanatory. This will be a series of interviews with local business owners, organizations, and volunteers who add value to our community. As this website grows, I suspect this will be a great way for some free advertising to deserving people, so please suggest people I can interview. This does not need to be limited to Greenwich either, so if you know of someone doing something great in Stamford or nearby, let me know.

The Market at Large: This will be a series that will include but not be limited to: Feedback from town hall meetings, discussion with various local real estate professionals, important home sales in the community, and relevant news items.

These are just ideas I have, and they may very well take different forms as implement them, but I think it portrays an accurate picture of what this website will become.

I want to stress my sincere desire to turn this website into a valuable resource for my readers. Of course, I hope it provides my business and listings free advertising, but the primary goal is to help inform and entertain my readers. I am open to any and all suggestions, and encourage you to reach out to me.

Of late, Stamford’s “Alive at 5″ summer concert series has become a destination for one hit wonders from the 90′s looking for a paycheck so they can eat. Last year attracted the likes of Better Than Ezra, Tonic, and Sugar Ray. This years line up includes every other 90′s band that couldn’t make it last year.

Alive @ 5 Calendar

June 24: Gin Blossoms/Soul Asylum
July 1: Seven Mary Three/Marcy Playground
July 8: Rusted Root
July 15: George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic
July 22: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
July 29: Uncle Kracker
August 5: Beach Boys

I am most excited to see George Clinton, if just for the spectacle. On the other hand, the July 1st show will include Seven Mary Three with opening act Marcy Playground. Collectively, the two acts will play a total of two songs the audience can hum along to.

Arguably, the biggest draw this year will be the Beach Boys, and I am curious whether this incarnation of the band includes Brian Wilson. If he isn’t performing with them, then I hope the audience will at least be treated to Uncle Jesse on the drums.

Joking aside, Alive at 5 is always a fun time, and I think it is great Stamford Downtown strives to get local talent to also perform at the shows. If you haven’t gone before, I highly recommend making the effort to head to Stamford this summer to check one of these shows out.

In the meantime, I need to find where I put my Soul Asylum t-shirt.