Here is a list of all of the residential real estate trades that took place in Greenwich CT in January 2012. This includes homes that sold in Cos Cob, Riverside, Old Greenwich, North Mianus, Glenville, Belle Haven and Byram.

Jan. 3:

• 39 Lancer Road : Richard L. and Lauren E. Lieberman to Ilya and Inga Skuratorsky; $840,000.

Jan. 5:

• 275 N. Maple Avenue : Celine M. Stahl to Catherine C. and Stuart B. Nutting; $1,800,000.
• 1465 E. Putnam Avenue , Unit 421: Josephine DiPalma to Robert A. Stevens; $305,000.
• 33 Harold Street: Dominick M. and Marie Chiappetta to Yongi Hin and Wenqi Mou; $515,000.

Jan. 6:

• 46 Locust Street: Greenwich Hospital to James F. Sun and Linda X. Lin; $681,5000.

Jan. 9:

• 17 LeGrande Avenue , Unit 12: Maureen Shrahley to Helen Dillon; $650,000.
• 25 W. Elm Street, Unit 43: Kathleen Conlon to Jocelyne Doll-Soulaine, trustee; $418,000.
• 134 Cat Rock Road : Robert W. and Ann T. Rosenstock, trustees to Gordon J. and Susan J. Coburn; $3,237,000.

Jan. 10:

• 57 Pemberwick Road : William Goodman IV to Pemberwick LLC; $530,000.
• 0 Dearfield Lane: Curtis C. Wood to Dearfield LLC; $566,666.
• 0 Dearfield Lane: Curtis C. Wood, trustee, to Dearfield LLC; $283,333.
• 5 Hillside Drive: James T. and Susan G. Larkin to Karen and Charles M. Shaffer III; $2,950,000.
• 201 Shore Road : Stuart B. and Catherine C. Nutting to Jeremy and Jessica Murphy; $3,800,000.

Jan. 11:

• 54 Highmeadow Road : Norman F. and Robin G. LeBlanc to James T. Larkin; $2,150,000.
• 1109 Lake Avenue : Deep Creek Lake LLC to High Lake Property LLC; $9,250,000.
• 3 Elizabeth Lane: Grayson O. Brown to Newwork Development Co. LLC; $590,000.
• 90 Maple Avenue : Lorraine Sykes to William Goodman IV; $1,130,000.

Jan.12:

• 1353 King Street: R.K.D. Venture LLC to Congregation of Jevoha’s Witnesses Inc., $1,000,00.
• 1357 King Street: R.K.D. Venture LLC to Congregation of Jevoha’s Witnesses Inc., $500,000.

Jan. 13:

• Peter J. a132 Hamilton Avenue : The Castiglione Funeral Home Realty Trust to Greenwich Funeral Home Inc. LLC; $2,095,000.
• 63 North Street: Peter T. and Andrea M. Brennan to Gloria Chambers; $2,775,000
• 86 Round Hill Road : George S. Tsandikos and Kevin M. Ryan to William H. Pool; $1,800,000.
• 8 Echo Lane: Estate of Maria A. Newton and John C. Newton, to Fredrick and Pamela Stoleru; $985,000.

Jan. 17:

• 57 Grey Rock Drive: Helen A. and Joseph Augustyn to Abha Partners, FLP; $405,000.
• 30 Riversville Road : Estate of Margaret Hoffkins to JC Merz; $345,000.

Jan. 18:

• 25 Lismore Lane: Morris A. and Elaine F. Sandler to the estate of Rita K. Hillman; $2,900,000.
• 28 Verona Drive: Londonderry Homes 28 LLC to William and Sarah Aaronson; $3,980,000.
• 243B Hamilton Avenue : Paula and Brian Tobin to Peter Vitale; $695,000

Jan. 19:

• 33 Scott Road : Sandro and Claudia Malagisi to Erjon and Mirsada Pacaj; $875,000.
• 16 Walker Ct.: Patricia Ann Kristoff, trustee, to Jennifer and Anthony Socci Jr.; $515,000.

Jan. 20:

• 2 Indian Knoll Place: Dev D. and Patricia Ann Panigrahi to Michael Bodson; $2,900,000.
• 32 Cliff Avenue , Home site # 1: RMS Greenwich LLC to Jonas D. Slavien; $613,000.
• 1031 North Street: Elia G. Gospodinoff to Sandro and Claudia Malagisi; $1,150,000.

Jan. 23:

• 32 Cliff Avenue , Home site #3: RMS Greenwich LLC to Ashish Sharma; $675,000.
• 50 Putnam Pk.: Dorothy White to Xiehnan Lu and Yuzhi Wang; $362,000.

Jan. 24:

• 14 Meadow Road : Catherine B. Lepoutre to Peter B. and Barena B. Bailey; $1,200,000.
• 59 LeGrande Avenue , Unit 14: Jean McCormick to Jeffrey D. Harris; $1,100,000.
• 15 Street Claire Avenue : Gary K. and Michele G. Clarke to MCM Properties LLC; $1,657,500.
• 460 North Street: Kenneth J. and Vanessa L. Savio to Drew Aaron and Hana Soukupova; $7,987,250.

Jan. 25:

• 156 Taconic Road : Patricia S. Allain to Kenneth J. and Vanessa Savio; $1,600,000.
• 15 So. Water Street: Western Greenwich Holdings LLC to Blue Mountain Partners LLC; $400,000.
• 63-65 Pemberwick Road : Western Greenwich Holdings LLC to Blue Mountain Partners LLC; $472,500.
• Jan. 26:
• 318 and 320 Valley Road : Greyrock of Greenwich II LLC to RMS Valley LLC; $450,000.
• 37 Ridgeview Avenue : Emily S. Lopatin to Rob and Meera Drelich; $1,087,500.
• Jan. 27:
• 213 Riverside Avenue : Kent D. and Nancy B. Holden to Matthew Emrigh and Felicia Schecter-Emrigh; $2,250,000.
• 2 River Lane: Adriana Pena to Eduardo Pena; $335,000.

Jan. 30:

• 18 Edson Lane: Damien A. and Ilona D. Kaali-Nagy to Scott F. Alderson; $5,850,000.

Jan. 31:

• 425 N. Maple Avenue : Irene Soubry Revocable Trust to Benjamin P. and Lana E. Welsh; $1,750,000.
• 11 Skyridge Road : Michael L. and Marian S. Yagemann, trustees, to Andrea M. Fraleigh, trustee; $13,000,000.
• 59 Hillside Drive: Lydia Barberini to Brookside Properties LLC; $671,300.
• 18 Rippowam Road , Unit 2B: Gina M. Pastore to Sasha Illingworth-Maloney and Ryan J. Maloney; $575,000.
• 3 and 7 Juniper Hill Road : First Horizons Home Loans to Louis Zazzarino; $6,200.
• 32 Lake Avenue : 32 Lake Avenue LLC to Jeremy E. Kaye, trustee; $860,000.

First and foremost, I want to thank all of my clients for helping make 2011 a great year.  I closed on 20 houses (13 sales, 7 rentals) in 2011, which was is my best year so far and owe it all to my wonderful clients.  I enjoyed working with everyone and appreciate the business. I also want to thank the many people who referred business to me.  The referral business is a huge part of my pipeline and I am grateful for every lead sent to me.

Looking back on 2011, I am pleased to say that the Greenwich Real Estate market held up well.  I am not going to sugarcoat it and tell you that it was a banner year and that I only see signs of the market improving from here on out.  When viewed from a macro-level, 2011 was still a very slow year.  We did not see the level of transactions that we had a couple years ago and we might never again.  As I mentioned in a previous blog/email, I think we might be witnessing the beginning of the new “normal” in real estate movement.

In Greenwich, CT, I feel that the baseline level of transactions should be roughly around 625 houses sold per year.  This is not the 750+ that we saw in 2007, but also higher than what we have witnessed in the past two years.  I am a strong believer that we are bouncing along the floor of our pricing, but also admit that I do not know when we will start to see price increases. I am confident in recommending a purchase (for investment purposes) with a 5+ year horizon, but have a hard time confidently supporting shorter horizons.  I see several factors that continue to affect the Greenwich (as well as national) market and keep it from a proper level of equilibrium/harmony.

Obviously the biggest factor keeping the Greenwich CT Real Estate market out of sync is the questionable economy.   As discussed in several previous blogs, residential real estate is almost entirely priced upon perception, so if anything were to affect perception and confidence the residential real estate market takes a hit.  Certain areas of residential real estate are hit harder than others.  For one, the second home market has been hit much harder than the primary home market. This is obviously because those who need money will unload their vacation homes before their primary residence’s. Another factor that we are starting to see is that second and third tier markets are taking a harder hit than first tier markets as those who have money are starting to realize they can afford to upgrade to the better location (flight to quality).  Greenwich is fortunately on the right side of the trade for both of these factors.

I have worked with a lot of clients recently who have said they want to buy in Greenwich because of the low taxes (about 1/3^rd of NY taxes), which is normal, but now I hear more and more clients say that they think they can afford to live in better neighborhoods than they used to look at because the prices have come down.  You used to need well north of $1,000,000 to buy a decent first home in Greenwich, but now you can find some great single families in the $700k range, especially in areas of Cos Cob and North Mianus, and you can find apartments in the $200-$300k range all through town.

This doesn’t mean that all levels of real estate in Greenwich are lowering dramatically in price, it just means that there are many affordable areas of town.  On the high-end we have still seen some major trades and there are some fantastic homes on the market right now in the $10 to $20m range, which once commanded prices starting with a “3” or even “4”.

I find myself fortunate to work in a town with such diversity in product.  Covering over 65 square miles and housing a population of over 60,000 people, Greenwich has a lot to offer.  I really consider it 4 neighboring towns that include Old Greenwich, Riverside, Cos Cob and downtown Greenwich, but within those towns we have several communities including Glenville, Byram, North Mianus and Pemberwick to name a few.  I’ve been able to work $1,500 rentals and $23 million estate sales, which is what I find to be so much fun about the job.

If you know of anyone who is looking at the Greenwich (or Rye, I closed on 4 houses in Rye last year!) area and are in need of some help, I’d really appreciate it if you pass on my name.

Sincerely,

Scott

Scott Elwell
Real Estate Agent – MBA- GreenwichCT.com
William Raveis Real Estate
45 Field Point Road, Greenwich, CT 06830
Mobile: 203.940.0444 : Email: scott@elwell.com

My Activity - Bio

I’m starting to get some requests on rentals and felt that this would be a good time to talk about the rental market in Greenwich (including Cos Cob, Riverside, Old Greenwich and North Mianus).  There are essentially two types of rentals in Greenwich. One type is the family rental and the other is for people that don’t have kids (clients that are either very young or empty nesters).  I’ll explain in a second why I include the younger clients in the same pool as the older empty-nesters.  The reason that I split up the groups in this manner is that one (the family clients) is very cyclical, while the other is not.

The rental clients that don’t have kids look throughout the year and don’t care which school district they are in. This is very important to pay attention to as you will see when I start talking about the family rentals. These non-children Greenwich rentals normally end up closer to town and in areas like Lyon Farm. Demand for these units is fairly consistent throughout the year. Yes it gets slow around the holidays and in the coldest of winter times, but there is not near the cyclical behavior as we see in the family rentals.

Clients that are looking for family rentals have a fairly small period of time to jump.  The sole reason for this is the school year. Not many people are looking to move their children during the school year so we see a ton of activity in Greenwich rentals in the summer months when school is out. This cyclical behavior has little to do with the economy. That being said, the negative economic market can sometimes boost the rental industry. Last August the Greenwich rental market saw this happen. The rental Market in Greenwich in August 2011 could not have been hotter. I had several clients loose out on rentals after bidding the ask price! They lost out to people that offered more than the asking price and people that offered money the day it was listed.

This burst in activity was due to all of the families that had to be in by the school year (the September Greenwich rental market slowed down considerbly). This happens every year, but I think the spike was extra strong last year because there were more families finding themselves in the market for Greenwich rentals that originally wanted to buy, but could not get the financing or find the right home at the right price.

I think we might see another spike this coming summer. It will be awhile until we know. Just realize that if you are interested in renting for the  next 2012/2013 school year you’ll want to wait until this summer to look at what comes on the market. All of those 2011 rentals won’t turn over and become available until this spring/summer.

Greenwich CT (&National) RENTALS

Many people don’t realize just how many condominium units there are in Greenwich (Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich).  This area of Greenwich CT Real Estate has been growing dramatically over the past twenty years. I’ve seen a dramatic increase in empty nesters who want to stay in town, but downsize and maybe get closer to downtown.  Due to this change in demand we have seen several high end condos pop up close to the water and close to Greenwich avenue.

Here’s a search I put together showing condos in Greenwich  - http://www.greenwichct.com/greenwich-neighborhoods/greenwich-condos-apartments/

As you can see, this search produces condos of all price ranges including several north of the $1m range. In point of face there are many more that are not being pulled from this search, so please contact me if you are interested.

For those of you who are interested in entry level condos in Greenwich, Riverside, Old Greenwich or Cos Cob, I also created a search for condos under $800,000. - http://www.greenwichct.com/greenwich-properties-by-type/greenwich-condos-under-800k/

This lower price category has also seen a dramatic increase in demand over the past 20 or so years as more and more single people find Greenwich an attractive place to live and purchase their first home. Obviously condos closer to the town center/Greenwich Avenue are more expensive than those farther out in places like Cos Cob and North Mianus. Places like Putnam Park offer a mix of both affordable condo living and close proximity to town. I am a big fan of Putnam Park and definitely consider it a great investment.

Now these are both very rough searches. For a full updated search please feel free to email (scott@elwel.com) or call me (203.940.0444).

There are a ton of Condo real estate options within Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Riverside and Cos Cob.

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside, Old Greenwich, Byram, Pemberwick, North Mianus, Glenville, Belle Haven, and everyone else!

Everyone at GreenwichCT.com Real Estate wishes you the best!

For those of you who don’t know, I DO help with rentals! There are a lot of good options to rent everything from “high”-rise apartments downtown to garage apartments in back country Greenwich. If you are looking for a family home to rent, we have very low inventory right now due to simple fact that school is open and rarely are families looking to rent when school is in session. This is a very simple, but powerful, rule of renting out homes that applies regardless of the economy.

As for apartment rentals, that market is much less cyclical. Depending on your price range, if you are looking for absolute bottom dollar going to Craigslist isn’t the worst idea, though if you want more help in researching and protection going to a local realtor is my ultimate recommendation. For those of you that are coming from the city, realtors in CT are paid by the landlord, so you don’t have to worry about any fees. Here are a list of the current apartments,  condos and co-ops for rent in Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich  - Greenwich CT Apartments & Condos for Rent. Putnam Park in downtown Greenwich offers some great options as well.

Nov. 2:

• 20 Church Street , Unit B 45: Norma Stillman sold to Margot Michalski; $470,000.
• 25 Hearthstone Drive : Leonard W. Mawhinney Trust sold to Mairead and Francois Mazaud; $1,330,000.

Nov. 7:

• 15 Old Field Point Road : Norman D. Findling Family Investments LLC sold to Kevin W. and Jelena N. Brown; $405,000.
• 630 Steamboat Road , Unit 2CN; Estate of Catherine W. Wellington sold to Regina M. Pitaro.
• 22 Meadow Lane : Jacqueline Martin, executrix, sold to 22 Meadow Lane LLC; $1,595,000.

Nov. 8:

• 15 LeGrande Sve., Unit 4: Anita K. Wallace and Frank J. Gilbride II, trustees; to Abby W. and Charles C. Diemar; $480,000.
• 29 Fado Lane : Philip Maymin to Roberto Leon; $715,000.

Nov. 9:

• 502 West Lyon Farm Drive : Audrie H. Van Deventer to Gail S. Moloney; $780,000.
• 421 W. Lyon Farm Drive : Max Properties, LLC to Neville and Josephine Sargeant; $837,5000.

Nov. 10:

• 33 Boulder Brook Road : 33 Boulder Brook LLC to Eric and Travey Johnston; $4,882,000.

Nov. 14:

• 150 Prospect Street , Unit 10: Alan L. and Tamana Inui Rowe to Marko Radosavljevic and Courtney Robins; $492,500.
• 6 Fitch Lane : MaryLou Krebsbach, successor trustees, to David M. Robbins; $125,000.
• 6 Random Road : David G. and Susan S. Leibowits to Lisa J. Michaelis; $2,315,000.

Nov. 15:

• 15 Anderson Road : Blanche O’Connell to Alpman Ilker and Elmarita Pearson; $2,500,000.
• 319 Riversville Road : Henry Christensen III, trustee, to Janet P. Williams; $910,000.
• 8 Miltiades Avenue : Richard Adams, trustee, to Takujl Watanabe; $800,000.
• 52 Crown Lane : Janine and Andrew LeSueur to Robert Stowe; $2,662,000.
• 23-25 Lewis Street : Street  Claire Associates LLC to CCP 25 Lewis Street LLC; $2,200,000.
• 1 Roberta Lane : Martin and Eidth Lunder to Eric C. Benda; $1,320,000.
• 100 Strickland Road , Unit 1: Carole Jean Kiachif to Albert M. Lobalbo; $520,000.
• 23 Riverside Lane : Laddins Rock Properties, LLC to Chelsea and Derek Schaeffer; $1,630,000.

Nov. 16:

• 53 Glenville Street , Estate of Antoinette Majersky to David P. Scollard; $467,500.
• 179 Sheephill Road : Sheephill Road, LLC to William J. and Virginia Caragol; $1,620,000.
• 56 Orchard Street : The Hawlay T. Chester Jr. Revocable Trust to Widgeon Properties, LLC; $729,000.

Nov. 17:

• 48 Spring Street , Unit 8: Anjali G. Asnanee and Martin M. Lucente to Janina A. Casey; $760,000.
• 84 Butternut Hollow Road : RSF Properties Inc. to John C. and Rosemary C. Martin; $6,300,000.

Nov. 18:

• 69 W.Brother Drive : Lois M. Richter to Blance O’Connell; $1,300,000.
• 1535 E. Putnam Avenue , Unit 202: Richard H. Pace to Jennifer A. Bedoya.

Nov. 21:

• 30 Valleywood Road : Helen J. Diamandouros to Jude to and Mary K. Donao; $753,000.
• 40 Decatur Street : Samuel and Frances Judice to Michael G. Judice; $400,000.

Nov. 22:

• 40 N. Porchuck Road : Carol W. Hoffman Qualified Personal Residence Trust to Porchuck LLC; $1,800,000.
• 40 N. Porchuck Road : 40 N. Porchuck Road  LLC to Porchuck LLC; $1,800,000.
• 35 Bramble Lane : Michael J. and Miyuki S. McDonagh to 35 Bramble Lane LLC; $1,250,000.
• 423 Stanwich Road : Estate of Iris J. Strauss  to  Yumei Wang; $2,246,000.
• 2 Putnam Hill, Apr. 1A: Robert C. and Rebecca A. Willis to Victor Fiorillo and Jennifer Delvino.

Nov. 23:

• 10 Birch Lane : Mark M. and Nan R. Lvoff to Gunter and Judy Heiland; $1,860,000.
• 79 William Street : 75 William Street LLC to 79 William Street Associates LLC; $600,000.
• 65 Sherwood Pl.: Estate of Marion V. Slater to Soundview Place LLC; $650,000.
• 30 Park Avenue : 30 Park Avenue LLC to David J. Pearson; $2,500,000.

Nov. 29:

• 30 Hartford Avenue : Heidemarie Nehlsen to Jonathan A. and Sanda R. Savel $575,000.
• 159 Parsonage Road : Sarah L. Boles to Joseph R. Zimmel; $1,715,937.50.
• 90 Bowman Drive  North: Bethea J. Hyypia to Beth Amme O’Malley; $717,500.
• 60 Shore Road : Susan M. Tetzlaff to Simon Bound; $4,000,000.
• 191 Byram Road : Estate of Florian Haczyk to Kimberley C. Fuchs; $401,000.
• Lot 2, 10 Lakeview Drive : Janet Ann and Leonard J. Ginise III to Patricia Wardell; $525,000.

Yes, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich and Riverside are all parts of Greenwich, CT!

Being a large town (61,000 people on 67 sq miles), Greenwich, CT is broken up into several different areas. I might not be using the terms perfectly, but here goes. Officially, there is Greenwich (06830,06831), Cos Cob (06807), Riverside (06878) and Old Greenwich (06870) – all part of Greenwich, CT. These areas comprise of the 5 zip codes mentioned.  I could show you on a map where each of these areas begin and end. It is all clearly laid out. So if you live in Cos Cob, you put Cos Cob on your mail.  I think “Greenwich” might actually work as well as long as you have the zip code correct, but don’t quote me on it.

Now you might be asking about other locations such as Glenville, Pemberwick, Byram and North Mianus. These are all communities within parts of Greenwich. Some, like North Mianus, actually cover multiple locations. North Mianus is in the northern part of Riverside and Old Greenwich. I have yet to find a map that clearly identifies where North Mianus, Glenville or Pemberwick start and begin. This is much more of an estimate.

As for streets within town. There are five main arteries stretching from north to south through Greenwich starting with (from West to East) Riversville Road, then Round Hill Road, Lake Avenue, North Street and on the eastern boarder of town we have Stanwich Avenue.