Something For Your Stocking…
December 23, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
I’ve been selling real estate for about 20 years now with some success. Enough success to make me the number one agent in Rochester, and one of the top in the state. And when you sell that much real estate, you work with a lot of mortgage companies. Some I like more than others, but by and large, most are fine, providing reasonable customer service and decent rates.
And then there’s Chase.
Chase, you see, is the banking industry’s answer to the Hindenburg. Each time I have a buyer or seller who is getting their mortgage through Chase, we always go past our scheduled closing dates waiting for approval. And each time I call, I’m told it will be tomorrow. And then tomorrow comes and goes, with nothing. Then you’re told next week….and nothing. Then people get angry, and deals start to fall apart. So you call and plead….and you’re promised, promised tomorrow….then nothing. This has happened far too many times to be a series of isolated incidents. At Chase, this is how business is conducted.
So, some words to live by:
If you’re an agent, don’t allow your clients to use Chase.
If you’re a buyer, don’t use Chase.
If you’re thinking of refinancing, don’t use Chase.
Combine that with “always cook chicken to 160 degrees” and you should lead a fairly happy life. Thanks for listening.
Oh…and Happy Holidays.
Circular Logic
September 16, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
Houses, more than any single thing I’ve ever encountered, are reflections of people’s personalities. And when it’s your job to sell them, you finish the week with a lot of interesting stories. It’s the reason I started this blog in the first place. Unfortunately, experience has taught me that I can’t share 80% of these stories for one of two reasons; either a) the humor is subtle or esoteric enough as to be tough to convey on the written page, or more commonly….b) names really couldn’t be changed enough to protect the innocent (or guilty).
One thing that gave me a chuckle happened yesterday, however, that I thought I’d convey.
I started the week with a fantastic listing in the city for $320,000. A really spectacular house—great layout, appealing lot, a real winner. An offer came in from a buyer for $310,000, we countered at $317,000. Their comeback? $314,159.26. It was the oddest number I’d ever seen written on a contract. We were puzzled, but we accepted.
The next day, I learned that the buyer was a Mathematics professor at a local university. True story. Some light fare that I thought I’d share with you as we head into the weekend….which I hope you enjoy.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Reconcilable Differences
September 14, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
As a real estate agent, it often becomes my job to help divorcing couples divest themselves of assets. Sometimes those sales go so smoothly and amicably that you’re left wondering why the people are getting divorced in the first place. Other times…well…it’s a divorce. It can get a little (read “a lot”) ugly, and the bickering, wrangling, and vitriol can sometime slow things down to the point that finally pinning down a closing date can take months.
But I’ve never had one take 20 years. And that’s probably because I’ve never had to broker a divorce between five people. You probably weren’t aware that five people could get married, and the good news is, they can’t. The bad news, however, is that they can form a country. And while the dissolution of a marriage rarely ends in bloodshed, the dissolution of a country almost always does. Allow me to whisk you back to the delightful closing days of the Republic of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia, that doomed former Balkan State best known for ethnic cleansing and really happening cars, broke up into five separate nations (Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia) in 1992 after decades of political and religious strife. And as with most divorces, the former unified nation state had assets. And as with most divorces, the competing parties….a) hated each other…..and b) believed no one deserved anything but them (fortunately, there were no kids or pets).
That formula usually means fighting over the house. And in the case of our five newly minted countries, that meant fighting over the house; namely, the former Ambassador’s residence on Park Avenue in New York. The once harmonious government of Yugoslavia bought the 2400 square foot apartment in 1975 for the quaint price of $100,000 to house its Ambassador to the United Nations. And with six bedrooms, five baths, and a balcony overlooking Park Ave, Yugoslavia had a seriously palatial pad from which to conduct international relations.
Original Owner: Yugoslav President Josip Tito, who’s 1980 passing marked the beginning of the end for the Republic
But when things began to crumble in the Balkans, the once buzzing Ambassadorial abode was vacated, and following competing claims for ownership, all parties were prevented by court order from using the property. That was 1992, and the apartment is still empty today.
And those two decades of vacancy have done wonders for the condition of the place.
From the New York Post:
Paint is peeling from the ceiling of the salmon-colored living room. Silver serving pieces, desperately in need of a polish, sit on a buffet in the formal dining room. The kitchen contains a microwave oven the size of an air conditioner, and the pantry still holds a jar of maraschino cherries and Thai pepper paste.
Reality: “Wow, what a shame to see such a nice place drop in value like that.”
NYC Real Estate Alternate Reality: “I know. Now it’s worth only 250 times more than its purchase price instead of 300 times more. C’est la vie.”
That’s right, the hopelessly outdated, musty, dilapidated Park Avenue apartment with slightly less square footage than your home is currently valued at a little over $20 million. Which explains the real estate cold war between the children of the former republic.
So why is it in the news now after all these years? Because it’s being listed, of course. A deal brokered between the five nations way back in 2001 has been resurrected, allowing all of the former Yugoslavia’s international assets to be divided between the sister states based on regional economic standing. The big winner? Serbia with 40% (which is only fair since they’ve been the ones paying the $1000 per month of fees and taxes on the property for 20 years).
Word on the street is that the apartment will be listing this month for a price somewhere north of its $20 million appraisal—just a hair out of my Park Avenue price range. I am considering making an offer on the leftover Thai pepper paste, however. Given the property’s overall appreciation it shouldn’t go for much more than $5,000 or $6,000, and it’s the least I can do to ensure the health of the Serbian government.
Otherwise, they might consider producing cars again.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Claustro-tel
September 10, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
I haven’t been everywhere in the world, but for a 40 something guy with a full-time-and-then-some job, I’ve traveled quite a bit. And if you’re going to travel quite a bit, you’re going to stay in a lot of hotels. Some have been great and have really enhanced my enjoyment of a trip. Others, well…whatever doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger. But of all the rooms I’ve ever called home for 10 hours, I’ve never had to slide lengthwise off the bottom of my bed in the morning to get up. And I count myself lucky for being able to say that, because thousands of people in Asia cannot. Intrigued? Of course you are. Introducing 9 Hours, the newest and trendiest addition to Asia’s growing list of capsule hotel chains.
Haven’t heard of capsule hotels? Allow me: From the country that brought you Hello Kitty and full-contact game shows comes the capsule hotel, an urban inn that offers about as minimalist an approach to overnight accommodations as one can possibly imagine. Instead of a room, the patron is allowed the use of a “capsule”—a 3 foot by 7 foot chamber made exclusively for sleeping. Your numbered capsule can be found in a wall with hundreds of others, creating the appearance of a poorly lit but very stylish morgue.
Though they haven’t (yet) made their big break in the United States, capsule hotels have been around since their debuted in Japan in 1979. Though still not wildly popular or widely accepted, capsule cabanas now number in the hundreds, with locations concentrated in Scandinavia and Asia. And true to the capsule hotel blueprint, they offer limited to no services with limited to no attention to aesthetics.
The proprietors of 9 Hours, however, are seeking to maximize the minimalist experience, putting a trendy spin on the cheap (you know those giant hipster-hamsters that drive around in a Kia Soul? Kinda like that).
As the name implies, your stay at 9 Hours lasts exactly 9 hours, a concept based on the idea that humans spend about 9 hours in their rest routine: 1 hour of showering/dressing/grooming, 7 hours of sleep, and 1 hour of leisure (a.k.a., “rest”). And why waste useful minutes in a hotel that could be spent walking purposefully through the streets of a crowded city with a bag on your shoulder? Click Here to take a look at a comprehensive 9 Hours video tour, taking you from check-in to climb-in to slide-out to check-out, all in about 4 minutes…
One critic described designer Fumie Shibata 9 Hours layout as having “a feeling of openness and uniformity, where everything is laid out in such a way that your purpose is always clear.” Uniformity? No argument there. Purposeful layout? I suppose. Openness? If your idea of openness is to pass through a windowless and oppressively monochromatic sea of hard surfaces to spend 9 hours in a 30 inch tall sleep casket, then yes. Hell yes.
A 9 Hours sleep capsule: An excellent opportunity to practice being dead.
Japan is a colorful place full of colorful people. Except at 9 Hours, where only two colors were worked into the design plan. Black and white. Oh…..and black.
Care to make the 20 hour flight for the 9 Hours experience? The good news is that your accommodations will only cost you $80, less than a quarter of what most big-city overnights will cost you in Japan.
Perhaps places like 9 Hours are just the next natural step in our continual digression toward a dehumanizing, homogeneous existence; a future devoid of color where Enya plays in a continuous loop from unseen speakers all the time. Or maybe it’s just an idea whose time has come. Either way, the next time I’m in Japan I’ll probably just grit my teeth and pay the $450 to stay at the Hilton.
I’ve seen The Matrix. I know what direction this is going in.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Dumpster Dwelling
September 7, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
Back in July, I did a story about the cottage industry that has sprung up around converting shipping containers into homes (Click Here to read Recycled Packaging). Now, Gregory Kloehn of Berkley, California is one-upping those insipid entrepreneurs and has converted a dumpster into a living space that looks just like my old college dorm room, only with granite countertops.
I’ve never had a quote-of-the-day, but if I did, Wednesday, September 7th’s would be, “I think I’ve made a nice little home out of a garbage can.” This guy has a hobby, and hobbies are important. Without them, you run the risk of wasting your time on really stupid stuff.
Not really enough here for a full story, but I couldn’t stand to not share the video. Enjoy.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
This Week’s Runner’s Up
September 6, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
Once again, the honorable mentions from the last couple of weeks in real estate news. Hope you enjoyed Monday’s holiday monsoon as much as I did. Click the text to visit the story.
Strange home conversions. Can you believe it’s taken me this long to cover one?
Rihanna sues her home builder for rain damage. Insert “Umbrella” joke here.
Dominique Strauss Kahn’s New York townhouse hits the market for $14 million….and he’s taking his housekeepers with him.
A really great slideshow of modern architectural disasters.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Epilogue Update: The Final Word on Huguette’s Final Say
September 2, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
Frequent readers of the blog will recall the short series of stories that I wrote a couple of months ago on the estate of Huguette Clark, the reclusive and incredibly wealthy copper heiress who passed away after nearly 75 years of isolation in her New York City apartment. If you have a minute and didn’t get a chance before, here are the links to those posts—a quick and fascinating read.
Stranger Than Fiction: The Estate and Estates of Huguette M. Clark (June 11th)
Stranger Than Fiction, Part II: The Estate and Estates of Huguette M. Clark (June 14th)
Epilogue to an Heiress (June 24th)
If you had a chance to read them (or if you just read them), you’ll recall that Huguette had a handful of prize possessions that had both the real estate and the art world all abuzz at the news of her passing. The biggest prize (arguably, of course)? Her absolutely enormous, 15,000 square foot, 42 room Fifth Avenue penthouse which some estimates valued at $100 million. Who would it be left to? A foundation? The shady lawyer and convicted felon accountant? An Upstate real estate agent with a blog and incredible taste in both music and clothes?
907 Fifth Avenue, one of New York’s most celebrated addresses
Sadly, no. The big winners in the Huguette Clark Last Will & Testament lottery are her personal nurse Haddassh Peri and her thirty-something goddaughter, Wanda Styka. This isn’t the first trip to the bank for the pair, having already been named as major beneficiaries of the heiress’ will in early readings back in June. The fate of the airport-size apartment, however, remained shrouded in mystery until this week when the remaining “unaddressed” assets of the will were released by the court. The announcement threw cold water on months of excited chatter and speculation about the apartments next owner and their plans to market it. What will Haddassh and Wanda do with their new crib? They—excuse me, their people—aren’t saying, but it appears they have no plans to list it in the near future.
This will probably be my last post on Huguette Clark, a woman who I’ve come to know well this summer (or at least as well as anyone ever knew her). And that’s too bad, because she’s been a lot of fun to hang out with. I can only hope that Wanda and Haddassh move into their new apartment this weekend, draw the blinds, and don’t come out again for about 80 years.
It won’t do much for their social lives, but man…what a great week of stories I’ll have in 2091.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Cooper Vision
August 31, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
There was a time when New York City had so many significant and historic buildings sitting around that there wasn’t enough spray paint in America to deface them all–and believe me, they tried. That was back when Greenwich Village was a depository for actual starving artists and Times Square was more of a place for buying drugs and weapons than t-shirts and hotdogs. Then, beginning in the early 1980’s, the whole gentrification thing happened and those buildings went from being monuments of decline to hyper-appreciating, prized pieces of real estate. One by one, they disappeared from the market until the only way you could find a vacant building in the Village was if it was in the process of being renovated by Robert De Niro.
But not all of those buildings were gobbled up so readily. Some of them were simply off limits because they were still being used by the same struggling non-profits and community organizations that had been using them for a century. One of these time-capsule gems to hit the market last year was the historic Fire Patrol Building on West 3rd Street.
Though that’s not to say that everyone was happy about it, especially the West 3rd Street Fire Patrol. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t really have a say because the taxes and upkeep were being paid by an insurance company with an unhealthy disdain for redundant overhead.
A quick history lesson for those readers unfamiliar with early American fire practices: Beginning at the dawn of the 19th century, insurers hired people to walk about cities at night to look out for fires–an idea first floated by one Benjamin Franklin. These Fire Patrol people would spot the fires and get them extinguished readily, thus saving the insurance underwriters significant money (sort of like an early version of Excellus trying to get you to actually exercise). By the time the 20th century rolled around, inventions such as the telephone and electric streetlights made the Fire Patrol largely obsolete, but the tradition continued for many years in some cities, with it’s last remaining holdout in New York….the home of so many last remaining holdouts.
But alas, the bean-counters at the Board of Fire Underwriters finally persuaded the powers-that-be that paying a ton of money to maintain a historic institution “just for the fun of it” was bad business in the new economy…and just like that, the historic building was on the market.
And the place needed work. Built in 1906, Fire Patrol Station Number 2 had last been updated in 1906. The buildings 8,240 square feet had original wood flooring and windows, and the exterior was covered in many layers of lead paint. So dated was the facility that the stables that once housed the patroller’s horses remained intact in the rear of the building. On the bright side, it also had its original spiral staircase, brass fire poles, and open hand-hewn ceiling beams.
Not surprisingly, the $4.75 million listing sparked immediate interest, with one unknown investor quickly closing the deal for $4.3 million. At first, no one knew who the deep-pocketed mystery buyer was until CNN’s Anderson Cooper was seen visiting the site with designers and contractors a dozen times in the span of a few weeks. By the time the sale became public record, Anderson was well on his way to completing a total, yet historically deferential, renovation and conversion of the building into his new NYC home.
And as it turns out, he isn’t just good at reading a teleprompter without moving his eyes. He’s also got an interest in historic restoration and a talent for design, enlisting some of the country’s best known architects including Cary Tamarkin, a man famous for residential conversations. Despite initial public outcry at the sale of the historic building, Chateau de Cooper has proven to have been a good thing for the history conscious, with the façade being returned to it’s original 1906 appearance and most of the original features of the building maintained and restored both inside and out.
I’ll be in the Big Apple in two weeks, and while there I hope to have a chance to swing over to the Village and check out Cooper’s new digs. And just for the record, if a Rochester man ends up being issued a citation for trying to make off with a brass fire pole, it wasn’t me. Seriously.
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
On the Waterfront
August 28, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
You read the last post. You found the photographs inspiring. Sensing the onset of another mid-life crisis, you assail your spouse or partner with liberal doses of reverse psychology—a skill that you’ve mastered over the years—and you’ve convinced them to sell your boring, land-locked home and find a monstrous yacht to convert into your next residence. Damn, you’re good.
But now, you find yourself in a quandary. You know from experience that the effects of your passive aggressive persuasion techniques only last for so long, and you must strike while the iron’s hot. You need a boat…and you need it fast. But it’s not like these things are just laying around all over the place, right?
Well, actually, laying around all over the place is exactly what many of them are doing. In fact, there are a ton of these wonderful floating flats for sale right now at rock-bottom prices. Why? Part of it is because maintaining old boats is a little (ok, a lot) like maintaining an old house…but that won’t matter to you because you’re looking for a house conversion anyway. And then there’s the issue of those tandem 300 gallon fuel tanks.
It probably slipped right by you, but gas has gotten a little more expensive in the last three or four years—and by a little, I mean a lot. And if you spend any amount of time driving, those miles can add up to real money in a hurry. But no one’s getting rid of their cars (yet), choosing instead to engage in that most American of traditions: uttering profanities under their breath while “removing their card quickly” from a sneering, cynical gas pump. It’s really made owning a car that gets 20-ish mpg a lot more difficult than it used to be.
But ya know what would be worse? Driving a car to work that got ½ of a mile per gallon.
A quick lesson for my fellow land-lovers: In a boat this size, fuel consumption isn’t measured in miles, but in hours. Your average 80 ft yacht will generally have two rather hearty gasoline or diesel engines with a combined full economy of 30 gallons per hour (gph), give or take.
Drinking problem
After some relatively simple math that I forgot how to do shortly after college, you come out with a total gas mileage of about ½ a mile per gallon (assuming low RPM’s, light winds, and friendly currents, of course). Multiply that by the price of gas in a marina—which makes that sneer on the face of your local gas pump look like a warm smile—and you have a commute to work that runs you about $275 a day (if, that is, your commute is around or under 20 miles round trip). If that were a car, you probably wouldn’t keep it very long. And neither would a lot of other people.
Tah-Dah! Your new home awaits. And besides, starting those thirsty hippos below decks and going for a spin isn’t mandatory. Knowing that you’re just a 401K cash-in away from a trip down the coast is just as satisfying, isn’t it?
Of course it is. So just for fun, I thought I would help you start your search and show you some current options that you have available, from floating fixer upper to move-in ready port palaces. Click the description above the photos to visit the online classified. Bon Voyage.
60′ Pacemaker Yacht. Fresh off a $1 million re-fitting job. Yours for $100,000.
Retired 85′ USN Search & Rescue (ASR) boat in perfect operating condition. Does it need some work to become a home? Sure. But for a current high bid $17,000, you’ll have some cash to invest.
Kicking it up a notch: A full floating manse for those disinclined to start from scratch. Buy it now for $250,000
A truely classic 2 deck harbor boat for $99,000.
Neptune’s Lady hasn’t felt like a lady in a long time. Fortunately, you came along with $50,000
Remember, people buy houses that need this much work that aren’t 140′ long and 3 stories high. $200,000
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com
Home Ship Home
August 25, 2011 by Mark Siwiec
Filed under Buying & Selling, Full Blog, Mark & the Market
You know what the problem with a house is? It doesn’t travel well. Once built, it takes a herculean effort or a natural disaster to move one. Even mobile homes aren’t really mobile once you get them in place, and no matter how spartan your domestic existence, moving, to put it plainly, is a royal pain in the ass. But what if you could find a house that could provided you with a fresh view every week from your front door?
I know what you’re thinking; motor homes, right? No. Paying $250,000 to live full time in a 400 square foot steel sleeve with 3-tone vinyl interior is a step too far. I’m talking about something grander (or at least bigger): Boats. Ships really. Of course you’ve heard of a houseboat, but what we’re talking about here is a little different. We’re talking about a boat-house……OK wait, that didn’t work…….we’re talking about really unique boats that people have converted into homes. Really nice homes.
One of my favorites to make the real estate voyeur news over the last couple of weeks was completed recently by Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Child, proud owners of the Yankee.
All photography by Navid Baraty
Originally dubbed the Machigonne, the 130 ft. vessel was built in 1907, and in its century afloat has served as everything from an armed patrol vessel during WWI to an island charter boat before being retired from commercial service in the 1980’s.
The Yankee in her youth, as the Machigonne in the 1920′s
In fact, the Yankee served for many years in the early 20th century as an Ellis Island Ferry, with tens of thousands of soon-to-be Americans getting their first glimpse of their new country from her decks. Photographer Navid Baraty was invited aboard last month and took the following pictures of this spectacular—yet historically reverent—conversion.
The “mess hall.” Note the grand piano in the front room.
The Yankee spent her career working all over the New England coast until she was purchased by Jim Gallagher in 1990. Intent on a full restoration, Gallagher towed the tired and tattered Yankee to Tribeca, Manhattan, and began a years-long restoration of the once proud craft, even getting her entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 (yes, a boat can be a place). Yankee was sold to her new owners in 2003 for an undisclosed sum, with the promise that the new owners would continue the restoration work that Gallagher had spent a decade moving forward. All of the ship’s systems are now fully updated and operational.
In case you were wondering about the tires on the pier, that’s the MacKenzie-Child’s “polka dot garden,” complete with irrigation system.
So there you have it. An incredible conversion carried out on an incredibly historic ship. Now, if only you lived in a city near the water……
Buying or selling a home? Give us a call today at (585) 218-6825 or visit our website at www.marksiwiec.com