A Crisco Sale Confirmed

That's not a bad price, that's about what they should be selling for. Their original asking price was absurd, but they are big, new homes, and while some may not fancy them, they are worth a million dollars.

I think I win.

The rules on Is Price is Right clearly state that the answer that is closest to the actual price without going over is the winner.

Sorry ROC :(

And as an indicator of the accuracy of the reval process, 172 Christopher St was assessed at $903K, $157K below its sale price. Most of the homes on Christopher(especially those at the northern end near Watchung) were assessed at far below their market value. Who do we complain to about that?

Wow, at least the tudor has some land. Crisco homes are not so bad, but they look like a set from Desperate Housewives.

I hope people are nice to the new owners, given some of the hatred toward that place!

"Most of the homes on Christopher(especially those at the northern end near Watchung) were assessed at far below their market value."

Actually that was just disproven.

Sold for $1,035,000
(Tax assessed for $1,142,600)

The Crisco homes are not an accurate representation of the base of existing homes on Christopher St, especially given the fact that there has not been any market validation of the value until now.

Try this one ROC:

152 Christoper St
Sold on 6/15/2006 for $976K
2007 Reval: $760K

A 22% drop in value between a market transaction in June and the reval which was supposed to be based on Fall 2006 fair market values.

There was one that was assessed at somewhere around 700k, which is ridiculous.

The development still looks like a ghost town to me: We keep hearing that all but one or two have been sold, and yet no one appears to be living in them. What's up with that?

spicoli I thought you meant on Christopher Court, my mistake.

No harm, no foul.

And as an indicator of the accuracy of the reval process, 172 Christopher St was assessed at $903K, $157K below its sale price. Most of the homes on Christopher(especially those at the northern end near Watchung) were assessed at far below their market value. Who do we complain to about that?

I want answers to the same question. Well Joe and Ed?

"The development still looks like a ghost town to me: We keep hearing that all but one or two have been sold, and yet no one appears to be living in them. What's up with that?"

I walked past there yesterday, and got hit with a tumbleweed.

As I said a million times: the new owners of Crisco MUST BE SHUNNED!!! Considering all the righteous indignation and certitude heard here, on the Watercooler and around town, I hope all those who hate these home hate the owners too!!

Hate 'em good too. Make them move back to NYC.

Really. Can you imagine being a--- friend to anyone who would want to live there? And if so, what does that say about you?

Not me. I won't give them a chance... Oh, wait. I've had nice things to say about Crisco. Guess I'll bring a welcome cake (Red Velvet!!).

Sold for $1,035,000.
Great view of the intersection of Grove and Watchung. Oh yeah and you can stand in your door waiting for the DeCamp bus. Thats living the high life.

You can stand in your turret and see the 33 Grove coming, then just shout and your all your neighbors can hear you.

watch this space...
Crisco's first mover problem has been solved. Will the second mover stay so close to asking?

Were other houses on north Christopher under-assessed?

Don't know, but I spent a bunch of time with the posted assessment data and found that there was very little correlation between any real factors (land area, square feet, year built) and assessment.

My personal conclusion -- the functional quality of the formula is measured by its litigation resistance. And the best tool for litigation resistance is complexity. Obvious correlations are a sure-fire way to draw complaints about outliers.

I doubt very much that the single example of an undervalued house on Christopher will be unique to that street or that part of town.

There were two moving vans at Christopher Court this morning at about 9:50 as I drove by. Both from the same company, so likely just for oen family.

Each of these houses generates about $25k in annual property taxes for the town. If someone wants to buy them and Montclair gets $250k/yr, so be it.

There are lots of stupider ways to use your money. A couple years back I spent $50K on my wedding - and I was already legally married to my wife!!! All that I ended up with was a cheesy video and a bunch of plates that I rarely use.

So what is the stupidest thing you have ever spent $ on? Post away.

Spoke to my realtor at Schweppe/Burgdorff. Supposedly all Crisco homes have been sold.

" We keep hearing that all but one or two have been sold, and yet no one appears to be living in them."

There is definitely a family living in the one on on the corner of Christopher St, south side. They have had a swingset up for weeks and I've seen people outside. Actually, I think they have a pretty descent side yard but their swingset is practically on the sidewalk.

btw, christopher court makes for a great cut-through for drivers who don't want to wait at the light traveling east on watchung and want to make a right onto grove. just head to christopher court. hey, our taxes paid for that street...

So what do you think the people who bought there look like?

Fat asses, big noses, flabby arms, skin pulled tight, double chins, Mongolians, small titties, small ditties, hairy, pointed ears?

Let's take picture and post them on the web? "People of Crisco Court" Eventually they will self identify!

No, Laura, they probably resemble dolphins...get it? "They call them Flippers, Flippers..."

I heard they all sold. I also heard they are getting some kind of tax break as a buyers incentive. Does anyone know if that is true?

SHUN THEM!!!!!

Why all the kind words? These folks bought the dreaded CRISCO HOMES. They are the enemy. They represent EVERYTHING Montclair is against.

SHUN THEM!!!

Time for the flaming bag of poo on the doorstep.

You guys might not want to smoke so much hooch this early in the morning.

I hope the shun them talk is just a joke... Better to have those homes filled with families then empty I think.

I am thinking perhaps they would have been better off just being townhomes..

I mean why even attempt to think you have a detached house.... I've seen townhomes only connected by garages that felt farther apart...

> There is definitely a family living in the one on on the corner of Christopher St, south side

Is there? I guess that makes sense. Of all the Crisco houses that one is the best as it does not back unto Watchung Ave, and has quite a decent side yard on the side facing Christopher.

I've often said that if anyone were to give me one of those houses as a free gift that would be the one I would want. :-)

But wait, if the taxes are really $25K/year I could not accept it even as a free gift! Just the tax payments alone would be more than I currently pay for mortgage and taxes combined, and I can barely afford what I pay now. Even a *FREE* Crisco house would be more than I could affrod to pay for (let alone, heat, utilities, etc).

Did I put up a fuss that they tore down the Marlboro? Yep.

Did I protest the plans to build Crisco? Absolutely.

Should I take my frustrations out against the poor saps who paid way too much for those things? Nah, they're going to suffer enough when (if) they go driving around town and see what else they could have gotten for the same money.

While I don't feel obliged to bake them a cake (I doubt I'd have much in common with someone willing to spend that much on a glorified town-house), I'm not going to be throwing bricks through their windows, either.

The time for that was during construction.

i'm surprised the buyers drove around montclair and glenridge, and for $1M they decided crisco was their best choice. I can only guess they were really just looking for a high end townhouse near the train. Afterall, a backyard cookout would really feel like living in a row-house environment.

You guys might not want to smoke so much hooch this early in the morning. i>

I thought "hooch" was something imbibed, not smoked?

Plenty of properties in Montclair are sitting so the fact that Schweppe (or whatever they're called now) was able to sell out Crisco must say something positive about those houses. I'm guessing these buyers got very good deals/incentives that made it logical to buy in Crisco rather than choose a more traditional Montclair home. Maybe some of these folks are coming from places like Brownstone Brooklyn where they're used to having closeby neighbors and no yard to speak of. They may have chosen Crisco as an alternative to a townhome. If the price is right and you have a city perspective on land and property, why not put your money down on a new construction,detached townhouse in a community where you want to raise your kids? It wouldn't be my choice but those houses wouldn't have sold if there wasn't a market for them. They must have lowered the prices a lot more than we know now. I'm guessing many of them went for below a million.

"Afterall, a backyard cookout would really feel like living in a row-house environment."

Something tells me this isn't the "beans and barbecue" crowd.

good point miss martta. but they will definitely be able to pass the Grey Poupon from window to window

Getting a 5000+ ft new construction home in Montclair (even with a small yard) for the $1mm is not a bad deal. The traditional old colonials are nice, but many people want homes with a modern floor plan (like a kitchen/greatroom combo), bigger bathrooms and more closet space. It's impossible to find a fully updated home of this size in Montclair at this price point. Just because someone is willing to trade off a bigger/modern home for a smaller plot of land doesn't make them evil or stupid.

I'm sure Pflocker sold that dump in Erwin Park and will be moving in soon.

don't you feel bad for their children? they're going to be pariahs. nobody will play with them.

not true at all. we'll just know that their parents are @ssholes!!

I don't know, Pork Roll, you many be right. But they're definately on something.