Love the House You're In

This circa 1910 house at 205 Park Street is no more; a new home has taken its place. The six bedroom home on .67 acre, was described as ["once a exquisite home w/dentist's office; needs to be restored to single family. Sold "as is."]

Listed for $599,000, it sold for $703,000 back in June. Taxes were $22,026 back then. The new five-bedroom house, which is under construction and listed for $1,850,000, has taxes that are yet to be determined. Interested buyers can call listing agent Rhodes Van Note.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The New York Times profiled the two houses above, built by Frank T. Clute in the early 1900s. Both are located on Glenwood Road and both are for sale. The first in the slide show, (the brown house) #7, is on the market for $689,000; the second, #15, is listed for $1,295,000. Both are on roughly the same amount of land, but the latter has been "done" to the nines by a developer who had bought it for $750,000 last spring. The untouched sibling sports much of the original detail intact. Taxes are $13,736 on #7; $17,685 on #15.

So take the slide show tour and then tell us -- as buyers, past or future, do you seek out old details or new amenities?

Foreclosures in our backyard? You betcha. At Realtytrac.com you get a lay of the land. Type in a zip code and navigate the map to see properties that are in foreclosure, preforeclosure, or at auction. It's not a pretty picture.

Here's the listing description from the GSMLS (listing agent is Coldwell Banker) Coldwell Banker...

Introducing Daybreak, Montclair's most prestigious estate meticulously restored with museum quality details and fixtures. Never before has a home of this quality and scale been available in Montclair. Open house to be announced at later date. Must be prequalified. LA [listing agent] to accompany all showings.

Just so we don't confuse Strahan's house at 99 Lloyd Road with another Daybreak, we go to an explanation here from Baristaville historian Frank GG.

Here are the numbers on the Strahan estate: $7,750,000 gets you 2.3 acres, 30 rooms (10 bedrooms), 5 fireplaces, 10 car garage, and annual taxes of $82,418. No photos with the listing yet, but here's a look at one of the bathrooms. Update: The Star-Ledger picks up the story.

Forget about buying, selling, inspections, mortgages. Here's what everybody wants these days: a sunny two-bedroom, apartment rental. When our very own Katie Mancine, who's leaving on her Wanderful trip cross-country in two weeks, put an ad in Craigslist, she got 94 responses and, after the first open house, 23 serious would-be renters.

Note to beige addicts with houses on the market: the overwhelming response has a lot to do with Katie and Mark's daring color choices. Apparently, nobody can resist a bright-orange living room.

When we moved into our apartment, it was empty for three months beforehand, I don't think our landlord could find anyone who wanted the plain white walls, ugly brown carpet and dirty unmopped tile floor. But post THIS link to some Flickr photos from our lives in the apartment, and we had more responses than we ever imagined. Each person who came to view the apartment wanted to know, "How will you pick?" And then it dawned on me: I would just take all the names and hold a lottery drawing to find our replacement. I gave the three minute apartment tour, let the people walk around, ask questions, look through all our drawers, closets, and even test out how strong the flush is on our toilet. Then I'd tell them "If this apartment is in your top three, sign this email list. We'll email you on Sunday, and ask if it's your number one choice (thus giving them a week to find others to compare it to), if it is, you'll be entered to win A YEAR LEASE IN AN ORANGE, PINK AND GREEN-ROOMED APARTMENT!"

Read the rest of the story, including a rundown of all the cute applicants, here.

In July 2006,  79 Ridgewood Ave. in Glen Ridge sold for $1,215,000. Fully made over, the circa 1897 Victorian on almost an acre of land was renovated, gussied up (they don't tear down homes in Glen Ridge) and put back on the market in 2007 for $2,295,000. The house is described here...

"Wistful Vista" sits on a spectacular property with a broad sweep of lawn, trees, old fashioned flower beds, and a secret path to the Freeman Rose Garden & has been completely restored and renovated.

View all the pictures here.

The most expensive home on the market in Montclair gets a write up in The Record...

The black, white and gray walls and furniture, sheer curtains and white shades set off period details like curved cove ceilings and ornate wainscoting. "It dances to its own tune," said Linda Grotenstein, of Coldwell Banker, Upper Montclair, who is listing the property on 1.83 acres for $3.6 million. Another adjacent acre is for sale at $800,000. Outside, traditional elements abound, such as the porte-cochere -- stone arches that cover the driveway where horse-drawn carriages would stop to let off guests.

The Tudor estate home above is located at 159 Gates Ave; more photos here. Coming in as the second most expensive home on the market, at $3,465,000, is 115 Stonebridge Road., located just a stone's throw from West Orange.

Continue reading "Gargoyles And More" »

Driving down Ridgewood Ave, around 1:15, enjoying the fall scene, we heard a shrieking alarm that sounded like an ambulance or police car and promptly pulled over. Seeing nothing in the rearviews, we heard a voice repeatedly barking over a loud speaker: BURGLARY! BURGLARY!  LEAVE THIS LOCATION RIGHT NOW!  The house had a for sale sign (it's a Rhodes Van Note 6 BR just reduced to 899k).  A minute later, one of Glen Ridge's finest pulled up and cautiously walked up to the front door. Didn't hang around for the outcome but the alarm could still be heard 10 minutes later and five blocks away in Bloomfield. We've heard that talking houses can be a good marketing tool but this takes it to a new level! From EcoRealty

Check out this cool new mapping tool that allows you to check the sales in your 'hood,  even your street.

Pictured is Montclair's sales map.

We've waved to the throngs of folks gathered at this house from the Baristanet float; now 241 Midland Ave. in Montclair is on the market. If you love a Fourth of July parade and a Victorian, this 5-bedroom home on almost a half acre is for sale for $1,250,000 (taxes are $20,142). Here's a look inside (get a load of the woodwork...)

Continue reading "Ultimate Parade View Included" »

What new luxury digs are priced a lot cheaper than Crisco ever was? These homes.

Meanwhile, someone has taken on the moniker of Crisco to talk about Montclair here. Do you agree with the assessment?

This week, 60 Parkway Drive, celebrated its official ribbon-cutting, with East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser heaping praise on GLC Group principals Mark Caller and Pinny Loketch. Irvington-based GLC Group has bought and rehabbed developments in Newark and East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

It's quite a transformation when you read about the building's past, here...

“We understand the growth potential of East Orange and, therefore, feel that “60” is part of an amazing future for this trendy new city,” says Caller. Intro pricing for units range from $99,000 to $399,000. You'll recall we told you about Empire View, another condo development in East Orange, here.

And with it comes a bunch of new homes on the market. Expect lots of excitement over these new listings, including this one at 21 Erwin Park Road, for $1,049,000, close enough to walk down the street and borrow a cup of sugar a pot of lip gloss from neighbor Bobbi Brown...

Continue reading "Spring Arrives In Montclair" »

Lovingly and meticulously restored by its current owners, this superb 1860 residence is the only known extant house of a series built along the hillside by renowned architect Henry Nason.  The exterior is characterized by symmetry, good proportions and a simplicity of design with peaked gables, bracketed eaves, the repeated use of narrow arched windows and a handsome slate roof that bestow a sense of dignity and purity to this fine home. Taxes: $37,402.08     Approx. 1.30 Acres

For more pictures and info on the auction, click here.
 

We showed you 80 South Mountain here, which almost seems like a steal when compared to the similarly-priced model home at Crisco. Frank Gerard Godlewski showed us what it used to look like, before it went Tudor in the late 1920s...

Continue reading "(Way) Before and After" »

The Charles Bierman House, which had a cameo in the infamous Johnny Cakes episode of the Sopranos, is up for sale for the right investor. According to listing agent Jim Walters of Remax, the former residence for Jewish seniors, which sits on 2.11 acres in a R-1 zone, can be replaced with 6-8 single family residences or, with a variance, 10-12 townhomes. Since the home closed, folks wondered how long before the property would be developed. It's listed at $1,600,000; the property is located here.

The other large, developer-friendly property for sale is Bay Street Commons...

Fully approved 11 unit town house development. Simply obtain permits and break ground.

34 Plymouth Ave, 83x250, $1,250,000

120 North Mountain, .42 acre, $699,000, reval here

1 Orchard Court, $799,000, reval here

Continue reading "Montclair's Spring Arrivals" »

81, South Mountain, Montclair: .69 acre, taxes $28,697, $1,775,000

Continue reading "On The Market This Week" »

A commenter writes...

Can someone explain this real estate anomaly to me?

How can ASI value this property at FMV (fair market value) for $1,499,000 a/o 10/1/06 and it lists for $2,150,000 five months later in a softer market!

Either ASI and town assessor are leaving "a lot on the table" in terms of fair taxes or the property is grossly overpriced for the market. I'd like to see a discussion from local realtors and the town assessor/ASI on how this type of discrepany happens