Greenwich Market Insight

What Actually Makes a Greenwich Home Sell Quickly

So what makes Greenwich homes sell quickly? It's a big question — because it assumes that all homes are the same.

By Charlie Vinci, Greenwich Realtor

A Market That Runs From About $1 Million to $143 Million

When you have such a range of prices — where the bottom of our market is roughly a million bucks and the top of the market is something like $143 million — it's hard to address, because you're addressing such a wide range.

But we can dial it back from a big-picture level, understanding that we're not really dealing with the nuances of the market.

The Things That Move a House Here

Where the Speed Is Right Now

Realistically, we're probably talking about homes under five million that are moving at a brisk pace right now. Once you're at five plus, you're at the higher end of the market in Greenwich.

At least in current times — and anything could change — $5, $10, $20 million houses are actually, from a historical perspective, selling very quickly right now. But realistically, from boots on the ground, it's not like a $2 million house that probably sells in the first weekend if it's priced and prepared properly. Maybe you have a few more weeks, or a little bit more time, on the appropriately priced $5 million properties.

That's just because there are fewer people who could afford them — less total buyers. And I think the buyers themselves tend to be a little bit different. If we fired that market up to the point where it was flying, they would have no choice. But with the market moving a little slower, that buyer is able to dial into it. They can see the house didn't sell in two weeks. The one they loved is still around. So they can already just sort of sense that the market's moving a little bit slower.

Why Turnkey Is Worth More Than It Costs

Most of these people are busy, with real big demands on their daily schedule. If you even broke it down into a dollar-per-hour that that particular person makes — why would they want to spend it fixing up their house?

Even from a pure logical perspective, but also from a functional perspective, they just can't leave their business to focus any energies and efforts on fixing this house up.

That turnkey house has value beyond what it likely cost you to be turnkey. They'll happily pay a premium so they can just move in.

What You Get Back on a Renovation

If you have a renovation where you've put lots of money into the house — if you've made it really great, and you've made it appealing to the masses, which is key — you're going to get a lot of that value back. I don't want to say 100%, because all the studies we've ever seen don't necessarily suggest that major remodeling returns 100% on value. But you can get a lot of your money back from that particular buyer, assuming it's not a real old renovation and they walk in and it's appealing to them.

You have to do the right things to the house to make it appealing to the market. But let's assume you did that — that's a real bonus for our local sellers here. You can actually do work to these homes and get it back, because we have the buyers coming in who cherish it. Whether it's $100 grand to do that kitchen over or $200 grand, they would far rather just walk in and have it be done than go through the whole process. The overwhelming majority of buyers would rather just have that done.

Greenwich vs. Stamford: Turnkey Doesn't Mean the Same Thing

Take a town like Stamford as an example. A two or three million dollar house there is, in some cases, even above the median — at two-ish million bucks you're above the median for the town.

I think turnkey matters in a town like Stamford, but it doesn't matter the same way that it matters in Greenwich. Again, I'm not saying that buyers don't value it. But when you have a buyer who has to look at a situation like this actually costs me money, it's different. If you're earning less money, you might look at it like: hey, I'm getting this house for 50 grand less than I would have to pay with a new kitchen, and I would rather put the kitchen in myself. It's just a different mentality, a different approach.

I'm not saying those people don't exist in Greenwich. But if you're wondering why something flies off the market, it's because it's easy.

It's well priced, it's easy, it looks good, and it just fits in that person's lifestyle.

Colonial vs. Contemporary

How much you spend really changes your preferences for a particular home. However, I think most people like a lot of the same things: open layouts, light and bright spaces, and at least a little bit of land.

On style, in our area, generally speaking, people are preferring a colonial. I think we can see that in the data, and I think we can see it just real boots on the ground. That doesn't mean contemporary is not going to sell, and it doesn't mean there aren't buyers for that house — there are. But if we're talking about the majority of people: if you have a colonial that's in tiptop shape, in neutral colors, remodeled by a designer for something that's more mainstream that everybody would like, and you're at a fair market price, you're flying off the market.

There are just fewer people interested in the modern stuff. And I'm generalizing, obviously — but if you want a modern house, you're passionate about it. If you want a unique style, you're usually really passionate about it. The cool thing about that as a seller is that you may have the only one on the market. If they really want that, and if they're willing to pay for it, you may have the only one. So there is a trade-off.