Real LI: Posts from our daily blog
THE VALLEY STREAM MARKET
Valley Stream has more single-family home listings than any other place in Nassau, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. The 3.4-square-mile community had 321 out of the county's 8,492 listings as of presstime Wednesday, numbers show.
That's at least 35 percent more houses for sale than at the height of the boom, said Bernie Miglio, broker owner of Miglio Real Estate, based in Valley Stream for more than 30 years. "That's a lot of inventory to move," he said. "There's more houses coming into the market and less going into contract.
"There's a lack of buyers and we're a first-time home buyer's area, and that's making it more difficult," he said. "Incomes are not meeting the price of the houses."
In the past three months for Valley Stream, there were 75 contracts signed and 84 closings on single-family homes, he said. But in that period, 175 single-family houses went on the market, and that forced Miglio to pause when he first saw the figure on a real estate database and refined the query a few times to make sure it was right.
He said for buyers interested in Valley Stream but overwhelmed by the options, they should stop thinking of number of bedrooms.
"It starts with price, what they could afford, and move from there," he said. "If they walk in and say they want to spend between $300,000 and $350,000 on a house, there are no longer 350 houses'' to consider.-- ELLEN YAN
A MORE FLEXIBLE PROJECT
Since taking over the sales and marketing for the Houses at Sagaponac, real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens has revamped the project, which began in 1988, to offer potential buyers more flexibility. Buyers will now be able to purchase land only, with 11 lots currently available for sale, in sizes ranging from 1.3 to 2.6 acres and prices ranging from about $600,000 to $725,000.
If buyers are interested in buying land with a home, there is the option to purchase the completely restored Frank Lloyd Wright Bachman Wilson House for $5 million and have it moved to Sagaponack from its current location in New Jersey. The moving cost is included in the asking price.
If buyers are interested in a new home, they have the option of using any of the original plans for the lots; having a home designed by one of the new architects recently added to the project; or bringing in an architect of their own. Noted Long Island builder Joe Farrell purchased nine lots three months ago, and of the remaining lots, one is set aside as a reserve.
The original concept for the development offered plans for 32 modernist homes on 34 lots, designed by leading architects, with architect Richard Meier serving as an adviser. However, only eight homes were ever built, and in 2005, the project's visionary, Harry "Coco" Brown Jr., died. The remaining lots were sold to developers, and a new spec house was built in 2010.-- LARA EWEN