And I just received a notice that 1 Rivington Way is now offered at $326,500.
These are the former prices from the link in my prior post:


Grand 1 Rivington Way 1,551 $453,600
Carrington 17 Mill Road 2,518 $768,100
Dorset 19 Mill Road 2,076 $645,690
Dorset 21 Mill Road 2,076 $652,750
Dorset 3 Mill Road, Unit #203 2,076 $684,480
Dorset 5 Mill Road 2,076 $686,460
Essex 9 Mercy Street, Unit #709 2,150 $564,030

I've got 3 Mill road, which is your basic Dorset, now listed at $499,000 in the mail today. And a link to an old listing for it that is surprisingly still live, where it was listed at $684,480:

http://www.rivingtonrealty.com/rivington/quick.php

This isn't really big news, as the Dorset basic model is listed as starting at $499,000 on the WCI site. This one does have upgrades, though, so it is beyond the basic list price, although it is not the one with the nailed down "designer" furniture.

Yes, but the furniture is included! Look at the money you save with moving expenses alone!
LOL

Here come the price reductions . . .

From August 8
"5 Rivington Way - it's a 3BR 3/1B with 2900 sq ft. and a fully finished basement. A Carrington model?
The price is reduced from $759,000 to $675,000. Comes with all the furniture & upgrades, etc.
."
Turns out it is a fully furnished Dorset model home and the price is now $584,000

$759,000 was delusional
$675,000 was ridiculously ambitious
$584,000 is still painfully optimistic, but at least it is a start in the right direction.

First resale on Brinscoll Ln sold for $360,000 after being listed for $400,000

There's been 2 more reported sales at Rivington today on the MLS, One of the 2 bedroom 2 bath flat style units (Norfolk I style) was originally listed $412,500, took an accepted offer listing at $399,900, and was reported as sold at $330,000. Address is 1 Rivington Way Unit 202.

The other reported sale was 21 Mill Road. 3 bedroom 2.5 bath, unfinished basement 'Dorset' model. Initial list price $568,838, took the deposit when offered at $499,000, and sold for $450,000.

Hello Dave,
PERFECT location for someone moving from New York!!! They filed chapter 11 and are reorganizing. It is not a secret they will tell you if you ask them. Was it the condo townhouse or the apartment condo. They are beautiful and I can discuss pricing with you. I live in CT and am a Broker in NY and CT. Bronx was my stopping grounds years ago. A lot depends on your motive. Downsize, upgrade, do you have to commute, do you have children.. Lots of things to take into consideration. Have you ever lived in a community before. Ask yourself why you would desire or why not...pros and cons. There are a few others I can think of in other developments that you should compare

They are smoking serious crack at WCI. I just received an email advert for the Rivington "super models" (clever? no . .)

Prices are sky high. A Dorset for $759,900.

I don't think even Michael Jackson had drugs that powerful.

Ldahla, I know what you mean! I have been in real estate for over 25 years and have forgotten what a sale is! Just too honest I guess!

I seem to do better with, "Don't by this POS . . ." lol

Thanks Jim. I don't know, maybe so? I'm kind of getting into it these days! I definitely like the research, but I am not too sure I could sell anything.

Ldahla, Ever consider going into the real estate business? I could use an agent like you who is as knowledgeable as you.. Bit of a commute each day from Mobile, Alabama but we can discuss! Jim

Here come more model homes:

5 Rivington Way - it's a 3BR 3/1B with 2900 sq ft. and a fully finished basement. A Carrington model?
The price is reduced from $759,000 to $675,000. Comes with all the furniture & upgrades, etc.

3 Rivington Way - a 3BR 3/1B with 3600 sq ft, fully finished basement. Fully furnished with all the furniture, upgrades - etc. $699,000. This was previously the address of "WCI Communities Design Studio", so I guess it includes office space.

And the sellers of 3 Brinscall dropped their price from $399,000 to $379,000 - so it is now overpriced by only about 50K.

It appears that they have signed contracts on it (per CMLS).

It seems that the unit on 11 Shawe St is gone from the website. What happened to the unit? Cancelled? It is not showing it was sold.

"The Bonita Springs based WCI Communities has confirmed that they built at least 200 homes with potential dangerous and defective Chinese-made drywall.

WCI Communities is currently operating Chapter 11 bankruptcy and expects to face about $40 million in claims related to defective drywall. WCI has agreed to set up a trust to help homeowners affected by Chinese drywall as part of their reorganization plan.

Earlier this month the popular home builder Lennar confirmed that they built about 400 Florida homes using the allegedly defective product.

Homeowners of homes fitted with Chinese drywall have seen extensive damage to electrical components in their homes caused by foul sulfurous gases emitted from the allegedly defective drywall. Several homeowners have also complained of headaches, difficulty breathing other potentially dangerous health problems.

The EPA and the state health official have conducted numerous tests to determine the potential risks associated with Chinese drywall; however, no conclusive data is yet available."

WCI is liable for the Chinese Drywall case - here is the WSJ on that:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jul/20/wci-creates-trust…

Or here:

"WCI Communities is currently operating Chapter 11 bankruptcy and expects to face about $40 million in claims related to defective drywall. WCI has agreed to set up a trust to help homeowners affected by Chinese drywall as part of their reorganization plan. "

http://houston.injuryboard.com/defective-and-dangerous-produ…

WOW!

Even the best corporate relo packages would avoid the negative equity a 2007 Essex has!

More alarming news:

I received a notice from WCI about pending lawsuits regarding imported (Chinese) sheetrock that has lead to copper corrosion, unusual odors, failing A/C condenser coils and other issues:

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/community/indoor-air/…
http://chapter11.epiqsystems.com/clientdefault.aspx?pk=a8cf1…

Not sure if Rivington is a part of it, but the case states that homes constructed after 2003 may be subjected to defective drywall, so I suspect that they could have this problem as well.

Can anyone confirm this?

At 1680 sq ft the model name for 11 Shawe should be the Bradhurst. In 2007 the Bradhurst was offered by Keller Williams at $480,630.

At $299,970 that is down $180,660 from 2007 pricing.
It is $117,930 down from the current WCI site price of $417,900.

I've seen Rivington condos languishing on the market. A prime example is 3 Brinscall, which is 1659 sq. feet and listed at $399,900. It's been on Zillow for 273 days with no takers. They need to take note of the price on 11 Shawe. Nearly the same amount of sq. feet for $100,000 less.



It goes like this:

Dorset in 2007: $600,000 Dorset on WCI site now $499,000 Dorsets should sell at $375,000. (unless they have uber upgrades like the recent model sold for $450,000 and have never been lived in.)

Need to dump a resell Dorset? Start at $359,900 and I bet you get a line of buyers.

Essex in 2007: $640,000 Essex on WCI site now $520,500 Essex will sell at around $405,000 - with uber upgrades and never lived in, maybe $465,000.

Need to dump a resell Essex? Start at $399,000 and you will get a line of buyers.

You pay your money, you take your chances . . . I'm just sayin . . .

Yes, activity is picking up! More so for homed priced below $375 ,000 that are priced correctly as the first time home buyer (or anyone who has not owned a home within the past 3 years) can receive a $8,000 tax credit if they buy prior to November 31,2009. This property appears to have been priced correctly, thus the enormus amount of activity & offers.

Jim,

Thanks for the info. It seems this is a hot property now. Even I jump in now, I may not be able to get it since there is little chance that the original accepted offer fails to get a loan.

Is it a sign that the marketing is getting better?

Just talked to the listing agent for 11 Shawe who stated this is indeed a bank owned property (Thanks Ldahla & Jonathan!) He said there are more offers than he can count..

Littletree, It is listed as "CTS" which means under deposit continue to show..But, yes, it is still available for showings...

At this phase of the transaction an offer has been accepted, but they have contingencies (i.e. building inspection, addittional downpayment, signing of formal contract, etc)..

More than likely there are multiple offers on the property.. I will call the listing agent in the morning and see what the scoop is..

Best Regards

Jim

Thanks, Jim. I thought it is a done deal already unless the loan is not approved which rarely happens. Any other people cannot jump in right now, is that right?

Litttree, As far as I know WCI is still the owner (they have a lot of partners with the bankruptcy) and they are still advertising via e-mails, etc to me..

Why does the bank not want to see all potential offers? As I mentioned in a previous post, the owner of record as of 7/6/09 was the buyer in 2008 , so I am not sure it is corporate owned as I did not verify, but Ldahla & Jonathan stated it is, so I assume they are correct.

I am the owner had multiple offers in that short period of time and more than likely they all bidders to come with their highest and best offer and decided from that point.. Cash is king and perhaps someone offered cash with a quick closing and no inspections.. Your guess is as good as mine.. Jim

Jim and Jonathan, thank you sooo much for your answers.

Do you guys know if WCI is still the HOA of Rivington?

One thing I don't quite understand is that the new list (98430128) was posted on July 21 and changed to contingent in 3 days on July 24. If the bank owns it, the bank just does not want to see all possible offers. I believe most people saw the post on July 22 and the offer was most probably accepted on July 23 by the bank. Does this make sense to you guys? Any insights?

Lis Pendens is a latin term for "suit pending" which was filed August of last year. It is a notice that a lawsuit has been filed involving title or claimed ownership and give notice that the property title may be in question (in this case most likely foreclosure action) It is filed in the Town Clerks Office. Yes this property was listed for sale at an asking price of $300,000 for 20 days and cancelled on 6/10/09. At that time it was listed as a "short sale" subject to 3rd party approval (mortgage most likley more than asking price and offers must be approved by the bank).

As far as who owns it now? The current mls listing shows it as the owner that bought it in 2008 but that information can sometimes be inaccurate. Danbury Tax Assessor records (which are up to date as of July 6, 2009) also shows the owner as same the buyer in 2008. Town Clerk records online as of this morning also show no other transfer. My guess is it's still a short sale now, unless ownership transfered after July 6th.

Why missing refridgerator & washer dryer? Can't answer that as they are sometimes included and other times not. They are not attached and considered personal property. Also, many times the agent may have just entered the basic info and not include things like appliances, room sizes, etc to save time.

When it was listed for sale for only 20 days the owner did not want to see all possible offers? Sure the owner did! But the bank has the final say in a short sale. Perhaps there were multiple offers and the status just not changed on mls. Perhaps there was a title issue, leins, encumbrances, etc; and they took it off the market untill all was cleared which is very common.. Many possible answers.

Best Regards, Jim

The bank owns it now, and it is a foreclosure.

What is 'Lis Pendens'? This one was listed late May/early June of this year as a short sale. And now it seems it is a regular sale with similar price as the May short sale list. Is this really a short sale, forclosure or regular sale? If it is a regular sale, why missing fridge and W/D? How could that happen. And it is gone in 3 days? When it was listed in May/June, it lasted for 20 days. The owner does not even want to see all possible offers?

Yes, It was listed for sale at an asking price of $299,970 on 7-21-09 and reported as "CTS" on 7-24-09. The property was bought in February 2008 for $427,510 and reported as being rented on mls 8/30/08 for $2,500 per month. Knew a Lis Pendens was filed in August last year, but did not see the transfer to the bank yet (perhaps has not been recorded?). On listing sheet it shows the buyer back in February of 08 as being the current owner. I am sure this unit had a lot of activity and most likely multiple offers due to the aggressive pricing..

11 Shawe was changed to contingent in 3 days???? July 21 listed, July 24 Contingent????

11 Shawe was foreclosed on and is now offered at $299,970.

It was purchased in Feb '08 for $427, 510. Ouch.

MLS #: 98430128

Received an email from Rivington saying they are having an open house this weekend.. Not sure if it is for Brokers only or the general public.. I sent my RSVP back, but have heard no reply.. I plan on being there anyway.. Jim

One of the Hampshire II (2 bedoom 2.5 bath ranch) just was reported as sold today(7/9/09) for $315,000 on the MLS and was being offered at $383,900

Ldahla,

Sales for the smaller 2 bedroom 2.5 townhomes have generally been around $350,000 since about September of 2008. I did not specifically look at the larger units, but I am pretty sure I saw a couple of three bedrooms go for around $490,000. As far as I know, there has not been a resale unit sold. If the owners want to sell, they just need to be more competitively priced to take in account what has happened to the market if they want to move. I'm pretty sure another developer that has the money will go in there and complete the project as planned, if they can get the land cheap off, price the units so they can sell and make a profit on this endeavor. I always thought that the developer was asking too much in the beginning for units in Rivington, compared to what you got elsewhere.

Hi Jonathan,

It seems the Rivington condos are selling for around $100,000-$150,000 less than they were offered in 2006-07. And that is for the new, never-lived-in units. Resale is taking a real beating. I watched numbers 3, 7 and 10 brinscall for quite a while, and the owners now have them listed at around $40-50K loss, but no takers.

WCI Communities is selling off some properties. It is conceivable they might sell off Rivington to another developer who will finish the community, but even so, there is no telling at what standard of living.

I feel for Rivington buyers. It must have looked good going in - but it's seriously painful now even for a bystander just watching . . .

I was going through the vision appraisal site a few days ago, because I have a client that might be interesting in living here because there is almost no sales data on the MLS. Needless to say, it was very surprising to see the prices that WCI took for some of the 2 bedroom 2.5 bath townhomes in the last few months. The prices are more in line with what comparable resale units have sold for. Just because a unit has $60,000 worth of upgrades, it doesn't mean it is worth that much more. I always recommend going to not on the sales office at Rivington, but all new developments, with a Realtor that will work on your behalf, because the people there are working to get the builder the most money.

Newsflash people.

"The Norfolk" 1382 sf apartments being built at Rivington now on sale for $412,500.

$298 per square foot. What are these people smoking? Whatever it is, it must be good stuff.

-John

Latiaanne, I believe 29 Mill Road is the Dorset model (2,056 square feet) which sold on 5-15-09 for $460,000 (per mls) Another Dorset model (13 Mill Road) sold on 5-27-09 (per mls) for $450,000. Both had asking prices of $499,000.. Jim

Thank you all for keeping this up to date.

Jim: I am looking into this community and wanted to confim that 29 is a Carrington model that sold for $460000. Appreciate it.

13 Mill Street closed at $450,000 (per CMLS 5/31/09) after being listed at $499,000. This is a 'Dorset' model with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage & an unfinished basement.

Ldahla, Good question! A typical buyer of course would have concerns and would want any issues cleared up prior to transfer.. Title company/attorney, etc, will require a free and clear title (if they are doing their job) But, I think these liens (and I may be wrong) are typical in any bankruptcy filing. And I see this almost everyday.. DISCLAIMER:: I am not an attorney, these are just my random personal thoughts.. Hope that covers the legal issues!.

Hi Jim - so how does that affect sales or buyers? (I know nothing about tax liens)

For example, 24 brinscall is the model home for the Essex style - the one being sold fully furnished and as is. Now it has a tax lien.

If you had a buyer who wanted to purchase it - what does that do to the transaction?

Ldahla, Most likely this is a legal process thing they are doing. Their Bankruptcy Attorney most likely told them don't pay taxes, etc until this is all worked out..

Whoa - check the danbury online records - Rivington just got slapped with 180 tax liens from the city of Danbury on all properties at Rivington they still hold. All the properties they have listed on their site now have tax liens on them.

go to the link and use the "simple" search. Type in WCI Communities in the name spot. Then put in the dates with the year in long form. If you run 05/15/2009 to 05/27/2009 you will see 186 hits. 180 of them are the tax liens.

Okay, that is down from $615,000 on appraisal. It looks like Rivington condos are averaging $100,000 - $150,000 on loss from the first list price, and resellers are cutting around $40-50K off their list prices from the purchase price.

Ouch.

Only have a quick moment, but 29 Mill Road sold for $460,000 5/18/09. Jim.

And 2 minutes ago I received notice 11Shawe is for sale for $300,000.

It was purchased 02/08 for $427,510 and was a rental for a while.

That is probably the first realistic listing price I have seen for Rivington to date. It's a short sale MLS 98422527

It must be 19-29 Mill. I wonder what model that is? I thought 19 mill and 19-29 mill were the same place. (Shows what I know)

On my way in a bit to Town Hall. You stated 19 Mill Road.. I see on the tax assessors page that this sold last on 10/16/08 for $497,000.. Again, not verified

Last sales (or perhaps just transfers) in May were

1-106 Riverington Way on 5/4/09
20-17 Mill Road on 5/4/09
19-29 Mill Road on 5/18/09

Perhaps you meant 29 Mill Road?

Will see what I can find out as time permits.. Jim