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The house at 108 Washington Rd. in Scotia sold for nearly $5,000 more than its $159,800 asking price. See gallery. (Robert Kristel/ Production House Studios)The house at 108 Washington Rd. in Scotia sold for nearly $5,000 more than its $159,800 asking price. See gallery. (Robert Kristel/ Production House Studios)
We take you inside a home for sale every week in these Spaces pages. A popular feature with devoted readers, House of the Week is a snapshot of what’s available from the vast array of choices provided by the rich housing stock in the Capital Region. It’s a showcase of architectural styles, building materials and tastes. We try to show you all the corners of the market, from the Hilltowns to the Adirondacks. We have historic, modern, and contemporary, big and small houses, urban and rural settings. And let’s be honest. We’re nosy, and we want to see how our neighbors are decorating their interiors.
Three houses featured in 2018 sold for more than the asking price at the time they were House of the Week: 108 Washington Road, Scotia, a modest but lovely house with three bedrooms, one full bathroom and a half-bath, was listed at $159,800 but sold for $164,000. It’s less than 1,500 square feet.
In Saratoga County and at the other end of the market, 10 Stony Brook Drive was listed at $897,750 but closed at $900,000. A big Colonial built in 2002, the house has five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms along with a huge, double-sided stone fireplace, a finished, walk-out basement, a screened porch and a self-cleaning saltwater pool and hot tub. The log cabin at 104 Riley Cove Road, on Saratoga Lake, also sold for above asking after some negotiations to include the dock, according to listing agent Anthony Gagliardi of the Miranda Real Estate Group. A previous owner demolished a camp on the lot to built the four-bedroom house. Listed at $700,000, the deal closed at $710,000.
More common, of course, are sales that come in at less than the asking price. The gorgeous brick Tudor at 301 Loudon Road is finally under contract and a sale is expected to close in January. Listed at $800,000 when it was House of the Week in January, it’s selling for $599,900 – a $200,100 price drop.
Other big price drops include the one on 125 Putnam Road, Stillwater, a cool reproduction house that sold for $760,000. It was listed for $849,000 — an $89,000 difference. A unique Niskayuna house at 12 Crimson Oak Court also saw a precipitous price drop between appearing as House of the Week and closing. Once priced at $589,900, it sold for $465,000, 10 months later.
I chose two houses this year listed at more than $1 million. They are still on the market. 5 Cherry Tree Lane, Saratoga Springs, was $1.15 million in January; now it’s listed at $1,099,000 — a $51,000 price cut. The House of the Week from Kinderhook this year, a jaw-dropping Second Empire at 20 Broad St., was $1.6 million in June. It’s now $1.49 million and still looking for a new owner.
Although I try to represent the depth and breadth of the housing stock on the market and not my personal taste, I do have favorites. 6 Terrace Place, Troy, was one of those. A Victorian with a turret, it still managed not to be fussy. Listed at $229,900 in March, it sold for $220,000 in July — a steal, in my opinion. 855 Avon Crest Boulevard, Niskayuna is a very cool modern contemporary house built in 1968. I described it in September as a time capsule from another era, and I hope the new owners maintain the look. Listed at $329,900, it closed this month for $275,000. Finally, 27 North St. in Schenectady, which appears to have renters in it now, was a dramatic before-and-after story in the city’s Stockade neighborhood. The owners rescued this Italianate style home and made renovations without sacrificing character.
For more houses, more pictures, more peeks inside your neighbors’ living rooms, go to blog.timesunion.com/realestate/.
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