A call came in last week from a homeowner asking me to come and see his house, since he was ready to sell it and wanted me to market it for him. The address was on a prestigious street in Lawrence, and when I started looking up information on the property before meeting with this gentleman, I saw that the house sat on a full acre with a beautiful in-ground pool, exquisitely sculpted landscaping, and was privately set back from the street. I continued to check out the outside features of this home and realized that it was all brick with a Spanish tile roof and an attached two-car garage.
I quickly called to make an appointment to go over and see the rest of this house with the already impressive exterior, anxious to see what the inside looked like, and of course what the homeowner was hoping to realize in price from the selling of his home.
Upon arrival I first noted the 9-foot-high custom wood front door with stained glass sidelights on either side, and granite front porch and steps. I rang the bell excited by the already lovely appearance presented to me by peripheral views from the door to the street—so inviting—and could not wait to see what awaited me inside.
The homeowner welcomed me into a center hall with cathedral ceilings and beautifully arched doorways leading on one side to a massive living room with mahogany floors and a large marble fireplace. On the other side stood a dining room running 40 feet to a butler’s pantry, which then continued into a magnificent eat-in kitchen with extensive custom floor-to-ceiling cabinets and granite counters, featuring milchig and fleishig on each end of the kitchen and a pareve island and sink with baking counter and cabinets in the center next to a matching granite kitchen table with seating for ten.
I was thinking to myself, “This is just the kind of home I would have loved,” as I followed the homeowner on his presentation of his home. Next to the kitchen was a huge den with another fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the beautiful landscaping. There was a slightly smaller den next door with French doors opening back into the living room, rounding out the first floor. But wait, where was the bathroom or powder room for the first floor, I wondered. Low and behold, back into the center hall we went where two powder rooms stood side by side off to an alcove with the walk-in coat closet alongside.
Upstairs we went for a view of the 5 bedrooms—all master bedroom size with walk-in closets in each and a full bathroom attached to each bedroom. The master suite boasted an overlarge room with a sitting room next to it, his and hers bathrooms with stall showers and Jacuzzis, and double walk-in closets off to the side of each one, as well as a large private terrace overlooking the expansive property with lovely chaises laid out for relaxing.
In the hallway connecting the bedroom was a large laundry room with an ironing room as well as two walk-in closets for linens along the back wall.
I obviously was getting more excited about this beautiful home with every new door that the homeowner opened for me, and then he suggested we go downstairs to see the finished basement and round out the tour.
Down in the basement he had created a huge entertainment and movie viewing room with bucket seats, a mini kitchen with a full refrigerator featuring a variety of sodas and different beverages and cabinets loaded with snacks. The movie screen took up the entire front room wall from floor to ceiling and from side to side. The seating, which at the moment seemed to be set up permanently for at least 25 luxurious seats, could easily fit twice that amount with no problem viewing the screen.
Finally, I could not take it anymore and said to the seller, “This is all magnificent; how much are you looking to sell this exquisite home for?”
The seller looked at me and said, “I want $550,000, which seems to be the amount that everyone wants to pay.”
I looked at him and screamed.
And then I woke up.
It just goes to show that you have to dream to get this kind of house for that kind of money!
Gmar chatima tovah! n
Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a licensed real-estate broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) and a licensed N.Y.S. loan officer (FM Home Loans) with over 20 years of experience offering full-service residential, commercial, and management real-estate services as well as mortgage services. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or via her website, www.AVCrealty.com. Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to anessa@AVCrealty.com. Read more of Anessa Cohen’s articles at 5TJT.com.
