Real LI

Two weeks ago, something happened to John Marquis from Coach Realtors, something he's never experienced in his 25 years as an agent.

He was at a closing in which everyone was waiting for the lender's attorney. An hour later, they reached the lender's attorney.

"We're told the closing had been canceled by the lender," Marquis said. "The lender decided to change the rules and wanted more down payment from the buyer."

The lender's representative said a message had been left for the buyer's attorney, but no one in the office said they had gotten it, Marquis said. The lender was California-based IndyMac, which this week announced it would lay off 3,800 of its 7,200 employees and sell about 60 of its 150 retail loan offices.

All this comes as Long Island's and Queens' median closing price rebounded in June from May's four-year low, as Newsday reports on the data from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

At the same time, RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosures, said that June's foreclosure-related filings fell 3 percent nationwide but is still a 53 percent increase from a year ago, today's Newsday shows.

If your life is a bit of a soap opera, you may want to check out this Garden City mansion that’s on the market for $6.1 million, listed with Kathleen Thornton of Coach Realtors. The dramatic 14-room, cedar shingle Colonial, built in 1995, sits on 1.66 acres near the Garden City Golf Club. Amenities include a guest cottage, indoor lap pool, and putting green. The property is within walking distance to the village. The taxes are $42,864.61 per year.

Public records show that the mansion is just across the road from the home of actress Susan Lucci, Emmy-winning star of ABC’s All My Children. Lucci, who plays Erika Kane, lives in a 11-room, 7.5-bath 1929 Colonial. She also owns a home on Dune Road in Quogue with husband, Helmut Huber.

Northport-based Coach Realtors will add 30 agents with the acquisition of Village Homes and Rockville Realty, both in Rockville Centre. Read more here.

This used to be considered "workforce housing" back in the day: The Garden City Victorian was one of the homes entrepreneur Alexander Turney Stewart had built as rental housing for his employees. This one was built in 1878, two years after Stewart's death. The house, which has seven bedrooms, three baths and 2.5 half-baths, contains 5,500 to 6,000 square feet, says Ryan Donnelly, listing agent for Coach Realtors Fennessy Associates in Garden City. "It's really a gorgeous and stunning house, he says. The current owner has been renovating the house since he moved in seven years ago. "It's been a labor of love," says Donnelly. The asking price is $1,799 million.