Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 I will hold 115 Raspberry in Camillus open. The price has just been reduced to $299,900 which makes it a bargain!
Not just a four-bedroom home, it also has a fifth bedroom over the garage and larger than the others, I think. A corner room, now used as a media room.
Not just one of many homes with back yards looking at other back yards, it has more privacy thanks to trees planted by the owner and the way the house was situated on the large lot.
Not just a full basement, but one finished in three ways: a kids' playroom in part, an adult bar, and the owner's office. Still room for storage, too!
Not just an eat-in family room, but also a formal dining room and formal living room (with a bay window and a view!)
Not just a pretty kitchen, but one with stainless steel appliances, stacked laundry, newer ceramic tiled floors and a gas fireplace at the far family room end.
Come and see it! ML#S285298 for photos....Take Route 5 from 695 to Ike Dixon Road across from Gilfillan's to a quick right onto Scenic Drive. Then it's about half a mile to Raspberry...up the hill and we are on the left. See you there!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Skaneateles Real Estate - The Sometime Update (May 4th - May 16th
This business is one of ebb and flow. One week the phones are fairly quiet, and the next I am working 12 hour days. The one sure thing to start the real estate juices moving is if I go away. I took a day to go down to the city and see Alex, Rachel, and Liam. I told people this ensured a house would sell, and even picked out the house that would sell this time, and sure enough it did. I spent a lot of my time standing in the park by the East River arranging showings (that get more difficult the farther away I go) and accepting offers. I plan to be away a lot this summer to stimulate business! The real estate magic even worked down there. After months of looking, they found a two-bedroom apartment just where they wanted to be and for less $$ than they had expected! (Still more than the average Central New York mortgage, but still...) Thank goodness...there's another little boy coming in August!
So currently in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service there are only 92 active listings. Of these, 23 are in the Village and 25 are waterfront ('tis the season). Two homes were re-listed, one in the Village and the other a great homestead for the right person. Seven other new ones came on, ranging in price from the mid-$100,000 to almost a million. I look at the numbers for the new listings and realize that a few years ago they would have been higher, perhaps in the 10% to 15% range. But as homes sell - and they are still selling, I expect the numbers to go up. Now is the time to buy, I tell you!
There are five groups that have taken this to heart and placed offers on homes in the past two weeks. Three are village homes, around $500,000 or so. This continues last year's trend...Another is waterfront and a third is a new build, from what I can tell.
We are up to 27, my lucky number, of sold and closed homes in the area. The latest was listed in the lower $100,000 range. Last year by this time we had 29 closings, so certainly we are on track for another great year. You know the old saying: "You snooze, you lose....buy now!"
So currently in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service there are only 92 active listings. Of these, 23 are in the Village and 25 are waterfront ('tis the season). Two homes were re-listed, one in the Village and the other a great homestead for the right person. Seven other new ones came on, ranging in price from the mid-$100,000 to almost a million. I look at the numbers for the new listings and realize that a few years ago they would have been higher, perhaps in the 10% to 15% range. But as homes sell - and they are still selling, I expect the numbers to go up. Now is the time to buy, I tell you!
There are five groups that have taken this to heart and placed offers on homes in the past two weeks. Three are village homes, around $500,000 or so. This continues last year's trend...Another is waterfront and a third is a new build, from what I can tell.
We are up to 27, my lucky number, of sold and closed homes in the area. The latest was listed in the lower $100,000 range. Last year by this time we had 29 closings, so certainly we are on track for another great year. You know the old saying: "You snooze, you lose....buy now!"
Friday, May 3, 2013
Skaneateles Real Estate - The Occasional Update (April 13th to May 3rd)
When I went through my hotsheet today I sent off yet another new listing to some clients. I thought I better do the update, before I got overwhelmed and it made less sense. I put in the criteria, and came up with 23 new listings since the last update! Oh my! But then when I went through their history I discovered that while they had a new number and in a fair number of cases a new Realtor, 13 were actually re-lists of homes that hadn't sold.
The verifiable new listings can be broken down by Village (2), Waterfront (1) and Town (7). There are now a total of 91 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. In the Village, two great houses came on - one close to a million and the other close to half a million. We have some gorgeous homes in the Village!
The Town homes range from a low of the mid-$100,000s to over half a million. Large, small, with or without acreage - we have a great selection at this time of year. Buy now and you will be able to close (most likely) by mid-July. While there's only one true new listing in waterfront you could push to take possession before the 4th of July then spend the summer enjoying it. And if not the new one - there are 23 others waiting to be sold on the lake, too. Ten Mile Point has a great beach (see below) from which to watch the lights on the lake! And it's a bargain at $250,000.
The "under contract" numbers have fallen a bit. There are only 17 waiting to close. Seven of these are new since the last update on April 12th. They range in list price from a low near $40,000 to over a million.
We now have 26 sold and closed properties year to date. Of these, two are in the Village, one is waterfront, and the remaining two are situated in the town. If you missed it, I did write out the First Twenty back in April. And, oh yes, 50 West Genesee Street is reactivated after a winter hiatus.
The verifiable new listings can be broken down by Village (2), Waterfront (1) and Town (7). There are now a total of 91 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. In the Village, two great houses came on - one close to a million and the other close to half a million. We have some gorgeous homes in the Village!
The Town homes range from a low of the mid-$100,000s to over half a million. Large, small, with or without acreage - we have a great selection at this time of year. Buy now and you will be able to close (most likely) by mid-July. While there's only one true new listing in waterfront you could push to take possession before the 4th of July then spend the summer enjoying it. And if not the new one - there are 23 others waiting to be sold on the lake, too. Ten Mile Point has a great beach (see below) from which to watch the lights on the lake! And it's a bargain at $250,000.
The "under contract" numbers have fallen a bit. There are only 17 waiting to close. Seven of these are new since the last update on April 12th. They range in list price from a low near $40,000 to over a million.
We now have 26 sold and closed properties year to date. Of these, two are in the Village, one is waterfront, and the remaining two are situated in the town. If you missed it, I did write out the First Twenty back in April. And, oh yes, 50 West Genesee Street is reactivated after a winter hiatus.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Bob and Decorative Painting
My daring and creative husband, Bob, just spent the last four days at a seminar on decorative painting. While this is his specialty, there's always more to learn. Years ago he took a course in South Carolina to learn the art of wood-graining. There's a steel staircase in Crouse Hall on the Syracuse University campus that looks like wood. You wouldn't know which one, because it looks like every other wooden staircase.
When he saw a course offered by Golden Paints to be taught by the world-renowned painter, Pierre Finkelstein, he immediately signed up. The great news was that Golden Paints, the company hosting the seminar, is in New Berlin, about 80 miles away from our home. It turned out he was one of the closest students - others flew in from all over the country to take the class.
They worked solid for three days learning the techniques, about the brushes (badger hair), and using the superb paints manufactured and sold by the decades-old company. Go to http://GoldenPaints.com and read the history. It's a remarkable company, brand, and force in the artistic community. They have artists in residence, as well as people who make the paints that go all over the world. The color charts are like none you have ever seen before, as well as the colors they offer. The iridescents are my favorite.
Finkelstein and his assistants are based in Manhattan, but travel in order to teach. A working painter, his blog is fascinating. One minute at the Louvre, the next in an office space, then on to some other destination. Bob and 15 others were privileged to work with him. Open http://PierreFinkelstein.com to learn more about him and read his Blog for the Craft of Decorative Painting.
I have seen Bob's work and marveled at it now for years. I am glad he went. And of course, since we are all so connected, a woman he met at Golden Paints turned out to be the sister of a woman who had bought a house in Skaneateles through me years and years ago. And a fellow painter who had come up from Texas grew up on the road to the north of us at the lake... Small world....
Shameless plug alert: If you are looking for a painter who can take an old metal door and make it look like wood, or a column and make it appear to be marble, or massive stones in a church....find me and I will put you in touch with Bob. Or just call Purcell's or Sherwin Williams and ask for Bob, the decorative and faux painter.
When he saw a course offered by Golden Paints to be taught by the world-renowned painter, Pierre Finkelstein, he immediately signed up. The great news was that Golden Paints, the company hosting the seminar, is in New Berlin, about 80 miles away from our home. It turned out he was one of the closest students - others flew in from all over the country to take the class.
They worked solid for three days learning the techniques, about the brushes (badger hair), and using the superb paints manufactured and sold by the decades-old company. Go to http://GoldenPaints.com and read the history. It's a remarkable company, brand, and force in the artistic community. They have artists in residence, as well as people who make the paints that go all over the world. The color charts are like none you have ever seen before, as well as the colors they offer. The iridescents are my favorite.
Finkelstein and his assistants are based in Manhattan, but travel in order to teach. A working painter, his blog is fascinating. One minute at the Louvre, the next in an office space, then on to some other destination. Bob and 15 others were privileged to work with him. Open http://PierreFinkelstein.com to learn more about him and read his Blog for the Craft of Decorative Painting.
I have seen Bob's work and marveled at it now for years. I am glad he went. And of course, since we are all so connected, a woman he met at Golden Paints turned out to be the sister of a woman who had bought a house in Skaneateles through me years and years ago. And a fellow painter who had come up from Texas grew up on the road to the north of us at the lake... Small world....
Shameless plug alert: If you are looking for a painter who can take an old metal door and make it look like wood, or a column and make it appear to be marble, or massive stones in a church....find me and I will put you in touch with Bob. Or just call Purcell's or Sherwin Williams and ask for Bob, the decorative and faux painter.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Continuing Education - Environmental Issues
On the 23rd, I took another course: Environmental Issues with Steve Selig. His class was contact-packed - I took five pages of notes and we rolled through short breaks and lunch, frankly, I thought, eager to get back to learning what he had to teach. A complex person - attorney, environmental activist, home inspector and remediation expert, knowledgeable in what seemed like everything related to the environment.
The areas he covered were mold, radon, carbon monoxide, water, buried oil tanks,lead, asbestos, and septic systems. The most amount of time was spent on mold - what it is, what the dangers are, and why it's become a leading concern in the real estate field, both with new construction and resale. The short video he played was terrifying. A family had neurological damage from living in a house - huge and expensive - that would never be able to be re-habbed. The brain damage in the father and son was permanent also.
Very simply put, mold grows where the humidity is above 70%. Companies that test for mold must put it under the microscope - you can't tell just by looking at it. If the mold in the house is confined to under a 10 square foot area, then the homeowner can clean it. If it is about 100 sf then it is considered a "biohazard" and must have mitigation from certified and licensed remediation specialists.
Carbon monoxide poisoning sends 20,000 people to the ER every year. Of these, 500 die of it. Keep everything that generates CO away from the house - meaning generators and yes, the family car. Starting a car in the garage or even the driveway and leaving it running is not a good idea.
Buried oil tanks have a 16 year life span. In Massachusetts, all buried oil tanks must come out of the ground. Even if the tank is no longer filled or used, it should come out of the ground within a year to keep it from possibly polluting the soil.
Lead. The #1 source of lead pollution in the U.S. is batteries in landfills. Steve went over the guidelines for painting and remodeling when lead is present.
There is no simple test for asbestos. It's been known to be a problem since 1884 - but not until the 1920s was it acknowledged. It is actually a mineral - very strong, impervious and excellent for strengthening building materials.
Septic systems need to be pumped every one to five years. The average life of the system is 20 years. If you sell a home in Massachusetts, you must bring the septic system into code for that year.
Fascinating - all of it. I made notes to tell Bob some of the things we need to do around our house, including putting a CO detector in the apartment for when Rachel and Alex come to visit. We also need to pull our old buried oil tank now that we've stopped using it...I've known that, but now it's a priority. Continuing ed - thank you! I learn a lot for my business, and also for myself.
The areas he covered were mold, radon, carbon monoxide, water, buried oil tanks,lead, asbestos, and septic systems. The most amount of time was spent on mold - what it is, what the dangers are, and why it's become a leading concern in the real estate field, both with new construction and resale. The short video he played was terrifying. A family had neurological damage from living in a house - huge and expensive - that would never be able to be re-habbed. The brain damage in the father and son was permanent also.
Very simply put, mold grows where the humidity is above 70%. Companies that test for mold must put it under the microscope - you can't tell just by looking at it. If the mold in the house is confined to under a 10 square foot area, then the homeowner can clean it. If it is about 100 sf then it is considered a "biohazard" and must have mitigation from certified and licensed remediation specialists.
Carbon monoxide poisoning sends 20,000 people to the ER every year. Of these, 500 die of it. Keep everything that generates CO away from the house - meaning generators and yes, the family car. Starting a car in the garage or even the driveway and leaving it running is not a good idea.
Buried oil tanks have a 16 year life span. In Massachusetts, all buried oil tanks must come out of the ground. Even if the tank is no longer filled or used, it should come out of the ground within a year to keep it from possibly polluting the soil.
Lead. The #1 source of lead pollution in the U.S. is batteries in landfills. Steve went over the guidelines for painting and remodeling when lead is present.
There is no simple test for asbestos. It's been known to be a problem since 1884 - but not until the 1920s was it acknowledged. It is actually a mineral - very strong, impervious and excellent for strengthening building materials.
Septic systems need to be pumped every one to five years. The average life of the system is 20 years. If you sell a home in Massachusetts, you must bring the septic system into code for that year.
Fascinating - all of it. I made notes to tell Bob some of the things we need to do around our house, including putting a CO detector in the apartment for when Rachel and Alex come to visit. We also need to pull our old buried oil tank now that we've stopped using it...I've known that, but now it's a priority. Continuing ed - thank you! I learn a lot for my business, and also for myself.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Julia
I saw again one of my favorite movies, Julia, last night. It was made in 1977 and stars Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jason Robards. Fonda plays Lillian Hellman to Robards' Dashiell Hammett. Redgrave is lovely as Hellman's friend Julia. Maximillian Schell and Meryl Streep (her first film part) have small roles.
Great, true story. Everything moves back and forth through time. Lillian and Julia are young school friends, Julia quite wealthy in terms of money but with a paucity of family life. Lillian is taken with her, and reveres her free spirit and brilliance. It's 1934 when the film opens, and Lillian is trying to complete her first play. Julia is in medical school in Cambridge, looking forward to possibly working with Freud. A good story, of friendship and love, war and peace, action and inaction.
What I love about it also, as I did when I first saw it, are the settings. Gorgeously filmed, it takes you from a perfect Cape Cod cabin - weathered shingles, privacy, messy but comfortable interior - to a veritable castle just outside NYC where Julia and her very staid grandparents' reside at times. The room in which the girls play word games and laugh and talk about the future is a child's dream of a bedroom, before Pottery Barn came along.
This is contrasted by the hell that was overtaking Europe at that time. Lillian goes to write in London, then to Austria - the grayness and damp is palpable. Scenes, sets - all of which make the movie come alive. The opening and ending - an old woman sitting in a boat (Lillian Hellman herself, actually) - is a memorable portrait.
I take from this how tied we are to where we are. The Hellman and Hammett of the Cape are vastly different from the restaurants of NYC or Parisian hotels. But each as beautiful in their own way.
Great, true story. Everything moves back and forth through time. Lillian and Julia are young school friends, Julia quite wealthy in terms of money but with a paucity of family life. Lillian is taken with her, and reveres her free spirit and brilliance. It's 1934 when the film opens, and Lillian is trying to complete her first play. Julia is in medical school in Cambridge, looking forward to possibly working with Freud. A good story, of friendship and love, war and peace, action and inaction.
What I love about it also, as I did when I first saw it, are the settings. Gorgeously filmed, it takes you from a perfect Cape Cod cabin - weathered shingles, privacy, messy but comfortable interior - to a veritable castle just outside NYC where Julia and her very staid grandparents' reside at times. The room in which the girls play word games and laugh and talk about the future is a child's dream of a bedroom, before Pottery Barn came along.
This is contrasted by the hell that was overtaking Europe at that time. Lillian goes to write in London, then to Austria - the grayness and damp is palpable. Scenes, sets - all of which make the movie come alive. The opening and ending - an old woman sitting in a boat (Lillian Hellman herself, actually) - is a memorable portrait.
I take from this how tied we are to where we are. The Hellman and Hammett of the Cape are vastly different from the restaurants of NYC or Parisian hotels. But each as beautiful in their own way.
Friday, April 26, 2013
New Construction - Continuing Education
Every two years we have to take classes to continue our license. I generally end up with about 25 hours. I've taken two courses recently - my license is up for renewal in August - and I want to share some of what I learned.
First of all, I like going to class, even if it is all the way up to Taft Road in North Syracuse, because I get a chance to see people out of our ordinary sphere. Get fresh perspectives, or actually meet people with whom I've spoken but never encountered. I could take classes online for the credits, but sitting at a computer all day is not what I want to do. So off I go...
We had about 20 people in class for "Representing Buyers for New Construction." The instructor, John J. Waugh, enjoyed the back and forth of the class and encouraged it. A lot was general talk, and answering questions as they came up. As I look over my notes I think it best to simply list facts I thought interesting or relevant.
First of all, I like going to class, even if it is all the way up to Taft Road in North Syracuse, because I get a chance to see people out of our ordinary sphere. Get fresh perspectives, or actually meet people with whom I've spoken but never encountered. I could take classes online for the credits, but sitting at a computer all day is not what I want to do. So off I go...
We had about 20 people in class for "Representing Buyers for New Construction." The instructor, John J. Waugh, enjoyed the back and forth of the class and encouraged it. A lot was general talk, and answering questions as they came up. As I look over my notes I think it best to simply list facts I thought interesting or relevant.
- 90% of all the homes built by buyers are not represented by a real estate agent.
- Because of this, according to the statistics cited, homes will cost 20% more than if the buyer had been represented.
- There are an average of 1,784 decisions to be made when building.
- Some of the best builders are in the Northeast.
- Marvin Windows are the most energy efficient.
- Cold air returns for a forced air furnace should be in every room.
- Gutters are important: they keep water from the foundation and save the roof.
- The cost is only about $800 for a 2,600 square foot house.
I have been representing buyers who build with builders most of my career. I don't know a great deal about building, but I have found that I do have value in the process. I think every agent who takes the time to be involved does. If nothing else, agents have another set of eyes to look at plans critically, ask questions,
and watch as the process unfolds. While some Realtors felt they were shoved aside, the builders I have known are open to my involvement in the process.
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