Skaneateles Real Estate News

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2012-02-01T10:23:00.000-05:00

As the rain comes down and before I leave for a closing, I just want to delve right into the update. There are currently 83 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Eighty-three! I went back and checked other years to see if this is as remarkable as it sounded. At the end of January there were well over 100 active listings each of the last three years. This means a drop in the range of 20%. We are almost at that point of coming into town and having very few choices - so you might as well buy them now before they are sold to someone else.

Of these 83 listings, 26 are in the Village and 21 are waterfront. The median list price is $374,000. Two new listings came on in the past week, one a re-list with a slight reduction, and the other a new listing in the Jordan-Elbridge school district, priced under $100,000.

There are 15 homes marked contingent or under contract. Three are new, and all are within the confines of the Village. There are no new pending properties, and the total number of pending homes is only three.

We now have 5 sold and closed homes. The last one was my listing on East Lake Road - such a very pretty home! The people saw it at the first and only open house and fairly soon thereafter put in an offer. The key was pricing and condition - and this lovely home had both!

I thought that 5 closed sales sounded quite good, so I went back and looked. Sure enough, between 2009 and 2011 in January there was a total of 5 homes spread out over the three years. Between the fewer listings and the increased sales, I think we are going to have a great year!

Promotional Items

2012-01-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

So, the key to success in most sales careers has to do with keeping your name or brand in front of everyone. I prefer to think it has more to do with service, but passing the word that service and communication are key returns to the idea of names and faces in front of everyone. After 10 years in real estate, I can't call everyone so I send out post cards of listings and the occasional promotional item.

I think it all came home to me that this is important when I went to an SU game recently. I ran into a friend who introduced me as "This is the woman who is on my refrigerator." Her friend instantly lit up with recognition.

I have received promotional items myself along the way. Carol Alger, a loan officer who is now with Homestead Financial (http://www.homesteadfinancial.net/) has been with me from the start, probably one of the very few professionals who has been. She gives great service, communicates with me quickly and easily via e-mail, and I can reach her when I need her. The feedback from clients is also positive - if it weren't, I would not recommend her. But she also gives out promotional items. When she switched from MetLife I asked her if they would continue to come, because they are fun.

So I still have the old ones. The MetLife apron is red, so it works over the winter months for both Christmas and Valentine's Day. I have on the refirgerator a Snoopy embellished list of emotions, with a marker to show how I am feeling each day. I got stuck on ecstatic when Liam was born last July and can't seem to pull myself off of that. Which is fine!

This morning I finished sending out calendars, a bit late, but I do want to connect and be on more refrigerators. Next week I will send out the new Parcell Woods lots post cards. I think these are the most important, and not necessarily to promote me, but to keep my clients (and friends) informed about new properties.

There is something else that goes along with mailings, whether they are multi-steps like the calendars, or single moments of attaching address labels. Sitting at the kitchen table today I think about each and every person as I put on the mailing label. This is an old method / teaching strategy from my days in Spring Hill School in Saratoga (http://waldorfsaratoga.org/). Teachers were encouraged to bring to mind their students, one at a time, as they fell asleep. This helped to focus on the individuality of each child and solve or prevent problems. As I sat at the table today, I thought of that exercise. It applies to real estate too.

Time and Again

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend in Manhattan, visiting Alex, Rachel and Liam. It was a truly lovely - if brief - time away. We made it down there in four hours and twenty minutes, and that included two stops. I never would have believed it possible until I started making the trek through Scranton. As long as there is no George Washington Bridge or FDR tie-up we can do it. We also found a parking spot just a few doors from their building.

I have come to really love the City. I love the energy, the way it really doesn't seem to sleep, the safety of it. I can walk and walk, we are close to parks on either side, there are dogs and kids galore to watch. We ventured out with Liam, now six months old, to a sit-down restaurant, stroller and all. Candlelight, great Vietnamese food, good wine and beer, close to their building....and there were two other little kids at the next table. It was all fine and the wait staff accommodated everyone.

I looked at the City slightly differently this time. I've been reading Time and Again, by Jack Finney, for the second time. I read it years earlier when I was in Seattle, and remembered it fondly. When it was reissued this past year I bought it and also gave a copy of it to Alex and Rachel. Not to give too much away, it is a story that features the NYC of 1882, at the end of January that year.

The details are simply delicious, things I had not known or thought about. There's a scene in which it has snowed a great deal, and everyone has taken the opportunity to bring out their horse-drawn sleighs. Finney evokes this beautifully - the sounds and sights of all those horses and bells in the night air. The protagonist stays at The Dakota, famous in part now due to John Lennon, but when this was published in 1970 it was a star among the Manhattan buildings in its own right. Across the street in Central Park, in 1882, were farms! (For a great photo of it, and a description, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dakota)

There was no snow this weekend, and I didn't make it down to The Dakota as I will some day. The wind blew off the East River and froze us, but the parks were filled with kids on a Saturday afternoon in the sun. So different from Finney's descriptions - but still the same fascinating city.

The Last 10 in 2011

2012-01-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

So here they are, the last 10 homes that closed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service in 2011. This brings the total to 70 homes. It WILL get better in 2012 - I know it!

In no particular order:

181 Hemlock Hollow - $159,750

3859 Highland Avenue - $245,000

9 Wicklow Drive - $309,000

2989 East Lake Road - $1,375,000

1698 Amerman Road - $225,000

2424 West Lake Road - $215,000

48 West Genesee Street - $350,000

14 State Street - $300,000

61 State Street Road - $285,000

25 Leitch Avenue - $530,000

On to a better year!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

I am learning to navigate through the new year with all my resolutions mostly in place. I still find that I am drawn to doing more than needs to be done and feeling rushed, at least real estate-wise. I rearrange my own schedule - walks, blogging time, friend-time - to accommodate people because I never want to feel the guilt about someone missing out. But then other things don't get done, things that need to be done and things I enjoy, like this blog, and I feel guilty anyway! I know it is all part of living, and subject to "monitor and adjust." Recognizing the issue is the first step towards solution.

Currently there are ONLY (and I do mean ONLY!) 91 active homes in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 29 are in the Village, and 22 are waterfront. I say ONLY because we have been as high as 150 as recently as the past six months. And the new ones that have come on - four in the last week - are all re-lists of homes that have been on the market before. Three of these have been reduced - one has been increased in price. There are no new listings except these.

There are new contingent properties, bringing the total to 5. One is waterfront and the other is Village - great! There is nothing new in the Under contract or Pending categories, which add up to 11 homes.

We added another sold property, a gorgeous home in the Skaneateles School District and listed as Skaneateles, although really in the Town of Sennett. That brings to four the number of closings for 2011 - already! And I know another one that will show up closed within the week.

So go out there and see these few homes. It's almost down to the good old days of showing five homes and saying "Pick one - it may not be here tomorrow!"

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2012-01-18T16:59:00.000-05:00

I feel so comfortable at this desk. I will probably go back into the office this evening, but I want to get the update done here, with a cup of tea and a dog at my feet. I showed a house this afternoon that froze me totally. Gorgeous house (falling in love with the potential) but colder than the outside temperature of 20 degrees, I swear! I needed to warm up!

Currently there are only 96 single family homes listed as active in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 31 are in the Village and 22 are considered to be waterfront. Three properties came back on the market this week, two in the village and (brrrrr) a lovely waterfront home. The median list price of all these homes is $325,000. The lowest is $89,900 (and the only one under $100,000) and the highest is $3,095,000.

There are only three homes marked contingent, but one of them is new - a fine home in the town which I showed repeatedly to no avail. Alack and alas! Someone is getting a very pretty home! In the under contract, do not show - may I just refer to it as "U" please? - category there are seven homes listed. In the pending column are five. I can assure you the pended homes would like to become "SOLD!" As would their buyers, sellers, attorneys and agents....probably also the loan officers who get tired of hearing from the buyers, sellers...etc.

We still have only three homes sold this year - see the previous paragraph please!

The Year that Was

2012-01-17T17:43:00.000-05:00

I got so involved in the statistics that my tea got cold and the sun went down! Fascinating.

This is only a first part of other blogs (or blog) about the area and what happened in 2011 real estate-wise. I just need to feed the dog, figure out dinner, and get some other work done. If I stay with the multiple listing service none of this will happen.

So! In Skaneateles in 2011 we sold and closed 70 homes. Of these, 20 were in the village and 15 were waterfront. This compares with previous years:
              2010     75 closed       13 village        17 waterfront
              2009     81                      n/a             18
              2008     66                      n/a             20
("Village" as a category was only begun in 2010)

Then I got into the fun stuff. Thanks to JT, I decided to look at median prices, because I know that despite the numbers there was at least the sense of a turn-around.

Going the other way....(for dramatic effect...) Median list price is of homes that closed...

                   2008           $415,000 median list price               $400,000   median sale price

                   2009           $335,000 median list price               $335,000   median sale price

                   2010           $250,000 median list price               $230,000   median sale price

                   2011           $299,000 median list price               $290,000 median sale price

So we are moving up, at least as far as the sale prices go which is a very welcome sign! And if you look at the 2008 figure, that was the year with the most waterfront homes having closed amid the fewest overall closings - a certain influence on the median.

Triskadekaphobic I am Not!

2012-01-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

However, after a few hours this morning I was beginning to wonder....

I had made plans with an old friend to meet for lunch at the Hotel Clarence (http://www.hotelclarence.com/) in Seneca Falls, about halfway between her home in East Bloomfield and the Skaneateles RE/MAX office. The purpose was to re-connect, but also to celebrate her birthday. Of course the snow changed everything, and we decided to postpone our lunch.

But I grew up in snow, so to me playing in it was welcome. Bob has a flu thing going for the third day, so I trudged out with Boo for the early morning...well, trudge. Not cold enough for skis, and I wasn't ready for snowshoes. This was just exploratory.

We went up to the fields behind our property and the wind almost took us both away. Boo loved it, running circles while I slid on the mud and wet leaves under the snow coming down the trail. We got to an area we call The Arboretum where we've planted a few trees over the years, a cleared out section in the middle of our acreage. Bob has planted and cleared, I should say. I am the official admirer. This is also where Boo waits to get his treat and a lead put on so he doesn't invade the neighbor's yard on the way back home.

While Boo waited, I noticed that one of the cages surrounding a sapling had fallen over. The sapling (probably less than that) was one of his prized pawpaws. (If you don't know pawpaws, you are not alone...unless you lived in southeastern Ohio or know the kids' jingle..."Picking up pawpaws, Put them in your pocket, Save them for a rainy day..." you may never have heard of pawpaws.) So I picked up the cage - very carefully - and the top two-thirds snapped. I felt so badly!

I 'fessed up when we got to the house. Bob thought and thought, told me it was okay, then dressed in his snowsuit and with Boo went out to investigate. He bound the poor little thing up with red wire, covered the cage with an old t-shirt, and came back home. To find out that I had turned the pellet stove down and it had gone out. Such an awful start to Friday the 13th!

It got better from there. Not that the three properties I am waiting to close got a scheduled closing date, or anything. But we settled in to a quiet day of "Words with Friends" (me) and updating his iPod (Bob). The next Friday the 13th I won't take as lightly! Or make plans!

Enjoy the snow! And if you want more information check out the Pawpaw Festival near one of my alma maters, Ohio University in Athens: http://www.ohiopawpawfest.com/ or www.fred.net/kathy/pawpaws.html for more general information.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2012-01-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

It feels good to be writing more. This weekly blog becomes one of the things I do, rather than a "to do" to be remembered. As I sit here sipping my tea, waiting for the game to start, I can just roll this off the keyboard. Delightful! And this way I stay in touch with the all-important statistics.

There are currently 99 single family homes actively listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 30 are in the village and 21 are waterfront.

Two new listings came on this past week - one is a re-list in the village with a change of price and a change of agent and brokerage. The second is another village listing in the low $200,000.

There are only three properties marked contingent now, none of which are new. Eight are listed under contingent but do not show - the one new one is new construction (hmmm...that could be worded better). Three are pended (and one of mine will be once I finish this.)

The great news is that we have three homes listed as having sold and closed in the new year! One has lake rights and closed in the high $200,000 range. Another is right on the water (this is January, remember!) and almost sold for $500,000. The third is new construction in the town - mid-$400,000.

Nothing more has appeared from last year, so some time soon I will wrap up the year with the final closings and an analysis. But now it's time for Syracuse basketball - Go Orange!

De-cluttering 101

2012-01-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday evening I attended a workshop, I think you could call it, on de-cluttering held at the Onondaga Free Library on Onondaga Hill. There was a confusion about time - the paper said one time and the presenter had another - so I missed a little bit at the beginning. But I found it very interesting, and just when you think you can't learn more there I was scribbling notes to myself.

The presenter and owner of the company, Lisa DeVeau, seemed to hold everyone's attention for the full 90 minutes. There were probably 35 people in attendance, of which four were men. Most likely everyone had homes that needed cleaning out, or their parents did. One person asked about a definition of clutter vs. hoarding. Good question - like any addiction it seems to be if it interferes with your life, then it is hoarding. More my definition....I have to admit my mind rambled to a client I have whose parents are definitely hoarders.

Back to de-cluttering. There were a lot of questions she asked the group: "Do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you?" "Does the stuff give you energy or take it away?" "Would an item be difficult to replace or get again?" I own my stuff, I know that, but I also know that it depletes me.

For example. One of Lisa's methods for clearing out is to walk in a room and starting on the left, make a sweep. Make piles - DUMP, Give away, Store, NOT SURE, Not at this time....etc. Start left and work right, never leaving the room until your time is up for that day. Fine, I thought, I'll start in the sitting room of the in-law apartment and begin my sweep. Not a big deal, a way to break it all down.... I walked in, turned on the lights, looked left - and there was the buffet I had used as a desk for a few years, stuffed with so much that I had to stop using it. I turned off the lights and left the room. Maybe another day.

(She also is doing a workshop entitled "Overcoming Procrastination" on Wednesday, January 18th at 6:00 PM in North Syracuse. She knows her clientele!)

The company is called "Completely Organized" and their website is http://www.completelyorganized.com/. They are local - Manlius - and work in three main areas: Business, Residential, and also Senior Services. Under the latter they list managing moves, from planning to setting up new homes. I can see where that might be a godsend for a family. When my mother moved out of her home after 58 years she worked weekly with a friend to make the move. They worked for six months - and the closets were still full. Now our basement is, but that's another story.

Just as many of my clients get help with packing when they move and are assisted by relocation, I can see how this service would work well for people with houses to de-clutter and a mandatory timeframe in which to do it.

Freaky Stuff

2012-01-10T10:41:00.000-05:00

Topic #1 Okay, so I am finally having difficulty with the lack of snow. It is simply not right! I hear last night on the news that even if we come in with one of the lowest snow totals of all-time, we still will have at least three to five feet of snow before this "winter" is over. That's a lot of snow, especially if you cram it into the next two months - because March 15th is about it for major snow. For those of us who were here - there was the mid-March snowstorm of 1993 that dumped several feet on the area - then melted away within two weeks. As I write, it is sort of raining snow.....Sigh.

Topic #2 We must have been watching too many Twilight Zones from the New Year's marathon. I went out to get the paper before 7:00 AM yesterday and there in the northwestern sky was a bright light, hidden by clouds. My first thought was that it was the sun - but wait! That rises in the east, and I see it every day! Slowly the moon revealed itself and I breathed easier. Gorgeous moon, by the way!

Topic #3 Saturday night we went to see The Amazing Kreskin (his real name, changed officially some years back) at the Auburn Public Theater. He has had a career as a mentalist, and frankly I have no idea how he does it and yes, we were amazed. I have to believe it is some sort of skill-set that he was born with, like the autistic people who can play by ear or remember dates. But he is the total package - at 76 he alluded to having jogged an hour that day between shows. His performance went on for two and a half hours without intermission to a filled auditorium. I honestly believe he has the ability to read minds!

Okay - back to work....but writing is refreshing!
One other thing, in case I forget.....Joe Messina, an unemployed truck driver from Auburn, is competing on The Biggest Loser which airs Tuesdays at 8:00 (like tonight) on NBC. He weights 360 pounds and wants to lose half his size, plus has the goal of getting on rides at Darien Lake. (See http://www.syracuse.com/ for more information) Go Joe!

An All-Around Fine Day!

2012-01-06T18:10:00.000-05:00

This is the first time I have started a blog this year without a subject in mind. I didn't write yesterday because I went to a de-cluttering class at Onondaga Free Library in the evening. More on that another day....very interesting and helpful! But it deserves a well-thought out blog of its own.

Today was simply a good real estate day. I showed houses in the morning and did something I have negver done before. We went to the house and as I was trying to get in my buyer said "Oh look, they have a dog!" Sure enough, a dog had come to the front hall door to greet us. Hmmmm. I called the agent who called the owner who assured the agent that the dog was very friendly. I said I wasn't going in, especially with children. We compromised with me going in alone and taking the dog outside and chaining her up, while we went through the house. I only did this because I knew the owner and....that still doesn't mean I knew the dog, I realize now. But all was well - the house showed beautifully, the dog behaved herself, and a showing was saved.

The second house I had shown before and my buyers had not liked it. This time everything was in its place - their dog was even in a crate! It looked great and we all went away happy.

I had lunch at Creekside - the loaded potato soup. Excellent! I made phone calls, texted, looked up the map to get to my afternoon showing on my iPhone (so handy!) Then off into the spring-like sunshine to see two radically different houses, both of which I like very much. But not for me to decide!

I got back to the office in time to accept an offer on a house from an agent who dropped it off. Lisa had the door cracked open - it was 49 degrees out - and after a while I couldn't stay inside. I ran off home, grabbed Boo (who was thrilled) and we walked the hills and fields for about 45 minutes until the sun went down. I made tea and toast (Panera whole grain) and completed phone calls.

This is our Boo:

A very pleasant day!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2012-01-04T17:29:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying these blogs. I am enjoying the peace that makes them possible, too. That doesn't mean work has stopped. I am waiting for two appraisals, three closings, I put in a new listing today (ML#S264895), and I will show houses on Friday. Just there's a peacefulness about this week.

The update - not much here, but I will see what I can do. The big story is that the active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multipe listing service have dropped under the 100 mark for the first time in (possibly) two years. At least! We have 98 active, of which 27 are in the Village and 21 are waterfront. I know a lot expired at the new year, and I am sure several have ended because waterfront is not easy to sell in 10 degree temperatures. Two re-lists came back on as part of the 98. There are still 5 contingent, 7 under contract, and 5 pending properties - all the same as last week.

We did add one new closing to bring the 2011 total to 69. This was actually waterfront, closing in the low $200,000 after being on the market for a while. I still want to wait a bit before pronouncing the year officially closed.

So to round out this blog I thought I would introduce three properties that may catch your eye and certainly might not have. The first two are on Craigslist, so feel free to find them there.

1 - Hong Kong Apartment Swap - people in Hong Kong would like to swap their place for a home in Skaneateles for three or four weeks this summer, mid-July to mid-August. Ideally they want to be within walking distance of the Village. (Thanks to Karen, our first PAFD in the Skaneateles office of RE/MAX for sharing this in mid-December.)

2 - Manhattan Windowed Office Space - 180sf for $2,000, month-to-month, near Bryant Park (Midtown West); utiliities included plus shared use of conference space. If you are interested, please contact Alex through http://www.ramapoforchildren.org/.

3 - 158 Shire Way, Camillus - now $219,000 and open Sunday, 12:00 to 2:00. This 3-bedroom, 2-full bath ranch in Westshire has been on the market before, but never at this price. Come see it before it is snapped up - or swapped!

Stress - The Final Frontier

2012-01-03T16:23:00.000-05:00

Maybe not final, but it sounded good as a title to this blog. I am still working out New Year's resolutions in an attempt to improve the professional me. I took care of rushing last year by arriving early on a regular basis. That was part of the stress, but only a part. Closings I may actually have an idea - a creative idea - to make them easier on everyone, so I can put that away for a bit.

I realized today, as of course I have known for years, that there is a physical component to stress. I felt it three times today that I can delineate. I always make a list in the morning of tasks that need to be accomplished - actually it is just a reminder list of who needs a call or e-mail, or a text. I write in every day things like "office" and "hotsheet" just because I can then check them off or not let them get lost in the swirl of the day. There are long-term projects that take time, but I need to keep them in the forefront or they never get done. Today's (as it has been for weeks) was "database." And it got done - three hours of typing and looking up addresses, but it got done!

But when the list was written I noticed that I gravitated towards certain things and away from others. I did not want to call the client with the property for sale that hasn't sold. That is never a comfortable conversation, ever. I like all my clients, sellers and buyers, and that is rarely a problem. Certain properties at certain prices just do not sell in this market, and I am the bearer of that news.

Another time I felt my heart rate go up was dealing with technology. My e-mail got stuck - the ringer on my phone was turned off by mistake - the attachment I thought I had sent wasn't the right one. These things happen - they do - and then....

In the afternoon I had to go out to send a card that needed to get in the mail today. It was 14 degrees at the time, the car was covered with snow, and I had been sitting for hours working on the computer by the fire. I did not want to go out, but I did. As I pushed the snow I had so longed for off the Scion I told Boo who came along for the ride that we might miss our first day of walking in the new year. "Too cold!"

But I couldn't miss it. Once back I already had my vest on, I could easily trade out my jeans for heavy leggings, I found my ear-warmers, and way in the back of the closet I dragged out Alex's very old coat. We had gotten that probably 20 years ago when his friend Alexander came to visit from Saratoga! I felt warmed by it, and today I needed to feel the comfort of memories of the boys.

So we walked, Boo and I. He flushed four deer before we hit the back trail, the wind died enough to make it possible to walk into the open cornfield, and the only things cold were my feet. (Bob got me electric socks last year that I must dig out.) We came back jauntily, and while Boo pulled at the iceballs on his feet in front of the fire I filled the woodbox and made tea.

They say music eases stress. I think in my case it's exertion, pushing myself physically. A good day, the beginning of a new year with warm remembrances. And a starting place for the final frontier.

To Rent or Not to Rent

2012-01-02T17:37:00.000-05:00

Before Bob took off for his job in Caz today he read me an article in the morning paper (http://www.syracuse.com/) about a company in St. Cloud that manages property. They were having so much trouble with dogs pooping and owners not scooping, that they began requiring DNA samples of all their tenants' dogs! In this way they could prove which dog and owner had left a deposit. Of course their resolve was tested - they have so far sent out 20 samples to the labs - but once caught the pets and owners have not re-offended.

I imagined the management company workers sitting around a hot cup of coffee (Minnesota) and dreaming this up. How can we get creative with this problem, they must have thought. They could have prohibited dogs from their complexes, but instead they came up with this solution. Bravo!

So what does the lowly home-owner do, Bob asked. He then regaled me with the vision of one of my owners directing me to scoop the poop and get it tested. Above and beyond the call of duty as a Realtor, I would think.

The issue this brings up is not the dog problem, but the renting aspect of real estate. Over the past few years as homes haven't sold, owners have decided to rent them out to pay at least some of the mortgage and/or taxes. My investors inform me they are doing a great business with their multi-families - houses are bought cheaply and rents are high, due to demand. They can pick and choose. This is not true for homeowners who have buildings in need of repair or in need of rents to cover higher mortgages or taxes. People who are willing to pay these amounts are generally moving on from one home to another with a bit of a breather in-between. Their expectations are high - as are the owners's expectations of their tenants. Complicating everything is the fact that both are primarily homeowners, not landlords and tenants.

I think the only reasonable answer to the Hamlet-esque question for both sides is to be certain of your goals and know that the road can be bumpy. Very bumpy at times. I rented a summer cottage (think no insulation) for seven school years in Saratoga. I called in my landlord when the pipes froze and one winter when we had so much snow the plow couldn't plow it. I was grateful to have 13 acres, a pool and a pond, privacy and great neighbors plus rent-free summers when we'd go home to the lake. They were thrilled to have us - we always paid our rent on time and left them alone. My goal was to raise Alex in a lovely safe setting; their goal was to rent the cottage on their estate over the winter months until the summer season. It worked well and we both remember those years fondly.

I wish all rentals could be that way!

Good News!

2012-01-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

I like starting off the new year with good news. After a lovely evening celebrating Bob's sister's birthday as well as the change in year, we got up late and had a simple breakfast. The sun streamed in - and yes, still no snow! - while we read the Post-Standard. In the business section Bob read an article to me that I want to share. If you would like to read the whole thing, please go to http://www.syracuse.com/.

There's a town in Western New York, Cattaraugus, that has the smallest bank in the entire state. It officially showed a profit of $5,000 last year and never has exceeded $50,000 in its 130-year history, according to Alan Feuer of the New York Times News Service who wrote this article. It exists to serve the people of this tiny village, and it serves them well.

One of the loans it made was to a farmer who needed $85,000 and who had no credit and annual earnings of under $3,000. But he was Amish, well-known to the community, and had sons who would help pay the loan. Another person lost his house to taxes so the bank president bought the house and leased it to him to repay the loan. People count here, not the bottom line.

This is the kind of bank of George Bailey fame in "It's a Wonderful Life", the bank that knows and cares about its customers. As we lose faith in banks and lending institutions - I know Bank of America has definitely earned my wrath in the past week - it is good to know there are places that continue to operate for people. As we start the new year, maybe we can bring some of that small town interdependency to all transactions. Start with faith that people will do the right thing, that they are not out just for themselves or to make life hard for others, but are contributing to the health and wealth of the community as a whole.

Good news is always welcome - and many thanks to the Bank of Cattaraugus for quietly leading the way.

Predictions and Resolutions

2011-12-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

As 2011 ends I must say it has been a banner year. I generally have great years that end in "1". Liam was born this year, ten years ago Bob proposed, ten years before that I started the process of finding my birthmother (at least conceptually). I could go on... My business this year was fantastic - thank you all! It was certainly the year of the referral - I think at least 10 of my deals involved agents sending people to me. It was also the year of driving, with many thanks to Bob, while negotiating deals. Thank you iPhone, too - I could not have done it without it!

We fell far short of my predicted 90 single family homes closed in 2011, probably at 70. I know I have a couple closings coming up early in the year so as always I will think positively that next year will be better. But I must also be more realistic, so I will predict 80 closed homes in the Skaneateles area next year.

I said SU football would be better than they were in 2010. Not. No bowl game for them, not even the late odd ones. But they did provide a wonderful throwback evening with their win over then-ranked West Virginia in the Dome. It was like going back in time...but then like all dreams, we had to wake up. Next year a bowl game, for sure!

I saw SU basketball going to the Final Four, but that was in my own head admittedly wishful thinking. This year they will go and they will win it all. Dion Waiters will be named the MVP of the tournament, even though he will still come off the bench.

Last year a small notation about not rushing appeared in my blog, a resolution in passing. I took it to heart though and concentrated on it. I allowed extra time and really limited that awful rushed feeling by being early. Alex's introduction to "Words with Friends" this past fall has been a great help. When I am early, I usually have plays to make thanks to him, Summer, Trish, and someone named Mr. Teach with whom I started playing and who thought I was someone else. Great way to pass the time - although please, not on an airplane!

This year is the year of organization. My desk has always been a mess - I tell Jolanta not to attempt to clean it, and she (probably most gratefully) doesn't. Not at the office - Patti Callahan, when she was the manager of Longley-Jones years ago, put it in my head that desks should be cleared when not in use to give a good impression of the office. So mine is - there - but at home...So Bob, who shared the drawers of his desk (my parents' old one) bought me a desk for Christmas. It's lovely! And it has HUGE drawers just ready to be filled with everything that is spread out around the house. I can see myself writing more because I can enjoy it.

I always talk about de-cluttering, but I will do it this year. Slowly things will leave - because it is a wonderful thing to give things away. I see some that will stay, at least a while longer that I can't yet bear to send away - my mother's mug with a photo of her cat Hermione (the Himalayan before Hermes) on it, all things Christmas, favorite books (T.S. Eliot, the J.M. Barrie first editions), that little black dress that I WILL get into again). But I can let more go. Bob started the thought process by saying he would give me $1,000 instead of doing more garage sales to try to reach this number. The Thrifty Shopper over in Auburn will see me weekly - I resolve!

I resolve to do the same amount of business that I did this year but net more money in the end with less stress. The banks are awful, as I have said, so expectations must be lowered. Sixty days to closing is a thing of the past. We all try so hard, and whether it's the bank or the attorneys or other deals very rarely do we hit 60 days any more. I resolve to find a way to make each and every closing less hectic.

I want to work smarter and by doing so spend more time with friends. I met a friend for coffee at Creekside before Christmas, and we had six harrowing months to catch up on with each other. My friends are important, and I want to enjoy them. Remember "When I Say No I Feel Guilty"? I do! But by saying no to some things, I will be saying yes to others.

I did spend more time at the lake (another resolution) and I plan to be there even more this year, thanks to my iPhone. As technology improves it allows for greater freedom. But since I love this area so much it makes very little sense for me to travel far and wide. A new car is coming - wait and see! - and driving that will be my vacation.

As this year ends and another begins, I am so thankful for everyone in my life and I look forward to a spectacular 2012.

Skaneateles Real Estate - Christmas Edition

2011-12-30T17:42:00.000-05:00

What a great last two weeks it's been! Alex, Rachel and Liam came to visit for Christmas. Before that there were the cookies to make - I am guessing I did somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 dozen. I had a marvelous time shopping at the mall and in the village, and with the weather cooperating I think it was easy. Not the same spirit, when snowflakes fall and lights reflect off the snow, but a good time buying gifts that it turned out they actually liked!

And not much was happening in real estate in Skaneateles. There are only 110 active listings of which 31 are in the village and 24 are waterfront. Only two new listings came on in the past two weeks - one is a re-list and the other is a builder's "to-be-built" in Parkside off West Elizabeth Street. Of the six homes marked contingent, only one is new, a waterfront priced under $350,000. There are no new additions to the "under contract, do not show" or pending categories.

The real news is the end of year closings. We have had four - wow! - since December 15th. Three are in the village, and all took reductions of varying amounts; two came down in price by 20% and the other two by 10% from their original list prices. But all closed within eight months of listing, which incudes the 60 to 75 days it generally takes after the offer is made. We now have 68 sold and closed homes in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service for the year. I am sure there must be one or two others that will show up in the next week or so. Next year I will provide an analysis and the final closings.

So enjoy the New Year and the celebrations! Drive carefully, sing loudly, and revel in our lack of snow but look forward to a very snowy January which will find you safe and warm.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-12-14T19:51:00.000-05:00

This is the cookie edition. I started last week for our annual family Christmas, having pulled together my Christmas cards and gotten them out. I needed to bake, which is my way of relaxing. Not the eating - just the baking. The first ones - other than a quick rolled cookie cutter cookie - was a new recipe I wanted to try out. I had found it in the Post Standard (http://www.syracuse.com/) on their annual page of contributions of favorite recipes. It is peppermint - Rachel loves peppermint - and it was great. They baked up beautifully and, I am told, they taste great. I will make more and the next time add a chocolate kiss in the middle. Yum!

There are currently 114 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, of which 32 are in the village and 26 are considered waterfront. Three new listings came on - well, two are re-lists but one is a very pretty Village home priced in the mid-$300,000.

There are still six homes marked contingent, and eight marked pending. In the "under contract, do not show" there is a new waterfront property - excellent! Maybe a Christmas present? I have known that to happen.....

We now have 64 sold and closed properties for the year. Two new ones were just added - both in the Village. Each started much higher and then came down and finally were sold. They demonstrate that there are great deals out there, just waiting for your offer.

Enjoy the next week - go see some houses - buy the presents, bake the cookies, enjoy the lack of snow (over 50 inches last year by this time!) and celebrate the holidays in style!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-12-07T13:38:00.000-05:00

We saw Hugo, the film in 3-D, last week. I doubt a film's setting was ever so powerful for me. Maybe it was the beginning of the real estate bug, but when I was younger I would attend plays and sketch out the sets. My playbills contained drawings, all the way back to Stratford and probably before. Now that 3-D has "come into the picture," as it were, my interest is even more pronounced. If I do leave for France, it will be that film that sent me packing.

But back to the prosaic, and a cold drizzly day in Central New York. When the snow comes it will be welcome. There are currently only 115 active listings in the single family homes Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 32 are in the village, 28 are waterfront, and a new subset of waterfront in the village has two homes. One actually new listing (at least not for a long while) came on - a little home listed around $100,000. Two others that have "been out there" in various forms also re-appeared with lower prices.

The contingency category shows three new "sales." (Not closed until they are CLOSED!) A marvelous waterfront property, new construction in the village, and a home I swore would sell last summer but only did now (in the village also) were marked as contingent. I am sure everyone is thrilled - buyers, sellers, agents...

There was also movement in the "under contract, do not show" category. A home that has been on the market for a bit in the village now shows a "U" in the listings, as does a "to-be-built" in the town.

We also have a newly closed house in the town, purchased rapidly and closed within about 5% of its list price. That brings to 62 the actual number of sold single family homes this year.

Now, our dear friend of the blog, JT, has raised the "median" versus "mean" discussion again. The Post-Standard publishes on occasion the average (mean) prices of homes in the individual towns. Skaneateles is once again in the mid-$400,000 range, but that is misleading, she says, and I agree. We had a HUGE sale of waterfront-village property a few months back and that has skewed the numbers tremendously. The median list price of SOLD homes is still hovering around the $300,000 level - which means that there were an equal number of homes listed above the price as well as below the price. A look at the actual sales prices of these homes shows the same approximately. The current median price of active homes is $400,000 - certainly a discrepancy between reality and the active market price. Thanks, JT!

Closed for $3,000,000 earlier this year.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-11-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

So November is going to leave us with only .6 inches of recorded snow on record. Usually it's about 10 inches, and the long winter begins. But hardly any snow is good news - I hope that when the snow does arrive - December 24th after Alex, Rachel and Liam (and all travelers) are safe and snug - we have a good lot of it, enough for snowshoeing and skiing.

Currently there are only (!) 127 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 37 are in the village and 30 are waterfront. Absolutely nothing new came on the market this past week. I went back and checked for the month of November - only two homes that were not re-lists appeared.

But houses are selling. This past week three homes were placed in the contingent column, two in the village and one new construction. The total is now seven. In the "under contract, do not show" group one new one came on, a very pretty certain shake shingled home in the town. It joins five others in this category.

Nothing new in the pending group; the total is still seven. But the good news is that there are 20 homes waiting to close, with at least half of them, I hope, closing before the end of the year. I hope so, because we only have 61 so far, year-to-date. Still, that means we are down to a two-year supply. This is a better statistic than in the past.

So if you are looking for a place to enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon, please come visit my open house at 1153 Old Seneca Turnpike. It has a new roof on both the house and the adorable garage, and will be open from 1:00 to 3:00. I call it a Santa Fe home, because I first saw it a day or so before going on vacation in 2010 to Santa Fe - and there it was, a most pleasant surprise. I had always wondered what was behind the arched door - and I found more arched doors, two fireplaces, a great kitchen, a loft and so very rich painting. I'll serve something with a southwest flavor for the open....have to work on that. But please come - the new price is $199,000 to buy or $1,300 per month to rent (and it will be taken off the market for a lengthy lease). The doors are open....

The Third Twenty

2011-11-28T18:48:00.000-05:00

Difficult day. I just could not read or hear any more about Syracuse University. I had turned on CNN at lunch and there was Suzanne Malveaux with several reports. I decided to work out to an old movie, "A Man Called Peter." It's the true story of a Scottish immigrant who becomes a Washington, D.C. much-beloved minister. The film is from 1955 - and as far removed from SU and its issues as could be. I needed that.

But here are the next twenty homes that have closed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, listed here in no particular order.

807 Britcher Road - $78,000
1690 Amerman Road - $153,000

724 Reynolds Road - $189,900

7022 North Glen Haven Road - $464,500

57 Jordan Street - $330,000

2355 West Lake Road - $220,000

4491 Jordan Road - $157,000

8 Lakeview Circle - $360,000

895 Andrews Road - $325,000

54 Onondaga Street - $220,000

2530 West Lake Road - $1,875,262

50 West Genesee Street - $395,000

14 Prentiss Drive - $800,000

3543 Millrun Terrace - $305,000

73 State Street - $249,900

11 Day Lane - $765,000

8A Gayle Road - $1,107,850

2317 Bockes Road - $225,000

2985 Benson Road - $575,000

57 Leitch Avenue - $195,000

All right! Now - let's close another 20 before the end of the year!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-11-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! It is a glorious day here in Central New York! Bob and I started a new tradition today to celebrate. We decided to walk where we haven't gone before, and this year we chose the Creekwalk in Syracuse. We parked the car in Armory Square by the Redhouse, and then followed the yellow line that led us out of the Square and over to Onondaga Creek. While it wasn't Riverside Park on the West Side in Manhattan, we did see several joggers, other people with dogs (yes, Boo came with us) and a few walkers. We ran into an old friend, Peter, whom we hadn't seen in a while and had a wonderful catching up talk. Try the Creekwalk - it really shows you the city from a different angle, and also shows the possibilities.

Currently there are 135 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 39 are in the Village and 30 are waterfront. Only one new property came on the market, and that is a re-list.

Four properties are marked contingent, and one is new, a pretty home outside of the town but still in Skaneateles Schools. Five are now under contract, do not show, including a new Village home. Seven have been pended, with nothing new. Altogether, there are 61 homes now listed as sold, the most recent one being a waterfront home closing well over a million dollars.

It's a shortened version, I know - but I have three more pies to make! Enjoy the day!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-11-16T20:09:00.000-05:00

It's been an exhausting day, and I am still in the village at my desk at 7:50 pm. One of my listings appears to have sold, another is rented, a third property went under contract with one of my most prolific clients, and I wrote a purchase offer. All this and the dentist's office as well as physical therapy. I retreated at 4:00 to make phone calls and have a latte lite at Dunkin' Donuts, but the two pumpkin munchkins did nothing to give me more energy. The cole slaw and baked beans from Doug's at 7:20 helped, though.

There are currently 141 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, with 41 in the Village and 32 considered waterfront. There have been no new additions - there were no houses open this week for Tuesday's brokers' open, and now I know why.

Of the contingent properties, three can continue to be shown and two of them are in the village. Of the four that can't, two more are village homes. The pending category yields eight altogether, of which three are village homes. I mention this because there appears to be a higher proportion of homes in the village that are selling.

Congratulations to everyone - we have reached the third group of twenty with three closings this past week. One is waterfront (and not truly Skaneateles, but on the lake and in the MLS), another is in the town, and the third is village. Within the week I will publish the list and their selling prices, all a matter of public record.

Just to continue with the evening's theme, one-quarter (15) of the closed single family homes are village homes. Which bears out the reason the contracted properties appear to be disproportionate. Almost half of those waiting to close are village homes (7). Conjectures, anyone?

Celebrate the Season

2011-11-10T14:14:00.001-05:00

On Monday I started a quick program of physical therapy to take all the twists and pains out of my legs and get me ready for cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. The office next to the therapist's office was under construction, and Christmas music was wafting over. Kevin Gretsky, the therapist, and the rest of his clients, including me, were growling. We had hardly had Halloween, and here it comes again! Too soon! Kevin asked the workers to tone it down, and they did, not without some good-natured kidding.

On Wednesday when I went back it was blessedly silent. Since it was generally the same group, Kevin told us that someone who lived a ways away had received a flyer from Nordstrom's (http://www.nordstrom.com/) stating that they "would NOT be decking their stores' halls until November 27th." The flyer then wished everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Hooray! Vindication!

Despite my in-laws absolute joy over Christmas, so much so that Christmas is almost a year-round event, and despite the fact that they have brought Hobby House Toys to Skaneateles so we can share their joy, I think it should be one season at a time. The altercation this week made me realize that I should practice what I preach and instead of grumbling at November, enjoy it.

I do love the colors, and have already donned my fall apron (purchased last year at Bittersweet Cottage) and made a pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins, as well as an apple and apple/cranberry pie. We have pumpkin candles everywhere, and an orange light at the road plus strings of orange and purple lights on the porch. Some day I will break down and make squash soup, just for the color. Before my brokers' open at 3244 East Lake I went to the Skaneateles Bakery for some black bean and pumpkin soup - wonderful and filling!

The weather cooperated beautifully, too. I walked Boo up into the fields in the 60/70 degree temperatures we had. I wrap a day-glo orange sweatchirt around my waist, and Boo wears his orange vest. Last night while I waited for my salmon at Doug's I walked out onto the pier. The moon was up and almost full, the waves crashed in the wind. The flags across from the Sherwood Inn were blown horizontal, but are so firmly planted they will last in memory of the Veterans.

After dinner (Bob had vegetarian black bean nachos from Bluewater) we went out for a walk in the moonlight, back up the trails to the fields. The wind lessened in the woods, but it howled as we got to the hill. And there the moon showed the hills and valleys, the woods beyond, as if it were daylight. We walked back thoughtfully, kicking leaves as we went.

So this is the season to celebrate and not rush through. At the Big M today I couldn't help but notice that their slide show on the cash registers showed the harvest and late fall scenes, in all their rich colors. Kevin said his son doesn't know what a cornucopia is, and I can imagine that the Thanksgiving songs I grew up singing are almost lost. Maybe not. But even when the temperature drops, and the eventual rains and snows come in, it is still a season to celebrate. Life is too short not to enjoy every minute.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-11-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

One of my friends added me to her Facebook friends and I confirmed the "friending," then got into the list of people whom I might know. After about 15 minutes of requesting and seeing faces I hadn't seen in years, I had to back out. There was the woman who had lived down the street from me in Syracuse when we were in about 5th grade at Sumner School, the Nottingham grads I hadn't thought of in years, the kids (now with families of their own) of relatives of friends, the clients who moved or decided not to move...Other Realtors, too. If I missed anyone, I apologize! The blog called, as did my day, and I had to stop. I am not one to check Facebook on a regular basis, so please forgive me if I don't respond rapidly. My e-mail or cell is always the better way to reach me. But it is a pleasure to see old and new friends!

Currently there are 141 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 40 are in the Village and 31 are considered waterfront. No new single family homes came on the market this past week, but three were re-listed. The same number of contingent (6) and "under contract, do not show" (4) homes remain with no changes. There are only 8 pending properties, and that usually signals closings.

There were two - a waterfront (actually lake rights) home in the village that came down in price but was sold rather rapidly, at least for this market. A smaller home - priced under $100,000 - also closed, again, fairly quickly. These two bring us to 57 closed for the year-to-date.

I wondered about the number of listings because it seems as if we have hovered around the 150 mark for quite a while so I went back to check. This blog began in the spring of 2007 but the updates didn't start until the following year after I attended the RE/MAX convention and heard more about how blogs were being used. So I went back to November of 2008 - right around President Obama's election, as I saw when I read some of that month's blogs.

That month (the 5th actually) there were 129 active listings and I hadn't broken them out to village or waterfront at the time. Nineteen were in the contingent or pending categories (we didn't have "under contract, do not show" then.) I wrote about closings occurring within 60 days of contracts back then, so the assumption was that these would close before the end of the year. There were only 45 closed at that time, so I was looking forward to about 64. In actuality, there were 66. I also wrote that we seemed to be at our low point, and that we were now coming out of it. Which we did, to an extent.

What intrigued me was a comment I made about the number of lots on the market, "thanks in part to Butters Farm." At that time, there were 87 active listings. Today there are 52 active lots in the Skaneateles area. Interesting - I think we can make the assumption (always troubling) that there has been a great deal of new construction in the area in the past three years. But I think we also need to recognize that many people are simply waiting - until the economy does turn around, closings don't take 90 days, homes sell within three months of listing on a regular basis, and the number of active listings comes down. It will happen. The pendulum will swing back. I have no doubts!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update (part two)

2011-11-03T11:30:00.000-04:00

The world intervened, and so I decided to post and continue later....which is now!

There are 6 single family properties in Skaneateles marked contingent. Three of these are new within the past week. Two are waterfront, one which I would have thought would have gone much earlier but someone is getting a very good deal now, and another right on the water. Also a village home is considered sold, but with the usual contingencies.

There are still four homes under contract that do not need to be shown any more, and of the 10 pending one is new. Priced under $100,000, this one went straight to pending.

We now have 55 properties that have sold and closed this year. One is new - a home that has been on the market for a bit and again, someone got a great bargain. As of this time last year, there where 59 closed sales and we ended up with 75 for the year. This means that in the next 8 weeks there will - presumably - be a lot of closings!

And don't forget my open at 3244 East Lake - $295,000! You can also see 1153 Old Seneca Turnpike this weekend. Roxanne Plummer from RE/MAX will hold it open, both for sale and for rent:

1153 Old Seneca Turnpike

$218,000 (includes the upcoming new roof)

$1,300 plus utilities for rent

Open 1:00 to 3:00, Sunday, November 6th

I thought I'd take the time to see how the other areas are doing in comparison to 2010. Camillus is within 2% of their past performance, but Elbridge is off by about 30%, and the same with Marcellus. This makes us - as in Skaneateles - look quite good. I checked Syracuse - 631 for 2010, year-to-date, and 540 so far. Lately everything seems to have picked up, so the year should end with a very loud real estate cheer!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-11-03T10:38:00.000-04:00

When I started this blog three years ago I said I would write about my experiences as a Realtor in the lovely lakeside village of Skaneateles. I think I've veered off the path a bit, talking a lot about the houses and not as much about the people or my thoughts and feelings, always afraid of offending. But today started out filled with emotion and I want to share that, because emotion has been so much a part of this job.

I received an early morning text - I check, because Alex and I are playing "Words with Friends" and he is about to beat me (for the first time, I might add...) The text stated - and I could feel the excitement - that clients I have known for years have finally prevailed with their bank and will be cleared to buy something soon. This has been a huge undertaking, and their persistance to not allow the bank to ride roughshod over them has vindicated them and their credit. Such joy!

The next text was about the passing of a friend/client's family member...so very sad.

It's not just a job - it's a lifestyle, of becoming involved with people on a very intimate level. And caring about their lives, hoping to relieve stress, helping with decision-making but always knowing it's not my decision. In the past few weeks I have heard dozens of times (a bit of hyperbole) "I couldn't do what you do!" A doctor who deals with life and death every day tells me she wouldn't have my job for anything. I wouldn't have hers...but I do deal with life and death, illness and money woes all the time. And I am blessed with the clients I have and the clients I will have in the future.

Back to the houses....there are currently 139 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, of which 40 are in the Village and 30 are waterfront. There's a new waterfront that just came on for under a million and my listing at 3244 East Lake Road which will be open Sunday, from 1:00 to 3:00. I call it a "storybook home" - if you saw The Player, the Altman film from several years ago, there's a scene in which the young couple stands in front of their idyllic home - and it looks just like this one!

3244 East Lake Road - Open 1:00 to 3:00 Sunday, November 6th

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-10-26T17:57:00.000-04:00

"Inundated!" That was my word for the rental market this past week. So many calls for the two properties I have listed in Skaneateles - each $1,300, each 3 bedrooms. Last Sunday I held two open houses and told people to come - one couple came to both, and another took an application for one of the homes. People insisted that they see these homes - but then didn't come. The rental market is a difficult one - but I wasn't alone. The "inundated" also came from another agent who was beset with calls. So many people can't buy, for one reason or another, that they want to rent. And what better place to rent than in Skaneateles?

Currently there are 146 active single family residences for sale in the Skaneateles area. Of these, 46 are in the Village and 31 are considered waterfront. This week there were no new listings - just a re-list with a HUGE drop in price for a waterfront home. There were also no new contingent sales, so the number remains at seven.

But there were pendings - of the 10 in the multiple listing service for Skaneateles, three went mostly straight to pending. One is a village home that has had the price drop over the past year, and the other two had lakefront. Again, fairly long times on the market with drops in price.

We remain at 54 sales for the year.

About those rentals....15 show that they were rented since the beginning of the year, two are currently contingent, and there are only 10 on the market. These range from a low of $795 to $2,900. The highest priced rental this year went for $5,500 per month - but for a home well worth it. I wish the selling market was as hot - I'd love to see 100 homes on the market with 150 closings this year to date.

2208 Coon Hill Road

If you are out and about this weekend, stop by both of my Coon Hill listings - open Sunday, 1:00 to 3:00. Just a very short two miles down East Lake to a left on Coon Hill Road. I will buy you a "drink" at the Welsh bar!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-10-19T17:21:00.000-04:00

Last night as I came home from the office I thought I might have left my cell phone there which would not have been good. It wasn't in its cupholder, and as it was dark by then, I had to pull over into Butters Farm. The cell was on the seat, once I turned on the lights, but rather than back up and out I continued up the hill to do the loop back to Jordan Road. I usually go up that way in the daytime to show houses, rarely at night. It was lovely - most of the homes had spectacular lighting, and with the landscaping and fall decorations it was really beautiful. One of those "not taking the straight way home" moments that proved worthwhile.

Currently in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service there are 150 homes listed as active, with 47 of them in the village. These numbers have been fairly constant for a long time now. There are 33 homes considered to be waterfront as well.

Two new listings came on, both in the $300,000 plus range. One is a village home, fairly newly built, and the other a small camp.

There are four properties marked contingent - one is a sweet Village home which I've hoped would sell, as have others I know. I am glad it has a contract on it. The other categories - under contract, do not show, and pended both have five homes listed.

BUT! We have two new closings this past week which should raise the average price of a home in Skaneateles a great deal. One is a waterfront estate that closed close to its asking price of well above one million, and the other is a magnificent country home above half a million dollars. We now have 54 homes that have closed so far this year.

I decided to see what the median price of the closed properties is - and it turned out to be about $300,000. Of these, 13 are Village homes and 11 are waterfront. Three homes closed above one million.

If you add Spafford, then four homes this year in Onondaga County have closed above a million and all of them are Skaneateles properties. The same (4 each!) could be said for 2010 and 2009. In 2008 there were only three by this time of year - and yes, all Skaneateles. Finally going back to 2007 there were 11 homes closing above a million - again, all Skaneateles! It takes five years of records - 2006 - before another town, Dewitt, can claim a million dollar home.

We live in an expensive town - at least in Onondaga County and most probably all of Central New York. The financial problems have touched us, too - the numbers bear that out with the precipitous drop from 2007 to 2008. But the homes are still as lovely, the lake is still as pure. These fall days can still take your breath away!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-10-12T18:12:00.000-04:00

So the rant continues. I went in to a closing this morning. Correction - I started driving in to a closing this morning but received a call as I drove up Old Seneca Turnpike outside of Marcellus. All the paperwork hadn't arrived from the mortgage company - Wells-Fargo - so we would be delayed an hour. Not a big deal, but since we had had a difficult time getting to this point, a bit worrisome. They are located out west, in a different time zone...maybe that was it.

I went back to the lake, did a bit of work there, took a phone call or two, then headed into Syracuse to be in time for the now-10:00 closing. My clients met me in the coffee shop. "Another half hour." So we talked and shared a few stories.

The seller's attorney arrived for 10:30. Still no documents, but we caught up a bit. I decided that waiting around was not going to make things happen, so I left. I went out to Pier One and shopped, then as I was leaving (at noon) I got a text that said "Fifteen minutes." Hooray! I texted the agent on the selling side and went in to the city.

My clients had made it upstairs to the bank attorney's office by then and they were indeed signing papers. But they were still waiting for Wells-Fargo's documents, just getting ready. I left again at 1:00, at their urging.

They finally closed at 3:30. The very sad part of all this is that their purchase was the first in a series of four homes that depended on their closing.

Buying a home should be a joyous occasion. It should be the culmination of a process and after months of dreaming it should be thrilling. This was far from it, and the bank was to blame in this case. How sad that makes me -

But there are currently 151 properties listed as active in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 47 are in the Village and 32 are considered waterfront.

Four brand new listings came on the market this week. Two are mine, as it happens. One is listed for $218,000 and also for rent on Old Seneca Turnpike at the corner of Highland. It is truly a fun home - all arches, fireplaces, steps, and colorful! The other one is at 1650 Coon Hill Road ($179,000), towards the East Lake end of the road. It is next to the fire station - and no, the siren does not sound there any more! It has hardwoods, four levels of living space, and a deep back yard. It will be open this Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00. The other two listings are in the higher range - a village home on a quiet cul-de-sac has come on for around $600,000 while a waterfront property is at the half million mark.

Sorry - no new contingent or under contract, do not show homes this week. One has gone to pending, however. So there are currently 15 homes altogether in these categories.

We do have a new closing, though, bringing the year-to-date number to 52. A sizeable waterfront home in the village closed, within 10 per cent of its original list price and six months from the date of listing.

So please do not let my sad tale of woe dissuade you from buying a home. I went to two other closings today, too - and they were in and out in just over an hour. Of course this was a local bank, with a local mortgage person hovering to make sure all went well. And it did!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-10-05T18:50:00.000-04:00

Just getting this out there.....a bit of a rant. For the past two weeks several of my properties have been ready to close, but have not closed due primarily to bank issues. This goes across the board - national mortgage lenders, local banks, and even a credit union have held up families from moving. In one case, four families have been affected due to the need to close the first so the others can close. Issues have ranged from mitigating the radon (after the bank had seen the contract weeks and weeks ago and apparently said a credit at closing was possible) to asking for more information at the last minute. We have not - thank goodness - gotten to the closing table only to leave and go home to packed trucks. But it has been disheartening.

I will report that one attorney, who shall remain nameless in this blog, has told me that he/she will not deal with either Bank of America or Wells-Fargo. His/her approval for any contract these days states that explicitly: "I approve...as long as the mortgage will not be sought from either of these companies." (I paraphrase.) A cautionary word to the wise......and yes, do not give credits for radon, just get it done!

Back to Skaneateles and the real estate market....There are currently 145 homes listed and active, of which 45 are in the village and 32 are on the water. Five new homes came on this past week. Two in the village - lower $300,000 and upper $100,000 range, as their sizes dictate their prices. In the country you can choose a smaller home in the mid-$100,000, a larger home with substantial garage space and some acreage in the mid-$200,000 or go for more acreage, more square footage and look at one in the $400,000 plus range.

Six are considered contingent, but continue to show. One new one that was listed around $500,000 and is a waterfront property is newly added to this category. There is nothing new in the "under contract, do not show" area but there are five waiting to close.

One little camp went straight to pending, joing four others.

Unfortunately there are no new closings - we are stuck at 51, but this is better than 2010 and 2008. Hooray!

Good news to end this blog - my in-laws have opened Hobby House Toys at 7 Jordan Street, next to the Irish Store. Please stop in and say hello to Sue and John - and buy a toy while you are there, too. Then go out and buy a house to put it in.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-09-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Keeping in touch with the real estate world on a weekly basis certainly helps me in my business. Although I go everywhere, almost, knowing what is happening in Skaneateles gives me a lift. I can quote closings, trends, compare the market to past years, and feel confident that what I say is accurate. Of course, there are some weeks, such as this one, when not a lot happens and it seems a might difficult to write a blog about it. But here goes -

There are the same number of homes in the Skaneateles area listed as active as there were last week: 150 for the entire area, and 44 for the village. The number of waterfront homes dropped by one.

Three new listings came on the market. A very pretty home with a bit of land around it outside of Skaneateles was listed at about $400,000. A smaller village home - but around 2,000 sf nonetheless - debuted in the mid-$300,000 range. A gorgeous lake rights property was presented around $600,000.

There are 6 homes listed as contingent, with one new one added (lake rights also). Two were marked under contract, do not show. One of these was a previous "C" and the other went right to "U." This one had just been listed, too.

Only three are pended, and the number and homes remain the same. Nothing new sales-wise, but this Friday is the end of the month and I can guess that there will be action to report, if not next week but the week after. I know several attorneys whose calendars are swamped.

So go play in this absolutely lovely fall weather - the sun is out, the day feels fresh, and I am on my way to lunch at Creekside with an old friend!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-09-21T20:28:00.000-04:00

As I drove up East Lake Road tonight towards the village, I saw many homes that have been on the market for a while that I have shown or know a bit about. They all seem to be "priced right," but then they haven't sold so I guess, as some say, the market has "rejected" them. I know they are good homes with great features - so why do they sit? I am not sure - location? condition? fear? I have to believe people are simply not willing to take on homes that aren't "safe bets." But then again, what is that? The eternal question - why some things sell and others don't!

Into the fray this week....There are currently 150 homes in the Skaneateles area that are on the market. Of these, 44 are in the village and 35 are waterfront. (Remember the days when there would be only five or six homes out there? We all had our lists of potential buyers, and when a property came on - or we got wind of it coming on - we would rush to the phones...ah, the good old days!)

One new one came on in the village and it is a smashing home by all accounts. Priced well over a million dollars, it has location and condition certainly as well as the ephemeral "penache." Lovely, just lovely!

Six are currently listed as sold but continue to show - one new one was added to this list, a "town" property actually in Spafford. There are still the same three under contract, but do not show, and now only three pended - always a good sign because that means some have moved to the sold column.

As indeed they have! We have 51 single family homes that have closed so far this year as we enter the fall buyong season. The latest three include a town property close to the village with views, originally priced in the low $300,000. A small village home also sold, once the price dropped under $200,000. My lovely 50 West Genesee Street has a new owner too! Hooray!

Analyzing these three new sales, the good news is that they each came in within 15% of their list price. Either agents are getting better at pricing, or the owners are more realistic. Or simply these were the right prices for the current market. In any case - congratulations to the new owners!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2011-09-14T16:45:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I returned from Manhattan in the morning. I had just gone down on Thursday morning planning to come back the same night, but I was concerned about the flooding I had seen on the drive. I stayed over, got a quick walk in on Riverside, then started home. I flew out of the city easily - the Henry Hudson is so fast and uncomplicated in the morning! - but found myself sitting in traffic on 81 in Binghamton. I listened to the reports: the Governor was somewhere in a helicopter overhead, there were photos apparently of just the tip of the golden arches of some McDonald's restaurant somewhere, the water had crested but was threatening the structure of bridges. I heard Owego was hard hit, and thought of Adam Weitsman's business (see http://www.syracuse.com/ for updates on this and his response).

I can't stand sitting in traffic, so I turned off and took Route 11 until I lost it somewhere in the country. I stopped along the way at a small convenience store and gas station where I met people looking for faster routes coming from Albany. And there I heard it, the classic response to "Wow, what a lot of rain we've had!" "Could have been snow!"

Meanwhile homes in Skaneateles were listed and sold this past week. Currently there are 150 single family homes listed in the multiple listing service. Of these, 44 are in the Village and 34 are considered waterfront. I am not going to itemize re-lists any more, only the new listings that come on the market. A beautiful high-end home outside of Skaneateles (actuallly in Spafford) was listed above $600,000. Another pretty Village home came on, around $300,000. In the town not too far out is a new split level, on the market in the mid-$200,000 range.

Five homes are considered under contract but they still can be shown. One of these, listed under $200,000 and in the Village, was just marked contingent. There are no new "Under contract - do not show" homes (currently 3 in the category) or "pended" homes (6).

Our closings for the year stand at 48. Interestingly, 10 were Village homes and 9 were waterfront. These percentages are just slightly above the current breakdown of active homes.

The fall selling season has just begun! If you would like to check out one of my listings, 5 Palmer Drive, please come to the open house this Sunday from 12:00 to 2:00. Signs will be up directing you from Genesee Street and Academy because it is hard to find and very private. Please tell me you read about the open on this blog - I would love it!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update (sort of)

2011-09-07T17:22:00.000-04:00

Starting again, it is always good to get your bearings. My bearings. I was getting my hair done at Carlo's today and ran into a fellow Realtor. She asked me about Skaneateles and how things were going this year. Thank goodness I had done the statistics yesterday, because I could rattle off the numbers. Now you will be able to, also.

There are currently 150 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 45 are in the village.

Under contract, there are a total of 8 single family homes. Five can still be shown, while three are so solid that the owners feel they do not need to be shown any more. At least, that is the presumption. We all know that (all together now) - "It's not closed until it's closed!" And lately even that's under dispute!

Five others are pended, which generally means that the mortgage commitment has come in and only the attorney issues - title and such - need to be completed.

This year to date 48 properties have closed. This compares with last year's 46 by this date. The year before a whopping 59 were done. Of course, that makes up for the previous 2008 of only 32 (ouch!) Average those two years and you find 45/46 as the midpoint, oddly similar to 2010 and 2011.

The update is back and will be found on your computer next week about this time! Thank you for your patience!

The Second Twenty

2011-09-06T15:14:00.000-04:00

I will save the total number of closings we have had in the past few months, but suffice it to say everyone has been busy and the numbers are there to prove it! The First Twenty closings took until June 27th - the Second Twenty go through only August 9th.

In no particular order:

4001 State Street Road - $290,000

4054 County Line Road - $367,000

3766 Highland Avenue - $311,500

1569 New Seneca Turnpike - $190,000

790 Stump Road - $138,000

1930 Stump Road - $210,000

1025 The Lane - $550,000

140 East Genesee Street - $3,500,000

20 East Lake Street - $215,000

2997 Nunnery Road - $154,900

3829 Knightsbridge Road - $196,000

28 Orchard Road - $250,000

3907 State Street Road - $430,000

49 Academy Street - $545,500

3901 State Street Road - $445,000

3657 Fisher Road - $164,900

3319 East Lake Road - $507,500

3426 East Lake Road - $135,000

1618 Stump Road - $220,000

3065 East Lake Road - $750,000

Back on Track

2011-09-06T14:47:00.000-04:00

The colder weather has sent me to the computer and away from the outdoors. It has been a fantastic and busy summer, but the natural rhythm takes over. I no longer teach, but I feel the pull to be indoors and working, rather than running around in the car or hanging out with my iPhone on the deck. I wanted to not miss this summer - and I didn't. We spent more time at the lake and I have the tan to show it. It also helps to have had a listing out there, but now that it's sold........

So slowly I will ease back into writing and providing updates. The bi-weekly update gave me way too much space - I need a solid date or time, and not writing is so much easier than writing. Also the stretch of time makes it too long between reporting - it is ancient history by the time it hits my blog and that is never a good thing!

Until the end of the year, the update will be weekly and completed by Wednesday - might come in early on Tuesday, but will certainly be there by mid-week, when my ads are due. A little structure has never hurt me, and will help. Monitor and adjust!

The Update - A Lot Late

2011-07-26T10:39:00.000-04:00

But we will play catch-up.

I must say that really only the blog has suffered due to Liam's birth. I never thought I would be so consumed but I am. I still managed to find time to sell, buy and close properties with my clients in the last few weeks - just not the time to write about them.

So - since I did the research and then got interrupted by The Call to go to Manhattan "now!" I will start with what I pulled together. This is the second half of the update - what sold and closed between (gulp!) June 16th and July 13th in Skaneateles.

Two new properties were marked contingent, both larger village homes bringing the number of contingent properties to 7 in all. "Under contract but do not show any more" is a tiny waterfront - can't wait to know what it did actually sell for! There are 12 pending - a larger waterfront is new to this list.

What has closed is the most interesting part of this update. As of July 13th, there were 29 closed single family homes in the Skaneateles area. Eight - wow! - were new. Four were listed and sold under $200,000. A fifth home was a mid-range waterfront property that dropped its price to accommodate a sale - something that has been happening a bit these days. Two other newer homes just outside the village both sold in the mid-$400,000. And then there's The Big One, closing for 3 million dollars, right on the water with acreage in the village. Congratulations to the new owners!

So slowly we will get back to a new normal. Slowly. Patience, I am told, is a virtue.

Our News

2011-07-17T10:15:00.000-04:00

We welcome to our family Liam Jude Brooks-Barr born the morning of July 15th in Manhattan to Alex and Rachel. He is our first grandbaby - and what a beautiful baby he is! He weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz and has gained an ounce over the past day. He was 22 inches, just an inch shorter than Alex was when he was born in Seattle. Both were born under the full moon.

"You are Never Old, Until Regrets take the Place of Dreams"

2011-07-13T15:23:00.000-04:00

So I have fallen down on my writing. I could claim busy-ness, and I certainly have been. Over the weekend I was gone both days from before 8:30 to about 8:00 at night. I keep returning exhausted, but when houses are selling one goes with the flow. Because the spigot can be turned off, as quickly as our pond drained a week ago. "Fish" was left high and dry - literally - but I rescued him and gave him a whole new world in my in-laws' pond....what a fish story!

The reality is that about a month ago I was speaking with an agent who said I should be careful, that in writing about homes I am in danger of violating a listing agreement. In our contracts we present to the owners they have the right - and all do - to say they do not want third party comments about their homes. It's a new clause, and I routinely check it. But she said that I was walking a thin line with this blog.

Now, for the most part I am complimentary, and I do not identify homes or properties unless they are my listings. The agent agreed that I was careful - she reads my blog, as do other Realtors - but she put that seed of doubt in my head. Where it stayed. And grew a bit, so that when I did have time to sit down I chose not to write. It wasn't a fear as much as a lessening of desire to write. It had stopped being fun. I had to worry about being censored by the Board. It takes the fun out of writing, especially my style of conversational, stream of consciousness with little editing, style of writing.

Yesterday a story appeared in the Post-Standard (and you can go on-line to read it at http://www.syracuse.com/ under Health and Fitness) written by Kathleen Poliquin about a young woman who gave birth to a baby 8 months ago and endured incredible medical hardships, but will compete in a Triathlon this summer. Amazing. Her belief system contains the following sentence: "The biggest consequence of fear is missed opportunities."

So I am banishing fear and pushing ahead. If agents or sellers recognize their homes and do not like what I wrote, please tell me. I will be conscious and conscientious, but I want to write this blog.

Today I read that an old friend had passed away. He was a writer, a professional writer. So this blog is for you, Nick!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of)

2011-07-03T14:07:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Third of July - the day that is second only to Christmas Eve in my family. This is the day when flares are lit around the lakes and the celebration for the Fourth of July begins. Salt potatoes are the starch du jour, Bob's watermelon-shrimp-avocado dish takes center stage, and the world is magical for one glorious summer evening.

So if you are thinking of moving to Skaneateles, or moving around within the Skaneateles area - please consider these new listings. In the village you could move to a lovely stucco home now on the market in the mid-$300,000 range or go smaller up the street for a granited kitchen in the mid-$200,000.

4519 Jordan Road

If you want to put in some work, you could buy the little one we just listed (see photo) for $39,900 in the Falls - it is gutted and ready for you. Or the unfinished 4,000sf home now listed in the mid-$200,000 just outside on the east. Remodeled and done on five acres - there's a new one for just over $300,000. If you want gorgeous on more than five acres, look to one listed at just over $500,000. Only one waterfront came on these past two weeks - but the location is superb and the price under a million. For relatively new construction, go beyond Skaneateles' borders but within the school district to one priced to sell under $400,000. Or go down the lake for about $200,000 and I think a view. And a small one right in the village was re-listed, and that was also remodeled but priced in the mid $100,000 range.

Ten new ones, that should make, with three in the village. All the listings together in the area equal 145 - so you have 145 opportunities to live in Skaneateles which on this Fourth of July weekend is jumping.

The First Twenty - 2011

2011-06-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

After many long days I now have a brief moment to write this blog. It's truly remarkable how busy summers can be - not just the mowing and getting the camp ready, but all the wonderful events. I've been to a wedding shower in Rochester for our nephew, then a graduation for our niece. We also found time to go to the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Owasco to see "Anything Goes" with Bob's mother. Of course that meant eating out at Connie's (any excuse!). All that in the past week on top of 12 hour days which included two open houses and countless showings. What a marvelous time of year!

So here we are, in no known order, just as they came up in computer. All are listed as being in Skaneateles, although a couple are in Sennett with Skaneateles Schools, and another in Spafford. Some are village (3) and some are waterfront (4) and two are lake rights. The prices are their sales prices.

3391 East Lake Road - $430,000

2052 West Lake Road - $752,000

1000 Jewett Road - $95,000

3104 West Lake Road - $242,000

33 Calemad Drive - $442,600

1575 Tracy Drive - $305,000

1863 Sugar Maple Lane - $105,100

2489 East Lake Road - $850,000

2875 East Lake Road - $310,000

2104 West Lake Road - $270,000

7 Wicklow Drive - $325,000

2542 East Lake Road - $164,300

3663 Fisher Road - $199,000

12 Prentiss Drive - $685,000

1531 Thornton Heights - $370,000

4135 Jordan Road - $118,000

3809 Gully Road - $99,000

180 East Genesee Street - $235,000

4179 NW Townline Road - $55,000

Lot 8 Calemad - $613,700

Since we already have 3 more towards the next 20, maybe we can sell and close 17 more in record time!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of)

2011-06-16T15:07:00.000-04:00

It's been longer than I like to go as far as writing here. No excuse. I simply was extremely busy, had friends in over the weekend for dinner at Bluewater on Friday and Rosalie's on Saturday. As I get older I realize that the friends I had as a girl are the ones I am more likely to stay in touch with - which is odd in a way, because as I look at our stats we are vastly different. Life style - only four of the eight are married (still), five of us have grown children, only one is a grandmother, and only three of us have full-time jobs. We all agree on having pets, dogs and cats and even horses, and that may be the only thing. Plus we like each other mostly, and can generally pick up where we left off. My world is certainly richer for their continuing presence.

But back to Skaneateles and the new listings that have appeared in the past 16 days. The listings can be summed up by saying they are half re-lists - houses that have been refreshed to appear newly listed either after being leased or with a price drop or simply "because." Just as a new one came on in the village for slightly under $400,000 (and has a very decidedly "cool" factor) another one was re-listed at about the same price. There are now 43 village homes on the market.

Outside of the village 9 listings came on the market. Five are re-lists, ranging in price from under $200,000 to well over a million dollars. Two are waterfront. The new ones are in the $250,000 to $400,000 range - even the one with lake rights and the other right on the water (think small, very small...)

Because guilt has caught up with me, I will continue on with the contingent properties. There are 14 in all - I don't remember a time when there were so many! - and four of them are new. A pretty village property that's been dropping its price fairly regularly is now marked contingent, a house in the town that came on with a very good price is also gone after just a few weeks, and a smaller one with one of the lowest prices is also marked contingent. A beautiful waterfront home listed under two million - but just - is also as sold as "contingent" can be.

Nothing new in the "under contract, do not show" listings. There are 8 marked pending, including two new ones that went directly there, one a waterfront property and the other with acreage. Cash is good these days, and while I have no knowledge that this is what the financing is, going directly to pending often means just that.

We now have over 20 homes sold and closed this year. This compares with 27 in 2010, 38 in 2009, and only 19 in 2008 by this date in June. Three new ones were reported. One sold over its list price, another sold just about at its list price, and a third came in at about 20% of its original price. Really can't predict a trend here at all - except that the right pricing brings buyers. Not always true, because each house is different, but the adage about "if you lower the price far enough someone will buy it!"

So things have slowed enough to be able to report the update in one blog - but soon the contingents will turn into pendings that will turn into solds. My prediction: that it won't take five and a half months to close the next 20!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of) - Part Two

2011-06-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

2220 Glencove Road

I was speaking with the owner today of this wonderful home and we were looking at pricing in Onondaga County. I told her that over the past few months I've kept an eye on the Post-Standard's Sunday Home page and the property's that have closed. Each week I am amazed that the prices aren't higher. The paper publishes the 5 highest-priced houses that sold the past week - generally the fifth house is somewhere around the $300,000 level. I checked it out on the ML for verification - only 28 homes have sold in the past 12 months in Onondaga County over $500,000. So we "monitored and adjusted" the price of this Otisco Lake waterfront year-round home to $449,000. Come and get it!

But what's been happening in Skaneateles? I've been so busy that the poor second half of this blog got pushed back and back. (Yes, busy with listings and offers!) I will catch us up to the minute - this minute, before I go take another listing (so cute - and under $100,000!)

New contingent, continue to show properties are homes in the village, the town and waterfront. The village home that sold is listed above $500,000 - so there's another one to add to the list when it closes. A second one is above a million, and is also waterfront. Another waterfront a bit farther down the lake has also sold presumably for over 500K also. Two homes in the town, both around $200,000, and a third another 100K up are marked newly contingent. That brings to 10 - a lot!

One new one went directly to under contract, do not show - listed around $200,000 also. The pended property that's new is in the same ballpark. Together the "U" and "P" categories equal another 10, just waiting to close.

We now have 18 closed properties for the year as reported through today, June 6th. Two are new, one that's been listed for well over 6 months and the other for only a few months, and waterfront at that. Both closed within 15% of their initial list price. Only two more to go and I will publish the list of houses with their closed prices.

But until then - go play! A lovely June is a gift - before the summer, while the flowers still bloom, and before all the craziness of vacations and graduations and parties take hold. Just relax, mow and play!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of)

2011-05-31T21:33:00.000-04:00

This will take two blogs! The number of new listings is very high. I am sure people waited until it felt like spring and got summer instead.

The first group belongs to the village. Of the current 43 properties listed in the Skaneateles Village area of the multiple listing service, two new ones came on. One is a smaller village home with a great yard for $269,000. The other is my listing of 5 Palmer Place, an adorable home tucked away behind Leitch and Academy. The price is $366,000.

Five new waterfronts came on the market over the past 18 days. There is one small one at the far end of the lake for under 200K. Moving up the lake towards the village, but still fairly far down is a camp for $445,000. Getting closer yet are two cottages right on the water for about $700,000. Almost to the village - well, about 3 miles out - is another camp (a true camp, as the agent admits) for almost $800,000. The final home is a multimilllion dollar (as in 3M) luxury home.

That leaves ten more town, not waterfront, places. Two small ones just north of the village are in the low $100,000 range. Four other homes that suggest affordable family living are priced in the $250,000 to $350,000 range, in varying stages of work that needs to be done. Two others are re-lists, with prices staying relatively the same. Another at $425,000 has pretty much only a view to recommend it - but what a view! Still another is a classic brick, in the mid $500,000. The last is a luxury home on 12 acres - sorry, no waterfront - for over 2M.

Next week - I will check the listings sooner! Stay tuned for another blog with the contingent, pending, and sold listings!

Ten Minutes to Go!

2011-05-28T13:25:00.000-04:00

I am sitting in the office in the Village watching the world go by. I met with people this morning who took a careful look at a house for well over two hours. We thought we would see more today, but they preferred to go out exploring on their own. I wasn't sure what to do next - I had well over another hour until my next appointment - but then I got a call about a contract coming in. So I am in the office, doing a goodly bit of work prior to leaving again.

It's amazing how much can be accomplished in a short period of time if there are no interruptions. I processed the contract, printed it, called the agent to ask questions, called the owners to tell them and request a time to meet, printed flyers and the disclosures for tomorrow's open house at 5 Palmer Place in Skaneateles - check it out on http://realtor.com/ or http://cnyrealtor.com/ - and still had time to write this blog!

And no, I do not feel rushed at all. I've left enough time to get to my next appointment, I know where it is without the Tom-Tom Bob gave me for Christmas, and I know the property I am showing. (Just gorgeous - with VIEWS!) The world is a good place, today, here, in the Village, on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

The New Listing Watch

2011-05-27T14:06:00.000-04:00

I am about to put on a new listing, just waiting for the paperwork. It is such a lengthy project at times, and this is one of those times. I can't remember when we first started talking about listing this home, easily months if not a year or so ago. It's an estate, and because of that there are four children involved who all contributed to the process.

The woman with whom I've dealt the most, one of the sisters, and I have corresponded for years since she and her family purchased a camp through me. We rarely see each other, but when we do it's like Old Home Days. As with so many of my clients, she has become a friend more than a client. So this was a great opportunity for us to spend more time together on a mutual project.

Since we started, the home has been vacated by its family tenant, the papers and belongings of her father have been removed I am sure quite tearfully. It's always the hardest part of letting a home go because we all seem to be so involved with where we live, it defines us so much.

We had a pre-listing inspection done in early April which gave the family a new "To Do" list which they did. We met several times about presentation. Last weekend I came over with Jolanta and she cleaned it so the hardwoods would shine and the windows would show off the lovely view of the lake and village.

Throughout it all we watched carefully the progress of other village homes, the pricing and the reductions. We think we have found a number that is manageable and reflects the location - prime! - and the home itself.

So now the draft of the listing is written, the photos all taken when the sun was out and the flowers were in bloom, the signs are on the floor of the back seat of the Scion, the open house riders resting on the seat. The lockbox is ready to go - and so am I! Once I hit the "submit" button the listing will be there for all the agents to see and I will hurriedly put in the photos and the open house (Sunday, 12:00 to 2:00).

We are launched!

Doug's on a Thursday Evening

2011-05-26T19:15:00.000-04:00

I went out to the lake today to mow. It's a new project this year to force me into some much-needed exercise and also to visit the lake. I can get overwhelmed, and not make it out there, but this year I am determined not to miss summer. So I mow with my electric mower, (I call it vacuuming the lawn) and get very hot and very sweaty....and stay current with the phone and e-mails thanks to my new iPhone.

On the way back through the village I stopped at Doug's for salmon, 2 cole slaws and a fish sandwich for Bob. I happened to get Mark Edwards, the owner, to write my order. He took a moment to tell me how much he enjoyed this blog. I felt so guilty, because, like the lake, there are times when I don't write for days at a time. But hearing his praise - even though he didn't buy his beautiful new house with me - sent me to the computer. (Salmon takes a while - and they know that I will be back to get it.)

I forget sometimes that real estate is about people, too. I forget that what I do, how I express the world around me, matters. Thank you, Mark, for reminding me.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of) - Part Two

2011-05-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

This is the second half of the update for May 1st through the 13th or so. I like the split - it makes it manageable. The first half was the plethora of new listings, and now I will explore the contingent, under contract, pending and sold listings.

There are currently 6 homes marked contingent under Skaneateles. Three of these are new, and ALL of them were listed in the mid-$100,000 range. Coincidence? I think not! I think this is the range in which people may be buying a first home and therefore have nothing to sell. They are all on the periphery of Skaneateles and each one has a bit of land. Two of them need a bit of work and those are the ones whose price was reduced from previous attempts at sales.

The two that are under contract or pending (of the 7 altogether) are in the mid-$300,000. Nothing remarkable here - the coincidence of price is just that.

We now have 16 closed sales for the year. Three of these occurred in the past two weeks. One is a village home that was listed, I believe, for at least two-plus years with two different Realtors. I showed it multiple times and it closed about 10% under its list price. The second one was a newly built home that I loved, and it came in right around its list price of $450,000. Builders generally stick to their prices which are reflective of their costs. The third was a home previously listed and now sold by the listing agent - lake rights, in need of work - but rented while it was marketed around $300,000. Again, a 10% reduction brought the sale.

Since this is not very long, I want to check some of our neighboring communities. As it stands now, Skaneateles has exactly the same number of closed homes as last year! Marcellus has only 14, as compared with 18 the previous year. Camillus is also going the wrong way, with only 53 as compared with 63 for the beginning of 2010. Elbridge is basically Elbridge, with 8 this year and 7 last year.

I have one solution for that - buy my listing at 1 Orchard in Marcellus please! Only $125,000 - and everyone who has seen it agrees it is wonderfully decorated and masterfully maintained.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update (sort of)

2011-05-13T15:03:00.000-04:00

There is so much going on and I love every minute of it! I heard from an old e-mail friend (never have laid eyes on him) about my listing down Firelane 21B, now that summer is almost here. I told him I was "crazy busy" and he said that's a good thing. I do agree!

One of the crazy things this week was Tuesday, the day of the brokers' opens. In Skaneateles alone, there were 11 houses, and a friend said he counted 12 actually. I ran through 6 of them before going off to my dentist appointment with Dr. Swartwood (teeth are fine, for once!). I kept thinking back to the winter, and how there were weeks without a single home open. I heard from some people that other agents brought buyers with them. The world is changing - things are moving.

There are currently 134 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 44 are in the village and 40 are published as waterfront. Now here's a spoiler alert! After I finish writing about the new listings, I will tell you what the median (as in middle) prices of these four categories are: village, waterfront, neither WF or village, overall. Try to guess the prices - it's an interesting exercise.

Three new properties came on in the village. A cute little house sort of tucked away is on the market in the mid-$200,000 range. Another massive place has the unheard-of price in the lower $300,000. This is possibly an early sign of a trend - sell it now, do not "try it higher." The agent hopes for multiple offers at this price. We will see. The last is a re-list that had tried it higher, unfortunately, and is now around 300K.

Of the 8 listings in the town, three are re-lists at about the same price. Two are waterfront - above half a million and the other above a million. A gorgeous estate not too far down the lake is now under that half million mark. Two beautiful watefront properties appeared - both going towards the two million dollar mark. A newer home whose similar neighbor had sold several years ago is now listed about the same price, $300,000. I tried to see a house just outside the village that has always intrigued me on Tuesday, but the sign was down and the doors were locked - price towards $600,000. Too many open houses out there - and the agents holding them open were also trying to run around!

Back to my stats that I love so much - guesses in? The median price for waterfront is $990,000. Wow! That means that about 20 are listed above this - and yes, 20 below. Village homes have a median price of $365,000, which I think is an interesting number, personally. If you remove village and waterfront from the criteria, then the price drops to $310,000 (town, not on the water.) Overall - of all those 134 active listings - the median price in Skaneateles is: $413,000 - again, a personally interesting number.

So let's consider this as Part One of the update. I have to go sell a house!

Photo Op

2011-05-05T19:02:00.000-04:00

After the events of this week, this photo of a pretty Skaneateles Village home sums it all up, I think.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

2011-05-03T18:03:00.000-04:00

I know it's supposed to be rainy days and Mondays that "always get me down," according to Karen Carpenter - but this is Tuesday and it's raining and raining. I'm not really down, just want to share a few things that are on the edge.

Bob made leek pesto on Sunday night and marinated the shrimp in it and then grilled them outside. You remember Sunday - it was sunny and I got a bit of a tan. Leeks are special to us because they were right under our noses on our hillside for years and we had no idea what we were seeing. A friend, Mike, told us about them - to look for the leaves that are similar to tulips, then gently pull them out. The bulb is like a garlic or onion with its own special flavor. Since then - just last year - Bob has become a leek fiend. This year we had to wait longer for them to be ready, but now there's a plastic container filled with them in the fridge. The shrimp are lying on the leaves, just for presentation purposes, in the picture. He also made a leek and potato soup that was magnificent. Thanks, Mike, yet again!

I've wanted to say thank you to Kimmie, my sometime godchild and Alex's babysitter, for a while now. I rarely see her any more, but she told me at her grandmother's funeral that she reads my blog and I know will read this. She sent me this amazing card after Koko left us last month. Bob opened it before I got home and he was excited. "This looks just like Koko!" he said. And it does - even though Kimmie never met her. I keep the card with others on our bulletin board in the kitchen, and every time I see it I think of them both - and Kimmie's pug, whom I've never met. And how far we all have come over the years. Good thoughts.

Lastly, thank goodness for Panera Bread! I had a broker's open today at my new listing at 158 Shire Way in Camillus and offered a chance for a $25 gift certificate to Panera Bread - so of course afterwards I had to go get it. (Jeannine Larose from our office in Skaneateles won it - she doesn't know yet.) I went to the other opens in Skaneateles - the ranch on Crow Hill and Peter Babbles' listing on Hawthorne Woods - and then ran back to Camillus. I had earned both a coffee and a pastry for my many times there, and chose a croissant. I made phone calls and texted and sent e-mails on my new iPhone and never felt like I was sitting too long. The rain poured down outside, but inside the fire kept us patrons warm. I can't wait until the new Panera Bread goes in by Staples on Grant Ave in Sennett! http://www.panerabread.com/

Otisco Lake

2011-05-02T16:44:00.000-04:00

The View from Glencove

I went out there today to check our camp after the floods and the wind storms. Patches, our neighbor's dog, greeted Boo and me on the road. The place looked fit and fine - certainly ready to be opened up and aired out though. I also went through my listing on Glencove, wanting to make sure that it was sound. As I put the key in the lock I heard music playing. No one was supposed to be there today and I was surprised, to say the least. I opened up and tiptoed in, calling so I wouldn't take anyone unawares. It was only the radio - sigh!

Otisco Lake is about 6 or 7 miles long, depending on whether you count the south end beyond the old Causeway, or the north end in the narrows. It's about a mile wide, and only 30 to 40 minutes southwest of Syracuse. I can attest that Skaneateles is 15 minutes away from the west side. And yet it is mostly a forgotten lake.

When Alex was little he was upset that Otisco wasn't considered one of the Finger Lakes proper. Someone must have told him that - not me! We thought about the legend that a giant had swooped down and with his fingers carved out the lakes and that is why they are called the Finger Lakes. I placated Alex by saying that there were no rules where giants were concerned - he might have had 6 fingers or even more.

And if you'd like to own a place...back to the subject...there are only 6 properties available at this time. The smallest is on the market in the low $100,000 range. For that you get a very steep access hill to the camp, 50 feet of lakefront, no running water (read also no septic or outhouse?) but it does have electricity and a great view. The most expensive is my lovely Glencove listing at $494,000. It's a three story home, rebuilt from the bottom up in 1991, with four bedrooms and three full baths, over 100 feet of lakefront and half an acre of land (double lot). It's designed for year-round cozy living and in the Marcellus School District.

The other four are basically camps of all sizes. The square foot costs range from a low of $149 to $339. Last year there were 13 camps listed for most of the summer - maybe more will come on the market.

In the past 24 months 17 properties on the lake have closed. A small one south of the Causeway closed at $55,000 and needed a lot of work, but it at least had a holding tank. The most expensive closed at $420,000 fairly rapidly and was built new in 2009. While we don't have the huge houses and lakefronts that Skaneateles boasts, we also do not have the high prices.

As Boo and I left today I went north to drive into Marcellus and put up signs for my open house this Sunday at 1 Orchard Street. (Just saying.) Along the west side in the Narrows whole pine trees - five or six? - had been uprooted by the winds and just lay there. The winds must have swept over and caught them just right, or they were waterlogged from all that rain. We considered ourselves lucky, Boo and I, that we had no damage and neither did our neighbors. It wasn't always that way after a major storm....but that's another blog....

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-05-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

I spent today in a tale of two rental homes. The first one hadn't been cleaned out when the new tenants arrived, so the owners and I worked to make it presentable. And worked and worked. The new tenants continued with us, bringing in furniture while the floors were being scrubbed with Murphy's oil soap. After three hours I went to check on the next home that had been vacated yesterday - and actually was. It was the proverbial "neat as a pin." I found a few cobwebs in out of the way places, but that was about all. I kept thinking that the owners of the first place would have cried. Just another Sunday in the life of this Realtor!

On to the update. There are currently 124 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 43 are in the village. Seven "new" ones came on this past week. I say quote-unquote because five of them were in the same subdivision on the edge of the village, and range in price from a low of the mid-$300,000 to over $415,000 for a new to-be-built home. The other two listings are new - one in an older community for $400,000 and another on the water for well under one million.

In the town there were eight new ones, of which half were re-lists with slightly lower prices. I take that back - one went up in price, a house in the country with acreage. The others are waterfront, anywhere from under 300K to almost a million. New homes listed include a waterfront (seven feet) with acreage for the low $300,000, a fairly newly built home not far from the village in the mid-$400,000 and an old farm for $400,000. But the greatest of them all is an incredible waterfront home built recently that reminds me of a castle - now on the market for the cool price of slightly over 4 million.

There are eight properties marked contingent, two of which are new. A waterfront property listed just under a million and recently listed is now a "C" - continue to show but under contract. My crazy Sugar Maple Lane (the photo above) - a shell of a house - garnered multiple offers at its list price of $99,500. Backup offers are still being taken!

There are no new "under contract, do not show" homes or pending homes.

We now have 13 single family homes closed so far this year. The most recent was a sweet little house that had great potential and sold in the low $100,000. Last year at this time only 12 homes had closed, the year before an amazing 23 (and then it stopped). The 2008 year began with only 15 closings by the end of April.

Spring has yet to fully envelop us - the streets aren't packed like they usually are on a Sunday. The rain in April was an all-time record - one I'd like not to repeat for a while please! But April showers bring may flowers....and sales!

Skaneateles Waterfront Lots

2011-04-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

Over the past 10 years I have watched lots come and go off the market. I have personally sold the same lot a couple times. I also participated in one of the last level waterfront lots to have been sold through the multiple listing service. I can tell you that selling waterfront lots is difficult.

Currently there are 11 active lots listed as being on Skaneateles Lake. They range in price from $69,000 for .4 acres to 1.5M for slightly over an acre. One is on the market as a single family home and a lot, which I think is prudent. I have my gorgeous 50 acres listed the same way, plus a separate waterfront lot for $250,000 (a bargain, I might add!). Many of the lots come with names like "Bluff" or "Cliff" - but such is the lake. The lowest priced one reminds you it is dangerous to go over the guardrail...

In the past two years three properties have closed described as Skaneateles waterfront lake lots. Two were on the east side and again seem to involve a guardrail, though not for danger. The third was actually lake rights, but in the Village and a prime location.

I have a good friend who refers to his camp as "The Lot." The house would need more work than it is or would be worth, and he knows that once he gives it up the result would be a buildable empty lot within a year. It is sad to see homes go, camps that were prized by families who spent summers there. That way of life may be fading on Skaneateles, at least with the smaller, older places.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-04-16T08:32:00.000-04:00

Well! All I can say is that it has been a very busy last two weeks, and the statistics bear this out. Would you believe - 21 new listings? 7 of them in the Village? Others have dropped out, been reconfigured and re-listed, so the current total is still only 110 with 37 of them in the Village. Amazing!

I broke down the "new" listings into re-lists, Village, and Town in order to handle them. In the Village, new ones are a gorgeous ranch listed in the mid-$300,000 that I had sold a few years ago. The owners put in hardwoods and generally updated everything. Another little house in need of some work is priced affordably in the mid-$100,000. To round it out, the third is in the $200,000 and is within an easy walk to the Village center. The other four are re-lists.

In the Town, there are therefore 14 more! Of these, only 5 are re-lists, so here goes! Out in the country there's a lovely home for $400,000 that was built only a few years ago on several acres. It is joined by a very old farmhouse in good condition priced under $300,000. Four waterfront properties came on - 'tis the season - all around a million, more or less, with one being half a million with, of course, less actual waterfront. Oh yes - and a fixer-upper for the mid $200,000...also being sold as a lot, if that gives you any indication.

Four properties have been marked contingent - two smaller homes and a ranch that had been done and re-done. The pretty home on 321 that was a model for Ryan Homes when they were building in Butters Farm now sports a SOLD sign on it. Nothing new in the "Under Contract" or "Pending" categories though.

Sold and closed - hooray - are two homes that came down in price each about 30% because of their need for work. One had lake rights, and the other closed under $100,000. That brings to 12 the homes that have closed this year in the Skaneateles area.

I still believe - despite these statistics - that it will be a good year and the next couple months (if the last few days are indicative of anything) will be amazing. If I see numbers spiking again I may switch back to a weekly update. Certainly that will be more manageable than opening up the MLXchange on a Friday evening and realizing we had been slowly inundated with new listings.

Skaneateles Lake Homes

2011-04-10T17:27:00.005-04:00

A convergence of events has occurred - the temperature got warmer, the Village got busier, and I just spent a goodly portion of the weekend updating my listings on the multiple listing service as well as http://realtor.com/ and http://lakehouse.com/. I also showed waterfront this past week and will do so again this upcoming week. Summer is right around the corner! So it seems appropriate that I write about the lakes and the marvelous opportunities that exist to own waterfront. Lake by lake, starting with Skaneateles.

Today I'll focus only on single family homes, or "camps" as we call them here or lakehouses as the vast majority should be named. I used to own a "camp," but since we renovated it seems more like a lakehouse, even though it retains the small feeling and ease of care.

There are currently 38 properties identified by the multiple listing service as being on Skaneateles Lake. They are contained in three counties - Onondaga, Cayuga and Cortland. Prices range from the low of $159,000 to a high of 3.5M. The median price is $889,000. By way of a disclaimer, I have a property listed twice - once with 78 feet of waterfront and again, at a higher price ($950,000), with 153 feet of waterfront. I am certain there must be properties that are not lakefront, but only lake rights. Somehow that distinction dropped off our reporting criteria a few years ago, leaving us all with the dilemma of how to tell people that yes, you can gain access, but no, it's not right on the water. Hopefully that will be corrected at some point, but for now, I haven't gone through to check. Bottom line - consider the number "38" as an approximation.

Of these properties, 12 are listed over 1M, with another 5 barely under that figure. Six of the homes (actually, one is a lot without a house) have 0 to 1 bedroom. At the other end, 4 houses have 5 bedrooms.

Now the fun part! Taxes run from $4,493 per year (total) to the high of $56,900, appropriately attached to the highest listed home. Square footage starts at 404 feet and runs to 4,400sf (NOT the highest priced home, I might add). Assessments are as low as $105,000 (which I wonder about) or the next is $153,800 and the high is 2.2M which produced the 56K in taxes. List prices do not reflect the assessments - of the three I chose as random, one was $100,000 below, another about the same, and a third $400,000 higher!

Of these 38, four of the homes are in the Village, four are in Spafford down the east side of the lake, 2 in Niles on the west side (but that's suspect because we list them as being in Skaneateles for the exposure) and the remaining 28 are identified as Skaneateles. Eleven companies represent these properties, and at least two boards: The Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors and the Cortland Board.

When I requested how many Skaneateles Lake properties had sold, I got the number 135. Of these, 25 closed in the past 12 months. At this rate we then have about 18 months of inventory. The median list price was $500,000; 5 were over 1M.

So as I go off this week to show lakefront, I can bear in mind these figures. And now, so can you.

Brokers' Opens

2011-04-05T10:19:00.010-04:00

10:28 AM On Tuesdays in Skaneateles and the western suburbs new listings are opened by their agents so other agents can come and preview them. This has been an ongoing tradition since long before I started in real estate. It helps to see homes - I guess this is a given.

50 West Genesee

In the old days when houses came on and houses sold within a month, it was vastly important to get the news out to potential buyers about what just came on the market. While the urgency isn't there, homes are still selling. Until today there have been few Tuesdays when a full slate of homes have been open. Last week we had three - my lovely 50 West Genesee Street and two others. Our times are usually 12:00 to 2:00, so doing an open makes it difficult to get to others. I ended up previewing one of the homes at another time. Today, due in part to the weather, I decided that I was not going to submit two of my homes waiting for brokers' opens, and see others instead.

I PLAN (and plans change rapidly) to get down the lake to Spafford, back to the Village for one off East Lake, and then out to Fisher Road. There are actually 13 homes, from Cazenovia to Skaneateles, being held open. I chose not to see the other property in the area because I have shown it several times; it is now being listed by its third Realtor.

1:00 PM I returned home having gone to all three. The first was an absolutely lovely home that I had seen years ago when it was sold. It only got lovelier in the years during which the present owners had it. The den was gone and in its place was a bedroom, making it seem like a true four-bedroom home finally. The dining room was immense, the decorating perfect throughout. Truly a pleasure to view - almost $500,000.
The second was a great little village home with such potential! It even had a swimming pool that could be resurrected.

I saw the third house and had a good time talking to the other agents I ran across there. I've missed the socializing aspect of real estate, I discovered. I'm glad spring is here.

The Syracuse Symphony

2011-04-01T17:40:00.002-04:00

Last Friday evening Bob and I went to the Civic Center for a performance of the orchestra with Elliot Fisk, guitarist, and JoAnn Falletta, guest conductor. We had seen Fisk before - he graduated from Jamesville-Dewitt and so came back here on occasion. His wife joined him, a brilliant flower in the midst of all the black and white. Ms. Falletta is the conductor of the Buffalo Symphony. Our tickets had been graciously given to us by two of my clients. We had looked forward to going all year. The performance was wonderful - absolutely entrancing. We sat in the first row of the balcony and just enjoyed, but also worried that the people around us seemed to be older than we had remembered in the past. The audience was aging. But then, so were we. After the Intermission Ms. Falletta gave an impassioned speech addressing the financial woes of the Symphony. She begged the audience "Don't let them go" meaning the musicians. In the silence that followed a woman spoke up quite clearly, but not meaning to be heard "The symphony and museums make Syracuse bearable." There was an intake of breath, and the orchestra began playing, drowning out all our thoughts - sort of. A few days later it was all over. The Symphony members and the Board could not find a reasonable way to continue, and the season was cancelled. This was the 50th Anniversary season - Yo-Yo Ma would not be coming. Sales would not be refunded - purchasers were directed to send their requests to the Attorney General. I grew up with the Symphony. As a little girl I watched my best friend's father, Dr. Ian Henderson, play master-of-ceremonies for the annual school production. We were there the day Kennedy was assassinated. My parents always went to the symphony, I believe at Central Tech now the Greystone Building. My teachers - Elizabeth Mann, Mr. Schermerhorn - played in the orchestra, as did Alex's strings teacher from Skaneateles. I can't believe it's gone and won't be revived. It was such a gift to the community. While I totally disagree with the elderly woman who so inopportunely expressed her opinion, I do know that for many people of her age the Symphony's performances were a high point. This means they won't be playing in Skaneateles the third week in July, or at Emerson Park for the 4th with the William Tell Overture reverberating across the water. Sad. Very, very sad.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-03-30T17:31:00.002-04:00

I looked back to last year's blog about this time. It was "Basketball Day" and I wrote in orange...sigh....but like the housing market, SU will come back, too! The spring listings have started, and I must admit I've been among the crowd to bring them on. Currently there are 101 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service (even if they are in another county). Of these, 33 are in the village and 28 are waterfront. Ten - count 'em! - 10 new listings came on this past week. Of course, 3 were re-lists - an over 1M waterfront, an almost $450,000 town house with acreage, and a village home in need of care for the low $200,000s. The others were three waterfront homes ('tis the season) ranging in price from $525,000 to $985,000. Another has lake rights but looks lovely for the mid-$200,000. Going out a bit there's a very pretty newer home with acreage for around $500,000 but you can always stay in the village and enjoy my listing at 50 West Genesee Street for a mere $420,000 (yes, I am advertising it here...) There are no new contingent properties - the old three remain. Of the five marked "U" - under contract, do not show - one is new, a gorgeous village house that had incredible work put into it and listed almost at $700,000 and sold almost immediately. There are buyers out there. So far this year 10 properties have closed, and 3 are new in the past two weeks. One is a lake rights home that had been on the market for a bit, and closed in the lower $400,000, about 12% off its original list price. A poor house that stood vacant for a long time closed under $100,000 while it had been listed about $200,000 to begin. Staging could have helped it immensely. The third was a home in the town that closed around $200,000, about 10% off its list price. Last year we had closed 7 homes by this time. I think our improved number indicates a swing towards the market coming back in Skaneateles. And why not? Our homes are lovely, the lake is beautiful and pure, the village a great place to live as well as vacation. Plus mortgage rates are low - so come on down and see what we have to offer!

Mortgage Pre-approval

2011-03-25T08:58:00.003-04:00

This past week I went back to class for my continuing education credits. The title of the course dealt with Buyer Agency, and since I hadn't taken anything like this is in a while, I thought it would be interesting. It was, very!

We had a wonderful small group of agents and a very mesmerizing educator, John J. Waugh. So we talked - and talked and talked.

Something I had been rolling around in my head because of the past week came up - mortgage pre-approval.

Money is always a touchy subject, and I learned early on that when money enters a conversation as it must in real estate, the world changes a bit. I prefer to send my buyers to a mortgage person, someone I know and trust or someone they know and trust, rather than qualify them for a mortgage myself. This used to be done all the time by agents, I am told, but the consensus in the class was that most "used" mortgage people to do it.

But it must be done. I had a conversation earlier in the week with an agent who told me a story about a client who absolutely refused to speak with anyone and still wanted to see higher end homes. She accommodated him/her for a bit, but then she had to insist on some verification. The person left in a huff, presumably to work with someone else... who one would hope would ask for the same verification eventually.

For every offer, I have on file a pre-approval or proof of funds if it's a cash deal. Often though, while I may have the documentation, other agents do not ask for it. Generally for mortgages I include it in the offer to bolster it. This was necessary in the good old days because there were other offers out there. Now agents are thrilled to get any offer, real or not, it seems. Either that, or they have come to trust that I have made my buyers do their homework or I wouldn't bring the offer.

This goes for every buyer, even people I know well. Recently I worked with a couple whose credit scores had been checked, approvals given, and were stellar buyers on the very high end. They knew the requirements and called one of the mortgage people I recommend. We were all shocked when the pre-approval was denied due to a blip in their credit not in their control (long story, not to be gone into here). My stellar buyers would have to wait a bit until the issue was resolved. But we are all so glad that the problem was identified early - before an offer was extended and accepted, before their current home went on the market.

I remember sitting with a gentleman a while back who was offering cash for a good-sized home. I needed to know he could buy it, and we sat in the empty office for a couple hours while he fished around through his files and came up with enough verification for me to go ahead with the offer. He told me his wife didn't know as much as I did afterwards. But we got the house, and I was able to negotiate from a strong position.

As uncomfortable as the money discussion can be, it is necessary.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

2011-03-16T10:41:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago Bob discovered The Art of Racing in the Rain among his papers. He had been given it by a friend whose dog, Lily, a Boston Terrier, he really liked. Somehow he hadn't read it and neither had I. But all things happen for a reason.

So I read it - set in Seattle, which made it fun, and about Enzo, a mixed something or other who was a very old dog and getting ready to die. The novel (by Garth Stein) is told from Enzo's point of view. And if you read it, I challenge you to ever look at a dog the same way again.

I started noticing Koko more - how she moved slowly, laboriously, took a long time to wake up and slept about 23 hours a day. She still knew when dinnertime rolled around and could be counted on to find me at 6:00 every night. Then she'd go back to sleep until it was time to go to bed.

Koko came to us through another agent, Hattie Peters. I worked at Gallinger when I started, and during that first year my mother moved in with us. Her dog, Dulcinea, passed on almost immediately and left her with Hermes, a Himalayan with attitude. It soon became apparent that my mother needed another dog, and we put the word out. Hattie's daughter volunteered to give us Koko, then 10 years old and getting a bit lost in the shuffle of kids and other dogs. She was little - about 12 pounds - and a "pomma-poo," or "mutt" as our vet, Doc Schnabel, pronounced.

Koko spent about three years at my mother's side getting petted and loved. They did everything together, and when my mother had to go to St. Camillus for extended stays, Koko would come and visit. She became a favorite on the unit.

My mother passed away in March of 2006 and Koko came to us. She quickly showed us that she would accommodate us and what we did. She ran with us and Boo, took extraordinary long walks through the fields or glen, and generally ran the much younger Boo into the ground. But if she saw Mr. Walsh at the lake, then in his 90s, slowly walking down the road, she would fall in with him at his feet, go at his pace.

She was a social dog. She had been raised on Otisco Lake and knew how to be a "camp" dog. She regularly made the rounds - the Browns gave out treats, Mary Kay kept Moses' food outside on her deck. The Gromes were always good for a party - in fact, one night I found her there, curled up in a stranger's lap, having walked in and made herself at home.

She didn't know she was small. Bob loves the story of her dragging a dead fish along the shore, proudly bringing it home. She road on my lap in the kayak, attacked the three goldies who took walks down the road, and always defended our property from high above on the deck. She would say hello to any dog she encountered on our early morning walks in the Village.

She survived two mastectomies, many teeth-cleanings, several eye infections, and a bout with a cancer that grew quickly under her tongue last May and threatened to return. She did not conquer her kidneys, however, and we lost her on Sunday.

We all agree that she is up there with my mother who is showing her off to my Aunt Grace. She has taken another walk with Mr. Walsh, and found where the treats are stashed. It's eternal sunshine, so there's no worry about finding a good place in the grass to lie down, if my mother ever lets her feet touch the grass, that is.

She will be missed. I was lucky to have the last couple weeks to stay home with her, doze with her in the chair by the fire, take her with Bob for one last walk into the fields.

Enzo helped, too. He proposed that dogs go on to become human, and if there were ever one dog who should, it would be Koko. She gave so very much to so very many people.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-03-15T14:56:00.002-04:00

Ah, spring! I took a lovely walk today by Hoopes Park in Auburn, just across the street from a rental property I listed. Such a great area - I almost miss being in a village or city. The sun was warm even though I was bundled up with my heated vest, a hat and gloves....It will come!

There are currently 104 single family homes listed as active on the multiple listing service in the Skaneateles area. Thirty of these are in the village. Six "new" properties came on the market in the past two weeks. Three are re-lists of homes that have been on the market before for varying lengths of time, and three are new. A very pretty home - think curb appeal - with renovations completed on the interior came on in the mid-$300,000 range. Another small home - also village - is in the mid-$100,000 and is very sweet. Not too far out of the village an almost new home with a finished basement is now available at the "hurry up and buy me NOW" price in the low $400,000s. My prediction, if the weather continues to get springier, is that there will be twice as many - I will bet 12! - homes being listed in the next 15 days.

The contingent homes didn't change, nor did the "under contract do not show" numbers. The pending homes, however, bring in two newcomers - both little houses in the village. I look forward to seeing what they close for in the future months.

The biggest change were the closed homes. There are now 7 for the year, and three of them are new. A small place in need of a great deal of work closed just above $50,000, but that was above the list price. A pretty home on the village edge settled for a little bit under their list price, in the low $300,000 range. A big home built out in a community not too far from town was finished in the low $600,000. Gorgeous!

I thought I'd take a look at lots and land this week. There are currently 56 lots listed of varying sizes. In the past two years only 18 have sold and closed, and except for five, all were either in Butters Farm or Parkside. One was listed as waterfront, but in Lakeview Circle. We have many fine builders in our area and really beautiful land - I hope this trend changes a bit, but it is rational following my discussions on gas prices and return to village living. If you are one of the people who want to strike out and get away from it all - have I got the land for you!

Happy Spring!

Gas Prices and Real Estate

2011-03-06T14:18:00.003-05:00

So gas is going up again, thanks to the Middle East unrest and the - how do I say it - interests of the oil companies in their profit margin.

It has happened in the past, of course. I remember the long lines in the 70s, getting on the Thruway to buy gas so I could get to work. Driving away from gas stations because I was afraid I would run out of gas while waiting.

It's not that bad, now. Several years ago I was working with a client to buy a gas station, and I asked the owner about pricing around the time of Katrina. "Oh, we're all getting rich," he explained. Lovely, I thought.

But here we go again, and I thought I'd compile a few things that I predict will happen in the next several weeks.

I will receive an e-mail about how to stop the prices from rising. I already have, actually. This one involves not buying gas from Exxon or Mobil to force their prices downward and to start the trend. I don't now. I generally pick up gas when I'm over in Auburn because it's about 10 to 15 cents cheaper there at the Kwik-fill or Hess, and I can use my credit card that gives me another 1 to 3% off.

People who list their homes and happen to be closer to gas stations, groceries, and amenities will tout that proximity. I spoke with people last night who told me they would be listing soon and their house will sell because they are within half a mile of the mall. And since timing is everything - you know, I bet they do!

I remember years ago selling a home in Marcellus. The couple I was working with stood in front of a vacant lot with the builder. A woman walked by, carrying a bag of groceries from the local market, obviously on her way home from the store. My buyer just watched her progress, from the village end to her home down the way, and I knew then what she was thinking. "I can walk to the store. I want to walk to the store." They built their house.

Inevitably people will begin to think longer about living outside of the village, or in close proximity to the village. The drive down the lake to Borodino, for example, will feel longer and more expensive because of the higher price of gas. But the actual numbers tell the tale.

If it's seven miles to Borodino, or past Mandana on the west, and the drive is done twice a day, then an extra 28 miles will be driven. If this translates into mileage, then a car like my Scion will take an extra gallon of gas or another $5.00 (let's be high) per day. That's $150 more per month, $1800 per year. Just in gas alone, not counting wear and tear, etc. But if a home is assessed at $200,000 in Spafford or Skaneateles, then the rate is about 3% for taxes (rounding, rounding all the time). This is $6,000 per year.

If, however, the choice is made to be in the village, not only will the price of the house increase, but the village taxes will weigh in - so, let's say, $300,000 at 3% - already the increase over the town home is $3,000, not even adding the village tax. Of course there's the village electric, too, to offset the tax.....

Gas prices will increase and decrease, cars will be touted for their efficiency, and homes will be compared for proximity and their amenities... It's all in how you look at it, and where you really want to be! Thank goodness there are choices!

Decisions, Decisions!

2011-03-03T09:53:00.002-05:00

On one of those rare occasions (hah!) when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I read Newsweek from cover to cover. The article that stayed with me in the morning was "I Can't Think!" You can find it at http://www.Newsweek.com/stories.html for March 7th. Or just search for "The Science of Making Decisions" and the article by Sharon Begley comes right up.

The basic premise is that there is just too much information out there right now and that information prevents not only good decision-making but hampers any decision-making. How this relates to real estate is so very simple and so obvious that I see it daily.

In the olden days, say 2005 and before, a buyer would contact me and give me his/her criteria for a house. I would probe a bit deeper - what is important, how long will you stay, what is the current status of finances, needs...and then I'd go looking. After listening, I would pull up 5 or 6 houses and we'd see them. Generally within two searches the house would appear that was "perfect" or close enough and an offer would be made. The important part was the listening, I always thought - and still do to a certain extent.

Aiding and abetting this process was the knowledge that there were few houses that met the initial criteria, at least around Skaneateles. In a single day we could see all the 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath homes (and usually we had to go to the 1 bath homes, as most of you know) in the village or close to it. Always there was the fear that if the buyer didn't buy, someone else would...and generally did. Homes sat on the market for maybe three months. Maybe.

Then the world changed. Information became plentiful via the internet - thank you Zillow and all the other outlets. At first it seemed as if this was a good thing - hey - the more information you can give an engineer, the better, right? Well, maybe.

Options also opened up. Instead of just existing homes, now there were the "to be builts" or the lots available without a specific builder. The numbers grew exponentially. Showings became compartmentalized: one day for existing, older homes, another for under construction, a third for build your own. As homes came on the market, the initial tour became three days of existing homes.

Begley's article states that people can hold in their memory roughly 7 numbers, as in the 7 digit phone number. I think this can apply to real estate as well - 7 homes at the very most in one day - more and all is lost. "Was that the one with the fireplace?" "What was the floor in the kitchen?" and often "Gee, I don't remember that one at all!" It happens!

"It is easier," states Joanne Cantor, author of Conquer Cyber Overload, "to look for more and more information than sit back and think about how it all fits together." And that's what buyers do.

Until they get scared that nothing will work, and they hurriedly make a choice. Generally, the researchers assert, this choice is less appropriate and meets fewer needs than the others available. Even if they like the choice, the amount of information still out there creates anxiety that this was not the best choice.

Enter the unconscious! In several experiments, the researchers showed that if the subjects did not engage their critical brain, they made good choices. They "fell in love" as we like to say, rather than opted for the facts. One of the more fun experiments cited by the article had people researching strawberry jam to such an extent they ended up choosing the jam that didn't taste good but looked the best on paper. There is something wrong here when that happens....

In the past few years I have experienced clients who both overwork the information or ignore it, and all points in-between. When I think of the people who bought after months and months of searching (and information-gathering) and the people who took the first house they saw because they fell in love, I have to say that both groups are pleased with their decisions still to this day. And that is my job, or part of it after all - to find good homes for my clients - however long it takes!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-03-02T10:53:00.002-05:00

With great sadness I want to note the passing of Bob Feldmann last month. He owned the hardware store in the village which used to be where Kinney's now stands. He was an institution in the town. His wife, Shirley, worked at Gallinger Real Estate when I started there, and as far as I know is still an active agent now that it's Realty USA. I knew the family for years - they attended my church in Syracuse when I was a kid. Bob was so much a part of the village-scape when I would be there summers as an adult, and finally when I moved back in 1990. In the past few years when I walked West Lake Street I liked to look up and see Bob mowing or just enjoying the view from his porch. He will be missed.

But real estate awaits, and does not end. Maybe slows down a bit, but we all do at times...Currently there are only 105 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Thirty of these are in the village - and without going through every listing there may be some listed twice, once as town and then again as village. No one wants to miss a sale, or a look from a potential buyer!

Three "new" properties came on in the past two weeks - two are re-lists, one on the water the other in the Falls. The third listing is a ranch in the mid-$100,000 range not far out of the village.

Five single family homes are marked contingent, as in under contract but continue to show. Two are newly marked - a sweet little home just outside the village in the low $100,000 and a village property that has been listed for a couple years and may hopefully have found itself a new family. A good sign, both of these!

There are nine properties listed as under contract, do not show or pending closure. None are new, unfortunately.

We now have 4 closed properties for the year - hooray! The last is a small camp that closed in the high $300,000, about 18% under its original list price. But hey - I see a pattern! Of the four sold, three (count 'em!) are WATERFRONT! That, as the saying goes, is "HUGE!"

Pressure

2011-02-25T12:51:00.002-05:00

This is kind of an odd topic and I will keyboard my thoughts as I go, but there seemed to me a theme today as I drove back from Carlo's in Syracuse in the snow.

I was listening to the international weekly round-up on Diane Rehm's show (http://thedianerehmshow.org) and of course hearing about the Middle East. Pressure there, all right. Who would believe that the people could rise up after all these years and throw out ruthless dictators. It continues to amaze me.

Then the story from Rolling Stone (www.rollingstone.com) about the general who ordered his men to use psychological weapons (!) on Senators (!) to get them to approve funding. Now supposedly this was a balanced man who had come up through the ranks, and as they said on the show, was seen as a great candidate for future promotion. But here's where the pressure comes in. He was expected to perform, and he could not allow Senators to cut funding after seeing his troops. So he went around the law - until he was stopped.

The school unions in Wisconsin are another example. Teachers staying home and leaving classrooms untended, schools closing...all to apply pressure to their legislators. And then in the middle of the night, the legislators, feeling the pressure, took a very strange up or down vote to cut them off. It won't work in the Senate there....12 state senators are "in hiding" so they won't have to vote! Pressure.

So then we come at least to real estate. My seller and I lost a deal this week because the buyer (not my client) felt the pressure of buying too soon, in his/her opinion. No one put the pressure on the buyer, but when the offer went in the reality bells started to toll, and the offer was withdrawn. Too much pressure - to buy a house, to sell a house, to finalize life-style decisions. So much of real estate, when you come down to it, is a leap of faith. Of course grounded on sound reasons, but major changes nonetheless.

So from the Middle East to Skaneateles - just thoughts....

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-02-15T17:08:00.003-05:00

It was exciting today to realize that it was indeed Blog Update Day! I certainly feel less knowledgeable about the houses coming on and off the market even though I check my "hotsheet" every day. Writing it all out is very helpful - I am certain that's how I learn, by assimilating the information and then re-forming it.

Currently there are 108 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 30 are in the village. Eight properties came on the market since my last report on January 30th, but only three were new listings. The others ranged from two in the mid-$100,000 to two waterfronts in the 1 million plus category and a large estate valued just under three million dollars. The three new ones were a ranch listed around $200,000, a small home for just over $100,000 and a lovely village colonial in the mid-$600,000.

Four properties are marked contingent with one new one joining the other three. This is a lake rights home in need of some work and priced accordingly. There are no new "under contract, do not show" properties. One very lovely new construction home, marketed in the mid-$400,000 and actually outside of Skaneateles but in the school district was sent to the pending list. I know of at least two families who tried to buy it, but their homes did not sell in time.

Three - hooray! - homes closed in the past couple weeks. A waterfront property sold at a "let's get it done" price came in at 60% of its original list price. Another waterfront home closed in the mid-$700,000 after being listed in the $800,000 range. A small house outside Skaneateles sold close to its list price in the mid-$100,000.

We are off and running towards a good year! Last year by this time only two homes had sold. There are some wonderful homes out there somewhere beneath the snow just waiting for spring and the traffic that will once again come to Skaneateles!

FHA Appraisals

2011-02-14T13:58:00.003-05:00

Last week I took a course in the process from contract to closing on homes. It was taught by an attorney, Rob Carter (www.RobertCarterLaw.com) who gave it a different perspective. I wanted to share one of his handouts....

This is entitled "Most Common FHA Repairs." I will paraphrase in some places, but for the most part it will be the sheet we received. It comes from Forsythe Appraisals' website:(http://www.forsytheappraisals.com).

An FHA appraisal seeks to determine if the house is able to be mortgaged by the Federal Housing Authority. As agents, we sometimes dread theses appraisals in older homes because they are super-critical it seems, at times. Reading this list, any mortgage appraiser would be looking at the same things, I think. The suggestion from Forsythe is that by using this list you will be forewarned, and therefore can make the repairs prior to even marketing the house, much less getting as far as an appraisal.

If the home was built prior to 1978, chipping peeling paint must be scraped and painted.
The roof should have 2-3 years of useful life and no more than 2 layers of shingles.
The cause of wet basements should be cured.
Abandoned inoperable wells must be capped and sealed.
Infestation of any kind should be exterminated.
Damaged or inoperable plumbing, electric and heating systems should be repaired.
Structural or foundation problems must be repaired.
Flammable storage tanks must be removed and the filler cap sealed from the inside (e.g. buried oil tank).
If there is a crawl space or attic, it will be the homeowner's responsibility to make this area accessible so that it can be thoroughly inspected.

A lot to do here - and I would wager that for many older homes some of these items are not completed and the appraisal still goes through. The one thing - besides the lead paint issue - that FHA appraisals are known for are railings on steps as safety issues, but it wasn't included here. Food for thought!

Changes

2011-02-13T11:37:00.003-05:00

Just to bring everyone up to date on some changes that have occurred in the real estate market in Skaneateles. Some things I absolutely know, others are rumor and I will tag them as such.

To start, Aaron Moss has teamed up with Nothnagle out of Rochester and will become part of their company once the state gives its okay. This has been in the works for months; in the meantime Aaron and Steve Ansteth and their agents are open next to Sweetwater on Genesee Street.

Jerry Morrissey and agents Sara Collins and Betsy Barrett are opening an office at 44 East Genesee Street in the old Quinzi and Quinzi Jewelry Store. The name of their new company is Finger Lakes Realty Partners. The office is not open as yet, but signs are going up around the village and town. Michael Falcone is also involved as a partner although I do not have much more information than that. I have been told - rumor alert! - that they are working out of his Pioneer Company offices.

Mike DeRosa has become part of Sotheby's (Select Sotheby's International Realty) whose offices are listed as my old stomping grounds on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. Rumor has it that Sotheby's is coming to Skaneateles and will open an office, but where precisely that will be is undisclosed as yet - or when. In the meantime, another rumor has it that Sotheby's will only allow their signs to be placed on properties listed at $500,000 or above. Again, I stress this is rumor...

Change is good - keeps everyone on their toes. We will see how this all plays out - we currently have five open offices in the village with approximately 40-some agents. Six years ago we had the same number of offices and about 60 agents. Two brokerages combined, two new ones opened, and one dropped out of the area. Change. Houses still were listed and sold - as they are and will continue to be even if the cast and settings change. Skaneateles will always be - I predict! -a highly sought-after area in which to live and vacation.

What's Happening

2011-02-11T10:37:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since I entered a post, and please forgive me. I will try to make up for that. I do miss my weekly updates - they seem to keep me honest and I also know better myself what's happening. I may reconsider - but for now....

The photo at the side of this post is of the Sherwood Inn when it "burned" last week. I was in the office, enjoying my late afternoon social hour with Lisa which we seem to have more and more since her return from North Carolina. We were constantly interrupted by sirens and we knew something major had occurred somewhere, just not where. Chris Evans, one of our RE/MAX agents, called in and said that the Sherwood was on fire!

Of course then we smelled the smoke. Opening the door we saw the smoke rising over the Old Stone Mill. I took my camera and walked the short block (past Doug's and Bijou and the newsstand) to the corner of Jordan and Genesee. The block going west was closed off and sure enough, there were firemen on the roof. A woman went by me as I stood on the corner taking it all in - she said she worked there, and this was the second fire in a week.

It was easy to go up and take pictures - even the firemen were doing it. It was "only" a chimney fire and soon under control. But I was reminded of comments old friends told me before I moved in years ago. They were informed (unofficially of course) that if their lovely home was on fire and the Sherwood caught on fire at the same time, that the firemen would leave their home and go to the Sherwood. They understood.

The next day all was as usual, at least outwardly, by my evening walk. The dining room was filled, the tavern where the fire had occurred was open and filled as well.

The Inn is old and contains so many memories for so many people. It's where Alex and Rachel were married and held their reception. My old professor from Mount Holyoke College who taught James Joyce came every summer for a week to Skaneateles and stayed - always - at the Sherwood. As a kid my friends and I would come over from Otisco Lake and sit on the porch (when there was a true porch) on summer nights.

So let's honor the Inn (http://thesherwoodinn.com), and eat their wonderful salmon, and think just for a minute what Skaneateles would be like without it.

"Atrocious!"

2011-02-01T17:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, as I was driving over to Cayuga Lake to show a property, I heard on NPR that the snowstorm due to arrive Wednesday would be "atrocious." What a word, I thought...then went to "the weather outside is frightful" almost immediately. If the storm came as promised, dumping 12 to 18 inches of snow overnight, then it might indeed be "atrocious."

As I may have already said before, I had clients who bought a house and closed in early December. As they were packing up to leave their home in Rochester the morning of their closing, they heard on the news that Rochester would be spared the new snowstorm swirling up the coast, "but if you want snow, move to Syracuse." They thought it was a great sign - of what, I'm still not sure. But certainly a marvelous story!

I saw in the paper today that Syracuse has three feet more snow than Rochester this season, four feet more than even Buffalo and a whopping six feet more than Albany. That's a lot! Yet everywhere I turn I run into people who grew up here who, like us, are thrilled with our old-fashioned winter.

I walked through the village last night, up Genesee past St. James and then back again, realizing that while my vest kept my core warm, my legs were frozen. But it was so beautiful and easy to walk. It wasn't icy at all, the snow compacted by many feet from the Winterfest on Saturday. I could walk - almost - as easily as I do in the summer.

Tomorrow we will awaken to snow, probably as much as predicted. Hopefully, perhaps I should say. About four years ago we went off to Florida in February, in part to see SU play the University of South Florida in Tampa. A blizzard was coming in, and we had a choice of cancelling or getting the last flight out. We went, and I loved going to the game wearing sandals, I must admit. But part of me wanted to be here for the blizzard. And maybe our choice to go was predicated on the certain knowledge that there would be other blizzards, other years.

We've made our preparations - Bob got a lot of wood in, I went to the store with an eye for not getting out the next day (half and half plus kitty litter were the must-haves). We are due a load of pellets tomorrow, but we talked about what we would do if it didn't come because of the snow. It's all exciting - just like when I was a little kid waiting for a snow day. I look forward to a day of snow-shoeing and reading (Juliet, by Anne Fortier) by the fire.

I know that there are many who don't share my excitement, but the snow will come anyway. I hope people can let it come, enjoy it, and take time to reflect on snowy days when they were young. Stay warm - eat oatmeal - make chocolate chip cookies and drink hot chocolate - fall asleep in your favorite chair, covered by a red plaid blanket. You're allowed - it's an atrocious snow day!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-01-31T10:33:00.002-05:00

So here we go! I am glad I am doing this only twice a month...the winter has taken a heavy toll on closings and activity, so there is very little to report, unfortunately. I shouldn't say "activity" - I do think people are out there showing homes and getting ready for spring listings, but memorializing them on the computer - not yet!

There are currently 106 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listings service. Of these, 31 are in the village. We had four new listings come on the market in the last couple weeks. Three of these are slightly altered re-lists: a village home now listed under $400,000, a town Victorian with a substantial decrease in list price to under $350,000, and a village "to-be-built" now listed as a home rather than simply a lot, also in the $300,000 range.

The one new property is a waterfront home, or camp, as we say here, for slightly above $400,000. Great location, fairly flat - not my listing either, though I wish it were. Spring is right around the corner and then summer!

There is one new house marked contingent, a listing in the country in the 200K range. Pretty house, pretty land - nice!

We have 3 marked contingent now, and 6 "under contract, but do not show", and 3 marked pending.

There are absolutely no closings, just like last year in the month of January. The year before which turned out the be the low point there were 3, so it's not a clear indicator of what is to come. Of course, in 2008 there were 7 closings...before it all fell apart. But I predict that before the end of the month we will have closings that will spark the market!

Come to My Open House!

2011-01-28T20:19:00.005-05:00

One of the things I do as a Realtor is hold open houses. This weekend I am having one and everyone is invited!

My listing is at 105 Golden Eagle Drive in Camillus, ML#S245960. If you look it up on http://cnyhomes.com/ or http://remax.com/ or http://cnyrealtor.com/ you will be able to see more pictures and a further description. Try my website, too: http://megbrooks.nys.mlxchange.com. It is really a lovely home!

Some agents don't do open houses, but I love them. I love sitting in my listings and soaking up the atmosphere. Especially in winter, in a home like this one, I can sit by the fire and watch the kids play outside. I was speaking with a friend today whose home is listed on Otisco Lake, and we laughed about my first open house there that took place in a driving rainstorm. Not a window shook, and it was almost eerie being inside and watching the world blow by outside, like in a movie. Think The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy sees the Wicked Witch riding by....

The open house this weekend is especially exciting, because the house really is priced to sell. Everyone who has seen it says that the price is right - $279,000 - and the owners are very realistic in their expectations. It's not much over the assessed value or that much more than they paid for it a few years ago. They realize that the world has changed, and prices have come down.

So come along on Sunday, from 1:00 to 3:00. It is very easy to find - Route 5 in Camillus to Ike Dixon, then one mile exactly to Falcon Nest (don't you love the names?) Turn left, and enter the driveway from Pigeon Roost. I'll have signs up to point the way. Tell me you read about this on my blog and I will be thrilled!

A Day in the Life

2011-01-27T16:03:00.003-05:00

It occurred to me that I started this about my life as a Realtor. I have written about parts of my life - my home, my friends and family, the world around me in general - but not really about what I do day to day. As I walk more and take time to reflect, that might not be a bad thing to do on occasion.

So - the last 24 hours are done, so....

Yesterday afternoon I drove up to the GSAR offices on Taft Road in North Syracuse. They are newly built and really quite lovely. I must say I preferred the old ones on Seventh North simply because they were close to India House and I could swing by there for something to eat or take home for dinner, but that's a personal preference. I drove all the way up there for a class that had been recommended by others at RE/MAX - a tutorial in the MLXchange, the system we use for our listings.

The instructor, Bill Roesser, was great. There were only 8 of us, each with a computer, and he took us through the steps (this was the advanced class) with an ever-present eye to what we wanted and what we could do (monitor and adjust). I learned how to do prospecting searches, set up a website through the mlxchange, restructure my pages so the information I wanted (waterfront, for example) was front and center and not far down the page. I found out how to access their statistics - what an easy update this will be in the future! Now, the trick is to remember all of this!

Another reason I take these courses besides the learning is to be part of the bigger picture. I like seeing people from all over; this class I saw people from the old neighborhood - Mimi and Chris. Last week at the Standards and Procedures class I sat with people from Cayuga County with whom I talk, but never see. It's good to be social and compare notes.

Lastly, I must admit I am there to get continuing education credit. Every two years we must renew our licenses, so we must take classes. If you miss the actual classes, the information can be found online - but that doesn't give you the instructor or the give and take of an actual class. My license must be renewed by August, so I will go to classes this month and next.

After class, which went long because everyone was so interested (amazing!) I answered texts and made calls to try to finalize an offer. By the time I got to the mall, it was done and my clients/friends got the signatures from the seller. Hooray!

I walked at the mall for 45 minutes - that's the main floor and the second floor, through Macy's and down both sides. Hardly anyone was there, so it was easy to keep up a decent pace. I looked like a shopper in a hurry.

Bob had promised me dinner when I got home at 6:00 but there was nothing cooking. He wanted to see a movie so off we went to Mario's in the Elbridge Plaza (salad and a slice) then on to as we call it "Cheap Seats" in Sennett. The MoviePl_X (no "e"). We were the only ones in the theater for The Green Hornet in 3D. It was fun for a while, then I fell asleep.

Back home I checked my e-mail - a referral from a RE/MAX agent had come in plus another from a friend. Nice! I sent off e-mails about contacting them the next day, as it was late by then.

Thursday morning: up early with the dogs, a breakfast of cottage cheese and Fiber One, a couple pots of tea and the newspaper, then off to work. You've seen the picture if you've kept up with my blog of my desk. I spent the morning pulling listings for Saturday showings, scheduling appointments, and doing general e-mails. I also checked the hotsheet - nothing to send to anyone. Our deal seems to be holding together, and everyone is pleased. I texted Rachel - she had her first snow day of the year in Manhattan!

Lunch - more cottage cheese and fruit this time, plus seltzer flavored with cran-raspberry (light). Koko and I left for her grooming appointment early so we could get my sign and lockbox at 2 Green Street in Camillus. Sigh, it went to relocation. The two signs that are buried in snow will have to wait until it melts some!

While Koko was groomed by Ann-Marie at PetSmart, I walked Fairmount Fair. All the way up and down, in and out, through snow and more snow. Wegman's has a cafe that has an upstairs, I found out, overlooking the produce. I checked Iams Weight Control dog food (for Boo) there - cheaper than PetSmart, but the cheapest was at Target. Cell phones are marvelous inventions - I checked voicemail, texted and set up a showing, heard about another, and generally could do business as if (almost) I was in the office.

After a couple hours, Koko was ready to come home - and so was I!

Closed in Skaneateles! The Last Fifteen!

2011-01-23T11:30:00.002-05:00

I have waited well into January for all the closings to be released, so I must imagine all of them are here. We ended up at 75 total for the year - respectable, but certainly not on the high side. I had a fantastic December, and everyone with whom I spoke said they did as well. Amazing, with the snow and more snow...! So without further adieu, these are the last fifteen, in order of their closing.

1340 Laxton Lane - Town of Skaneateles (waterfront) - $375,000

OFF West Lake Toad - Town of Skaneateles (waterfront) - $530,000

4530 Vinegar Hill Road - Town of Skaneateles - $136,000

692 Franklin Street - Town of Skaneateles - $320,000

118 Orchard Road - Village of Skaneateles - $440,000

792 Britcher Road - Town of Skaneateles - $127,000

64 Onondaga Street - Village of Skaneateles - $155,000

2637 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles (waterfront) - $1,800,000

942 Hencoop Road - Town of Skaneateles - $265,000

21 Lakeview Circle - Village of Skaneateles (lake rights) - $150,000

2444 Winding Way - Town of Skaneateles (lake rights) - $205,000

54 East Lake Street - Village of Skaneateles - $260,000

1962 Cherry Valley Turnpike - Town of Skaneateles - $76,000

2793 Rickard Road - Town of Skaneateles - $440,000

4059 Franklin Street Road - Town of Skaneateles - $144,000

I wish all the newcomers to our area welcome! You are privileged to live here and enjoy the beauty that the lake and its surroundings offer! Congratulations on your new homes!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

2011-01-15T09:29:00.003-05:00

So here we go! I feel as if it's been ages since I did an update - and it's actually the first time in almost two years I haven't done a weekly one...but looking at the numbers, I can see why I've changed this. "Monitor and adjust" - it's the only way!

There are currently 109 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 33 are in the village. Another 28 are waterfront, which leaves 61 plain old town or non-waterfront homes for sale. And many of these are hardly "plain!"

Four "new" listings came on the market - but all are re-lists. I've re-listed the waterfront plus 3,000sf ranch plus 50 acres property now at $700,000 with 78 feet of waterfront, and $950,000 with an additional contiguous waterfront building lot which brings in another 75 feet. (It's an amazing deal! sorry - just had to say it!) Also back on the market is a lovely home with an incredible view on the east side - think high $200,000 range. Plus there's a village home that has been re-listed and I'm not sure why because it was only listed the previous month.

There are two properties marked contingent to start the new year and one of them is new, a lake rights home listing in the mid-$400,000 range. There is also a new "U" - under contract, do not show - from the town list, around $200,000. This brings the total to 6 for "U" properties. Three others are marked P for pending, but none are new.

None have closed this year - so far!

Last year another property was added to the closed list just at the very end - New Year's Eve, to be exact. It's an old property that's been there for a bit and found a buyer who brought in a successful offer about 10% off the list price.

I will, in the next few days, put together the particulars of the last 15 homes that have sold to bring the total to 75 for 2010. Not the worst year, but also far from the best. But that's true about almost anything financial - and real estate is a huge part of the overall financial health of the country.

Hey - help it along - check out the homes for sale, make an offer....how about some waterfront? Summer is a scant six months away!

A RE/MAX Meeting at the Century Club

2011-01-13T17:49:00.003-05:00

When I first started this blog, I stated my intention of writing about what I did as a Realtor. I have faded more into the real estate of Central New york and specifically Skaneateles, of course. But I still think it's interesting to chronicle a bit of my life. When I started real estate, I knew nothing about the process and remember asking my then-manager Mary MacKaig "What do you do all day?" She cordially told me about a week in the life and I greatly appreciated it.

One of the things that makes RE/MAX different is our lack of regular meetings. Most of the other agencies pull everyone in an office together each week or so to talk about what is happening, give kudos where they are due, allow other interested persons to present their businesses (mortgage people, inspectors, etc.)

RE/MAX prefers to have agents out there, doing what they do best - selling, listing, networking, and other profitable endeavors. We share when we are in the office, but most of our work is done elsewhere - for me, it's home, at this computer or on the phone.

However, once every three or four months Dave Cramer, our broker, calls everyone together to go over industry-wide information and basically to touch base. We have two offices - Fayetteville and Skaneateles, so it's good to see other agents and at least put a face to a voice we hear on the phone.

This past Friday we met to go over advertising possibilities, with two presentations. We decide as agents what we want to do for advertising as a group. We get national and statewide exposure, but our franchise's marketing is a group effort. We met this time at the Century Club in downtown Syracuse.

The Century Club is a huge home that was a residence built in the 1840s before it became a club. In 1866 it was incorporated as the Onondaga Club and that gave way to the Century Club in 1876 and so named for its 100 charter members. In 2007 it was renovated and just glows!

We met upstairs in the Directors' Room and shared a breakfast around a large table which accommodated about 30 people. It was truly lovely, a room in which you could feel the presence of past Presidents (Hoover and Ulysses S. Grant), all the men and now women who played a part in the growth of Syracuse.

For more information, please go to http://www.centuryclubofsyracuse.com/. The pictures are magnificent! Or drive by and take a peek inside - 480 James Street. It is a treasure worth preserving!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update (sort of)

2011-01-09T10:34:00.003-05:00

I have decided that it is time to change the weekly update into a twice a month format. I will publish information about the real estate market close to the 15th and 30th of every month. In that way you will have a better feel for actual movement in the marketplace, I hope, and I will be forced to write more about other things.

Monitor and adjust - it's the only way!

I will continue the every twenty closings list....and I know I owe for the end of last year because we didn't quite get to 80. I want to make sure that all the 2010 closings are reported - and sometimes there is a lag of a few weeks.

Please let me know if there are other areas you would like to see me cover. I have access to marvelous statistics and I want to meet the needs of my readers.

Sad news to report: Mr. Walsh, as he was known to me and my family, and former Mayor of Syracuse and Congressman for Central New York, passed away Saturday morning. He was 98. We bought our camp the year he became Mayor. I was very young (of course) and saw a sign on the road that read "Walsh." I wondered out loud if that could possibly be the new mayor...and he was. I grew up with his kids, Alex grew up with their kids, and my grandchildren will grow up with his great-grandchildren. His family provided the extended family Alex and I needed - and yes, he was the patriarch of it all. He will be missed greatly.

Atta Boy, Sean!

2011-01-03T10:42:00.003-05:00

In today's Post-Standard, Sean Kirst wrote about the challenge of his desk and de-cluttering it. I direct you to http://www.syracuse.com/ for his article.

I have long talked the talk about de-cluttering, and last fall I was able to go through the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen in a three day binge, but my desk has always been a problem. Not my desk at the office - that is always neat as a pin (on top) because I sit front and center so the desk is seen by anyone walking through the door. When I worked at Gallinger, I was down below and, like Sean, my desk spilled over into an unused area and up the wall. When I left, I boxed it all up. And when RE/MAX moved out of the Camillus office to Skaneateles, I boxed that up, too. Both boxes reside in the apartment, to be gone through some day in the future.

The photo is of my desk at home. It's really only where the computer resides - I couldn't work there! I use the island in the kitchen for my notebook and phone work, the old cabinet in the front hall as repository of all my coming and going files, the apartment for storage of old files, and the garage for signs.

My "desk" is my old dining room table, the one piece of furniture I bought and brought from Seattle. I love it, even if it's not a real desk. (Bob took my parents' desk and keeps it very neat - oh yes, I use those drawers, too, I forgot!) My heated vest is on the back of the chair, close to the plug-ins on the old cat condo that still sits there even though the cats have moved on. I have photos as well - me as a 3-year-old, Alex at 210 pounds and then 6 months later at 160 when he decided to lose the weight, the dogs, Anna and Sebastian. There's a picture from a 2006 Skaneateles Journal of a friend's daughter with her very chubby face and Christmas glow. Hermes' photo is on the printer - he liked to sit on my old computer so I keep his photo close.

I can look out the window into the apartment and watch the birdfeeder, or gather wood from the woodpile on the deck. The sun is streaming in right now, making it feel like spring is right around the corner.

There is a sign I use when Jolanta cleans - "Please do not touch my desk - I know it's a mess!"
I am very afraid that she will move something and I will be left internet-less. Consequently, it's rather dusty as well. A cobweb or two reside on the window ledge.

But I just entered a wonderful listing here - ML#S245960 in Camillus - and I am enjoying this blog. Sean showed his desk cleaned. I won't do that yet. I don't lose things, and it's really not that bad. At this time I have a way of working that I like and has proven to be successful. But some day I will get to the living room, and then I'll share the new desk.

For now - congratulations to Sean for making the transition!

Welcome to the New Year!

2011-01-02T10:23:00.004-05:00

I thought for this year I'd be a little more innovative and colloquial. I have gotten stuck with the update, almost as if writing it at least once a week means I do not need to write in-between. I've also been busy, but I do enjoy writing...maybe I need more to write about, not just real estate....? But every where you turn real estate is central - I hear it when I get my hair done at Carlo's, or in the Big M, Green Planet, Tops or Kinney's, in all the shops and stores....it's not just because I'm there. Listen in movies and to conversations - sooner or later real estate emerges. Our lives focus on it - and why not? Shelter is one of the most important needs - without a place to live and call home, nothing else follows.

So - here's a different type of home for you to contemplate. Yesterday we went to the Syracuse University basketball game in the Carrier Dome. For those of you who do not follow sports, this is the year you should follow SU basketball. We will get there, to the Final Four, as long as there's no major injury or team breakdown. And one of the reasons will be because of SU's "home."

It holds more people than any other venue in which college basketball is regularly played. The record is in the low 30,000...a record that will be broken this year, I predict. They will find a way to sell more tickets to more people - even if they can't actually see the game!

Yesterday Notre Dame put up a great effort. The students were gone, there were no cheerleaders or band or dance teams. It was left to the 23,000 fans to yell and scream and encourage the team to win. Someone behind us (and we sit in the very upper section under the scoreboard) has been leading the cheers. For whatever reason he gets it going - "Let's go O-range!" and soon all over people pick up the chant. The guys next to me do the defense call "DE-FENSE!" and that resonates. We had a huge "wave" in the second half...but SU was pulling away by that time. It's a noisy home - and what it must be like for the opposing team to come in there and try to win!

But it is home, it is shelter. We have made friends around us and were thrilled to find a young couple back again this year. We don't go to all the games and somehow we had missed them. We knew she had lost her teaching job last year and we though they simply weren't back. But they are - and fun to share the game. Home.

So get out there if you can - it is truly an experience. And "Go Orange!"

Predictions and Resolutions - Plus an Update

2010-12-31T15:27:00.002-05:00

Over the past 9 days or so, we had no snow and New York City got it all - as well as Boston and Philadelphia and points in-between. Alex and Rachel came and went uneventfully and we had a marvelous Christmas. The cookies aren't all eaten, but they will be by midnight tonight. Our presents are still scattered around the livingroom, the sweaters I bought for the men taken back and exchanged, and Bob is settled in to read by a just-cleaned hearth while I write.

The update: no new listings - none! - in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. One waterfront was marked "under contract, do not show" (at this time of year, no less!) There simply are no properties marked contingent, either. Two homes closed - one large place recently listed in the mid-$400,000 range and another well under $100,000. That brings us to 74 for the year - but probably not all closings have been entered...the final tally will be next week.

But New Year's Eve is upon us - and so is the need to write predictions and resolutions before the ball drops or the bell tolls or the fireworks sparkle.

I predicted last year that there would be over 90 homes closed in our area...but we fell short of that number. For 2011 I predict again there will be 90 homes closed...I think we can do it!

I resolve to write more. I did enhance my blog with a few pictures and I resolve to do more. I'd like a House of the Week feature, complete with at least one photo. It doesn't have to be one of my listings - it could be anyone's, or even a house not on the market.

I resolve to spend more time exercising and staying fit. I realize the importance of this - not only for fitness' sake but mental health, too. We have a gorgeous lake and a lovely town - I want to walk it often.

I predicted last year that Syracuse football would have a winning season - and by golly they did! The Pinstripe Bowl played yesterday was not just fun to watch for Syracuse fans, but a great game as well. The old days are back - Carter ran almost 200 yards and passed Larry Csonka in the record books. I predict this year will be even better!

I predict that SU basketball will go to the Final Four because they are a team. No superstars, just a team working hard together. Lovely!

I resolve to sell more homes this year than last, both as a buyer's agent and as a listing agent.

I resolve to stay in better contact with everyone. I believe I do an excellent job of this, but it can be better. All it takes is organization and prioritization...and "my people" need to be my priority. Without you my business is not what I want it to be. I don't sell houses - I like to think I sell homes, as gloppy as that might sounds.

I resolve to appreciate every day - the people I meet, the homes I see, the weather I tromp through. I resolve not to rush, to take the time to enjoy this too short life we are given.

Thank you, dear Readers, for another wonderful year of blogging!

Skaneateles Real Estate - Christmas Edition

2010-12-23T17:55:00.002-05:00

How lovely to end on a high note! Christmas is coming and the world outside looks very Christmasy...certainly we may be the snowiest area in the country, but also the prettiest.

There are currently ONLY 119 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. One lovely village 5-bedroom home came on this past week and the agent bravely scheduled a broker's open. It's listed in the mid-$300,000 if you are interested in a last minute gift.

The total number of homes waiting to close is down to 10, and nothing new was marked contingent this week.

But because there are so few waiting, that means that three closed just in time for the new year, bring us to 73 sold and closed for the year...so far! A lake rights property closed around the $200,000 mark, down about 20% from its original price. A pretty village home sold and closed rather rapidly and came in within 10%. The third encompassed a single family home, commercial and as currently used multi-family in the village - between 10 and 20% off the original price. There's no rhyme or reason to this all...just what people are willing to pay and when the sellers are ready to let the homes go.

I know closings at this time of year and they are difficult to bring off - so kudos to those agents, attorneys and banks for getting these closed. Buyers and sellers as well!

A very merry Christmas and happy holiday season is wished to everyone, from my house to yours!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-12-16T15:32:00.003-05:00

I learned something new today - that I've always known but every once in a while I need a little refresher.

I went to my dentist on Onondaga Hill, Dr. Randal P. Swartwood, and he worked on my root canal tooth that remarkably was the same tooth I had just broken - hey, that's good news! While I was waiting (I got there early, usually there's no waiting!) I told Gail the receptionist about all; the snow we had. She stopped me cold - "I live in Lafayette," she said. "Oh." She then told me Syracuse had made the big time being featured on Good Morning America - actually the parking lot at the Fairmount Wegman's. You can still see it online through www.abcnews.com.

Anyway, Gail said she couldn't wait to go out her back door and go cross country skiing. It sounded heavenly, and she was determined to do it even if she had four feet on the ground, which she might.

So I went home after going to the office and went out skiing with Boo. (Bob was exhausted from fighting a broken snowblower...) He plowed through the snow on the faint trail that was still there from yesterday's walk. I was able to stand and basically walk on two feet of snow, with another two feet of fresh powder. But on the way back to the house I was able to glide a bit, and on the third and fourth tries it was really a ski trail!

I was tired - my arms and lungs especially. I made lunch - fruit, cheese and crackers - because I wanted something healthy. I didn't do that amount of exercise to put junky stuff into my system...and that's what I learned. The more I do right by me, the more I will continue to do right by me. Hooray for the snow!

Now on to the update....Nothing much happened this past week. Only one "new" listing came on and that was a re-list of an unfinished property which probably seemed like a good idea at the time and now needs someone to take over the project. Nothing new was marked "C", "U", or "P" except properties already in the system and moving along the usual progression.

There was one closing - a lake rights house which started in the $400,000 range closed in the mid-$100,000. I saw it last week and knew there must be a story behind it, so I called my "Person Who Knows Everything" and by golly he did! It was a family matter, as they say, he assured me. The world had not gotten that out of whack!

So here we sit with lots of snow and 69 closed single family homes year-to-date in the Skaneateles area. But it's beautiful out there!

Snowy Day

2010-12-14T11:23:00.003-05:00

I am sitting at my so-called desk watching my dirty white cat Oscar watch the birds at the feeder. Occasionally he makes a sound as if in comment. "Like that junco!" "See the wings on that cardinal?" "I'll remember to stay away from the woodpecker's beak..." Then he winds his way back to me, curls his tail around his body, and waits for me to use the mouse. He likes to pounce, grab my hand and hang on...always a challenge, blogging.

Yes, it is snowing, and as Rachel so aptly put it "You guys are getting KILLED!" Manhattan has had not a lick of snow, she tells me. Well, we have... The weather channel guaranteed us a white Christmas this year. Really.

I wrote the short blog about the bird in December, got 4 of the lines correct but in the wrong order, and forgot to attribute it to Oliver Herford. But then, my version came from my mother.

I said when I started this blog I would write about my life as a Realtor in Skaneateles. I've been so busy this past fall that I haven't had time, and now things have slowed. And it's all a part of the job. After three closings in two days and all the attendant work that comes with getting to the respective tables, it's hard not to stop and re-group.

When I first started, an agent told me that in situations like this it's difficult to "not rest on your laurels." Beware! Three months from now there won't have been any closings, unless I get to work again quickly...60 days (or more!) to close.

But I can take a day or two, especially with this snow, to think about what can be different going forth. "Monitor and adjust" - what did I learn from my very busy summer and fall? What can I do to better balance life and home and work? What did people not understand that could have been explained in a different format? FAQs?

The flakes are heavier and seemingly falling faster. I need to play in the snow, not with Oscar. Boo needs a run before the snow gets too deep....quickly, before lunch...

I Heard....

2010-12-10T15:27:00.001-05:00

I heard a bird sing in the dark of December,
We are nearer to Spring than we were in September.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-12-09T14:38:00.002-05:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We are buried here under about 40 inches of snow and I've been enjoying it from afar. Bob has been out skiing, Boo runs because if he stops it will be over his head, and Koko finds places on the deck to pee. I've heard from my cousin in Guam when she saw Brian Williams extolling the woes of Syracuse, and learned that our beautiful landscape reminds people of Denver. Lisa in the office describes it as being in a snow globe and has learned the joys of shoveling. And houses have sold and closed in the past week!

There are currently 119 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, of which 34 are in the village. Only two "new" ones came on, both re-lists with substantial reductions in price (around 10%). We are getting into that time of year when people do not want to hold onto homes, so what seemed so promising in July is now discounted in December.

There are no new houses marked contingent or under contract and do not show. There is one new pending house, the foreclosure on the lake which was scooped up. It was listed originally with acreage for well over a million, and then more recently about 200K above the current list price. Time to let it go, and it went.

The big news, the good news, is that 5 properties have closed. One is a small house that sold basically at its low $100,000 range list price. Another that will probably be torn down came in at 60% of the original price. New construction in the village stayed in the mid-$400,000s, while a country home with acreage closed within 10% of its original price. A beauty on the lake ended up within striking distance of its multi-million dollar list price!

We now have 68 closed properties for the year, a mark that while less than we all would like is still respectable. There are so many other places in this country where homes are crumbling for lack of ownership, where banks hang on to the foreclosures so as not to flood the market with them. We are lucky - and that luck was paid for by keeping the prices reasonable. Who knows - maybe the higher taxes which keep the prices down served a purpose after all?

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-12-01T15:56:00.002-05:00

Actually, this will encompass two weeks and as you will see, nothing much happened over the Thanksgiving weekend. Things are slowing down, houses are being taken off the market for the winter, people are settling in for the holiday season.

HOWEVER! I still have buyers looking for homes, and as I've told them, people who put their houses on the market in the winter know that only those truly looking, not thinking about looking but really ready to buy, go out in the winter cold. It's a great time to list - fewer homes for competition, real buyers, and if your home has that cozy, warm feel it can be easily demonstrated. So list, please, so my buyers can buy!

Currently there are 120 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. That's only 120 - the numbers are down. Of these, 35 are in the village and 31 are on the water. Six are new. One is a foreclosure, and a waterfront foreclosure at that but priced to sell around $300,000. Another is a very sweet little village home priced just under that, while one in the country, a to-be-built, came on in the mid-$300,000. Then there's a waterfront re-list of a home previously priced much higher and now in the mid-$400,000 range. And let's not forget another re-list priced in the low $100,000 and located in the town.

And then.....drum roll, please! There's the gorgeous village listing of over four acres right down to the water with the most beautiful of boathouses. The price is over 4 million. This would make it the highest priced property sold in the Skaneateles area through the multiple listing service. What "would"! "Will"make it the highest priced......

One house was marked contingent over the two week period - a just listed home in the country with acreage and character - and listed for over $400,000.

Two homes closed, bringing the total of closed properties to 63 for the year. One was a lovely old home again with character that started close to $700,000 and closed in the low $300,000s. It is just difficult to attract buyers who are concerned about the cost of maintenance and heat, as well as the cost of upgrading an old home, even if it oozes with charm. The other home was smaller, in the town as well, and closed for about 15% under its list price in the mid-$100,000.

There are currently 19 properties under contract - let's get some more closed before the end of the year! I doubt we'll do as well as last year because we are 14 under as of December 1st. At least we are ahead of the 56 in 2008...nowhere near the 93 in 2007. As several recent sales have indicated, there are deals out there that won't come again once the economy turns around. And it will!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-11-25T13:29:00.002-05:00

Actually, this is the Thanksgiving edition!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Go make pies and devour them, chase the kids around the yard, watch out that the dog doesn't eat the gouda, and sleep in front of the fire (in the fireplace, please!) Visit with your guests and relatives, listen to them tomorrow on National Listening Day, buy the one great thing you want at half price - and enjoy your home or home-to-be dreams!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-11-18T17:45:00.002-05:00

I had a wonderful time this Tuesday at brokers' opens. I toured with a friend and saw two new listings. When her money comes in, she promises to buy one of them - probably the gorgeous Village home. We had lunch at Joe's Pasta Garage - the pumpkin cheesecake was marvelous - and then ran through the rain to the Chamber to buy Skanopoly games before they run out. It's always fun to share the lovely Skaneateles homes, good talk, and cheesecake.

Currently there are 125 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 34 are in the Village. Five "new" listings came on this week - three are actually re-lists with a musical chairs of sorts with agents, plus minimal reductions in prices. The two new ones are magnificent and priced in the upper levels - close to a million and no waterfront, just Village. The one we saw really shows what a solidly built, well-decorated home should be, with excellent use of space throughout. And the price reflects it, too.

There are no new homes marked contingent. Neither are there new "U" and "P" homes. One waterfront home closed in the low $500,000, about 10% under its original list price. It had the most remarkable address, too - "OFF West Lake Road" - because the owners didn't want the usual drive-by viewings. And even with this strategy, it sold!

Houses are still being shown, remember, even though the weather is rainy one minute and sunny (sort of) the next. Today I showed three houses and all were being shown after me. So if you have a Village home, three large or four bedrooms, an open floor plan, and a dry basement built after World War II and it's not on the market yet, please let me know! I have two sets of buyers who might be interested. And I know other agents do, too! Oh yes, one other thing, please keep the price under $500,000...thanks!

Closed in Skaneateles! The Third Twenty!

2010-11-18T10:11:00.002-05:00

We have now reached that marvelous time when I can report on the third set of closed homes in Skaneateles. It took us only 79 days to get to this point from the second twenty, as compared with twice that - literally! - for the first twenty. I said in the last blog of listed homes that we were "picking up steam" - we certainly did!

In order of closing, this time:

108 East Lake Road - Village of Skaneateles - $175,000

2969 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $1,475,000

2629 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $1,649,000

1014 Ten Mile Point - Town of Spafford - $140,000

54 West Genesee Street - Village of Skaneateles - $380,000

856 Franklin Street - Town of Skaneateles - $264,800

888 West Genesee Street Road - Town of Skaneateles - $88,000

843 Crow Hill Road - Mottville - $345,000

600 Irish Road - Skaneateles Falls - $110,000

2816 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $265,000

51 Fennell Street - Village of Skaneateles - $155,000

60 Jordan Street - Village of Skaneateles - $230,000

1148 Jewett Road - Town of Skaneateles - $165,000

179 Five Mile Point - Town of Spafford - $500,000

28 Firelane 6 - Town of Niles - $405,000

7 Day Lane - Village of Skaneateles - $460,000

4205 NW Townline Road - Town of Skaneateles - $169,900

27 Griffin Street - Village of Skaneateles - $246,000

79 West Elizabeth Street - Village of Skaneateles - $275,000

1340 Laxton Lane - Town of Skaneateles - $375,000

The New Trend

2010-11-16T09:26:00.002-05:00

I read today on the web that there are several new trends out there in home-buying. The buyers tend to be either empty-nesters who are down-sizing, or first-time homebuyers, generally younger. In both cases they are looking for the same things: smaller homes that are within walkable distance of services and towns.

It all makes sense. The suburbs are not the residences of young professionals or retired couples or singles as much as they are the neighborhoods of families. The two groups cited want to be able to walk their dogs, walk into town (or village) easily to a dinner with friends, go shopping on weekends without piling into cars. Exercise is not found at the gym as much as on the streets of their village, in company with other like-minded individuals.

All you need to do to check out these theories is walk around Skaneateles on a sunny fall day. There they are - the people with their dogs, the older couples entertaining their visiting grown children, the lines at Doug's and the waiting time at Bluewater. The shops are busier than ever, and not just with tourists. (We all know to buy now - Dickens is coming and there will be a lot more people in the village!) Then there are the committed walkers who are able to conduct business on their cells while trudging up State Street.

I thought it would be interesting to see which houses meet the criteria of the article. I looked for village homes between 1700 and 2100 square feet, their limits. Five existed, all represented by different agencies. Prices ranged from a low of $279,000 to a high of $405,000 - not that wide a range, and dependent on the condition of the homes for its variability. Two are listed as four-bedroom homes; two have only one-car garages. But all are easy walks to the village and the lakeside shops and restaurants.

The article also stated that people want fewer bathrooms because they "don't use them all." As anyone knows who has searched for homes in Skaneateles, enough bathrooms are hard to find. Two of these homes have only one - all have half-baths though.

I wish there were more homes in Skaneateles that met this criteria. Going slightly higher to 2300 sf nets two more homes, and between 1500 and 1700 sf brings in four more. Using these calculations, there are 11 homes that basically meet the criteria of this article....not such a bad thing for a beautiful village that is highly walkable, liveable, affordable and has a magnificent lake as its backdrop. Nice to know that we are part of a trend!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-11-11T17:24:00.002-05:00

Too busy! I just got off the phone with a friend I haven't seen in months. We made plans for lunch next week and both of us agreed that we had been too busy - she with family obligations, me with real estate and family also. How does it happen? The time flies by and we don't take the time for important things, like Zumba with Lisa, or walking Koko in the Village, or going to India House with Bob in the convertible. Camp isn't closed yet for the winter - the grass needs one last mowing because it had the audacity to grow some more - my database needs updating to accommodate my new buyers (wait! that's business related!) I must learn to smell the flowers - some day.

Currently there are 125 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service waiting to be sold, so no rest here! Thirty-two of these are in the village - and I plan to sell at least one this weekend. Four new listings came on this past week, and one re-list, a pretty renovated farmhouse with a slightly reduced price. A gorgeous home overlooking the lake with acreage but no waterfront came on at over 1.5M. A lovely old farmhouse was also listed at less than half a million. Another older home with 3 acres seems like a bargain at just over $200,000. A modern edge-of-village home was listed at over $400,000.

Two properties were marked contingent. A farmhouse in need of some work and priced accordingly (and one my people were interested in seeing, mind you!) can still be shown as well as a lake rights property. These are two potential closings before the end of the year - well done!

Now the very good news. Two more homes closed and brought the number of closings to 60 for the year. This means that at some point in the next week I will write about the third twenty homes, reporting addresses and prices which are matters of public record.

One of the properties was a village home in the high $200,000 range, closing within 10% of the original price. The other was waterfront, closing (as pointed out by an agent in another office) after four years at one of the largest discrepancies between assessed value and sale price - from under $700,000 (original price) to under $400,000 (sale price). I can also report that the new owners are thrilled with their camp and eager for next summer to start.

And I guess that explains in part why I've been so busy - because I enjoy this so much. I get to see lovely homes, settle families where they want to be, make new friends and yes, keep the old.
Not such a bad life.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-11-05T10:03:00.002-04:00

On this grey day with the rain coming down I'm reminded of winters in Seattle. It wasn't always like this, and it was nice to not wear boots and winter gear, but I missed the snow. I remember sitting with friends from North Dakota and our pining for the brilliant days of winter, when there's new snow and everything sparkles. But not yet, please!

There are currently ONLY 122 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 31 are in the village. This is good news for home-sellers - fewer houses to choose from makes the choice easier for people who have to buy. Also, since the inventory is down it will take less time to deplete it - properties will move faster and be replaced by new ones. There was only one new listing in the past week, and that was a re-list of a village home, but with a $30,000 reduction.

There are four new properties marked contingent. One was in the village, another has lake rights, and a third is suitable as a single family, commercial building, and a multi-family dwelling. Also, a small one that got a lot of attention in the Marcellus school district because of its very low price was included in the "continue to show" list.

Under the "we're all done mostly" list is an old beauty that has been on the market for a few years and now has a potential new owner plus a new construction home in the village. Another one that was listed both as a lot and as a home in need of major repair is pended.

Think of it - that's 7 homes that may close before the end of the year!

AND - three new ones have closed! A small village home that sold almost immediately closed not far from its original asking price. A home in Marcellus schools but Skaneateles township did the same, but under $200,000. The third one had been on and off the market for years with renters in-between, and that finally sold about 10% under its current price. We now have 58 homes closed this year.

So even if Skaneateles is doing its Seattle imitation today, you really should think about buying and selling once again. I know my clients are determined to be settled by winter - so please put your homes out there for us to see!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-10-28T09:47:00.002-04:00

I've been spending the last week or so in the company of people from outside the U.S. Our fall weather has been perfect - 60s and sunny, that wonderful wind that stirs up the leaves, warm nights and a full moon. Our area is so rich with colors now and everyone remarked on them. We are different here - and until you have experienced the Finger Lakes region in the fall I don't think it can be fully imagined. I remember being in Seattle and traveling out into the mountains in a long, long line of other foliage seekers, only to see yellow and more yellow - where were the reds and oranges I had grown up with? There's no place like home!

Currently in the Skaneateles area as designated by the multiple listing service there are 131 active listings, of which 34 are in the village. This may not be totally accurate - some agents place listings in both the village and the town so they won't be overlooked. Of these 131, 31 are noted as "waterfront." I would think lake, but this also encompasses anything on any type of water - the creek, a pond, like the listing out on Mandy Rue - but I believe there are only 2 like this currently.

Four new listings came on this past week - all brand-new. The number of homes being re-listed has dropped considerably in the past couple months, as has the number of listings, possibly due to people just waiting for spring. A large Village Victorian came on listed under $500,000. Another large home with lake rights was also listed, but well over $500,000. A third house - Village and just built out of the old foundation - is selling now for over $500,000. The last new listing is a tiny little house on a pretty lot in the Marcellus school district marketed for - wait for it - under $50,000.

There are no new contingent homes, leaving three in this category. Five are listed as
"under contract, do not show," which generally means that the owner is satisfied and doesn't want to be bothered, but they do not have a mortgage commitment as yet. The ones with mortgage commitments are tagged "P" for pending - and there are 11 of them at this time.

The good news is that we now have 55 closed single family homes for the Skaneateles area, and three of these are new. As a matter of fact, all three have waterfront! All of them came on in the past 12 months, they all sold in the $400,000 range, and all dropped their original prices considerably from the $500,000 level to make the sales. It's interesting that the quicker the house closed, the more the price was dropped...but the others still paid taxes and presumably mortgage payments while they waited for offers closer to their list prices. Interesting to see all three at the same time.

Of the 55 closed properties this year, 13 are waterfront. This is over 25% of all the sales in the area. Last year, the number was 16% and the year before 30%. I think the lesson here is that waterfront will always sell, even in a recession - and possibly for less - but it will still sell.

So take a trip around the lake this weekend. Choose one of those remaining 31 lakefront properties. Think about spring and next summer - and put in an offer. There is nothing like being on the lake in July or August - or seeing it crystal clear and glass-still come the fall, reflecting all those colors!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-10-21T10:39:00.003-04:00

I know at least one Realtor out there who always comments on my blog to me when I speak with him. He's amazed I can keep it going with the pace of our deals and dealings. I wish I could do better - write more often, pithier perhaps. I enjoy writing, and would love to work it in to a daily schedule. The New Year is coming up - but I welcome ideas!

Until then - there are currently 132 listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, 32 of which are in the village. Three new ones came on, all totally new not re-listings. One each for village, town and waterfront. The town home is a very small one in the the mid-$100,000 just over the village line. The village listing is one of those quite stately mansions - no waterfront, just an extraordinary view and under one million dollars. The waterfront is under two million and gorgeous, not that far from the village.

There are no new contingent properties, and only 18 marked U or P - that means.....

Yes! Three properties were posted as closed this week! Two are village and one is lake rights. One of the village homes came on in July and sold for about 5% under the original list price. The other village home was first on the market in late spring, 2008, right before the crash. It was on and off the market for a while, and now has finally sold for 75% of the original asking price. The lake rights property sold in less than 6 months for 15% or so under the original list price.

We now have 52 closed single family home sales this year, as compared with 65 at this time last year and 44 the year before. Our listings are lower, so we can move more inventory with fewer choices. People are looking, too. Rates are phenomenal. Prices continue to come down. No excuses! It is time to buy into Skaneateles!

Creative Financing - or - Getting it Done!

2010-10-16T11:37:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I host an open house at 6070 East Lake Road in the Town of Owasco. This is a gorgeous home - very well built in 1992 and maintained since then. It has four bedrooms and three full baths. The first floor master is large enough for a sitting area with lake views; the bath has a jetted tub and huge walk-in closet. Upstairs there are the other three bedrooms - but wait! One has its own bathroom as well! Another master, that in another home would be the master. Add in 1.84 very flat acres, hardwoods throughout, dining room, living room, family room with fireplace, no maintenance decking on the front porch, close enough to Skaneateles (15 minutes), Syracuse (35 minutes), Ithaca (40 minutes) and Auburn (7 minutes) to make living in the country easy!

All well and good, but what about the price? We just reduced it to $310,000 - that's about $100 per square foot! The lot next door, about half the size, is on the market for $70,000.

So what we've got here is a great home, on a great piece of land, in a great location and the owners recopgnize that they need a buyer to take advantage of this great deal!

What is stopping people today? Money, of course. Other homes aren't selling, banks are being very judicious with their loans and not giving bridge loans really at all, and some people just aren't certain enough of their job situations.

The owners, being the brilliant people they are, therefore have devised several ways to make the house accessible. They will hold the mortgage for 15 years. Now when I heard that at first I was skeptical, having just completed a sale in which the mortgage was held by the owner. At 7%, that is. Who would take that rate unless it was commercial or there were credit issues?

"Oh no," the owners said. "We will beat the bank!"

They are offering 3.5%.

Not only that, they will take that mortgage even with a house to sell on the new buyer's side. Circumstances have to be right, but this is a possibility.

What about those job uncertainty issues? Rent-to-own! Go ahead! Rent this lovely home for two years and then buy it - maybe with owner financing again.

Creative - yes! I love it when sellers see the challenges of the market clearly and take steps to help themselves.

If you want to see this remarkable home, it will be open tomorrow, Sunday the 17th, from 1:00 until 3:00. The ML# is S241297. Come say hello - and tell me that you read about it on my blog!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-10-14T11:08:00.004-04:00

Since nothing much happened this past week according to the statistics for Skaneateles, I thought I would take a moment to write about my mother. This would have been her 90th birthday today. She passed away in 2006, having lived the last 4 years with us in a most marvelous in-law suite.

She was born in 1920, in Syracuse, a city where she always resided until moving out to Elbridge. She was raised during the Depression by a single woman with two older children, having lost one to polio. They were poor - very, very poor. She tells a story about giving away her one true possession, a string of fake pearls, to a girl who had invited her to her birthday party. Unable to come up with a gift, she gave her the pearls. The girl looked at them and threw them away in front my mother - "They're fake!" she scorned.

My grandmother tended a florist's shop. I always liked that detail - my grandmother was tiny, barely five feet tall, and still spoke a bit of German. She had been charmed away from her New York home by a man who brought her to Syracuse and then abandoned her after the birth of the four children. (My biological grandmother also loved flowers and had a shop.)

My mother eventually went on to be the Valedictorian of her high school, a vocational school. She was timid - she told me she used one ribbon for the typewriter all the way through school because she was too afraid to ask anyone how to change it.

She met my father, already an executive at Carrier Corporation, at a dance at the "Y" when she was 23 and he was 36 (but he told her he was only 34). They married and bought a house for $5,000 on the east side of Syracuse. Their mortgage payments were something like $5.65/month - I found the receipts from the checkbook when she moved out.

I was adopted when she was 32, and she became the ultimate homemaker. My costumes for Halloween were always handmade and elaborate - I was a black cat one year and scared our cat terribly. My last year at Sumner Elementary I was Santa Claus, with the costume donated afterwards to the school. I never learned how to cook because she was an excellent cook. I did learn to bake because sitting around that tiny kitchen was a wonderful experience.

After I left for college she and my father settled in to a life of dog-walking, reading by the fire, and going out occasionally to the symphony. He took her to England, finally, in 1973. They were planning a trip to Seattle for Alex's birth when he fell ill with prostate cancer and died that fall.

My mother then became almost a recluse, although the dogs (first Missy, then Dulcie) always got two walks a day in Thornden Park, rain, shine or snow. She read through the winters with a cat or two close by, gardened some in the summers, and enjoyed her music and books.

She also loved her sister, Grace. Grace lived in Florida most of the time until Hurricane Andrew wiped out her home and life. She returned to Rochester to live near her husband's family and visited my mother on occasion. Their visits were always filled with laughter and memories - Gracie was always good to be around. When Grace passed away in May of 2005 we knew it wouldn't be too much longer before my mother joined her.

So this blog is meant to honor her quiet life, and remember her with some compassion.

And the update - for you who have been so patient - there are 140 single family homes of which 32 are in the village listed as active in the Skaneateles area. None were marked contingent, two were moved from contingent to pending, and none closed this past week. A quiet time - my mother would have enjoyed it!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

2010-10-07T11:49:00.002-04:00

The Apple Fest is this weekend - so beware driving down Route 20 around Lafayette! The trees are magnificent this time of year - always are - and the sun feels so good after a day or two of rain.

This is really a slow week, as I look at the numbers. There are currently 142 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service, of which 32 are in the village. Not a single home came on the market this week - I have to believe this is a first since I started this blog well over two years ago! Nothing was marked contingent, but a very lovely home out in the town with acreage was listed as pending. There are altogether then 26 homes waiting to close, some of which have been waiting a very long time, according to my records.

Two properties closed this week - hooray! One was a lovely place - with acreage - that came down in price tremendously until it found its selling price in the mid-$300,000. Another property - also with acreage - found it right away and sold within a couple weeks of listing. In both these cases, the closed price was about 75% of the original list price.

I had a request from a loyal reader (let's call her LR) to examine the median price of homes sold in the area. This isn't the average, but the middle price. Same number below as above. I searched looking for the list price - but as you can see, the more accurate number would have been the sales price, but this will have to do.

In Skaneateles this year, the median list price of a sold property is $239,000. Last year at this time it was $325,000. In 2008 the number was $387,500. Obviously a great change - but then Skaneateles is different, as we all should know by now.

In Camillus which is having a difficult year (162 ytd) the median list price is $135,000. Last year it was $132,500 and the year before $139,900 on 227 closed sales. Remarkably similar!

So is Marcellus - 2010 $158,900 on 54 sales (more than Skaneateles!), 2009 $162,900 on 43 sales, 2008 $157,000 on 51 sales.

Elbridge is very interesting. This year is their off year - only 25 sales with a median list price of $88,000. The last two years the list price was $119,000 with sales of 37 homes and 47 homes respectively.

Skaneateles is a market unto itself. Certainly none of the other towns had sales of over a million dollars, so a mean price would be vastly different. It is still by far the highest priced area in Onondaga County - I would imagine all of Central New York. And on a brilliant fall day like this one is turning out to be it is clear why people spend the money to be here.