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Open House Alert! 149 North Main Street - Jordan

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What a gorgeous weekend this is going to be!  The Jordan Fall Festival will be ongoing from Friday to Sunday with all sorts of fun events.  Check it out at jordanfallfestival.com . 149 North Main Street Village of Jordan 13080 Meanwhile, a short distance away in the Village of Jordan, I will have the beautiful home at 149 North Main Street (ML#S296384) open on Sunday, from 1:00 to 3:00.  It was built in the mid-1800s and they certainly knew how to erect homes that lasted back then.  The walls are thick, and the owners are amazed at how little the utilities cost for over 3,000sf of living space.  The bedrooms are large - something that is usually only seen in master bedrooms these days.  The kitchen has a walk-in (and around) pantry, plus there's a small office just off the living room. I love the porch and deck...Just sit on the front porch (accessed only from the house) and watch the world go by!  In the rear the decks overlook Skaneateles Creek.  Buy this house, and you own 5 acr

The Third Twenty

Below are the list of closings (in no particular order) and the published closing prices.  These single family homes were listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service and closed between June 28th and August 7th. 184 East Genesee Street - Village of Skaneateles - $170,000 23 Calemad Drive - Town of Sennett - $480,000 21 East Lake Street - Village of Skaneateles - $260,000 718 Sheldon Road - Town of Skaneateles - $430,000 782 Franklin Street - Town of Skaneateles - $168,400 2111 Terrace Lane South - Town of Skaneateles - $430,000 1983 Collard Road - Town of Spafford - $355,000 1275 Oak Bluff - Town of Skaneateles - $1,150,000 179 East Genesee Street - Village of Skaneateles - $244,900 2671 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $585,000 50 West Lake Street - Village of Skaneateles - $816,000 10 Goodspeed Place - Village of Skaneateles - $157,000 2445 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $975,000 3187 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $996,000 3 West Austin Street

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Six-Week Update

I am not going to bore you with what came on and what sold.  A lot came and went, and there are more single family properties waiting to close than Village listings.  I can summarize though. Currently there are only 103 listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 24 are in the Village and 30 are waterfront. There are 26 homes waiting to close.  Of these, 8 are in the Village and only 4 are waterfront.  Village for a second year remains highly desirable. So far, year-to date, we have 71 homes that have closed.  Of these, 25 (40%) are in the Village and 13 (18%) are waterfront.  The total number of closed homes compares with 2012 when by this date there were 81 sold and closed homes.  Not as good as last year, which was record-setting, but certainly better than 2011 when we only had 50 homes closed.  The trend is upwards, the Village is booming, and the prices have increased also.  The median list price increase is only $10,000, to $300,000.  But there we

Update - All Summer Long

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I opened up today to finally write an update.  I took an unprecedented two months away (although it hasn't seemed that long).  I wrote to a friend that I wasn't going to let real estate consume my life - but it did this summer.  This blog falls somewhere between personal and business....I love writing, always have, but like much of my non-professional life it has to take a seat behind the pressing needs of seeing, showing, and selling homes.  This can wait.  And has - way too long! What was missed in the past couple months?  Personally, I can say the biggest change in my life was the birth of our second grandson, Oliver, on August 2nd.  I was taking photos of my new listing in Jordan (see above, and more on that later) when the call came that maybe we should think about heading down to Manhattan.  Bob came back from his job down the lake, I called for "dog support," and we left around noon.  A few minutes later we learned they were at Mt. Sinai.  An hour later the tex

The Switch

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If you're one of the four hardy souls who visit this abandoned dump on a regular basis, I can only assume you're suffering from Alzheimer's. Only someone without a memory could keep returning to read the same post day after day without update. If that's you, you've already read this yesterday. Now I can't even remember why I started this obnoxious site. I recall getting a little annoyed with BS real estate media reports. Something that may have been noticeable at one time or another. Initially, I had nothing more than mild contempt for the media. It has grown. It was fun for a while. People talked on forums. Came to visit. Occasionally left a comment. Even babes writing for respectable publications referenced me in their work. The impact had some Tasmanian media peeps actually being more measured in their spruiking. And fewer real estate goons were prepared to take ice-cold stats and pimp them in the media as scorching hot. Someone was watching. But why did it a

100 ways to acquire real estate

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This is the best time to purchase real estate whether you are a first home buyer or an investor before the market turns around and properties start becoming unaffordable again. There are many different ways to acquire, finance and sell real estate whether you have cash or not. Having money helps you negotiate a better deal because you can close quicker and eliminate financing fees. The following are 100 ways to acquire real estate: One of the favorites for investors is for sale by owner (FSBO.) As a buyer you negotiate directly with the seller and are able to find out his needs thus getting a better price Having bird dogs that scout for properties for you to review and purchase and pay them a specific amount when the deal closes. These can be friends, fellow investors, neighbors and others Rental homes are another source of houses for sale. Most landlords are willing to sell a vacant property rather than wait to put another tenant in. Knocking on doors to ask owners if they are interes

20 Ways to Rent Out Your Home Faster

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While running a successful rental marketing company and renting out my numerous rental properties. I have picked up a few tricks along the way. Below are 20 ways you can rent out your home faster  (There are plenty more ideas and if you have some please comment and I can add to the list): 1) Pricing Matters There are many ways to price your home competitively in the marketplace. Some tools to help you along the way are: RentSlicer.com, RentOmeter.com and Oodle.com 2) The time of the Month Counts The best times to gain a tenant are March, April, May, June, July and August. These are the main months when renters move due to seasons, schools, etc. 3) Throw some Make-up On Have you ever toured a model home for sale? What do you notice? Are there magnets on the fridge? Are there clothes in the hamper? Are the walls scratched? The answer is no. Why? This is what sells homes. Touch up with paint and remove all clutter and you will see a big difference. 4) Replace Light bulbs and Fixtures A ru