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Last night Syracuse University played Villanova in basketball before the largest crowd in college history. Not only did they play the number 7 team in the country, but they won in such convincing fashion that there was no doubt in any observer's mind that SU will be ranked number 1 come Monday. Wow! I've been going to games since I was a little girl, walking to Manley Field House with my friends, sitting under the net for $1 general admission. When I came back to the area in 1990, the venue was the Carrier Dome and Alex and I would make a game or two a year. Once Carmelo came, Bob and I started getting season tickets and attending regularly, if not every game at least many games. Never ever have I stood through an entire game before. We did last night, way up in our wonderful 310 nosebleed seats. And so, it seemed, did everyone else in the Dome, each of us waving our orange towels. I tried to get the t-shirts which announced that 34,616 people attended the sold out game

Just wanted to update the listing history shenanigans on this "cash-only" failure: Feb 26, 2010 - Price Changed $299,888 Feb 23, 2010 - Price Changed $299,988 Feb 17, 2010 - Price Changed $299,888 Jan 26, 2010 - Price Changed $344,888 Jan 22, 2010 - Price Changed $344,999 Jan 19, 2010 - Price Changed $356,000 Jan 11, 2010 - Price Changed $356,001 Jan 06, 2010 - Price Changed $356,002 Dec 22, 2009 - Price Changed $356,001 Dec 07, 2009 - Price Changed $356,000 Nov 09, 2009 - Relisted Oct 23, 2009 - Delisted Aug 23, 2009 - Listed $399,000 Jul 03, 2008 - Delisted Jul 03, 2008 - Relisted Jun 18, 2008 - Delisted Jun 18, 2008 - Relisted Jun 04, 2008 - Delisted Jun 04, 2008 - Relisted May 21, 2008 - Delisted Apr 03, 2008 - Listed Jun 11, 2007 - Sold $518,000 (-0.1%/yr) Apr 25, 2007 - Delisted Apr 14, 2007 - Price Changed Mar 07, 2007 - Price Changed Feb 13, 2007 - Price Changed Jan 29, 2007 - Listed Oct 29, 2004 - Sold $519,000 (27.1%/yr)

How wonderful is a Central New York blizzard! We are expecting somewhere around a foot of snow today and tonight, with high winds and gusts this evening. There's a storm warning out there and schools all over the area are closed. The snow has been coming down steadily since before dawn, enough so we already have five inches or so of fluffy stuff. Bob went out with Boo this morning on skiis (Bob, not Boo). Boo could have used some - he came trudging back right in the ski trail and perked up for two quick lopes when I called him, but then right back to trudging. He had another aspirin and is flat out in front of the fire where he'll remain most of the day. I walked out to get the paper and since there was none, I kept walking down the hill. I didn't have my warming, battery-operated vest on or glasses or a scarf, but it was so pretty out there I couldn't resist. The road was plowed and it was actually easy walking - and so gorgeous! Blizzards are part of the folklor

Purchased 5/10/2007 - $375,000 Sold on 2/18/2010 - $338,000 To all the people who claim "renting is just throwing away money," I give you this seller who just ate a bone-crushing -$57,000 loss thanks to the glorious pursuit of home "ownership." You really showed those lowly renters! I'll tell you one thing about which I am 100% confident: In hindsight, this lady would have much rather been "just throwing away money" renting than standing above a big, smoking crater where her bank account used to be. Frankly, I think she's lucky to get out alive. This tidy, but tiny, little apartment has much further to fall and she's fortunate she found a sucker before the losses got any worse. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Today's featured seller is yet another 2007 buyer who, after finding herself underwater just two years after purchasing, is scrambling to abandon ship before her terribly timed investment blows up in her face like an IED . W

What a gorgeous snowy morning it was! I got up early because we had to be out and about and went to get the paper. None there. I heard a car sliding up the hill and realized it must be the paper deliverer. I waited in the driveway - he was careening all over the place in his old red van with bald tires - and appreciated our red and blue lights on the lamp playing with the snow-covered branches. The van finally came close, but not near our mailbox. I stepped back a bit - he was revving the car - and a paper was thrown out the window at me as he continued his climb. As he rode out of sight, I yelled a heart-felt "Thank you!" There are currently 1,959 active listings in the multiple listing service under Onondaga County. Skaneateles, the town, shows 99 listings while Skaneateles, the village, shows 24 listings. There are 7 listings in the town designated as village, and some are repeated in the village listings. Just to confuse things even more, some are condos, others

I'm back from Park City, trying to regain my bearings. Have your Long Beach Housing Blog withdrawals subsided? I'd like to thank Yikesboy for sending in today's property. Address: 1384 QUINCY Ave, 90804 Asking Price: $439,900 Purchase Price: $540,000 (11/2005) Beds: 2 Baths: 1 Sq. Ft.: 672 (!) $/Sq. Ft.: $655 Lot Size: 3,526 Sq. Ft. Year Built: 1938 MLS#: S10019372 On Redfin: 2 days Down Payment: $88,000 (20%)/$18,000 (FHA) Income Requirement: $126,000 Monthly Nut: $2,400 (20%)/$2,800 (FHA) Description: 1384 Quincy Ave offers the perfect opportunity to own a great starter home on a large 3500 sq ft lot in a quiet residential neighborhood. The large gated back yard affords plenty of room for dining al fresco as well as play space for family and pets. Inside you will find a nice, cozy 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home with many of the original features of this 1938 bungalow. Guest quarters off of the garage offer extra space to expand your living (buyer to verify permit). .. use you

Now the Worst of the Cost vs. Value remodeling ideas, at least according to U.S. News and World Report. 1 - Home office remodel - must agree, unless of course you are taking a semi-unused room and making it worthwhile with some shelving perhaps - maybe extra outlets. Watch out for built-ins because they limit the room's uses! 2 - Sun room addition - maybe not so good, especially if you are doing one of those all glass and windows additions. But adding a room, and thus square footage, plus sending in light - there's a reason Ryan Homes has sold so many houses by offering "morning rooms." 3 - Bath addition - only 60% of cost is recovered. However, a 4 bedroom house these days almost requires 2 full baths. I certainly know it is hard to find space in these old Victorians in the village, but if you can use that extra room somewhere to create a bathroom do it! The house will sell so much faster and for a higher price. The difficulty is integrating it into the whole o

I retrieved the following from a report by U.S. News and World Report on remodeling costs vs. value. First the best things to do, at least according to the report and my comments. 1 - Install a steel door at your entry. Really? There isn't one already? I think I'll notice as I go through houses this week. Maybe it's because we're cold up here. 2 - Create a bedroom in the attic. Make sure you don't call it a bedroom and try to take credit for it. The Village is never thrilled with adding a bedroom where there is no true two egresses. Maybe you remember my friend's experience with a third floor master bedroom that wasn't, and was discovered the day before closing - that then wasn't. 3 - Add a wood deck. Why wood? We need something a mite stronger here. But yes, decks do count for something but then don't forget to add the doors leading out to the deck. 4 - Re-side the house with vinyl siding. Just make sure that the neighbors in your subdi

Some of the most high-profile Ponzi schemes were operated out of Houston (Allen Stanford) and New York (Bernie Madoff), but at least one young entrepreneur tried to put Long Beach on the map. Via KABC: LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A 33-year-old Long Beach man pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges Wednesday. Jon Weldon James is accused of running a $33 million Ponzi scheme. In a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, James admitted he defrauded more than 50 people who invested in his real estate-related offerings from late 2003 through August 2006. James told his victims that he was using their money to invest in real estate, but in fact, he invested in only a few properties and made no profit from real estate investments. He used funds from new investors to pay what he said were profits to his scheme's early investors. Prosecutors say James also used investors' money for personal expenses, including his wedding, a recording studio and a production company. The U.S. Attorney&#

Odd day, very odd. I went in to Syracuse for an early morning appointment and found bands of snow creating almost white-out conditions. That's okay - it happens here, just thankfully not as often this winter. I came home for a quick lunch and turned on CNN as always. There was the burning building and reporters trying to make sense of it. Austin, Texas. I have a former client and his son living there, two new clients moving up from there, Alex's half-brother and stepmother and a former husband somewhere in Austin. The plane turns out to have been purposefully crashed - the local news people get their reports from CNN. E-mails go out - all is well, but people are too close to the tragedy geographically. Bob comes home, but our afternoon appointment is postponed, so I spend some time on the computer. As I sit here looking out a HUGE thump hits the window. I look up to see a hawk of some kind just outside the window. I run out through the sliding doors of my studio - he&

I have been inspired! I have a very good friend who has started a blog of her own: http://gyatazen.wordpress.com . She is originally from Vancouver, which is in the spotlight this month, and has traveled and lived throughout the world. I plan on following her blog because we don't see each other much, and I urge you to try it out. But on a snowy day I realize that the pleasure she is having writing her blog, I can also have while writing mine. The quiche is in the oven (spinach-ricotta from the original Moosewood cookbook), the dogs are asleep (it's Boo's fifth birthday today!) and my appointment to sell a little house isn't until this evening. Time to blog! Currently there are 99 listings in the Skaneateles town and village areas of the multiple listing service. There is one new house, but with an interesting history that speaks volumes as they say about our volatile economy plus expectations plus difficulty of pricing. It originally started well over $300,000

So there we are, at the Syracuse-Louisville game on Sunday. The national anthem is about to be sung, over 31,000 screaming fans are in attendance, and my phone vibrates. My first thought is that my mother has somehow managed to call me - she always did at the most inappropriate times, during the final seconds of a tied game, or when I was diapering Alex, or just about to go out for the run I'd been gearing up for all day - but I knew from where she is out there in the cosmos that it couldn't be her. It wasn't, of course, only an agent who was possibly bringing in an offer and trying to beat another agent's offer. I tried answering when there was a momentary lull, but I couldn't make myself heard. I thought the chants of "Let's go, Orange" emanating from section 311 would clue her in that I was at the game, but all I could hear was "Where are you!?" I gave up, and texted her, hoping she had texting and she knew what to do with it. It work

Address: 5200 East ATHERTON St #125, 90815 Asking Price: $299,500 Beds: 2 Baths: 1.75 Sq. Ft.: 1,241 $/Sq. Ft.: $241 Year Built: 1965 MLS#: S581393 On Redfin: 222 days HOA: $420 Down Payment: $60,000 (20% down)/$12,000 (FHA) Income Requirement: $86,000 Monthly Nut: $2,000 (20% down)/$2,200 (FHA) Description: This SPOTLESS and HUGE 1300 sqft 2 bedroom - 2 bathroom 'C' Model has been scrubbed, painted, hardwood floors refinished, ceiling acoustic removed with new skip-trowel finish, new baseboards installed, recessed lighting in kitchen & bath, kitchen cabinets refinished, new faucets, new mirrored closet doors, vertical blinds, stainless steel appliances including cooktop, built in oven, over-cooktop microwave, dishwasher AND new dual-pane windows throughout plus slider door. It even has central air and heat!!! This is one of the nicest, cleanest, most dialed-in properties I have seen! HOA fee includes TONS of STUFF like CABLE-WATER-TRASH-PEST CONTROL-MASTER FIRE INSURANCE-P

The price was "$825,000 and changed to $799,000" He's (finally) approaching California's conforming loan limit. Will it be enough? P.S. How many "lowball" $800,000 offers do you think he dismissively rejected last year? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The price was "$875,000" and changed to "$825,000" Now we're getting somewhere! P.S. We're at 84 DOM, and the illiterate realtor still hasn't fixed the "Elementry" typo. Great work, champ! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The price was "$899,000" and changed to "$875,000" Hey, at least he's under $600 per square foot now! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I've been traveling more than George Clooney's character in Up in the Air . Savannah was pretty cool and Austin was a blast as always. Anyhow, I'm back and have been checking out this bungalow LBCee sent in: ADDRESS: 5266 East APPIAN Way, 90803 ASKING PRICE: $899,000 BEDS: 3 BATHS

Wow, two whole photos! Address: 564 North BELLFLOWER Blvd #201, 90814 Asking Price: $345,000 Beds: 2 Baths: 2 Sq. Ft.: 1,028 $/Sq. Ft.: $336 Year Built: 1970 MLS#: P721365 On Redfin: 2 days HOA: $357 Down Payment: $14,000(FHA)/$70,000 (20% down) Income Requirement: $100,000 Monthly Nut: $2,400 (FHA)/$2,100 (20% down) Description: Completely remodeled Stoneybrook Villas 2 bedroom 2 bath condo overlooking main greenbelt & pool area. Close to elevator & parking. Enter to gleaming hardwood floors, totally remodeled granite kitchen, updated bathrooms, large bedrooms, both with walk-in closets, huge patio with access from both bedrooms & living room. You will truly enjoy this great location and excellent condition. In The Year of The Cock (2005), today's seller purchased this little apartamento for a cerebellum-melting $450,000 . That's right, almost half a million clams. And now, after almost exactly five years (anybody else smell an Option ARM recast?), he's got it

LA Times: Valentine's Day is all about eating out (yes, that is the actual headline)

Thanks to Mike in LBC for sending this article in. From Don Jergler at the LBPost : A foreclosure report issued today shows a month-to-month drop in foreclosure filings in January, although if history repeats itself that uptick may be a mere graphical blip before an impending storm of negative data on rising foreclosure filings on the horizon, some real estate experts say. ... Foreclosure activity fell by double-digit percentages from the previous month in California, where one in every 187 housing units received a foreclosure filing. California’s foreclosure rate ranked third-highest among the states . It’s much the same in Long Beach and surrounding areas, where some local Realtors believe there’s a possibility of a flood of foreclosures coming—the calm before the storm so to speak. “I find it hard to believe that people are surprised by these new numbers,” says Jeremy Colonna, a broker with Colonna & Co. Realty in Belmont Shore. “With unemployment continuing to rise, short-term

A few points to clear up, then we're on our way.... My friend Cathy is truly a miracle. She left the ICU on Friday last week and went home on Monday. I spoke with her usual animated self right before the Super Bowl and we both cried. She will take a while to regain her strength, but she pulled through when the doctors didn't think she would. And there are no closings in Skaneateles, year-to-date. That's out of the way. There are, however, 100 single family homes listed as active in the Skaneateles areas - 6 in the village specifically. A new one came on, listed both as a multi-family and also as a single family with possibilities for an in-law situation. It is under $300,000. A waterfront home was also listed - the pictures look gorgeous! - for about $700,000. Spring and summer are coming! Two homes, both listed for $325,000, have been marked contingent. Both are relatively new construction and while one started in the high $500,000 range, the other was also closer

Yet another brain-dead idiot who doesn't bother to include interior photos of the property. You should be embarrassed for yourself. 383 BAY SHORE Ave #308 Asking Price: $428,900 Long Beach, CA 90803 Beds: 1 Baths: 1 Sq. Ft.: 792 $/Sq. Ft.: $542 Year Built: 1965 MLS#: P711907 On Redfin: 82 days HOA: $255 Down Payment: $85,780 Income Requirement: $123,000 Monthly Nut: $2,500 Description: Bay view condo on desirable Alamitos Bay. Floor to ceiling windows for enjoying the great water view. Upgraded designer kitchen. Potential to set sail from your own 32 foot boat slip. Beach & Marina at your front door. Walk to fine dining & shopping in Belmont Shore & Naples Island. Bike path for great biking. Pet friendly for up to 25 pounds. Now, before you choke on your Cheerios at the asking price of $428,900 for less than 800 square feet, keep in mind that a slightly larger unit sold just last month for $430,000 . Also consider that this property apparently comes with its own boat sl

Jul 12, 2001 - Sold $135,000 Mar 23, 2006 - Sold $380,000 (+24.7% per year) Aug 21, 2009 - Listed $229,900 Feb 8, 2010 - Sold $203,000 (47% loss in value in 48 months) I think $203,000 is still too much money for this dump, but at least the bank's long, painful journey is over with. But we taxpayers still ate a shit sandwich on that one. This sales price of $203,000 is 4x times the median income--stretching it, but fairly common for SoCal--so they might be able to keep up with the loan payments. But this was most certainly an FHA loan requiring no skin in the game, so let's just hope they can stay employed and keep their current hours, nothing needs repairing or replacing, and life doesn't have any surprises in store (fat chance)...otherwise we'll be eating that loss as well. ********************************************* The list price was "$229,900" and changed to "$219,900" But wait, when you originally listed this dump for $230,000, the listing