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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,

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

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 mar

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 al

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

What's a Real Estate Institute president to do? A 20 year low in house sales, housing finance regressing nearly as far, and prices showing the worst falls in the country. What's the solution to such a problem when your members are leaving the industry and queuing up to sell flat screens again? Distraction! Talk the unquantifiable data outside the date range of the stinky figures you've just released, of course.  Dealing with an inattentive media is always a bonus. They don't ask questions, just repeat your choice quotes.  Sometimes dealing with such sleepwalkers can be frustrating, being so desperate to write their own nonsense angle they can derail your own narrative, as The Mercury's Meryl Naidoo proves when referencing figures from the September quarter... INTEREST rate cuts have failed to rally homebuyers in Tasmania as sales plummeted across the state. Now I had to take my socks off to do it, but I think the September quarter ends at the end of, well, Septembe

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 - $3

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 cont

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 y

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 almos

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 co

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 - $29

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 memb

"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 se

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 ho

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 "

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...a

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

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 go

Given some of the ridiculous bullshit I've encountered in my house search, I might have to come out of blogging retirement. ASKING PRICE: $469,900 ADDRESS: 14 5TH Pl, Long Beach, CA 90802 BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 SQ. FT.: 1,214 $/SQ. FT.: $387 YEAR BUILT: 1953 MLS#: P786112 ON REDFIN: 86 days HOA: $260 DOWN PAYMENT (20%): $94,000 INCOME REQUIREMENT (3.5 x Income): $107,000 MONTHLY NUT: $2,500 DESCRIPTION: Amazing sweeping ocean views from the main living space of this two bedroom, two bath condo. This secure unit is just steps from the sand and a large communal patio area, perfect for entertaining or watching the 4th of July fireworks. Condo features hardwood floors, updated kitchen, upgraded bathrooms and plantation style shutters. This could be your perfect ocean home. I looked at this bank-owned condo a few months back and walked away unimpressed. Between the termite damage, filth, poor condition of the kitchen cabinets, darkness of the bathrooms, lack of street parking, community lau

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 ga

Sold on 09/02/11 - $605,000 Well, that only took 400 days. Look at this long, sad saga: Sep 02, 2011 - Sold $605,000 Jul 15, 2011 - Pending (Backup Offers Accepted) Jul 08, 2011 - Price Changed $609,000 Jun 17, 2011 - Price Changed $639,000 May 27, 2011 - Listed (Active) $649,000 May 27, 2011 - Delisted (Cancelled) May 17, 2011 - Price Changed May 09, 2011 - Price Changed Apr 25, 2011 - Price Changed Mar 30, 2011 - Price Changed Mar 04, 2011 - Relisted (Active) $699,900 Mar 04, 2011 - Delisted (Hold) Mar 04, 2011 - Relisted (Active) Mar 03, 2011 - Delisted Mar 02, 2011 - Listed Nov 14, 2010 - Delisted (Expired) Oct 05, 2010 - Price Changed Sep 27, 2010 - Price Changed Aug 27, 2010 - Price Changed Jul 15, 2010 - Listed (Active) Apr 14, 2010 - Sold $405,000 Hey, a $200,000 profit! This flipper must really know what he's doing! Not so fast, punchy. Setting aside the fact that flippers who know what they're doing actually, you know, flip houses instead of chasing the market dow

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

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

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