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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