kaulat

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....

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 ne...

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....

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 "...