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It finally happened.  I did it!  Well, not me precisely, but it is done. As I had written before, a company by the name of "Allow Me" provides an incredible service.  Want something done?  "Allow me!" they say. I can't remember what put me over the edge precisely, but the proximate cause was a friend's request for things to help her daughter set up a first apartment at college.  Did I have anything, she asked.  I honestly couldn't tell!  I could open drawers and cabinets, look into the closets - but was there anything really there that was of use?  Did I need it for the in-law apartment myself? So I made the call and by golly they were at the house in a matter of days.  We walked through and I realized how truly bad it was.  There was real estate mixed in with Alex's things, my mother's heirlooms, and now we have Liam's toys and books and baby equipment.  The recumbant bike I was going to use to work myself into better shape sat in ...

I've said this before - technology is not anything I do easily, but I do try.  This past week or so I have been working with a VA (if you read it as Veterans' Administration, you are in my age pool!).  A VA is in this case a Virtual Assistant.  Full disclosure - I have never met her, but she appeared in my e-mail and I realized that the services she offers would be a very good thing for me and my business.  And for you, too, because this gives you an easy way to see my listings and stay up to date without going through other websites.  So far Sarah Cole, my VA, has created and will maintain a business page for me on Facebook.  Please take a look:  http://www.facebook.com/MegBrooksRealtor .  Hooray!  Currently there are ONLY 88 listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 26 are in the village and 25 are considered waterfront; three are both.  No new listings came on the market, and only one re-list th...

In one week this turd waffle will celebrate the three-year anniversary of trying to unload his over-improved albatross. What a tit. Although at least now I see why he was so reluctant to post interior photos: Poltergeist pipe! Good luck putting up crown moulding, Chachi. And look at this sad-ass kitchen: Is this a playhouse? Where the hell do you even buy those miniature appliances? The microwave looks monstrous compared to that lil' Easy-Bake Oven below. Yes, yes, I'm sure that's a photo from the rental unit, but it's still funny looking. I mean, how much square footage are you really saving? This dumbass needs to just throw in the towel. I guess compared to the 2009 asking price of $1,295,000 , begging for $979,500 seems downright reasonable. But this price is still way out of line with reality. The thing I have never understood about these delusional sellers is how, after years on the market begging for someone to buy their property, the thought never goes throu...

So we are in the midst of amazing weather for this time of year!  Record-breaking warmth - 80? or more? - and brilliant sunshine.  One friend said with exuberance, "Wouldn't it be lovely if it were like this all the time?"  I have to admit I said no, that I love my cross-country skiing and snowshoes, the clean look of snow under a full moon, the crispness in the air.  But these days are intoxicating, and sleep comes easily so that I get up before sunrise, get ready for the day, walk Charlie, and work easily with people who really are intent on buying or selling homes. Currently there are 90 homes active and available in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 26 are in the Village and another 26 are considered waterfront.  Two "new" re-lists came on, both with new prices.  A totally new Village home came on the market in the low $400,000 range. The real story is the number of homes marked contingent in just the past week. ...

Long Beach inventory is down 16.3% between February and January, and down 37.9% from this time last year. In Belmont Shore, it's even worse. Inventory is down 41.7% month-to-month, and an astounding 61.1% versus last year. Mind you, we're well into the Super Spring Selling Season so this doesn't bode well for summer's prospects. However, the good news for everyone but buyers is this scant inventory is doing wonders for the stability of home prices. The median sold price of $582,000 is up 0.4% versus last year. Basically, if you want to live in the Shore, and are allergic to short sale shenanigans, you're screwed. The handful of equity sellers out there are definitely in the driver's seat. It's frustrating, I know. But this is our future.

Do we have to talk about Syracuse basketball?  I think we do.  Alex texted me yesterday in the midst of an offer signing, and everything stopped.  "No fab melo?!!!!" he wrote.  "Tell" I wrote.  And then the sad but true tale came out.  We had just gone to the Big East tournament and watched SU lose from our seats under the basket.  Then the championship game (after seeing the bartender at an Irish pub nearby for our tickets that I had purchased online).  Good loss, I kept saying as the rest of the upper-ranked teams lost too.  It will make them think they are not perfect and they might pay attention more.  But now "no fab melo."  How do you disappoint people?  Even young ones like our Liam? But there are still houses for sale in Skaneateles.  As a matter of fact, there are 90 total, with 25 of them in the Village and another 25 considered waterfront.  Four new ones came on the market in the past week.  A ranch ju...

Ah, what a day!  The dogs and I were outside on the deck and when Alex texted that UConn and West Virginia had gone into overtime I turned on the game inside - then listened from outside.  SU will have trouble with UConn, I'm afraid.  But then, this is a special team and past predictions ("hard to beat a team three times in a season") go out the window. This blog actually encompasses two weeks, as I explained in the last blog.  And there has been activity!  Five new listings came on the market in the past two weeks.  Actually six, but that one has already sold!  Think Village and good price...  One of the "new" ones is a re-list, but at such a reduced price and after being off the market for well over a year it's hard to call it a re-list.  The new ones include four outside the village, three large ones and a sweet 2-bedroom home.  Come and get them!  There are only 85 active listings entered in the Skaneateles area - 24 are in...

It's been a very difficult past few weeks and I apologize for missing the weekly update on the 29th.  I just couldn't do it. I had worked with Doug Bohrer recently to list a house and then the lots at Parcell Woods in Sennett.  He passd away on the 1st of March.  A month ago we were texting about pricing, septic tests, new beginnings and what we would do if one or two of the lots hadn't sold by this time in 2013.  Then he got sick, and the next thing I knew he was in ICU and his parents had been called up from Virginia. We knew he wasn't coming back on the 28th and that it was "just a matter of time" as they say.  He passed away on March 1st.  Calling hours were Sunday, with an hour and a half wait, the line out the door into the freezing cold and snow.  The funeral was yesterday, with very few dry eyes in the overflow crowd.  Today we go back to "normal," but with a difference.  Doug was only 48, with three amazing children and many fri...