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My daring and creative husband, Bob, just spent the last four days at a seminar on decorative painting.  While this is his specialty, there's always more to learn.  Years ago he took a course in South Carolina to learn the art of wood-graining.  There's a steel staircase in Crouse Hall on the Syracuse University campus that looks like wood.  You wouldn't know which one, because it looks like every other wooden staircase. When he saw a course offered by Golden Paints to be taught by the world-renowned painter, Pierre Finkelstein, he immediately signed up.  The great news was that Golden Paints, the company hosting the seminar, is in New Berlin, about 80 miles away from our home.  It turned out he was one of the closest students - others flew in from all over the country to take the class. They worked solid for three days learning the techniques, about the brushes (badger hair), and using the superb paints manufactured and sold by the decades-old company.  Go to http://Golden

On the 23rd, I took another course:  Environmental Issues with Steve Selig.  His class was contact-packed - I took five pages of notes and we rolled through short breaks and lunch, frankly, I thought, eager to get back to learning what he had to teach.  A complex person - attorney, environmental activist, home inspector and remediation expert, knowledgeable in what seemed like everything related to the environment. The areas he covered were mold, radon, carbon monoxide, water, buried oil tanks,lead, asbestos, and septic systems.  The most amount of time was spent on mold - what it is, what the dangers are, and why it's become a leading concern in the real estate field, both with new construction and resale.  The short video he played was terrifying.  A family had neurological damage from living in a house - huge and expensive - that would never be able to be re-habbed.  The brain damage in the father and son was permanent also. Very simply put, mold grows where the humidity is ab

I saw again one of my favorite movies, Julia , last night.  It was made in 1977 and stars Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jason Robards.  Fonda plays Lillian Hellman to Robards' Dashiell Hammett.  Redgrave is lovely as Hellman's friend Julia.  Maximillian Schell and Meryl Streep (her first film part) have small roles. Great, true story.  Everything moves back and forth through time.  Lillian and Julia are young school friends, Julia quite wealthy in terms of money but with a paucity of family life.  Lillian is taken with her, and reveres her free spirit and brilliance.  It's 1934 when the film opens, and Lillian is trying to complete her first play.  Julia is in medical school in Cambridge, looking forward to possibly working with Freud.  A good story, of friendship and love, war and peace, action and inaction. What I love about it also, as I did when I first saw it, are the settings.  Gorgeously filmed, it takes you from a perfect Cape Cod cabin - weathered shingles, pri

Every two years we have to take classes to continue our license.  I generally end up with about 25 hours.  I've taken two courses recently - my license is up for renewal in August - and I want to share some of what I learned. First of all, I like going to class, even if it is all the way up to Taft Road in North Syracuse, because I get a chance to see people out of our ordinary sphere.  Get fresh perspectives, or actually meet people with whom I've spoken but never encountered.  I could take classes online for the credits, but sitting at a computer all day is not what I want to do.  So off I go... We had about 20 people in class for "Representing Buyers for New Construction."  The instructor, John J. Waugh, enjoyed the back and forth of the class and encouraged it.  A lot was general talk, and answering questions as they came up.  As I look over my notes I think it best to simply list facts I thought interesting or relevant. 90% of all the homes built by buyers are no

This is National Open House Weekend, so there will be many more open houses than usual in our area, and probably across the country.  I was at the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors for a class this week and picked up my free balloons.  Come see them! Sandbank Road is actually in Jordan - 13080 - but the Town of Elbridge.  Take Route 5 to Kinney's and turn down the road.  The house is on the left, past the little town park, majestically sitting up on a hill. The photo I've chosen is the view out the window of the great room.  The property is over 1.5 acres, and truly like its own park.  You can walk back, and back, and finally you will get to fields.  But way back there there's a bench where you can sit and contemplate whatever you want to contemplate. The house is a contemporary, with three bedrooms and two full baths.  Both have large tubs, and the master tub has jets.  It doesn't have a shower now, but the pipes are still there and it could re-emerge with a lit

As I am writing this I am monitoring the news coming out of Boston.  A dear friend from high school lives in Watertown and is under lockdown.  She has been up all night and is waiting for the police to clear her house.  My heart is with her...I can't imagine this happening in her beautiful, quiet little town.  Or our town - but there's been Newtown and now Watertown. Since we had 21 closings by April 9th - two on that day - I will post in no particular order the first twenty-one closings. 24 Griffin Street - Village of Skaneateles - $167,000 1666 West Lake Road - Town of Niles - $130,000 37 State Street - Village of Skaneateles - $244,000 1542 Tracy Drive - Town of Spafford - $195,000 14 Hannum Street - Village of Skaneateles - $186,500 4153 Jordan Road - Hamlet of Mottville - $105,000 16 Lakeview Circle - Village of Skaneateles - $545,000 2935 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $235,000 90 West Genesee Street - Village of Skaneateles - $270,000 1695 Stump Road - Town of Sk

April showers bring May flowers...but ours might be a bit drowned.  The spigots can be turned off now, please.... Did I ever relate this story?  If I did, please forgive me.  It is so classic Central New York!  I was driving down to the bank and thought about the rain, and how at least it wasn't snow.  I got out and a man passed me at the door.  In greeting he said, "At least it isn't snow!"  I swear this was five minutes after I had the thought.  If you are from outside of this area and want to sound like you're from here - just use that phrase.  You will definitely get agreement and a smile. The update is closer to the last one because I am feeling things happening here.  I have buyers, new ones, and new listings coming up, too.  Other ones have sold or look promising.  So I wondered about the rest of the area. Currently there are 78 listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 20 are in the Village and an equal number are conside

Look at this gorgeous room!  The fireplace, the couch....the view out the opposite windows is of a private back yard.  The flooring is new, an update.  I love the color they chose for the wall - it works so well with the molding.  And this family room is the extension from the kitchen, so you can watch TV, gather round the fireplace, and still tell the cook what to make! The home will be open this Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00.  The MLS# is S285298.  It is truly a wonderful home, and we just dropped the price to $309,000.  5 bedrooms (one currently used as the media room)  2.5 baths with a spectacular shower in the master  dining room and living room (that could be converted to an office)  finished basement that contains a bar, an office, and a kids' playroom.  Scenic Meadows is a fully developed community high above 695 and the Village of Camillus.  The homes were built by Ryan and Zeck, and are now going through updates.  This one has the view of the valley, almost an acre of land, an

Every month in my e-mail I receive a copy of the CNY ASHI newsletter, The Observer.  I read it because it's a mix of quirky info (see below) and great insights from inspectors.  Photos help, too.  It is written mostly by Tom Sherman from Absolute Home Inspections, and reflects his sense of humor. One of the photos shows a shed snakeskin... a long , shed snakeskin.  The caption reads "Wonder where the rest of this snake is?"  The skin is up among the joists in a house that presumably was being inspected. Another photo shows a propping system devised by the builder.  Not a good one, either.  The inspector notes that this is new construction, and it was discovered during a stage inspection.  The suggestion is that even new construction should have interim inspections done by an independent company. On to the fun part: A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equip

As you can see, our household has been taken over by Final Four fever.  I bought orange table mats, a citrus candle, and these four orange tulips.  Soon there will only be two...Hopefully, of course, Syracuse. In the meantime, there are houses to sell and homes to buy!  Currently there are only 72 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 16 are in the Village and 19 are waterfront.  Eight are sort of new - four are re-listed (freshened) for the season.  Four others range in price from the mid-$200,000s to waterfront closer to a million but not quite there.  One is Village, but the others are either on the water or have lake rights. In the under contract categories there are only 15, but 6 are new.  Interestingly enough, 5 are in the town, none are waterfront, and there is only one in the Village. And then we come to the closed properties.  We now have 19 - one more and I will be writing about the First Twenty, spelling out the addresses and th