kaulat

So, the key to success in most sales careers has to do with keeping your name or brand in front of everyone.  I prefer to think it has more to do with service, but passing the word that service and communication are key returns to the idea of names and faces in front of everyone.  After 10 years in real estate, I can't call everyone so I send out post cards of listings and the occasional promotional item. I think it all came home to me that this is important when I went to an SU game recently.  I ran into a friend who introduced me as "This is the woman who is on my refrigerator."  Her friend instantly lit up with recognition.  I have received promotional items myself along the way.  Carol Alger, a loan officer who is now with Homestead Financial ( http://www.homesteadfinancial.net/ ) has been with me from the start, probably one of the very few professionals who has been.  She gives great service, communicates with me quickly and easily via e-mail, an...

We spent the weekend in Manhattan, visiting Alex, Rachel and Liam.  It was a truly lovely - if brief - time away.  We made it down there in four hours and twenty minutes, and that included two stops.  I never would have believed it possible until I started making the trek through Scranton.  As long as there is no George Washington Bridge or FDR tie-up we can do it.  We also found a parking spot just a few doors from their building. I have come to really love the City.  I love the energy, the way it really doesn't seem to sleep, the safety of it.  I can walk and walk, we are close to parks on either side, there are dogs and kids galore to watch.  We ventured out with Liam, now six months old, to a sit-down restaurant, stroller and all.  Candlelight, great Vietnamese food, good wine and beer, close to their building....and there were two other little kids at the next table.  It was all fine and the wait staff accommodated everyone.  I...

My thoughts exactly.

So here they are, the last 10 homes that closed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service in 2011.  This brings the total to 70 homes.  It WILL get better in 2012 - I know it! In no particular order: 181 Hemlock Hollow - $159,750 3859 Highland Avenue - $245,000 9 Wicklow Drive - $309,000 2989 East Lake Road - $1,375,000 1698 Amerman Road - $225,000 2424 West Lake Road - $215,000 48 West Genesee Street - $350,000 14 State Street - $300,000 61 State Street Road - $285,000 25 Leitch Avenue - $530,000 On to a better year!

I am learning to navigate through the new year with all my resolutions mostly in place.  I still find that I am drawn to doing more than needs to be done and feeling rushed, at least real estate-wise.  I rearrange my own schedule - walks, blogging time, friend-time - to accommodate people because I never want to feel the guilt about someone missing out.  But then other things don't get done, things that need to be done and things I enjoy, like this blog, and I feel guilty anyway!  I know it is all part of living, and subject to "monitor and adjust."  Recognizing the issue is the first step towards solution. Currently there are ONLY (and I do mean ONLY !) 91 active homes in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 29 are in the Village, and 22 are waterfront.  I say ONLY because we have been as high as 150 as recently as the past six months.  And the new ones that have come on - four in the last week - are all re-lists of ...

I feel so comfortable at this desk.  I will probably go back into the office this evening, but I want to get the update done here, with a cup of tea and a dog at my feet.  I showed a house this afternoon that froze me totally.  Gorgeous house (falling in love with the potential) but colder than the outside temperature of 20 degrees, I swear!  I needed to warm up! Currently there are only 96 single family homes listed as active in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 31 are in the Village and 22 are considered to be waterfront.  Three properties came back on the market this week, two in the village and (brrrrr) a lovely waterfront home.  The median list price of all these homes is $325,000.  The lowest is $89,900 (and the only one under $100,000) and the highest is $3,095,000. There are only three homes marked contingent, but one of them is new - a fine home in the town which I showed repeatedly to no avail.  Alack ...

I got so involved in the statistics that my tea got cold and the sun went down!  Fascinating. This is only a first part of other blogs (or blog) about the area and what happened in 2011 real estate-wise.  I just need to feed the dog, figure out dinner, and get some other work done.  If I stay with the multiple listing service none of this will happen. So!  In Skaneateles in 2011 we sold and closed 70 homes.  Of these, 20 were in the village and 15 were waterfront.  This compares with previous years:               2010     75 closed       13 village        17 waterfront               2009     81                    ...