Thursday, November 29, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - November 15th - 29th

The update...but there is very little to update.  The previous blog covers the only new listing to have come on the market in the past two weeks!

There are currently in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service only 91 homes on the market.  That's it!  Better buy them now before someone else does...Of these, 27 are in the Village and 23 are considered waterfront.

In the under contract categories there are 28 homes waiting to close.  Since it's the end of the month, I am sure we will have additions to closing figures next week.  Two new ones, both hovering around $300,000, were newly contracted.

Closings - we are up to 111 for the year.  Way more than are on the market... All three were town properties, as opposed to Village.  Two closed for under $200,000 and the third was new construction of around $400,000.  Lovely houses all!

Don't forget Dickens this weekend.  There really is excitement in the air and now that we will be in the month of December (finally) we can look forward to snow and holiday cheer.  And after you've had a roasted chestnut or two, come on down the lake to my open house for more goodies on Sunday.

New Listing!

I sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We certainly did, the highlight being for me strolling Liam down Madison Avenue and looking in all the store windows on Sunday afternoon.  There is nothing like New York - except maybe coming back and going over the rise on 41 (Cortland County) to see the lake spread out before you.

Which reminds me....you can have that view every day.  I just listed a magnificent home in Niles that has that exact view.  From the eat-in kitchen, the living room, two of the bedrooms...there it is!  Because of the snow lately I haven't gotten THE PHOTO yet, but you can see it for yourself this Sunday (December 2nd) from 1:00 to 3:00 during my open house.  It's supposed to be warm, so come out and walk the acreage (over 9 acres!) and enjoy a few refreshments.  You can see the listing on whatever site you use - S282803 - or go to my Facebook page:  http://Facebook.com/MegBrooksRealtor.  Sarah takes care of it for me and promises something new and completely different...And please check later, too.  I haven't finished uploading photos into the listing.

3722 Robinia Hill - Town of Niles



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Fifth Twenty

The title of this blog says it all.  Amazing, the number of homes sold.  Is it pent-up desire?  Great prices? Low ("historically low" as they say) mortgage rates?  I think it's really a combination of them all.  I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth (is that really the phrase?)

So, in no particular order:

55 Calemad Drive - Town of Sennett - $390,000

4674 Vinegar Hill Road - Town of Skaneateles - $215,000

2092 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $240,000

3104 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $242,500

2575 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $710,000

2098 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $217,000

2895 East Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $999,999

2556 West Lake Road FL25 - Town of Skaneateles - $465,000

16 Academy Street - Village of Skaneateles - $400,000

1940 Collard Road - Town of Spafford - $265,600

1552 Heifer Road - Town of Skaneateles - $298,000

1916 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $856,000

2621 West Lake Road - Town of Skaneateles - $424,000

4717 West Lake Road - Town of Niles - $290,000

63 Meadow Lane - Town of Niles - $475,000

1772 Stump Road - Town of Skaneateles - $260,000

4011 Center Street Road - Town of Sennett - $338,000

611 Stump Road - Town of Skaneateles - $25,000

2134 East Lake Road - Town of Spafford - $287,500

193 East Genesee Street - Village of Skaneateles - $250,500

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - November 1st - 15th

I've been out of town for a bit, busy with listings and sales and near-sales for a bit, but whenever I opened up the hotsheet I was always amazed at how many sales there seemed to be in Skaneateles.  Wait until YOU see!

Currently there are 97 listings - under 100! - in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing system.  Of these, 29 are in the Village and 26 are considered waterfront.  Five new ones came on the market in the past two weeks - well, 3 re-lists, one sizeable re-list reduction, and my new listing at 1983 Collard Road.


I don't usually show you interiors, but this is so beautiful I must share it.  The house is Timberframe construction (built in 2000), so you know there's a great deal of wood and beams.  You are looking at the downstairs living room from the perspective of a gorgeous stone fireplace and two windows looking out on a cornfield and the lake beyond.  Upstairs is a loft - now used as an art studio.  Under the loft is the new kitchen - soapstone counters, maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances.  To the right is the open dining area - open so you can see the fireplace and the views.  To the far left and not in the photo is the first floor master - yes, looking out on the cornfield and the views.  This is ML#S282345, so you can see more of the house.  Or come to the open house this Sunday, from 1:00 to 3:00.  (East Lake Road about 4.4 miles to a left on Collard...worth it!) Priced at $379,000.

But back to the update....there are now 30 homes getting ready for closing.  Only three new ones joined this list - a home in the Village in the $200,000 range, a further out home with a bit of acreage, and a lovely lakefront property.  

And on to the big news.  We now have 108 sold and closed single family properties in the Skaneateles area. We added in the past two weeks 9 homes.  Incredible!  These broke out at 3 (fabulous) waterfront properties, a grand Village home, and 4 others in the near-town.  Prices ranged from the low $200,000s to much more than a million.

What makes this so extraordinary is that there has not been this number of sales by this time of year as far back as 2000.  I didn't go further, so possibly never!  And when you think that our inventory is under 100, it all bodes well for the future. Yes, we seem to be going up in numbers and as we have all learned what goes up can come down, but this is remarkable.  Compare this to a couple years ago, when the listings hovered around 150 and the sales for the year were 70.  We are doing just peachy!

So come on Sunday to see Collard Road - don't drive-by, because it's a private road.  And if you aren't busy Saturday I am holding 50 West Genesee Street open from noon to 2:00 because it does get drive-by, walking-by traffic.  Come see them both, especially if you like wood!


Monday, November 5, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - End of October, 2012

The world goes on - despite Sandy, despite the loss of friends.  And that's how it should be.  So without further adieu....

There are currently 101 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  (This update encompasses October 24th through October 31st.)  Of these, 30 are in the Village and 28 are waterfront.  Only two new listings came on and they are both re-lists.

In the under contract categories there are now 39 waiting to close.  Three are new, two in the Town and one in the Village.

The number of closings is now 97 - unbelievable!  At this time last year Skaneateles had only 55 closed single family homes.  Think of it!  Looking at the surrounding towns - Camillus, Marcellus, and Elbridge plus Auburn - each and every one has more closings than they did (year-to-date) in 2011.  The entire county of Onondaga has 3,116 homes sold - last year at this time it was only 2,838.  These are significant statistics - the world is changing once again, and as usual real estate is leading the way.

Passages

A couple weeks ago Billy Lang from Gallinger/Realty USA in Marcellus passed away.  As it said in the paper, he had run his mother's real estate firm (Verna Lang) for 40 years.  A friend said he had either "birthed 'em or buried 'em" and sometimes both over the course of his time.  His office walls were lined with the heads of animals he had hunted.  His hair was long and spoke volumes about who he was.  You could always tell when someone was on the phone with Billy - the listener made a lot of agreeing noises, but rarely got a chance to speak.  I can still hear his voice.  When I heard he was sick, a couple years ago, it was hard to believe because he was so active, so energized all the time.  But he was, and will be missed.

On Saturday evening Janet Tardiff from Williams Realty in Skaneateles also passed away.  I hadn't heard she had been sick, and thankfully she wasn't for long.  I had wondered in passing why she didn't go look at Ten Mile Point when her client asked about it, but she wasn't the first.  She was a great reader of this blog - my "JT" - and always wanted to have me print the median price of sold and closed properties, not the mean.  She was the owner, with Grace Snook, of Williams Realty until just recently. Pat Snyder, an agent in the company, told wonderful stories yesterday when I spoke with her from my open house at 50 West Genesee.  Days when there were no copiers or fax machines at the office (in the building across from RE/MAX, where Paris Flea is now).  Days when the listings were sent out by mail to be included in the office's master book.  Just like Billy, I can still hear Janet's voice, sort of a drawl with a question mixed in...I liked coming in to the office and seeing her at her desk in the far corner.   I will miss her terribly.