Thursday, February 23, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

So there I was, all poised to write this blog last night.  Research done, thoughts composed, SU game still in the future....but I couldn't get in to blogger!  Best laid plans and all that.

Currently there are 84 - ONLY! - active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 24 are in the Village and 20 are waterfront.  One new one came on this past week in the mid-$200,000 range.

There are 6 homes marked contingent, 7 in the "under contract" category, and 5 pending.  None of these are new.

However - continuing on with our good fortune or pent-up needs, there is another closed sale!  This brings our year-to-date number to 10.  The one that closed was under $200,000 and in the town.

I told someone that we had a dozen homes listed under $200,000 - just off the top of my head.  So I checked, and there are actually 15.  The largest number come between $200,000 and $400,000 - 30 homes.  Between $400,000 and $800,000 there are 25, and that leaves an amazing 15 listed for over $800,000.  (And adding it up I see that somewhere a house appears in two categories - which is why people try for the even numbers so they won't be excluded on the internet.  For example, if I were to list a home at $499,900....it would be missed by people starting at 500K.  Unbelievable, but true!)

So come to my open house this Sunday from 1:00 until 3:00 at one of the "under $200,000" homes.  This is 1650 Coon Hill Road, literally just minutes from the village down East Lake Road.  Hopefully the weather will allow you to soak up the sun in the three-season room (see below) and walk out into the huge back yard over to the stream.  It's really a lovely home - very, very comfortable.  When you come, tell me you read about it on my blog.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

The emotions of real estate are always up and down - hence the stress level increases and decreases accordingly.  This week has been no different, but I am walking now, thanks in part to our two new dogs, Charlie and Sheba.  Charlie is the little one, and he is 9 years old.  His best friend Sheba is an English Shepherd like our Boo, and she is 11.  Charlie needed his teeth done - he has only 4 left after yesterday's
surgery at the Weedsport Animal Hospital, but it hasn't slowed him down any.  Sheba needs to walk -she weighs almost as much as Boo!  Together we are carving out an hour a day to hit the trails.  Boo really likes having a pack he thinks he can boss around, and the cats don't really care - they can handle dogs.  


So while the dogs wait patiently for their dinners....there are currently ONLY 85 single family homes listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 25 are in the village and 21 are waterfront.  Three new ones came on the market after brief hiatuses, but these are primarily re-listed properties.

There are 9 homes now that are under contract, but still can be shown.  Three new ones were added this week, two in the village and one farther out.  Six are solidly under contract, and a new village home was added to that list, too.  There are no new pended properties, leaving the total at 3 homes.

The BIG news is that we now have 9 closings so far this year.  NINE!  Two are waterfront, and one is village.  I checked - I had to go as far back as 2008 to find nine closings this early in the year.  At that time the median selling price was $487,000 and this time it is $345,000....but still, I believe this is excellent news.  Combined with the reduced number of active listings, this could be a much better year than the last few have been.  Hooray!




Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

Not a whole lot to tell here.  I have several blogs I will write to update both real estate and my personal life in the next few days, but for now I want to get right to it so I have time to set up my open house signs at 158 Shire Way in Camillus for Sunday (1:00 to 3:00) then go and show another house in Skaneateles.

Currently, there are only 86 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 25 are in the Village and 21 are waterfront.  Four are new listings - but three of the four are re-lists.  The new one is a farm priced around $200,000. 

There are no new contingent (still 6) or under contract (still 7) or pending (still 3) listings this week.  We did have one sale, bringing the total number this year to six, which is really quite good and bodes well.  The newly sold one is in the village, and listed and sold in the mid-$100,000.

Below you will see a link to a photo of a craftsman-style house that caught my eye because it looks very much like my listing (photo) at 208 Dorwin Ave in Syracuse, ML#S260830 ($96,000).  The point of the article was to show which styles are on the rise and which are not.  Craftsman homes are on the rise, and while Dorwin might have been built before the style became popular, it is just as cozy which is the appeal, according to the article.  You can read it yourself at:  http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/whats-hot-and-not-in-home-styles-this-year.html.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday Morning Thoughts

The day after the Super Bowl.  Still basking in the warm glow of a family gathering plus the Giants' win.  Such a good thing that is for New York and the underdogs!  They came such a long way.  When a fellow Realtor and old friend in Colorado needed reminding about staying with his Central New York roots, he went back to a very long time ago when Floyd Little signed his placemat at a sports banquet for Sherman Park football.  We grew up within walking distance of the SU campus - and it is still in our hearts. (He still has that placemat!)

The weather is gorgeous here for a February day.  Brilliant sunshine.  Boo and I will take several walks today, I can guess.

Too much food last night!  Shrimp, dips, chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies....  Oh my!  But I will start to save room for a Krebs' meal, coming late August according to Adam Weitsman, the new owner.  If you would like to read more about this, go to http://www.syracuse.com/ and Friday's article.  This will be a wonderful addition to Skaneateles.

Soon the market will pick up, now that the jobs picture is looking better and better.  I think confidence is growing, and people will be able to see further than six months down the road.  Certainly, if possible, buying is better than renting.  I paid my mortgage this morning - Monday is domestic day, with bills a top priority - and I enjoy seeing the numbers shrink. 

But to keep them shrinking, I must keep making money.  So if you are looking for a lovely ranch in Camillus - call me, please!  Or there's a sweet smaller home with hardwoods not too far out with a very deep back yard at 1650 Coon Hill Road....then the lots, all those lots!  From Calemad to waterfront in Niles, to many, many acres in Sennett and Skaneateles.  I am sure the builders out there are ready for you and spring to come!  Buy now - be in by the fall!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

As the rain comes down and before I leave for a closing, I just want to delve right into the update.  There are currently 83 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Eighty-three!  I went back and checked other years to see if this is as remarkable as it sounded.  At the end of January there were well over 100 active listings each of the last three years.  This means a drop in the range of 20%.  We are almost at that point of coming into town and having very few choices - so you might as well buy them now before they are sold to someone else.

Of these 83 listings, 26 are in the Village and 21 are waterfront.  The median list price is $374,000.  Two new listings came on in the past week, one a re-list with a slight reduction, and the other a new listing in the Jordan-Elbridge school district, priced under $100,000.

There are 15 homes marked contingent or under contract.  Three are new, and all are within the confines of the Village.  There are no new pending properties, and the total number of pending homes is only three.

We now have 5 sold and closed homes.  The last one was my listing on East Lake Road - such a very pretty home!  The people saw it at the first and only open house and fairly soon thereafter put in an offer.  The key was pricing and condition - and this lovely home had both!

I thought that 5 closed sales sounded quite good, so I went back and looked.  Sure enough, between 2009 and 2011 in January there was a total of 5 homes spread out over the three years.  Between the fewer listings and the increased sales, I think we are going to have a great year!