Bob and Decorative Painting

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://GoldenPaints.com and read the history.  It's a remarkable company, brand, and force in the artistic community.  They have artists in residence, as well as people who make the paints that go all over the world.  The color charts are like none you have ever seen before, as well as the colors they offer. The iridescents are my favorite.

Finkelstein and his assistants are based in Manhattan, but travel in order to teach.  A working painter, his blog is fascinating.  One minute at the Louvre, the next in an office space, then on to some other destination.  Bob and 15 others were privileged to work with him.  Open http://PierreFinkelstein.com to learn more about him and read his Blog for the Craft of Decorative Painting.

I have seen Bob's work and marveled at it now for years.  I am glad he went.  And of course, since we are all so connected, a woman he met at Golden Paints turned out to be the sister of a woman who had bought a house in Skaneateles through me years and years ago.  And a fellow painter who had come up from Texas grew up on the road to the north of us at the lake... Small world....

Shameless plug alert:  If you are looking for a painter who can take an old metal door and make it look like wood, or a column and make it appear to be marble, or massive stones in a church....find me and I will put you in touch with Bob.  Or just call Purcell's or Sherwin Williams and ask for Bob, the decorative and faux painter.

Continuing Education - Environmental Issues

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 above 70%.  Companies that test for mold must put it under the microscope - you can't tell just by looking at it.  If the mold in the house is confined to under a 10 square foot area, then the homeowner can clean it.  If it is about 100 sf then it is considered a "biohazard" and must have mitigation from certified and licensed remediation specialists.

Carbon monoxide poisoning sends 20,000 people to the ER every year.  Of these, 500 die of it.  Keep everything that generates CO away from the house - meaning generators and yes, the family car.  Starting a car in the garage or even the driveway and leaving it running is not a good idea.

Buried oil tanks have a 16 year life span.  In Massachusetts, all buried oil tanks must come out of the ground.  Even if the tank is no longer filled or used, it should come out of the ground within a year to keep it from possibly polluting the soil.

Lead.  The #1 source of lead pollution in the U.S. is batteries in landfills.  Steve went over the guidelines for painting and remodeling when lead is present.

There is no simple test for asbestos.  It's been known to be a problem since 1884 - but not until the 1920s was it acknowledged.  It is actually a mineral - very strong, impervious and excellent for strengthening building materials.

Septic systems need to be pumped every one to five years.  The average life of the system is 20 years.  If you sell a home in Massachusetts, you must bring the septic system into code for that year.

Fascinating - all of it.  I made notes to tell Bob some of the things we need to do around our house, including putting a CO detector in the apartment for when Rachel and Alex come to visit. We also need to pull our old buried oil tank now that we've stopped using it...I've known that, but now it's a priority.  Continuing ed - thank you!  I learn a lot for my business, and also for myself.

Julia

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, privacy, messy but comfortable interior - to a veritable castle just outside NYC where Julia and her very staid grandparents' reside at times.  The room in which the girls play word games and laugh and talk about the future is a child's dream of a bedroom, before Pottery Barn came along.

This is contrasted by the hell that was overtaking Europe at that time.  Lillian goes to write in London, then to Austria - the grayness and damp is palpable.  Scenes, sets - all of which make the movie come alive.  The opening and ending - an old woman sitting in a boat (Lillian Hellman herself, actually) - is a memorable portrait.

I take from this how tied we are to where we are.  The Hellman and Hammett of the Cape are vastly different from the restaurants of NYC or Parisian hotels.  But each as beautiful in their own way.

New Construction - Continuing Education

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 not represented by a real estate agent.
• Because of this, according to the statistics cited, homes will cost 20% more than if the buyer had been represented.
• There are an average of 1,784 decisions to be made when building.
• Some of the best builders are in the Northeast.
• Marvin Windows are the most energy efficient.  
• Cold air returns for a forced air furnace should be in every room.
• Gutters are important: they keep water from the foundation and save the roof.
• The cost is only about $800 for a 2,600 square foot house.

I have been representing buyers who build with builders most of my career.  I don't know a great deal about building, but I have found that I do have value in the process.  I think every agent who takes the time to be involved does.  If nothing else, agents have another set of eyes to look at plans critically, ask questions, 

and watch as the process unfolds.  While some Realtors felt they were shoved aside, the builders I have known are open to my involvement in the process.  

Open House Alert! 5731 Sandbank Road

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 little bit of work.

As I said before, the main part is a great room - kitchen, dining room and living room.  With that view you see.

Downstairs there's a cozy family room that opens to a three-season room that houses a hot tub.  Surrounding that on the south is a terraced garden, behind the fence you see on the right of the photo.  In the near garden there  are also an above-ground pool and a shed.  Cars are in the attached garage, which also leads to the basement.

It's a great house - ML#S286367 to see more photos.  The price is $229,000.  Please come between 1:00 and 3:00 on Sunday and say you read this blog - I will love it!

The First Twenty - Plus One

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 Skaneateles - $615,000

593 Stump Road - Town of Skaneateles - $105,250

56 State Street - Village of Skaneateles - $875,000

32 Orchard Road - Village of Skaneateles - $212,000

2272 Cherry Valley Road - Town of Skaneateles - $63,000

2418 Wave Way - Town of Skaneateles - $549,900

2996 County Line Road - Town of Skaneateles - $420,000

2886 County Line Road - Town of Skaneateles - $540,000

63 Jordan Street - Village of Skaneateles - $220,000

4084 Mill Road - Town of Skaneateles - $299,900

1642 New Seneca Turnpike - Town of Skaneateles - $183,000

2122 Terrace Lane South - Town of Skaneateles - $1,100,000

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Occasional Update

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 considered waterfront.  As suspected, 6 listings came on in the past 10 days, only one a re-list.  The other five range in price for 1.75 million (not on the water but gorgeous!) to a mid-$100,000 home in the town.  Two others are Village and the last has acreage and a newer-built home.

Under contract there are 14 waiting to close.  Only one new one was added.

The best news is that we have gotten to The First Twenty closings.  The two new ones that sold and closed were both in the lower $100,000 range.  In the next few days I will write up the houses that closed and their published selling price.

Open House Alert - 115 Raspberry

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, and a sideload garage.  The owners have done a wonderful job of getting it ready for sale.  If you are considering putting your house on the market, you should see this one.

Come one, come all!  There will be refreshments of some kind and hopefully a lot of people browsing.  I also plan an incentive - if you have an accepted offer by May 1st, then I will give you a $250 gift card to Pier One.

See you Sunday!

Home Inspector Newsletter

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 equipment.

Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position.  The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, and held up a handwritten sign that said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters.   People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window.  The sign said, "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER."

The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely.  After they were on the ground, the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.

"I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."

(I don't know who to credit, but I love it!)

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Sometime Update (March 21 - April 3rd)

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 the published sale prices.  The new ones cover the Village, Town and waterfront.  They range in price from the mid-$100,000s to over a million.

So - Go Orange!  It has been a spectacular ride this year, and just like the real estate market, filled with ups and downs, tension, relaxation, smiles and tears.  Go Orange!