De-cluttering 101

Last Thursday evening I attended a workshop, I think you could call it, on de-cluttering held at the Onondaga Free Library on Onondaga Hill.  There was a confusion about time - the paper said one time and the presenter had another - so I missed a little bit at the beginning.  But I found it very interesting, and just when you think you can't learn more there I was scribbling notes to myself.

The presenter and owner of the company, Lisa DeVeau, seemed to hold everyone's attention for the full 90 minutes.  There were probably 35 people in attendance, of which four were men.  Most likely everyone had homes that needed cleaning out, or their parents did.  One person asked about a definition of clutter vs. hoarding.  Good question - like any addiction it seems to be if it interferes with your life, then it is hoarding.  More my definition....I have to admit my mind rambled to a client I have whose parents are definitely hoarders. 

Back to de-cluttering.  There were a lot of questions she asked the group:  "Do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you?"  "Does the stuff give you energy or take it away?"  "Would an item be difficult to replace or get again?"  I own my stuff, I know that, but I also know that it depletes me.

For example.  One of Lisa's methods for clearing out is to walk in a room and starting on the left, make a sweep.  Make piles - DUMP, Give away, Store, NOT SURE, Not at this time....etc.  Start left and work right, never leaving the room until your time is up for that day.  Fine, I thought, I'll start in the sitting room of the in-law apartment and begin my sweep.  Not a big deal, a way to break it all down....  I walked in, turned on the lights, looked left - and there was the buffet I had used as a desk for a few years, stuffed with so much that I had to stop using it.  I turned off the lights and left the room.  Maybe another day.

(She also is doing a workshop entitled "Overcoming Procrastination" on Wednesday, January 18th at 6:00 PM in North Syracuse.  She knows her clientele!)

The company is called "Completely Organized" and their website is http://www.completelyorganized.com/.  They are local - Manlius - and work in three main areas:  Business, Residential, and also Senior Services.  Under the latter they list managing moves, from planning to setting up new homes.  I can see where that might be a godsend for a family.  When my mother moved out of her home after 58 years she worked weekly with a friend to make the move.  They  worked for six months - and the closets were still full.  Now our basement is, but that's another story.

Just as many of my clients get help with packing when they move and are assisted by relocation, I can see how this service would work well for people with houses to de-clutter and a mandatory timeframe in which to do it.

Freaky Stuff

Topic #1  Okay, so I am finally having difficulty with the lack of snow.  It is simply not right!  I hear last night on the news that even if we come in with one of the lowest snow totals of all-time, we still will have at least three to five feet of snow before this "winter" is over.  That's a lot of snow, especially if you cram it into the next two months - because March 15th is about it for major snow.  For those of us who were here - there was the mid-March snowstorm of 1993 that dumped several feet on the area - then melted away within two weeks.  As I write, it is sort of raining snow.....Sigh.

Topic #2  We must have been watching too many Twilight Zones from the New Year's marathon.  I went out to get the paper before 7:00 AM yesterday and there in the northwestern sky was a bright light, hidden by clouds.  My first thought was that it was the sun - but wait!  That rises in the east, and I see it every day!  Slowly the moon revealed itself and I breathed easier.  Gorgeous moon, by the way!

Topic #3  Saturday night we went to see The Amazing Kreskin (his real name, changed officially some years back) at the Auburn Public Theater.  He has had a career as a mentalist, and frankly I have no idea how he does it and yes, we were amazed.  I have to believe it is some sort of skill-set that he was born with, like the autistic people who can play by ear or remember dates.  But he is the total package - at 76 he alluded to having jogged an hour that day between shows.  His performance went on for two and a half hours without intermission to a filled auditorium.  I honestly believe he has the ability to read minds! 

Okay - back to work....but writing is refreshing!
One other thing, in case I forget.....Joe Messina, an unemployed truck driver from Auburn, is competing on The Biggest Loser which airs Tuesdays at 8:00 (like tonight) on NBC.  He weights 360 pounds and wants to lose half his size, plus has the goal of getting on rides at Darien Lake.  (See http://www.syracuse.com/ for more information)  Go Joe!

An All-Around Fine Day!

This is the first time I have started a blog this year without a subject in mind.  I didn't write yesterday because I went to a de-cluttering class at Onondaga Free Library in the evening.  More on that another day....very interesting and helpful!  But it deserves a well-thought out blog of its own.

Today was simply a good real estate day.  I showed houses in the morning and did something I have negver done before.  We went to the house and as I was trying to get in my buyer said "Oh look, they have a dog!"  Sure enough, a dog had come to the front hall door to greet us.  Hmmmm.  I called the agent who called the owner who assured the agent that the dog was very friendly.  I said I wasn't going in, especially with children.  We compromised with me going in alone and taking the dog outside and chaining her up, while we went through the house.  I only did this because I knew the owner and....that still doesn't mean I knew the dog, I realize now.  But all was well - the house showed beautifully, the dog behaved herself, and a showing was saved.

The second house I had shown before and my buyers had not liked it.  This time everything was in its place - their dog was even in a crate!  It looked great and we all went away happy.

I had lunch at Creekside - the loaded potato soup.  Excellent!  I made phone calls, texted, looked up the map to get to my afternoon showing on my iPhone (so handy!)  Then off into the spring-like sunshine to see two radically different houses, both of which I like very much.  But not for me to decide!

I got back to the office in time to accept an offer on a house from an agent who dropped it off.  Lisa had the door cracked open - it was 49 degrees out - and after a while I couldn't stay inside.  I ran off home, grabbed Boo (who was thrilled) and we walked the hills and fields for about 45 minutes until the sun went down.  I made tea and toast (Panera whole grain) and completed phone calls. 

This is our Boo:

A very pleasant day!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

I am enjoying these blogs.  I am enjoying the peace that makes them possible, too.  That doesn't mean work has stopped.  I am waiting for two appraisals, three closings, I put in a new listing today (ML#S264895), and I will show houses on Friday.  Just there's a peacefulness about this week. 

The update - not much here, but I will see what I can do.  The big story is that the active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multipe listing service have dropped under the 100 mark for the first time in (possibly) two years.  At least!  We have 98 active, of which 27 are in the Village and 21 are waterfront.  I know a lot expired at the new year, and I am sure several have ended because waterfront is not easy to sell in 10 degree temperatures.  Two re-lists came back on as part of the 98.  There are still 5 contingent, 7 under contract, and 5 pending properties - all the same as last week.

We did add one new closing to bring the 2011 total to 69.  This was actually waterfront, closing in the low $200,000 after being on the market for a while.  I still want to wait a bit before pronouncing the year officially closed.

So to round out this blog I thought I would introduce three properties that may catch your eye and certainly might not have.  The first two are on Craigslist, so feel free to find them there.

1 - Hong Kong Apartment Swap - people in Hong Kong would like to swap their place for a home in Skaneateles for three or four weeks this summer, mid-July to mid-August.  Ideally they want to be within walking distance of the Village.  (Thanks to Karen, our first PAFD in the Skaneateles office of RE/MAX for sharing this in mid-December.)

2 - Manhattan Windowed Office Space - 180sf for $2,000, month-to-month, near Bryant Park (Midtown West); utiliities included plus shared use of conference space.  If you are interested, please contact Alex through http://www.ramapoforchildren.org/.

3 - 158 Shire Way, Camillus - now $219,000 and open Sunday, 12:00 to 2:00.  This 3-bedroom, 2-full bath ranch in Westshire has been on the market before, but never at this price.  Come see it before it is snapped up - or swapped!

Stress - The Final Frontier

Maybe not final, but it sounded good as a title to this blog.  I am still working out New Year's resolutions in an attempt to improve the professional me.  I took care of rushing last year by arriving early on a regular basis.  That was part of the stress, but only a part.  Closings I may actually have an idea - a creative idea - to make them easier on everyone, so I can put that away for a bit. 

I realized today, as of course I have known for years, that there is a physical component to stress.  I felt it three times today that I can delineate.  I always make a list in the morning of tasks that need to be accomplished - actually it is just a reminder list of who needs a call or e-mail, or a text.  I write in every day things like "office" and "hotsheet" just because I can then check them off or not let them get lost in the swirl of the day.  There are long-term projects that take time, but I need to keep them in the forefront or they never get done.  Today's (as it has been for weeks) was "database."  And it got done - three hours of typing and looking up addresses, but it got done! 

But when the list was written I noticed that I gravitated towards certain things and away from others.  I did not want to call the client with the property for sale that hasn't sold.  That is never a comfortable conversation, ever.  I like all my clients, sellers and buyers, and that is rarely a problem.  Certain properties at certain prices just do not sell in this market, and I am the bearer of that news.

Another time I felt my heart rate go up was dealing with technology.  My e-mail got stuck - the ringer on my phone was turned off by mistake - the attachment I thought I had sent wasn't the right one.  These things happen - they do - and then....

In the afternoon I had to go out to send a card that needed to get in the mail today.  It was 14 degrees at the time, the car was covered with snow, and I had been sitting for hours working on the computer by the fire.  I did not want to go out, but I did.  As I pushed the snow I had so longed for off the Scion I told Boo who came along for the ride that we might miss our first day of walking in the new year.  "Too cold!"

But I couldn't miss it.  Once back I already had my vest on, I could easily trade out my jeans for heavy leggings, I found my ear-warmers, and way in the back of the closet I dragged out Alex's very old coat.  We had gotten that probably 20 years ago when his friend Alexander came to visit from Saratoga!  I felt warmed by it, and today I needed to feel the comfort of memories of the boys.

So we walked, Boo and I.  He flushed four deer before we hit the back trail, the wind died enough to make it possible to walk into the open cornfield, and the only things cold were my feet.  (Bob got me electric socks last year that I must dig out.)  We came back jauntily, and while Boo pulled at the iceballs on his feet in front of the fire I filled the woodbox and made tea.

They say music eases stress.  I think in my case it's exertion, pushing myself physically.  A good day, the beginning of a new year with warm remembrances.  And a starting place for the final frontier.

To Rent or Not to Rent

Before Bob took off for his job in Caz today he read me an article in the morning paper (http://www.syracuse.com/) about a company in St. Cloud that manages property.  They were having so much trouble with dogs pooping and owners not scooping, that they began requiring DNA samples of all their tenants' dogs!  In this way they could prove which dog and owner had left a deposit.  Of course their resolve was tested - they have so far sent out 20 samples to the labs - but once caught the pets and owners have not re-offended.

I imagined the management company workers sitting around a hot cup of coffee (Minnesota) and dreaming this up.  How can we get creative with this problem, they must have thought.  They could have prohibited dogs from their complexes, but instead they came up with this solution.  Bravo!

So what does the lowly home-owner do, Bob asked.  He then regaled me with the vision of one of my owners directing me to scoop the poop and get it tested.  Above and beyond the call of duty as a Realtor, I would think.

The issue this brings up is not the dog problem, but the renting aspect of real estate.  Over the past few years as homes haven't sold, owners have decided to rent them out to pay at least some of the mortgage and/or taxes.  My investors inform me they are doing a great business with their multi-families - houses are bought cheaply and rents are high, due to demand.  They can pick and choose.  This is not true for homeowners who have buildings in need of repair or in need of rents to cover higher mortgages or taxes.  People who are willing to pay these amounts are generally moving on from one home to another with a bit of a breather in-between.  Their expectations are high - as are the owners's expectations of their tenants.  Complicating everything is the fact that both are primarily homeowners, not landlords and tenants.

I think the only reasonable answer to the Hamlet-esque question for both sides is to be certain of your goals and know that the road can be bumpy.  Very bumpy at times.  I rented a summer cottage (think no insulation) for seven school years in Saratoga.  I called in my landlord when the pipes froze and one winter when we had so much snow the plow couldn't plow it.  I was grateful to have 13 acres, a pool and a pond, privacy and great neighbors plus rent-free summers when we'd go home to the lake.  They were thrilled to have us - we always paid our rent on time and left them alone.  My goal was to raise Alex in a lovely safe setting; their goal was to rent the cottage on their estate over the winter months until the summer season.  It worked well and we both remember those years fondly.

I wish all rentals could be that way!

Good News!

I like starting off the new year with good news.  After a lovely evening celebrating Bob's sister's birthday as well as the change in year, we got up late and had a simple breakfast.  The sun streamed in - and yes, still no snow! - while we read the Post-Standard.  In the business section Bob read an article to me that I want to share.  If you would like to read the whole thing, please go to http://www.syracuse.com/.

There's a town in Western New York, Cattaraugus,  that has the smallest bank in the entire state.  It officially showed a profit of $5,000 last year and never has exceeded $50,000 in its 130-year history, according to Alan Feuer of the New York Times News Service who wrote this article.  It exists to serve the people of this tiny village, and it serves them well. 

One of the loans it made was to a farmer who needed $85,000 and who had no credit and annual earnings of under $3,000.  But he was Amish, well-known to the community, and had sons who would help pay the loan.   Another person lost his house to taxes so the bank president bought the  house and leased it to him to repay the loan.  People count here, not the bottom line.

This is the kind of bank of George Bailey fame in "It's a Wonderful Life", the bank that knows and cares about its customers.  As we lose faith in banks and lending institutions - I know Bank of America has definitely earned my wrath in the past week - it is good to know there are places that continue to operate for people.  As we start the new year, maybe we can bring some of that small town interdependency to all transactions.  Start with faith that people will do the right thing, that they are not out just for themselves or to make life hard for others, but are contributing to the health and wealth of the community as a whole.

Good news is always welcome - and many thanks to the Bank of Cattaraugus for quietly leading the way.