So cute! They loved it!
Now I am dreaming of when my next cake purchase/party planning date will be... and I am thinking maybe my brother's 21st birthday in April... this could be a crazy cake LOL watch out!
Happy Party Planning! :)
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Every Party Needs a Cake...
Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update
Ah, spring! I took a lovely walk today by Hoopes Park in Auburn, just across the street from a rental property I listed. Such a great area - I almost miss being in a village or city. The sun was warm even though I was bundled up with my heated vest, a hat and gloves....It will come!
There are currently 104 single family homes listed as active on the multiple listing service in the Skaneateles area. Thirty of these are in the village. Six "new" properties came on the market in the past two weeks. Three are re-lists of homes that have been on the market before for varying lengths of time, and three are new. A very pretty home - think curb appeal - with renovations completed on the interior came on in the mid-$300,000 range. Another small home - also village - is in the mid-$100,000 and is very sweet. Not too far out of the village an almost new home with a finished basement is now available at the "hurry up and buy me NOW" price in the low $400,000s. My prediction, if the weather continues to get springier, is that there will be twice as many - I will bet 12! - homes being listed in the next 15 days.
The contingent homes didn't change, nor did the "under contract do not show" numbers. The pending homes, however, bring in two newcomers - both little houses in the village. I look forward to seeing what they close for in the future months.
The biggest change were the closed homes. There are now 7 for the year, and three of them are new. A small place in need of a great deal of work closed just above $50,000, but that was above the list price. A pretty home on the village edge settled for a little bit under their list price, in the low $300,000 range. A big home built out in a community not too far from town was finished in the low $600,000. Gorgeous!
I thought I'd take a look at lots and land this week. There are currently 56 lots listed of varying sizes. In the past two years only 18 have sold and closed, and except for five, all were either in Butters Farm or Parkside. One was listed as waterfront, but in Lakeview Circle. We have many fine builders in our area and really beautiful land - I hope this trend changes a bit, but it is rational following my discussions on gas prices and return to village living. If you are one of the people who want to strike out and get away from it all - have I got the land for you!
Happy Spring!
There are currently 104 single family homes listed as active on the multiple listing service in the Skaneateles area. Thirty of these are in the village. Six "new" properties came on the market in the past two weeks. Three are re-lists of homes that have been on the market before for varying lengths of time, and three are new. A very pretty home - think curb appeal - with renovations completed on the interior came on in the mid-$300,000 range. Another small home - also village - is in the mid-$100,000 and is very sweet. Not too far out of the village an almost new home with a finished basement is now available at the "hurry up and buy me NOW" price in the low $400,000s. My prediction, if the weather continues to get springier, is that there will be twice as many - I will bet 12! - homes being listed in the next 15 days.
The contingent homes didn't change, nor did the "under contract do not show" numbers. The pending homes, however, bring in two newcomers - both little houses in the village. I look forward to seeing what they close for in the future months.
The biggest change were the closed homes. There are now 7 for the year, and three of them are new. A small place in need of a great deal of work closed just above $50,000, but that was above the list price. A pretty home on the village edge settled for a little bit under their list price, in the low $300,000 range. A big home built out in a community not too far from town was finished in the low $600,000. Gorgeous!
I thought I'd take a look at lots and land this week. There are currently 56 lots listed of varying sizes. In the past two years only 18 have sold and closed, and except for five, all were either in Butters Farm or Parkside. One was listed as waterfront, but in Lakeview Circle. We have many fine builders in our area and really beautiful land - I hope this trend changes a bit, but it is rational following my discussions on gas prices and return to village living. If you are one of the people who want to strike out and get away from it all - have I got the land for you!
Happy Spring!
Monday, 14 March 2011
Decisions, Decisions?
Brad about Emily...
"You make me lose words. I feel like an idiot around you."
Brad to Emily ...
"I think you have an extreme amount of class and sophistication."
And how sweet is this with little Ricky? Picture Perfect!
I don't even really need to talk about Chantal haha bless her heart... I tried to like her a couple of times, I really did! But it is hard for me to like her when she did this on the first night, her first impression with Brad -
A slap across the face? From "all the women in America" ?? Not this woman! Sorry sister!
Kinda ridic in my opinion. Sorry if you like her. :(
So who do you think Brad will choose? Two, totally opposite choices here (doesn't it always seem that way? They are always opposites at the end!)
I really hope that when Brad is standing there with his last rose...
Looking so cute and handsome... That he will make the right choice and we will end with seeing this...
Cheers to tonight! Hopefully my prediction won't be wrong :( Can't wait to hear everything from "After the Rose" too! Ahhh! Happy Monday!
PS. Look who had her very first sleepover this weekend and she was so cute... have to show pic :)
She was so excited about this cute bag that we had to show it off!
Saturday, 12 March 2011
The start of a new beginning.... :)
This blog will be fun, informative, personal & professional, truthful and just somewhere I hope my friends, family, co-workers and whomever will check out from time to time to get the latest info in "my world!" I love pictures! So don't be mad if I have an overload of them!
For the last couple of weeks, with the help of the AMAZING PinkLouLou this blog has been created just for you! And I am so happy to finally be able to get started! Please share it with your friends, or anyone you think may be into blogging right now and would like to follow! Please check out the tabs on the right hand side (next to the awesome bling buttons!) to familiarize yourself with the two sections on my blog...mostly personal, with some business mixed in!
With the weather being so beautiful outside today, I have gotten some definite Spring Fever!!! Anyone else? Finally.... some sunshine!! So I wanted to share with you a little bit of cute patty-whacks that you can do to either give your home a quick Spring update, or get it ready to sell if you are thinking of putting it on the market... these things are just my favorite ways to add a little bit of new life to your home...and don't involve tearing out cabinets, ripping down walls, etc.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Gas Prices and Real Estate
So gas is going up again, thanks to the Middle East unrest and the - how do I say it - interests of the oil companies in their profit margin.
It has happened in the past, of course. I remember the long lines in the 70s, getting on the Thruway to buy gas so I could get to work. Driving away from gas stations because I was afraid I would run out of gas while waiting.
It's not that bad, now. Several years ago I was working with a client to buy a gas station, and I asked the owner about pricing around the time of Katrina. "Oh, we're all getting rich," he explained. Lovely, I thought.
But here we go again, and I thought I'd compile a few things that I predict will happen in the next several weeks.
I will receive an e-mail about how to stop the prices from rising. I already have, actually. This one involves not buying gas from Exxon or Mobil to force their prices downward and to start the trend. I don't now. I generally pick up gas when I'm over in Auburn because it's about 10 to 15 cents cheaper there at the Kwik-fill or Hess, and I can use my credit card that gives me another 1 to 3% off.
People who list their homes and happen to be closer to gas stations, groceries, and amenities will tout that proximity. I spoke with people last night who told me they would be listing soon and their house will sell because they are within half a mile of the mall. And since timing is everything - you know, I bet they do!
I remember years ago selling a home in Marcellus. The couple I was working with stood in front of a vacant lot with the builder. A woman walked by, carrying a bag of groceries from the local market, obviously on her way home from the store. My buyer just watched her progress, from the village end to her home down the way, and I knew then what she was thinking. "I can walk to the store. I want to walk to the store." They built their house.
Inevitably people will begin to think longer about living outside of the village, or in close proximity to the village. The drive down the lake to Borodino, for example, will feel longer and more expensive because of the higher price of gas. But the actual numbers tell the tale.
If it's seven miles to Borodino, or past Mandana on the west, and the drive is done twice a day, then an extra 28 miles will be driven. If this translates into mileage, then a car like my Scion will take an extra gallon of gas or another $5.00 (let's be high) per day. That's $150 more per month, $1800 per year. Just in gas alone, not counting wear and tear, etc. But if a home is assessed at $200,000 in Spafford or Skaneateles, then the rate is about 3% for taxes (rounding, rounding all the time). This is $6,000 per year.
If, however, the choice is made to be in the village, not only will the price of the house increase, but the village taxes will weigh in - so, let's say, $300,000 at 3% - already the increase over the town home is $3,000, not even adding the village tax. Of course there's the village electric, too, to offset the tax.....
Gas prices will increase and decrease, cars will be touted for their efficiency, and homes will be compared for proximity and their amenities... It's all in how you look at it, and where you really want to be! Thank goodness there are choices!
It has happened in the past, of course. I remember the long lines in the 70s, getting on the Thruway to buy gas so I could get to work. Driving away from gas stations because I was afraid I would run out of gas while waiting.
It's not that bad, now. Several years ago I was working with a client to buy a gas station, and I asked the owner about pricing around the time of Katrina. "Oh, we're all getting rich," he explained. Lovely, I thought.
But here we go again, and I thought I'd compile a few things that I predict will happen in the next several weeks.
I will receive an e-mail about how to stop the prices from rising. I already have, actually. This one involves not buying gas from Exxon or Mobil to force their prices downward and to start the trend. I don't now. I generally pick up gas when I'm over in Auburn because it's about 10 to 15 cents cheaper there at the Kwik-fill or Hess, and I can use my credit card that gives me another 1 to 3% off.
People who list their homes and happen to be closer to gas stations, groceries, and amenities will tout that proximity. I spoke with people last night who told me they would be listing soon and their house will sell because they are within half a mile of the mall. And since timing is everything - you know, I bet they do!
I remember years ago selling a home in Marcellus. The couple I was working with stood in front of a vacant lot with the builder. A woman walked by, carrying a bag of groceries from the local market, obviously on her way home from the store. My buyer just watched her progress, from the village end to her home down the way, and I knew then what she was thinking. "I can walk to the store. I want to walk to the store." They built their house.
Inevitably people will begin to think longer about living outside of the village, or in close proximity to the village. The drive down the lake to Borodino, for example, will feel longer and more expensive because of the higher price of gas. But the actual numbers tell the tale.
If it's seven miles to Borodino, or past Mandana on the west, and the drive is done twice a day, then an extra 28 miles will be driven. If this translates into mileage, then a car like my Scion will take an extra gallon of gas or another $5.00 (let's be high) per day. That's $150 more per month, $1800 per year. Just in gas alone, not counting wear and tear, etc. But if a home is assessed at $200,000 in Spafford or Skaneateles, then the rate is about 3% for taxes (rounding, rounding all the time). This is $6,000 per year.
If, however, the choice is made to be in the village, not only will the price of the house increase, but the village taxes will weigh in - so, let's say, $300,000 at 3% - already the increase over the town home is $3,000, not even adding the village tax. Of course there's the village electric, too, to offset the tax.....
Gas prices will increase and decrease, cars will be touted for their efficiency, and homes will be compared for proximity and their amenities... It's all in how you look at it, and where you really want to be! Thank goodness there are choices!
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Decisions, Decisions!
On one of those rare occasions (hah!) when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I read Newsweek from cover to cover. The article that stayed with me in the morning was "I Can't Think!" You can find it at http://www.Newsweek.com/stories.html for March 7th. Or just search for "The Science of Making Decisions" and the article by Sharon Begley comes right up.
The basic premise is that there is just too much information out there right now and that information prevents not only good decision-making but hampers any decision-making. How this relates to real estate is so very simple and so obvious that I see it daily.
In the olden days, say 2005 and before, a buyer would contact me and give me his/her criteria for a house. I would probe a bit deeper - what is important, how long will you stay, what is the current status of finances, needs...and then I'd go looking. After listening, I would pull up 5 or 6 houses and we'd see them. Generally within two searches the house would appear that was "perfect" or close enough and an offer would be made. The important part was the listening, I always thought - and still do to a certain extent.
Aiding and abetting this process was the knowledge that there were few houses that met the initial criteria, at least around Skaneateles. In a single day we could see all the 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath homes (and usually we had to go to the 1 bath homes, as most of you know) in the village or close to it. Always there was the fear that if the buyer didn't buy, someone else would...and generally did. Homes sat on the market for maybe three months. Maybe.
Then the world changed. Information became plentiful via the internet - thank you Zillow and all the other outlets. At first it seemed as if this was a good thing - hey - the more information you can give an engineer, the better, right? Well, maybe.
Options also opened up. Instead of just existing homes, now there were the "to be builts" or the lots available without a specific builder. The numbers grew exponentially. Showings became compartmentalized: one day for existing, older homes, another for under construction, a third for build your own. As homes came on the market, the initial tour became three days of existing homes.
Begley's article states that people can hold in their memory roughly 7 numbers, as in the 7 digit phone number. I think this can apply to real estate as well - 7 homes at the very most in one day - more and all is lost. "Was that the one with the fireplace?" "What was the floor in the kitchen?" and often "Gee, I don't remember that one at all!" It happens!
"It is easier," states Joanne Cantor, author of Conquer Cyber Overload, "to look for more and more information than sit back and think about how it all fits together." And that's what buyers do.
Until they get scared that nothing will work, and they hurriedly make a choice. Generally, the researchers assert, this choice is less appropriate and meets fewer needs than the others available. Even if they like the choice, the amount of information still out there creates anxiety that this was not the best choice.
Enter the unconscious! In several experiments, the researchers showed that if the subjects did not engage their critical brain, they made good choices. They "fell in love" as we like to say, rather than opted for the facts. One of the more fun experiments cited by the article had people researching strawberry jam to such an extent they ended up choosing the jam that didn't taste good but looked the best on paper. There is something wrong here when that happens....
In the past few years I have experienced clients who both overwork the information or ignore it, and all points in-between. When I think of the people who bought after months and months of searching (and information-gathering) and the people who took the first house they saw because they fell in love, I have to say that both groups are pleased with their decisions still to this day. And that is my job, or part of it after all - to find good homes for my clients - however long it takes!
The basic premise is that there is just too much information out there right now and that information prevents not only good decision-making but hampers any decision-making. How this relates to real estate is so very simple and so obvious that I see it daily.
In the olden days, say 2005 and before, a buyer would contact me and give me his/her criteria for a house. I would probe a bit deeper - what is important, how long will you stay, what is the current status of finances, needs...and then I'd go looking. After listening, I would pull up 5 or 6 houses and we'd see them. Generally within two searches the house would appear that was "perfect" or close enough and an offer would be made. The important part was the listening, I always thought - and still do to a certain extent.
Aiding and abetting this process was the knowledge that there were few houses that met the initial criteria, at least around Skaneateles. In a single day we could see all the 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath homes (and usually we had to go to the 1 bath homes, as most of you know) in the village or close to it. Always there was the fear that if the buyer didn't buy, someone else would...and generally did. Homes sat on the market for maybe three months. Maybe.
Then the world changed. Information became plentiful via the internet - thank you Zillow and all the other outlets. At first it seemed as if this was a good thing - hey - the more information you can give an engineer, the better, right? Well, maybe.
Options also opened up. Instead of just existing homes, now there were the "to be builts" or the lots available without a specific builder. The numbers grew exponentially. Showings became compartmentalized: one day for existing, older homes, another for under construction, a third for build your own. As homes came on the market, the initial tour became three days of existing homes.
Begley's article states that people can hold in their memory roughly 7 numbers, as in the 7 digit phone number. I think this can apply to real estate as well - 7 homes at the very most in one day - more and all is lost. "Was that the one with the fireplace?" "What was the floor in the kitchen?" and often "Gee, I don't remember that one at all!" It happens!
"It is easier," states Joanne Cantor, author of Conquer Cyber Overload, "to look for more and more information than sit back and think about how it all fits together." And that's what buyers do.
Until they get scared that nothing will work, and they hurriedly make a choice. Generally, the researchers assert, this choice is less appropriate and meets fewer needs than the others available. Even if they like the choice, the amount of information still out there creates anxiety that this was not the best choice.
Enter the unconscious! In several experiments, the researchers showed that if the subjects did not engage their critical brain, they made good choices. They "fell in love" as we like to say, rather than opted for the facts. One of the more fun experiments cited by the article had people researching strawberry jam to such an extent they ended up choosing the jam that didn't taste good but looked the best on paper. There is something wrong here when that happens....
In the past few years I have experienced clients who both overwork the information or ignore it, and all points in-between. When I think of the people who bought after months and months of searching (and information-gathering) and the people who took the first house they saw because they fell in love, I have to say that both groups are pleased with their decisions still to this day. And that is my job, or part of it after all - to find good homes for my clients - however long it takes!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update
With great sadness I want to note the passing of Bob Feldmann last month. He owned the hardware store in the village which used to be where Kinney's now stands. He was an institution in the town. His wife, Shirley, worked at Gallinger Real Estate when I started there, and as far as I know is still an active agent now that it's Realty USA. I knew the family for years - they attended my church in Syracuse when I was a kid. Bob was so much a part of the village-scape when I would be there summers as an adult, and finally when I moved back in 1990. In the past few years when I walked West Lake Street I liked to look up and see Bob mowing or just enjoying the view from his porch. He will be missed.
But real estate awaits, and does not end. Maybe slows down a bit, but we all do at times...Currently there are only 105 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Thirty of these are in the village - and without going through every listing there may be some listed twice, once as town and then again as village. No one wants to miss a sale, or a look from a potential buyer!
Three "new" properties came on in the past two weeks - two are re-lists, one on the water the other in the Falls. The third listing is a ranch in the mid-$100,000 range not far out of the village.
Five single family homes are marked contingent, as in under contract but continue to show. Two are newly marked - a sweet little home just outside the village in the low $100,000 and a village property that has been listed for a couple years and may hopefully have found itself a new family. A good sign, both of these!
There are nine properties listed as under contract, do not show or pending closure. None are new, unfortunately.
We now have 4 closed properties for the year - hooray! The last is a small camp that closed in the high $300,000, about 18% under its original list price. But hey - I see a pattern! Of the four sold, three (count 'em!) are WATERFRONT! That, as the saying goes, is "HUGE!"
But real estate awaits, and does not end. Maybe slows down a bit, but we all do at times...Currently there are only 105 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Thirty of these are in the village - and without going through every listing there may be some listed twice, once as town and then again as village. No one wants to miss a sale, or a look from a potential buyer!
Three "new" properties came on in the past two weeks - two are re-lists, one on the water the other in the Falls. The third listing is a ranch in the mid-$100,000 range not far out of the village.
Five single family homes are marked contingent, as in under contract but continue to show. Two are newly marked - a sweet little home just outside the village in the low $100,000 and a village property that has been listed for a couple years and may hopefully have found itself a new family. A good sign, both of these!
There are nine properties listed as under contract, do not show or pending closure. None are new, unfortunately.
We now have 4 closed properties for the year - hooray! The last is a small camp that closed in the high $300,000, about 18% under its original list price. But hey - I see a pattern! Of the four sold, three (count 'em!) are WATERFRONT! That, as the saying goes, is "HUGE!"
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