I had an interesting week. Several - many - times I used the update information, all the statistics, while speaking with people. I found I could rattle off the number of listings and closings, knew where Skaneateles stood in relation to Camillus and other areas, was conversant with the trends. This weekly update forces me to know what is happening - and knowing that, I feel in control. (Not that I'm a control freak or anything - not me!)
There are currently 162 active listings in the Skaneateles area. Of these, 8 are new this week: 5 brand new (without a history) and 3 re-lists. There were no sales or closings. We still have 19 closings listed for the year in the multiple listing service.
Being that this is the Fourth of July holiday week, I thought a bit of history might be interesting and also give some perspective on the market. And since we're at the mid-point it is a good time to pause and take stock. The results of this search are actually incredibly informative.
Just the facts:
1/1 - 6/30/Year** # of listings in the first half** # of closings in the first half:
2008** 151 **19
2007** 167** 43
2006** 113**53
2005 **71 **37
2004** 61** 39
2003 **64 **35
Now, this does not take into account the number of houses (and these are all single family residences) that were re-listed. It's a simple count, and if homes hadn't been selling in 2004, for example, there would have been re-lists then. But they did sell.
The numbers are fairly stark. We are in a holding pattern. People who used to take a chance and buy a house without a contingency or even with one are not doing anything, taking no risks, because they've seen houses sit without buyers.
The good news is that it can all change in a minute. Think about the weather - it all evens out eventually. We are having a bit of a cloudy spell, that's all. And if I am right about all this - the next half of the year or next year will be good, very good, to make up for lost time.
Monday, 30 June 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
A Cautionary Tale
This goes out to everyone who unfortunately learn the hard way that "It's not closed until it's closed."
I have a friend who somewhere in upstate New York was selling her beautiful home. It was on the market - 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths - very lovely in a country setting. One Realtor quoted her well over $300,000 for a list price but she decided that she would use the services of another Realtor who started under $300,000. Pricing is everything.
The house, minimally furnished, languished on the market for 9 months until a buyer made a low offer but they countered to bring up the price a bit. Closing was set for early April.
The day before closing, for reasons still unknown, the buyer called the town's building inspector/code enforcement officer and asked about the fourth bedroom. It was located with a full bath on the third floor of this 1990-built home. The building inspector pulled the files - yes, the contractor who built the home had a Certificate of Occupancy, but there was no mention of a fourth bedroom. Uh oh.
"So really," the buyer drawled, "this is only a three bedroom home."
Double Uh oh.
After discussion about a sprinkler system (cost prohibitive) and a fire escape (ugly) and the attorneys getting involved, the buyer walked away from the deal.
Imagine. All the furniture has been moved out of the house, the rates have gone up, the market has turned south in this town (NOT Skaneateles, by the way) and there's this perfectly good house going back on the market as a three bedroom home after many nail-biting months not selling as a four bedroom home.
The Realtor went back to work and put it on as the three bedroom home it was, with not a bit of staging furniture in sight (all sold, actually) and the home found a buyer within two weeks! Not only was this the perfect buyer, but they paid $9,000 more for the property! Closing went smoothly and all is well as we end our cautionary tale.
Morals of the story:
"It's not closed until it's closed."
If you have gorgeous cherry floors don't cover them up with rugs - staging isn't the answer to everything.
A quasi four bedroom home (think of two flights of stairs to the master bedroom) is beaten every time by a three bedroom home with an incredible third floor bonus room with a full bath. But then, who knew?
I have a friend who somewhere in upstate New York was selling her beautiful home. It was on the market - 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths - very lovely in a country setting. One Realtor quoted her well over $300,000 for a list price but she decided that she would use the services of another Realtor who started under $300,000. Pricing is everything.
The house, minimally furnished, languished on the market for 9 months until a buyer made a low offer but they countered to bring up the price a bit. Closing was set for early April.
The day before closing, for reasons still unknown, the buyer called the town's building inspector/code enforcement officer and asked about the fourth bedroom. It was located with a full bath on the third floor of this 1990-built home. The building inspector pulled the files - yes, the contractor who built the home had a Certificate of Occupancy, but there was no mention of a fourth bedroom. Uh oh.
"So really," the buyer drawled, "this is only a three bedroom home."
Double Uh oh.
After discussion about a sprinkler system (cost prohibitive) and a fire escape (ugly) and the attorneys getting involved, the buyer walked away from the deal.
Imagine. All the furniture has been moved out of the house, the rates have gone up, the market has turned south in this town (NOT Skaneateles, by the way) and there's this perfectly good house going back on the market as a three bedroom home after many nail-biting months not selling as a four bedroom home.
The Realtor went back to work and put it on as the three bedroom home it was, with not a bit of staging furniture in sight (all sold, actually) and the home found a buyer within two weeks! Not only was this the perfect buyer, but they paid $9,000 more for the property! Closing went smoothly and all is well as we end our cautionary tale.
Morals of the story:
"It's not closed until it's closed."
If you have gorgeous cherry floors don't cover them up with rugs - staging isn't the answer to everything.
A quasi four bedroom home (think of two flights of stairs to the master bedroom) is beaten every time by a three bedroom home with an incredible third floor bonus room with a full bath. But then, who knew?
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
House of the Week
I have to admit, it was hard to choose this week. I saw 5 houses in 3 hours - from Camillus to Auburn, and three of them are stuck in my head.
I am not choosing the fantastic waterfront property off East Lake Road with the winding drive down to a ton of wood, stone, ceramic and tile plus creative lighting throughout. Not the sauna and the wine cellar, or that kitchen with every upgraded appliance and gorgeous granite. It's offered at $2,000,000 and seems a bargain at that.
I am also not choosing the totally decorated and reconfigured home on West Genesee - again stone and tile and tremendous style whose price includes all the furnishings: $729,900.
I liked - and forgive my taste but I thought it sweet and full of potential, "a little bit of heaven" the owners called it - a home I saw on Richard Road out past Borodino. From the wood stove on the main level to the wood stove in the basement, I was charmed. I loved the views most of all - 12 acres down not to the lake, but to more mature trees. Looking out the front windows you could see across the lake to the shore and then up into the fields. It must be spectacular in the fall.
The potential I saw was in the development of the home. It already had two bathrooms upstairs and a full basement just waiting for a family room or additional bedrooms. The doors downstairs were thrown open to manicured lawns. A stream trickled down the north side. The home begged for French doors off the living room to a deck which would hang out over the acreage.
No, not for everyone. But quiet and privacy and oh, those views! Offered for $189,900.
I am not choosing the fantastic waterfront property off East Lake Road with the winding drive down to a ton of wood, stone, ceramic and tile plus creative lighting throughout. Not the sauna and the wine cellar, or that kitchen with every upgraded appliance and gorgeous granite. It's offered at $2,000,000 and seems a bargain at that.
I am also not choosing the totally decorated and reconfigured home on West Genesee - again stone and tile and tremendous style whose price includes all the furnishings: $729,900.
I liked - and forgive my taste but I thought it sweet and full of potential, "a little bit of heaven" the owners called it - a home I saw on Richard Road out past Borodino. From the wood stove on the main level to the wood stove in the basement, I was charmed. I loved the views most of all - 12 acres down not to the lake, but to more mature trees. Looking out the front windows you could see across the lake to the shore and then up into the fields. It must be spectacular in the fall.
The potential I saw was in the development of the home. It already had two bathrooms upstairs and a full basement just waiting for a family room or additional bedrooms. The doors downstairs were thrown open to manicured lawns. A stream trickled down the north side. The home begged for French doors off the living room to a deck which would hang out over the acreage.
No, not for everyone. But quiet and privacy and oh, those views! Offered for $189,900.
Monday, 23 June 2008
Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update
The numbers don't show it, but we are suddenly talking about buyers. And that is a very good thing!
There are currently 157 listings in the Skaneateles area in the multiple listing service. There were 9 new ones this week - 2 were really new and 7 were re-lists or reconfigurations. For example, a lot can be sold as a lot or as a "to be built" with pictures of what the home would look like. Several of these new listings are waterfront (across East Lake Road really) luxury mansions.
Two homes sold this week - one in the village and one in the country. It felt good to speak with people who pulled up the listing and say, "Oh, I'm sorry! That one was just marked contingent." It takes only one pebble to start a landslide!
One property also closed - true waterfront, sold over the winter. I went back and looked - the last village closing was March 5th. The mantra is "we can do this, we can sell, we can do this, we can sell....."
Sitting at my open house yesterday on South Street in Elbridge (and what a pretty porch it is to sit on!) I was struck by the number of towns that are selling fewer, much fewer properties than last year. I knew Skaneateles' numbers were lower, but so were other towns. So if the overall effect was only a 5-10% reduction in sales, which town had the sales?
Answer: Camillus, Geddes and Van Buren. Each of these far exceeded the number of sales year-to-date compared with last year. By far I mean, for example, Camillus had 88 sales last year and this year the number is 124! Yow! And yes, the price of the homes went up, too, which makes sense.
Which towns had the greatest increase in price? Pompey and Lafayette's prices each rose about 20%. Onondaga came in a little under 10%. Elbridge has done very well, too - from $110,800 to $131,400. And frankly, Skaneateles is still above last year's sales dollar amount.
I mentioned today that Syracuse is one of the best overall markets in the United States. People still don't know this. While so many parts of the country are floundering under foreclosures, we are still moving homes quite briskly.
Let's start that pebble rolling down the hill here in the village - who will be the one to cast the first stone?
There are currently 157 listings in the Skaneateles area in the multiple listing service. There were 9 new ones this week - 2 were really new and 7 were re-lists or reconfigurations. For example, a lot can be sold as a lot or as a "to be built" with pictures of what the home would look like. Several of these new listings are waterfront (across East Lake Road really) luxury mansions.
Two homes sold this week - one in the village and one in the country. It felt good to speak with people who pulled up the listing and say, "Oh, I'm sorry! That one was just marked contingent." It takes only one pebble to start a landslide!
One property also closed - true waterfront, sold over the winter. I went back and looked - the last village closing was March 5th. The mantra is "we can do this, we can sell, we can do this, we can sell....."
Sitting at my open house yesterday on South Street in Elbridge (and what a pretty porch it is to sit on!) I was struck by the number of towns that are selling fewer, much fewer properties than last year. I knew Skaneateles' numbers were lower, but so were other towns. So if the overall effect was only a 5-10% reduction in sales, which town had the sales?
Answer: Camillus, Geddes and Van Buren. Each of these far exceeded the number of sales year-to-date compared with last year. By far I mean, for example, Camillus had 88 sales last year and this year the number is 124! Yow! And yes, the price of the homes went up, too, which makes sense.
Which towns had the greatest increase in price? Pompey and Lafayette's prices each rose about 20%. Onondaga came in a little under 10%. Elbridge has done very well, too - from $110,800 to $131,400. And frankly, Skaneateles is still above last year's sales dollar amount.
I mentioned today that Syracuse is one of the best overall markets in the United States. People still don't know this. While so many parts of the country are floundering under foreclosures, we are still moving homes quite briskly.
Let's start that pebble rolling down the hill here in the village - who will be the one to cast the first stone?
Sunday, 22 June 2008
An Unexpected Visitor
Yesterday I held open beautiful 11 Onondaga Street in the village. The first couple through said they were just looking, having recently bought in the village. We spoke a lot about the history of the house. They agreed that it seemed older than its 100 years as assigned by the taxes. I told them that when I had 72 Jordan Street the local historian corrected the taxes and we ended up about 20 years younger than previously reported.
After saying good-bye to them I greeted an older woman who was signing in. She said she had lived in the house as a little girl, her mother had been born in it, and her great-grandfather (I think) had built it and lived across the street. She was thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the house. Magic!
Her mother was born in 1901, so that took care of the correctness of the tax information. She said very little structurally had changed. What people identified as possible additions actually weren't. Still the rear of the house was utilitarian and the front for the family.
The little room off the current office was the "safe" room because it housed a huge safe. The kitchen was where it is now, and her room was above it to take advantage of the rising heat - no heat upstairs except for what rose through a hole in the flooring. The summer kitchen was outside, to minimize the chance of fire.
An indoor bathroom - one of the first in the village my previous resident told me - divided the front from the rear of the home on the second floor. Instead of a hallway, you had to go through the bathroom.
I asked about the carriage house. She said she remembers both cars and horses in it with no apartment, of course.
She told me she had a picture of herself as a little girl standing by the bay windows in the parlor. She remembered having chicken pox and being sequestered upstairs. She gave a picture of the home as it looked when it was orginally built to the historical society - I'll try to get a copy in the following weeks.
I wish I had known she planned to come because I would have been more prepared with questions. But I guess her visit was for herself, and a cousin in New England with whom she'll share the pictures. I am just so happy she came!
After saying good-bye to them I greeted an older woman who was signing in. She said she had lived in the house as a little girl, her mother had been born in it, and her great-grandfather (I think) had built it and lived across the street. She was thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the house. Magic!
Her mother was born in 1901, so that took care of the correctness of the tax information. She said very little structurally had changed. What people identified as possible additions actually weren't. Still the rear of the house was utilitarian and the front for the family.
The little room off the current office was the "safe" room because it housed a huge safe. The kitchen was where it is now, and her room was above it to take advantage of the rising heat - no heat upstairs except for what rose through a hole in the flooring. The summer kitchen was outside, to minimize the chance of fire.
An indoor bathroom - one of the first in the village my previous resident told me - divided the front from the rear of the home on the second floor. Instead of a hallway, you had to go through the bathroom.
I asked about the carriage house. She said she remembers both cars and horses in it with no apartment, of course.
She told me she had a picture of herself as a little girl standing by the bay windows in the parlor. She remembered having chicken pox and being sequestered upstairs. She gave a picture of the home as it looked when it was orginally built to the historical society - I'll try to get a copy in the following weeks.
I wish I had known she planned to come because I would have been more prepared with questions. But I guess her visit was for herself, and a cousin in New England with whom she'll share the pictures. I am just so happy she came!
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Hypermiling
When I first heard about hypermiling I was hooked. I only got a bit of how to do it on NPR, but I've been looking into it ever since.
Hypermiling means driving your car to get the absolute best gas mileage possible. A few simple changes - and awareness - can increase gas mileage tremendously. The first report I heard talked about figures above 100 miles per gallon! I heard later that the driver had a hybrid to begin with, but I knew this was a challenge I wanted.
My Scion was getting about 30 miles to the gallon, an increase of 2 miles because I was more aware and driving slower. Someone else suggested that it had over 8,000 miles on it and that was improving the gas mileage.
Enter hypermiling. The following are the changes I made:
Hypermiling means driving your car to get the absolute best gas mileage possible. A few simple changes - and awareness - can increase gas mileage tremendously. The first report I heard talked about figures above 100 miles per gallon! I heard later that the driver had a hybrid to begin with, but I knew this was a challenge I wanted.
My Scion was getting about 30 miles to the gallon, an increase of 2 miles because I was more aware and driving slower. Someone else suggested that it had over 8,000 miles on it and that was improving the gas mileage.
Enter hypermiling. The following are the changes I made:
- Take the car out of gear and roll in neutral
- Try never to go over 2000 rpms
- Get to 5th gear ASAP
- Roll up to stop signs or red lights
- Roll through stop signs (I do this rarely!)
- Put the seat belt on before starting the car (tough to change old habits!)
- Keep the air-conditioning off
- Turn off the car if I am going to stand longer than 10 seconds (I did this only once, when I was stuck at the bottom of Kingston trying to get onto Route 5 - by Marty's Barn Cellar - and there was a line of cars in both directions)
- Use cruise on the highway
I have always loved numbers and figures and math mental calculations. I've charted gas mileage for years and years. My Corollas each got 39 miles per gallon; the Cabrio gets 32-33; the Forester (my one automatic) got 24 and is now someone else's car. I actually kept a notebook throughout the 6 years I drove my Escort - price of gas, number of miles, mileage. Then I got a Life as a Realtor.
So the results. After 400 miles - 9 days - my mileage is averaging 34.
This doesn't seem like a huge change, but....I drive somewhere in the neighborhood of 24,000 miles per year. At 30 mpg I use 800 gallons of gas. At 34 mpg I would use 706 gallons, a difference of 94 gallons. Mulitply that by $4 - a savings of $376! And I haven't paid $4/gallon in over 2 weeks....
I'll get better at hypermiling, and probably get back to driving the Cabrio and seeing what I can do there. (It's going on the market - sigh - and will need to look good all the time so I won't drive it as much - kind of like showing a house on the market...)
The larger implications - what if everyone did this? What if everyone decreased gas usage by 7-8%? Gas prices would go down, drilling would not need to be threatened, we might buy some time to get the hydrogen and electric cars on the road, and our national security would not be based on oil.
So roll on down the road...and if you see me going slowly (I have the RE/MAX balloon on the back) don't honk. Join the long line of cars behind me and say, "I know that person...she's hypermiling!"
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
House of the Week
Yesterday I went blithely down East Lake Road thinking I'd have time to see a few homes. I saw only two - but I spent a lot of time talking about the market both with the agent holding open my House of the Week and with another from the east side. We all agree - it's a different year.
The house I saw was out past Borodino on Nunnery Road. I fell in love with the pictures - but I was also wary when I saw the word "project" and the price.
I knew the house - I'd passed it many many times and always thought it needed a bit of attention. I suppose now that I've been inside, I realize that was an understatement. It needs so much more.
The six open boxes of baking soda in one of the bedrooms was a clue. So was the straw in the room beyond the kitchen. I looked into the basement and the agent kindly suggested "You don't need to go down there." I agreed.
But so much potential! Almost 3000 square feet, possible 5 bedrooms, 2 full baths one up and one down, huge kitchen with a fireplace, hardwoods on most floors, and windows with lovely wooden trim and carvings. What it must have been in 1889 when it was built!
Outside was overgrown, but there was a pond in the front yard, views of the lake, over 3 acres and beautiful mature trees everywhere. I could picture a swing on the front porch, gardens and water pumped from the well to water them, fireflies in the meadows and jack-o-lanterns on the porch in the fall. Anne of Green Gables came to mind.
The owners, according to the agent, hope someone will fall in love with it - and have enough money to make it beautiful again. I hope so, too! Offered at $229,000.
Post script: I've had a request to include pictures of these homes. I've thought it over and at this time I won't. I blog because I enjoy it - adding pictures adds a whole other level of difficulty that would diminish my enjoyment; what is easy for some, alas, is not easy for me.
But there's another reason, too. When I worked at a Waldorf School in Saratoga, Spring Hill School, the teachers read books without illustrations or didn't share them. The belief was that imagination is stimulated by description, each child therefore allowed to create his/her own vision.
If you want to see pictures of these homes they are available on REMAX.com. But take a moment first, and imagine what they look like.
The house I saw was out past Borodino on Nunnery Road. I fell in love with the pictures - but I was also wary when I saw the word "project" and the price.
I knew the house - I'd passed it many many times and always thought it needed a bit of attention. I suppose now that I've been inside, I realize that was an understatement. It needs so much more.
The six open boxes of baking soda in one of the bedrooms was a clue. So was the straw in the room beyond the kitchen. I looked into the basement and the agent kindly suggested "You don't need to go down there." I agreed.
But so much potential! Almost 3000 square feet, possible 5 bedrooms, 2 full baths one up and one down, huge kitchen with a fireplace, hardwoods on most floors, and windows with lovely wooden trim and carvings. What it must have been in 1889 when it was built!
Outside was overgrown, but there was a pond in the front yard, views of the lake, over 3 acres and beautiful mature trees everywhere. I could picture a swing on the front porch, gardens and water pumped from the well to water them, fireflies in the meadows and jack-o-lanterns on the porch in the fall. Anne of Green Gables came to mind.
The owners, according to the agent, hope someone will fall in love with it - and have enough money to make it beautiful again. I hope so, too! Offered at $229,000.
Post script: I've had a request to include pictures of these homes. I've thought it over and at this time I won't. I blog because I enjoy it - adding pictures adds a whole other level of difficulty that would diminish my enjoyment; what is easy for some, alas, is not easy for me.
But there's another reason, too. When I worked at a Waldorf School in Saratoga, Spring Hill School, the teachers read books without illustrations or didn't share them. The belief was that imagination is stimulated by description, each child therefore allowed to create his/her own vision.
If you want to see pictures of these homes they are available on REMAX.com. But take a moment first, and imagine what they look like.
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