Skaneateles Real Estate - The Bi-Monthly Update

Well!  All I can say is that it has been a very busy last two weeks, and the statistics bear this out.  Would you believe - 21 new listings?  7 of them in the Village?  Others have dropped out, been reconfigured and re-listed, so the current total is still only 110 with 37 of them in the Village.  Amazing!

I broke down the "new" listings into re-lists, Village, and Town in order to handle them.  In the Village, new ones are a gorgeous ranch listed in the mid-$300,000 that I had sold a few years ago.  The owners put in hardwoods and generally updated everything.  Another little house in need of some work is priced affordably in the mid-$100,000.  To round it out, the third is in the $200,000 and is within an easy walk to the Village center.  The other four are re-lists.

In the Town, there are therefore 14 more!  Of these, only 5 are re-lists, so here goes!  Out in the country there's a lovely home for $400,000 that was built only a few years ago on several acres.  It is joined by a very old farmhouse in good condition priced under $300,000.  Four waterfront properties came on - 'tis the season - all around a million, more or less, with one being half a million with, of course, less actual waterfront.  Oh yes - and a fixer-upper for the mid $200,000...also being sold as a lot, if that gives you any indication.

Four properties have been marked contingent - two smaller homes and a ranch that had been done and re-done.  The pretty home on 321 that was a model for Ryan Homes when they were building in Butters Farm now sports a SOLD sign on it.  Nothing new in the "Under Contract" or "Pending" categories though.

Sold and closed - hooray - are two homes that came down in price each about 30% because of their need for work.  One had lake rights, and the other closed under $100,000.  That brings to 12 the homes that have closed this year in the Skaneateles area. 

I still believe - despite these statistics - that it will be a good year and the next couple months (if the last few days are indicative of anything) will be amazing.  If I see numbers spiking again I may switch back to a weekly update.  Certainly that will be more manageable than opening up the MLXchange on a Friday evening and realizing we had been slowly inundated with new listings.

Reached 100! & Celeb Homes!

Today I reached 100 followers!! :)
I am so excited!
For you major bloggers I know this may seem blah, but maybe you can remember when you started blogging and how excited you were, and how you wanted everyone to follow you and comment and view blah blah. LOL well that is the stage I am in now. Thank you to those of you who read regularly and follow! I hope you are enjoying my blog, I know I sure am... such a fun way to empty my brain and vent/share things in my life!

My goal was 100 followers before I do a give-away... so this week I will be thinking up a good one!! Maybe it will be so good it will get me to my next goal... 200 followers ;) Gotta dream big!

I wanted from the very beginning to make this blog something fun, funny, and just a good time! Hoping to share some good ideas, products, places I like doing business with, etc etc. I didn't want it to be all about "Real Estate", even though in reality, that is my real life, and a non-stop, crazy full time job for me. I wanted this blog to be a reminder that I am a Realtor (duh!) and that I love what I do and helping people...and that if anyone ever decided to buy or sell a home, or knew a friend, family member, co-worker (baby's mama's cousin's boyfriend etc you get my drift haha) who was looking to sell or buy, that they would think of ME! :)

So along with being excited to blog about my 100 followers, I also wanted to take the opportunity to say, with Spring here and warm weather approaching now is the PERFECT time to buy or sell a home! Everyone is out looking and rates are still low. If you are a first time home buyer, there is still a wonderful program offered that you can get 100% financing on with no down payment... and if you are purchasing your second, third, fourth etc home, downpayments are still low at 3.5% down! I am happy to help or answer any questions you might have! :)

Now for fun.... some celebrity rooms that are my fave (because we ALL love celebrity real estate!)...

Miley Cirus's closet... so girly and cute... love the Houndstooth chair, it matches my bedroom window treatments and pillows (will post pic later)

Kim Kardashians Bedroom ... mirrored armoir is amazzzzzing!

Tori & Dean's Kitchen, I love their entire house by the way, it may be my favorite celeb house! Look at the floors, love them.

Tori & Dean's baby girl, Stella's, cute pink room. Love the wallpaper! 

Tori & Dean's Dining Room... love love love!

Khloe Kardashian's home office, prec!

Kim Kardashian's kitchen, so white and clean and happy feeling w/ the fireplace :)

Brad Paisley's man-area, love the guitar ceiling fan!

Thought those were fun! It's always fun to look at other's people houses and their taste, that's one of the fun (and sometimes very funny) things that I love about my job! ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Another Great Cake by Confused Confections!

Previously I have blogged about my favorite cake place ....
Confused Confections Bakehouse
To see that blog with all the fabulous cake pictures click here  :) Anywho... for my brother's 21st Birthday I knew I wanted to get him an awesome cake. I knew it had to be something obviously to do with alcohol (duh) but a classy alcoholic looking cake... I had reservations about this because the last thing I wanted was to get a cake that looked cheesy or trashy because it had to do with alcohol. I know my brother would have been happy no matter what it looked like, but this cake surpassed my expectations and he LOVVVEEEDDD it!! 

How cute is that?? The most perfect, classy yet "alcohol themed" cake ever!Yellow Cake inside with chocolate filling and icing... yummmmmy! 

I purchased the little Maker's Mark shot bottles at Rite Aid and dropped them off at the cake place for them to incorporate into the cake. Then after we cut the cake, he got to keep those as mini-presents too ha.

Birthday Boy with his cake :)

My mom bought these candles that were crazzzyyy... you light them and they burn and crackle and crap just like a real firework, right on your cake. Was very pretty, but made my house smell like the 4th of July for about 30 minutes haha.  

Not the best picture but the only one we got of the two of us for some reason?!?

It was a great day, I feel like we celebrated his birthday for an entire week!

 But hey, that's ok, you only turn 21 once!

My mouth is salivating writing this, wishing I wouldn't have given all the left overs to him, but pool season is right around the corner and who am I kidding I would have eaten the whole dang thing if it were here. Can't wait until the next party or reason I get to order another cake!!!  Guess I will have to wait until June for Jake's birthday... hmmm...?? Maybe I can think of something sooner than that! ;)

Am I a TV show junkie?

What in the world is a girl to do on Sunday night now?
I literally have two DVR boxes recording nonstop from 9pm-midnight ... is this ridiculous? Is there anyone else out there that is as crazy as me? (If not, don't answer that ha)

So I decided to do a quick rundown of the shows tonight.... most are being recorded and I haven't watched them yet. I obsess over recording everything (poor Chris) and then just watch them at nights when I can't sleep or need something funny to get my mind de-stressed lol

First up...

Not sure who is my favorite this season... You can't help but like John Rich just because he basically owns Nashville and Country Music worldwide lol his celeb power is amaze!

And I love Donald... I'm sorry if you don't like him, but I love him. Trump for President 2012!!  :)

I think next on the list is Brothers & Sisters...(where was Desperate Housewives tonight by the way???)

I do feel like I am a part of the "Walker Family" when I watch this show, and usually for the rest of the night. This could be an issue, but I am choosing to ignore it because I enjoy the show and wish Nora really was part of my family! Don't you? I would weigh 500 lbs and be a wino but still...she would solve all my problems I'm pretty sure... just like she does for Kitty, Sarah, Kevin, Justin & Tommy haha

Next is a no-brainer... Real Housewives of ANYTHING and I'm tuned in, but I love Orange County.

These ladies were the first... and probably my favorites!

Other than wanting to choke Tamara this season, it's going pretty good and I am liking it. Her soft porn, which I previously blogged about here grosses me out and makes me want to vom.

After Real Housewives every week I love to wait around and watch Andy Live...

You can not help but laugh your butt off at the randomness that comes out of his mouth... He def has diarrhea of the mouth! Do you know anyone like that because I do ha?

He is very funny, and it is always entertaining.  

This show makes me bust out the Kleenex every dang week...

Ahh I just love it!! It is so good and seems so real. Always makes me thankful and always puts things into perspective. This is a show I do not feel guilty for watching like I do sometimes with the trashbags of OC or wherever lol.

This one is controversial I am positive, and even though I do not understand it, I continue to watch...

I think this is last season's clip art above because now there are 4 WIVES, not 3....

They seem happy I guess.... I think the two funniest things about the show are 1. Kody has like a million and five kids, but drives a two door Lexus convertible top sports car that literally only seats two people...

and 2. No one knows what his "real" job is and how he supports all these people? Well I guess before the show how did he support them? Because now TLC is making them millionaires I am sure!

Lastly, (yes there is actually one more!) is a BRAND NEW show starting tonight that I am excited about...

This picture is a little strange, ha, but I do love all the Kardashians and I think this show will be hysterical....

The preview clips already look very drama filled!!! Can't wait to watch and see :)

Well I think that's it, boy I'm exhausted thinking about all of them!! Is there anything else I am missing on Sunday nights? Please say no, for the sake of four things...

1. my sanity

2. my sleep

3. my DVR recording space

4. my relationship hahaha

Skaneateles Lake Homes

A convergence of events has occurred - the temperature got warmer, the Village got busier, and I just spent a goodly portion of the weekend updating my listings on the multiple listing service as well as http://realtor.com/ and http://lakehouse.com/. I also showed waterfront this past week and will do so again this upcoming week. Summer is right around the corner! So it seems appropriate that I write about the lakes and the marvelous opportunities that exist to own waterfront. Lake by lake, starting with Skaneateles.

Today I'll focus only on single family homes, or "camps" as we call them here or lakehouses as the vast majority should be named. I used to own a "camp," but since we renovated it seems more like a lakehouse, even though it retains the small feeling and ease of care.

There are currently 38 properties identified by the multiple listing service as being on Skaneateles Lake. They are contained in three counties - Onondaga, Cayuga and Cortland. Prices range from the low of $159,000 to a high of 3.5M. The median price is $889,000. By way of a disclaimer, I have a property listed twice - once with 78 feet of waterfront and again, at a higher price ($950,000), with 153 feet of waterfront. I am certain there must be properties that are not lakefront, but only lake rights. Somehow that distinction dropped off our reporting criteria a few years ago, leaving us all with the dilemma of how to tell people that yes, you can gain access, but no, it's not right on the water. Hopefully that will be corrected at some point, but for now, I haven't gone through to check. Bottom line - consider the number "38" as an approximation.

Of these properties, 12 are listed over 1M, with another 5 barely under that figure. Six of the homes (actually, one is a lot without a house) have 0 to 1 bedroom. At the other end, 4 houses have 5 bedrooms.

Now the fun part! Taxes run from $4,493 per year (total) to the high of $56,900, appropriately attached to the highest listed home. Square footage starts at 404 feet and runs to 4,400sf (NOT the highest priced home, I might add). Assessments are as low as $105,000 (which I wonder about) or the next is $153,800 and the high is 2.2M which produced the 56K in taxes. List prices do not reflect the assessments - of the three I chose as random, one was $100,000 below, another about the same, and a third $400,000 higher!

Of these 38, four of the homes are in the Village, four are in Spafford down the east side of the lake, 2 in Niles on the west side (but that's suspect because we list them as being in Skaneateles for the exposure) and the remaining 28 are identified as Skaneateles. Eleven companies represent these properties, and at least two boards: The Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors and the Cortland Board.

When I requested how many Skaneateles Lake properties had sold, I got the number 135. Of these, 25 closed in the past 12 months. At this rate we then have about 18 months of inventory. The median list price was $500,000; 5 were over 1M.

So as I go off this week to show lakefront, I can bear in mind these figures. And now, so can you.

A day with the Ponies! (and some bball boys!)

It's only 10:30pm on Saturday night and I literally feel like a zombie. This has been a hectic last couple of days, but so much fun! My brother celebrated his 21st birthday this past week so my Aunt Cathy and her husband, Alex, and my Papaw came up from Virginia to celebrate and go to opening weekend at Keeneland!
 

 For those of you who may not live in Lex, or who have never been to Keeneland, it is a special, unique experience. Us Lexingtonians wait for months for opening day! Here are a couple quick pics...  

It was packed, I mean PACKED! 

I liked this one's hair... super stylish and cute! :)

My (actually borrowed from my mom bc she never wears them) Cowboy Boots, perfect for Keeneland!

(From the Boot Store in Nicholasville I believe, and yes they are PINK!!!)

Me and Chris :) Love this pic!

My dad... really in the zone with his glasses and pen in hand, lol trying to win big! (Didn't happen ha)

Little Family pic, me, mom, Papaw, my Aunt Cathy (who is in remission from Ovarian Cancer and looks awesome now!! so happy for her!!) and her husband, Alex 

This one has a story... I turn around and Chris is sitting on a random bench talking to these two ladies, for like 15 minutes! I am like what the heck is he doing...?? So I walk over, and he introduces me to the lady who's name is also Chris (won't forget that, add it to my list of Chris's haha) and is needing to put her house on the market and doesn't have a Realtor :) YAYY what a good little recruiter he is, lol Hope she calls me!

Now for the best part of the day ....

WARNING: I get a little "UK Basketball Player Star-Struck"

Look at who we happened to run into ... :) which of course I had to have a picture with:

Me and DeAndre Liggins ... and I'm pretty sure he is my favorite!

Doron Lamb, he looks kinda high but I think that's just how his eyes are ha and he is really nice!

Look who else I ran into...

 My BFF Steph and my step-son (by my BFF), Blaine ;) lol if you didnt follow that, it's too long of a story to tell now, long story short, I am Blaine's step-dad, but that title will be revoked this October when she becomes Mrs.Stephanie Bristow!! (then I will go back to having an "aunt" title ha)

It was a great day! Today we had more fun activites but I will have to do those in another blog...Part 2 of this one maybe...coming soon!

Hump Day!

Happy Hump Day!
Thank goodness for the SUNSHINE that we were blessed with today.... I needed it!

I will start with American Idol tonight... wow, it was awesome! Casey stole the show!! He is amazing...

He sang a great song and NAILED it... I loved him tonight... I watched it twice haha here it is in case you missed it, or are just like me and want to watch it again! (mute my playlist at the bottom before you view!)

I sure think he's got a great shot at winning! :)

My dad got me this book for Christmas and I have been reading it on and off before bed some nights and it really is an awesome book! So uplifting, positive, inspirational (kind of like K-Love ha).

Just because I know it's hard for me to pick up a book and read it, I will share with you some of my favorite quotes so far from the book so you can see how great it is...

"Let your feelings subside, before you decide..."

"If we keep our attitudes up and positive, we will continue to climb higher and higher in life and be able to soar. But if our attitudes are down and negative, we will fall and stay on the ground of life, never to make the journey God has planned for us."

Four Steps that will allow you to have Stress-Free Relationships and Enjoy Peace w/ People:

1. Develop & maintain peace with God and with yourself.

2. Don't expect people to be perfect, because they won't be, and you aren't either.

3. Don't expect everyone to be like you... because they aren't.

4. Be an encourager, not a discourager!(Huge one to me! I hope I am viewed as an encourager to others!)

"A wise person refuses to live with hurt feelings or offense in his heart! Life is too short to waste one day being angry, bitter and resentful!"

I.love.this.book! You must read it! It is life changing.

Now we will celebrate two birthdays..... Yipee!

Happy 21st Birthday to my baby brother... Chris...:)

I did not get to see him today because he is too cool for his sister and went to chill with his friends ha but we are celebrating this weekend at Keeneland! And I have another cute cake on order so will post pics after! But for now, I will leave you with this... remember when you were 21? So fun!!

This was on his facebook today, I think my mom took it at his house lol love the glasses, balloon and that nastiness in your hand! (insert gagging noise, that is the worst alcohol taste on the planet)

Happy birthday, I love you and am glad you are my little brother! ;)

Also... we need to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ... (Follow me here...) Frankie's Cousin, Chris's (Boyfriend) Brother, and Cathi's son... hahah BEAU! Happy 7th Birthday Beau!! We love you! XO

 If you haven't caught on yet, we are a dog lovin family... both sides, Gentry & Jackson side! ;)

I am still sickie, blah, think it's allergies... but have been working through it and am pooped!

Trying to stay awake long enough to watch a new wedding show by Tori & Dean (my absolute favorite TV couple, we even have matching master bedroom window treatments, and it was totally not planned I am not joking! I will post a pic one day!)

Can't wait to watch it I am sure it will be great! (and if it isn't I will still blog about it) ;)

It is on Wednesday nights at 10pm on Oxygen.

Goodnighhhhttt!!