Tournament Time

What a great NCAA Basketball Tournament it's been so far, after only one real round.  I love it when the underdog teams win and upset (as long as it's not Syracuse!) the other teams.  Last night's Florida Gulf Coast University's win over Georgetown was a game for the ages.  Incredible shots, young kids giving their all, and frankly having a lot of fun, it looked like...

SU plays tonight - late again, so if I am a bit bleary-eyed at the open house on Sandbank tomorrow, please forgive me.  I am sure I will be awake long past midnight.

I am back in contact with Cindy Pack, a Realtor from Louisville.  We wrote to each other a few years ago, and in the ensuing battles I sent her an SU T-shirt and she sent me Louisville's T.  I wore it last year at the Big East, and will again this year whenever they play...until SU plays Louisville for the Championship.

So tonight - Go Orange!  No matter what happens you have given us highs and lows this long winter season, and I, for one, appreciate you!

Open House Alert! 5731 Sandbank Road

Sunday afternoon I will be busy again.  The open house is scheduled for 1:00 to 3:00 on Sandbank in Elbridge (Jordan zip code - 13080).

I love this house.  Wide open to the back yard and nature - tons of birds and deer come in because there are only fields beyond.  And yet you are maybe a mile from Route 5, Kinney's, and easy access to Syracuse and Auburn.  You can get in to the University in 25 minutes or out to Cayuga Community College in 15 minutes, going west.

Back to the house:  three bedrooms, all large with good closets, and two full baths, both with great tubs.  Those are on the level above the garage.  The main room - called quite truthfully a "great room," has cathedral ceilings way high.  (Ask the owner - he just painted them!)  The kitchen and living room look out on to the back yard through huge windows, so it appears you are right there.  Like in a nature center - you see the animals but they don't see you.  All new appliances in the kitchen, too.  The table is situated so you see the road, but because the house sits up and back so far you have the catbird's seat.

                                         
                                                 The view from the far end of the yard

Go down a level to find the family room (cozy as can be!) that opens onto a three-season porch with a hot tub.  The porch is surrounded by terraced gardens.  You have the feeling (in warmer weather) of sitting in a conservatory.  If you want sun - just go out and take a dip in the above ground pool.  Then walk out into the yard...huge trees surround you, giving the sense of privacy.

You have to see for yourself - so come on Sunday!   Price?  $239,900

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Occasional Update (March 5th to 20th)

I had several questions this week from people who have listed their houses about how it's all going.  I've seen interesting homes come on the market and watched others go under contract.  My lovely listing on Fikes Road (the open house was two weeks ago) is now under contract.  Hooray!  All this to say here are the latest stats.

There are 71 single family properties listed as active in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 13 are in the Village and 17 are waterfront.

New on the market since March 5th are three properties.  All three are outside the village, but one has lake rights.  Their prices range from the mid-$100,000s to almost $600,000.  Two others were re-listed.

In the "under contract" categories are 16 homes waiting - itching - to close.  Three new sales have joined them, two from the Village and one from the town.  I have a sneaking suspicion that two of these are somehow related.  The sale of one created the purchase of another.  I will see.  But that's what happens in this area.  People move up or down, not wanting to leave.

We have 13 sold and closed homes in the area now, year-to date.  Two of the new ones are Village homes and the third comes from outside.  This compares with 14 at this time last year and only 9 the year before. We are doing just fine!

I was struck a couple weeks ago by the real estate section's list of the top five properties to close in all of Onondaga County that past week.  They started in the $200,000s range and went down from there.  That did not bode well.  I just went back and checked some stats.  In 2011 and 2012 by this time 34 properties which had been listed at or above $300,000 had closed.  Both years - I kid you not - 34!  This year there have been.....wait for it....35 properties!  When we talk about the consistency of Central New York, this is a prime example.  Never too high so we don't fall as far....

Response to Chamber Postings

I love this e-mail I received from a Faithful Follower:

We came to Skaneateles for the school, but now that my son is in college we are staying for the same reasons you gave (walkability, environment) and then some:  We're outdoors people and we love all the opportunities which Skaneateles provides:

 - Community center - swimming, skating (out of towners marvel at this facility)
 - Lake - sailing, swimming
 - Open Spaces - 4 ski areas within an hour, hiking trails through the conservation areas, Finger Lakes Trust, Finger Lakes National Forest, and the Montezuma area. While we don't have a national park, we do have Adirondack Park and 'our' Great Lake is not an hour away.

I talk about the outdoors as a very good reason to be here (winter haters can hate all they want!) because most don't think of "New York" and the "outdoors" in the same sentence.


Well said! - M

Chamber Luncheon

First let me say Mirbeau is marvelous, a real gift to the area.  The luncheon was held in a small room, large enough for just three tables and a presentation table.  I asked Sue if I would know anyone, and she said "about half."  What she didn't say is that three Realtors from Williams, two from Finger Lakes Partners, three more from RealtyUSA were the "half."  Hah!  And one of the presenters was from John Arquette, a young woman I've known through her father for a few years,

Lunch - salad with goat cheese, carmelized walnuts, blueberries...braised beef over potatoes (both were so smooth I wasn't sure which was which), then a slim piece of chocolate cake that kept me buzzed for several hours afterwards.  Sublime!

The young Realtor, Leslie Chave, spoke about the reasons people come to Skaneateles and the reasons they don't.  (Basically she stole my thunder, but did it very eloquently.)  She shared a comparison of two houses, one in Skaneateles for $329,000 and another in Manlius for $279,000.  It is difficult for new buyers to afford these, she asserted, but went on to say that she loved Skaneateles and felt it had a great deal to offer (as it does.)  She said young people who have returned to the area have formed a group to promote Skaneateles.  "Skaneateles is a great place to visit, and a great place to live!"  (I paraphrase.)

Ron Miller, the Assessor, spoke about the statistics.  Our homes are generally older and more unique.  The average price is $271,000 (or so.)  He compared the tax rates of the different areas with of course poor old Elbridge coming out sadly high, while Skaneateles is the lowest in the county, a little known fact.  (More thunder-stealing.)

My turn.  As I got up, Kathy Walton from RealtyUSA knew my plight and said "just affirm what they said."  So I did, adding the piece about how a comparably-priced home in Skaneateles when mortgaged has a smaller monthly payment.  I showed two homes at $175,000 - in Skaneateles, the payment is $176 less than Camillus.  That matters to first time home-buyers.  (Thanks to Carol Alger at Paragon Home Loans for the comparisions.)

All in all, an interesting lunch.  Kathy Pastel, interim Superintendent for Skaneateles Schools, said that we need younger families to round out our aging population.  The graduating class this year will be 140.  The entering kindergarten class at this point is only 81.  Yikes!

So I think I will continue to attend these gatherings, just because it's a good way to connect.   The next meeting is at Anyela's - even more reason to go!

Speaking of "going"'...."  Go Orange!

Chamber Presentation on Thursday

The monthly meeting of the Skaneateles Chamber will be on the 14th at Mirbeau.  Since this meeting will focus on real estate, Sue Dove has brought together people who know about it.  I am speaking about the market and why people would buy in Skaneateles.  I also want to add why people don't buy here.  I am alotted only about 10 minutes, but I thought I'd write out my thoughts here and then refine them for my brief talk.

First of all, the market has been excellent the past twelve or so months.  Two and three years ago in March there were 104 single family homes on the market.  Now there are only 73.  Those years we had seven closings - this year we have 11, year-to-date.  Those are significant numbers.  Fewer homes lead to less time on the market.

Who buys here?  First of all, waterfront is always strong and the primary reason for about a third of the homes sold each year.  There are now more homes to be sold, plus lots for building.  More camps and lake houses are available as the population ages or investors move on.

The people who buy in the town portion - and I look at all the homes in the Skaneateles School District as contributing to the health and wealth of Skaneateles - are looking for land.  They want acres for their children to play.  Most of my sales have been to people who know the area and want to upgrade their current homes.  Often they came because of a job - WelchAllyn primarily, but the other companies in either Syracuse or Auburn contribute buyers too.  They are families who want the school district.

The people who buy in the Village may also have families, but more and more I am seeing retirees picking up homes.  The Village is an excellent place to retire, and more should be done to promote it as such.  It is safe, quiet, off the beaten track, a destination unto itself.  Electric is low, off-setting the village tax.  There is no condo fee and the homes are different, not tract homes.  Walkability is a huge factor for communities, and Skaneateles has some of the most walkable streets in the country.  My friends who have moved here love the idea that they can go to dinner at the Sherwood and walk home.

There are misconceptions out there about Skaneateles.  The one I hear most is that Skaneateles is too expensive.  I will ask this at the meeting - how many homes closed in Skaneateles in the past 12 months that were listed under $200,000?  If you read this blog, you would know - 30 homes is the answer.   That's about a quarter of the homes sold during that time period.

I am putting together a handout to demonstrate that Skaneateles homes priced under $200,000 are actually less expensive than a Camillus home of the same price.  And both are less expensive than the hard-to-find single family rental.  The reason?  A much lower tax rate.  If a house cost $175,000 in Skaneateles, with a 10% down payment, the monthly payment would be $1,225.  In Camillus, that payment would be $1,500 because taxes are that much higher.

The second misconception that people have who have lived around here is that Skaneateles is so far away from everything.  As we all know, Syracuse is half an hour away, the airport 40 minutes, and Auburn only over a few hills.  How many times have people shown up early, planning for a longer drive to your house?  But for people moving in from out of the area, these commutes are miraculous to them.  They ask to see everything within an hour's drive, and realize they can find it only fifteen minutes away.

The third misconception is that Skaneateles is filled with the Country Club set, and there is no place for "ordinary" people.  Not true, as we all know.  It was only a few years ago that there were mobile homes on Genesee Street.  There is a definite lower economic range represented in the schools and the area.  Those $200,000 homes could be purchased by middle class families.

We do have a lack of diversity.  Although that has changed in the past decade, mostly thanks to WelchAllyn, we have not created enough of a perception of acceptance of diversity.  This is not my area of expertise; I can only report what I hear from people who move into Central New York.

We have a great waterfront community, town and Village.  It is affordable, within easy commuting distances, accessible for walking, and lovely.  It works for diverse groups - grandmothers as well as first time homebuyers, single people and businessmen.  We just need to get the word out!

GENESIS BEACH HOUSE asking $425,000
Great location, great rental or private home. Furnished two-two bedroom, on bath, living rooms, kitchen and porch duplexes facing the ocean. Located directly across the street from the gorgeous sunset side of the island, the dive shop and two of the cafes.  Live in one side and rent the other or open the doors and make it one four bedroom two bath house. Must see.