I just sent an e-mail to a prospective buyer who has been hedging about buying a specific property. "Now's the time!" I urged him.
The rates are great. I've seen 5% flying by me from mortgage brokers and under that for 15 year fixed mortgages. Builders are offering 5% for new home construction with 180 day locks, and their homes would be up by then. It's a buyer's market.
Syracuse and its environs was listed as one of the 4 "healthiest" markets last week. Mortgage brokers and the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors sent out mass e-mails. The rest of the country - if you consider the major metropolitan areas the rest of the country - may be in dire straits, but we are healthy here.
A check of the Sunday paper shows that almost ALL areas in and around Syracuse have increased in home prices over the past year. Some are dramatic increases; Skaneateles went from $440,000 last year to $540,000 this year. Other suburbs went up only 5%, but they went up! Even the counties and the city homes increased in price.
Why? Because we didn't have the huge inflation and building boom that other places did. The 60 Minutes report on Sunday was terrifying. Blue dots represented foreclosures on a map of one area of California - and it was almost all blue dots. People just walked away because they could.
So Syracuse may not be on the forefront of the wild and crazy real estate market, but in this instance, that's a good thing!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Difficulty with Blogging
"I love blogging!" I said when I first started. The richness of it all, the chance to write and be read, the immediacy of the knowledge pouring out without having to be approved. Just as with real estate, nothing was holding me back!
And I still do love blogging, but my life is more than real estate and I am involved in so much on such varying levels. I try to bring it all back to real estate and Skaneateles, but invariably I am stuck and never quite get to the computer to put it all down.
For example, today I received a call from a friend/client who is buying a lovely home here in the village. She is thrilled, and while she doesn't have to worry about mortgages her financial advisors worry for her. The rates are so low (5.3%!) they are saying re-finance, get into real estate, the deals are there. She would and is, but real estate can be taxing, no pun intended! It's easier to fall in love with a home than a stock, and that means emotional involvement and when you sell or must move on it's much more difficult. Easier to push a few bouttons on a screen and increase or decrease your portfolio.
So there - I did it! The market that I've been following the past few days has now coincided with real estate in Skaneateles. I also finished my work enough to have a few minutes to write before Law & Order comes on. Hooray!
And I still do love blogging, but my life is more than real estate and I am involved in so much on such varying levels. I try to bring it all back to real estate and Skaneateles, but invariably I am stuck and never quite get to the computer to put it all down.
For example, today I received a call from a friend/client who is buying a lovely home here in the village. She is thrilled, and while she doesn't have to worry about mortgages her financial advisors worry for her. The rates are so low (5.3%!) they are saying re-finance, get into real estate, the deals are there. She would and is, but real estate can be taxing, no pun intended! It's easier to fall in love with a home than a stock, and that means emotional involvement and when you sell or must move on it's much more difficult. Easier to push a few bouttons on a screen and increase or decrease your portfolio.
So there - I did it! The market that I've been following the past few days has now coincided with real estate in Skaneateles. I also finished my work enough to have a few minutes to write before Law & Order comes on. Hooray!
The Seitz Building
Skaneateles is changing. We've known that for some time, but this is more change.
The Seitz Building is on the corner of Genesee and Jordan Streets. It houses several storefronts and upstairs apartments currently.
The new owners plan - and have been approved, not always an easy task here in the village - to enlarge the building by adding on to the L-shape and creating a rectangle. The will build 10 lakeview condos above the stores, priced currently at least at $500,000 but they can't truly market them until the state has the final say.
The first floor storefronts will remain: Kubuki, Morris's Grill, The Hitching Post, Infused, and Elegant Needles, if they choose. The latter three will need to close for a few months to allow for the renovations, but the owner would like to have them back. The restaurants may remain open if all parties can figure out how to do it.
One store had to leave, a small consignment shop. Finding suitable space to rent in Skaneateles is difficult - I hope they do.
I remember sitting at the counter of The Hitching Post and eating ice cream in the summer when I was a child. It's been there for 50 years, now as a gift shop. I hope it stays.
Morris's renovated? Will it ever be the same? I hope it is, somehow. Skaneateles needs a "Morris's" to keep it grounded.
The Seitz Building is on the corner of Genesee and Jordan Streets. It houses several storefronts and upstairs apartments currently.
The new owners plan - and have been approved, not always an easy task here in the village - to enlarge the building by adding on to the L-shape and creating a rectangle. The will build 10 lakeview condos above the stores, priced currently at least at $500,000 but they can't truly market them until the state has the final say.
The first floor storefronts will remain: Kubuki, Morris's Grill, The Hitching Post, Infused, and Elegant Needles, if they choose. The latter three will need to close for a few months to allow for the renovations, but the owner would like to have them back. The restaurants may remain open if all parties can figure out how to do it.
One store had to leave, a small consignment shop. Finding suitable space to rent in Skaneateles is difficult - I hope they do.
I remember sitting at the counter of The Hitching Post and eating ice cream in the summer when I was a child. It's been there for 50 years, now as a gift shop. I hope it stays.
Morris's renovated? Will it ever be the same? I hope it is, somehow. Skaneateles needs a "Morris's" to keep it grounded.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Kenya
One of my clients is in Kenya. He is in the service and was sent over there for an 18 month stint. Before he left he bought a lovely waterfront home so when he returned he could rest and relax there and start a new life. He bought it also so he could visualize it over there - all that cool lake water!
Over the past year he has e-mailed pictures of his adventures: lions, tigers and hippos. Brilliant sunshine flooding down on him and his friends.
At Christmas I got a great postcard - more lions! Must say it was unique!
And now there are the election troubles over there. He e-mailed a week or so ago to tell everyone not to worry, that he was fine. He suggested we go to the BBC for the best coverage.
I heard that there are refugees pouring over the border to Uganda. Another client and her family live there, working for the UN. She also bought waterfront property here so she would have a place to come to should she need to leave the country hurriedly. She returns in the summer each year to visit family, but wanted the certainty of a year-round home.
As I sit here in my nice secure office I can't clearly imagine their lives over there. I wish them well and a safe return.
Over the past year he has e-mailed pictures of his adventures: lions, tigers and hippos. Brilliant sunshine flooding down on him and his friends.
At Christmas I got a great postcard - more lions! Must say it was unique!
And now there are the election troubles over there. He e-mailed a week or so ago to tell everyone not to worry, that he was fine. He suggested we go to the BBC for the best coverage.
I heard that there are refugees pouring over the border to Uganda. Another client and her family live there, working for the UN. She also bought waterfront property here so she would have a place to come to should she need to leave the country hurriedly. She returns in the summer each year to visit family, but wanted the certainty of a year-round home.
As I sit here in my nice secure office I can't clearly imagine their lives over there. I wish them well and a safe return.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The New Year
Resolutions come with the new year. One I made is to take better care of myself healthwise. The flu took over my life for the past month, first creeping in and then settling me in front of the fire for days on end. I was not alone. Many people had it, even people who rarely get sick. The very interesting part of this was that the day I felt truly better, the phones started to ring again. They had been virtually silent while I was ill.
It was a wake-up call, being sick. I realized how precious life is and the simple act of breathing took on huge importance. I resolved to breathe deeply and take the time to think about breathing throughout the year. Multi-tasking is fine, but too much and breathing becomes optional.
Years ago I read a short verse on the back of a Salada tea bag tag. "You are never old until regrets take the place of dreams." This was years and years ago, back in Seattle. I doubt that a week has gone by that I haven't thought of it since then.
I haven't lived by it though. Not fully.
This past week a Skaneateles native passed away at the youngish age of 63. He had been a force in Washington, well-known to presidents and Congress. On his way up, as they say. And then he stopped, moved his young family to Ireland, and bought a castle. They lived there for 20 years until returning recently.
He found out he had terminal cancer early in the fall and was told to "make memories" with his family. I think about his castle in Ireland and I can only smile.
No regrets, only dreams.
It was a wake-up call, being sick. I realized how precious life is and the simple act of breathing took on huge importance. I resolved to breathe deeply and take the time to think about breathing throughout the year. Multi-tasking is fine, but too much and breathing becomes optional.
Years ago I read a short verse on the back of a Salada tea bag tag. "You are never old until regrets take the place of dreams." This was years and years ago, back in Seattle. I doubt that a week has gone by that I haven't thought of it since then.
I haven't lived by it though. Not fully.
This past week a Skaneateles native passed away at the youngish age of 63. He had been a force in Washington, well-known to presidents and Congress. On his way up, as they say. And then he stopped, moved his young family to Ireland, and bought a castle. They lived there for 20 years until returning recently.
He found out he had terminal cancer early in the fall and was told to "make memories" with his family. I think about his castle in Ireland and I can only smile.
No regrets, only dreams.
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