Open House and New Listing Alert! All in One!

2572 East Lake Road - Skaneateles

$645,000

OPEN SUNDAY, May 31st - 1:00 to 3:00pm

It's hard to know where to begin with this home!  From this view it looks massive, but it is really all about the windows and the decks.  Such a healthy way to live, with the sun streaming in during the afternoons, summer or winter.  Fling open the casements in the spring, summer and fall...you can see them to the left - that's the living room.  Or higher up on the third level - those are in the sitting room of the master bedroom.  Not enough air?  Walk out on to the decks.

The stairs to the right take you down to a gorgeous inground pool.  Swim, dive, float - let the aquabot clean it for you!

There are "standard" amenities with the house:  three-car garage, air conditioning, Corian counters in the baths and the kitchen, hardwood floors (these are a light maple).  In the living room - or should I say vaulted great room? - a stone fireplace reaches to the ceiling.  Another gas fireplace can be found in that master bedroom, as well as a whirlpool tub.

Okay - add all those things together and you get a beautiful home looking out towards the lake, with both winter and summer views.

Now add a 30' by 60' pole barn.  Do I have your attention?  Not a standard feature.

But the highlight, and what really makes this property special, are the almost 20 acres of land, with much of it trails cut into the woods.  Go out for a walk with the dog (you must own a dog; I think it's in the deed) and follow them through the woods with a bit of walking on the neighbor's land to complete the circle - and you will be gone for half an hour.  And not just any sort of trail, but 10 foot wide trails that allow for skiing and snowshoeing as well as walking or jogging.  

This is a beloved home, created over the past 17 years and now available for the first time.  Please come on Sunday and see it with me!

For more photos and descriptions, please see ML#S333098.  As always, tell me you read about it here, on this blog.

Open House Alert! - 121 Clover Road in Westvale

OPEN SUNDAY - May 24th - 12:00 to 2:00

MLS#S331711 - $142,500

When I take photos, I try to find the one picture that encompasses the essence of the home.  (My - doesn't that sound a little, well, you know.....)  But at the brokers open which was so very well-attended the agents picked out the built-in china cabinet.  You can see why - everything neatly arranged, the pieces chosen for their color and beauty.  Lovely!

The seller and I had a few meetings at the table in front.  She served me gorgeous ripe strawberries and brie with English Breakfast tea.  From the table you can see the front living room and out to the street.  The in-ground pool in the back yard was behind me, the lower windows covered with plantation shutters.  

For a house not quite 1700sf it packs a lot of rooms and that great word "potential."  The kitchen is done in maple and granite with newer appliances.  Many of the rooms have hardwoods, and there is plenty of storage.  On the first floor is the full bath and official bedroom, plus another room used currently as both a den and office.  Going out to the back you pass a walk-in pantry, then exit through a sun porch (not included in the square footage).  

Upstairs are three more bedrooms, two of which are large with angled ceilings.  The rear one overlooks the pool and also has its own built-ins.  The one in the front needs a bit of work, but is even larger.  A third bedroom is smaller, and the seller remembers when she bought the house the owners saying there might be plumbing for an upstairs bathroom.  She never checked - but when you buy it, you can!

The basement is full and has a laundry area, another full bath, and the remains of what used to be a second kitchen a while back.  A big room is finished (at least tiled) and would make a great poker room or media room or get away for kids or adults.  

And this is Westvale, a ways back from Genesee Street, too.  Westvale means similar homes built in the 1950s, a great neighborhood and community, and Westhill Schools.  Cherry Road Elementary is just a few blocks away.  Remember walking to school?  Easy access to Syracuse or 690 to get you anywhere in half an hour, plus Wegmans can be reached in five minutes, Panera Bread in 6, and I bet Target in 8 minutes.  All of course at the revitalized Fairmount Fair.  

We had friends who lived in Westvale, and we always heard about Halloween and the woman who positioned herself in a tree and threw down candy.  Then there were the luminaria at Christmas, lining the streets.  

So please come and say hello!  I will be there from noon until 2:00 on Sunday with something to celebrate Memorial Day.  Just go past Fairmount Fair on Genesee Street to Manchester on the right, and then four blocks to Clover.  If the frost doesn't get them there will be pansies in the flower boxes and a warm welcome from me!

Skaneateles Real Estate - Good News Update

I spent Monday night at the lake with Charlie.  Just to make sure everyone knows who Charlie is - our King Charles cavalier who came to us a little over three years ago at the age of 9, we were told.  He had all but two of his teeth removed and his tongue lolls out of his mouth as a result.  He is a bit bug-eyed and always looks on the verge of going mad, but he loves to walk and ride in cars, so I took him with me for the night.
He is also a good companion.

I had all the windows open - it was 72 degrees even at 3 AM!  I know because I got up to read a bit and enjoy the evening warmth.  We saw Rachel, Alex and the boys over the weekend, and Rachel had given me a book to read.  I could not put it down, so I read for an hour and a half until it started getting light out. Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay.  I haven't finished it yet....savoring it now....but I've lost a lot of sleep over it!  The first few chapters hooked me totally.

But!  During the day there is real estate to do!  Currently there are 88 single family homes listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 25 are in the Village and 13 are considered waterfront.  Since I wrote in mid-April, 19 new listings (including re-listings) have come on the market. Seven are in the Village and five are waterfront.  I think I can safely say that there are fewer waterfront properties to choose from this year.

Nine homes went under contract in the past month bringing the total number to 18, waiting to close.

The good news part?  There are now 37 properties that have sold and closed so far this year.  That's an increase of 8 in the past four weeks.  Two are in the Village and one is waterfront.

The good news comes in two parts.  If we look at 35 closings as being one-third of the year, then we are headed to at least 100 homes closed.  The second part of the good news is historical.  Last year on this date we had 22 sold and closed homes.  ONLY 22.  Long winter, yadda yadda yadda.....but this winter was long too.  In 2013 the weather was better - and there were 29 closings by mid-May.

The market in Skaneateles is jumping - and with fewer homes from which to choose, prices will go up and decisions will be easier.  I spoke with an agent today who said she had three buyers looking to buy three Village houses.  And if you have a house you are thinking about listing - please call me!  There are buyers for it!

A Tale of Two "Families"

I am going to a funeral tomorrow morning and a "wake" in the afternoon.  Two separate, very different people's services.  One man was close to 90, I am sure, and the other one my age, or thereabouts.  They represent to me very important locations - settings - homes - families.

"Mr. Moore," as I always called him, was the father of kids who like me spent summers at the lake.  Our road was filled with families who came at the end of school in June and returned Labor Day weekend to the city, or suburbs.  There were about 20 of us, and summer nights found us playing "capture the flag" or trying to ring the bell before Mr. Gehring caught us.  During the day we swam, paddled on our paddle boards, fished, explored the glen, listened to the radio play the songs of our day, and generally had an ideal childhood.  The fathers went off to work, the mothers stayed in the camps or watched us when we swam, and life was good.  We went back in to the city and suburbs to schools and rarely saw each other until the next summer.

Mr. Moore was the last of the fathers - and mothers - of that generation.  My friends are the parents, and grandparents now.

Jay Mindnich came from my winter home, the Westcott Nation on the east side of Syracuse.  There was a group of us who attended Levy and then Nottingham, but we were distingushed from the more University- area kids by Westcott Street.  After school we hung out at Abdo's Market on Beech Street, or drank vanilla cokes and ate home fries at Wittig's counter.  We went to the Westcott Theater for movies, smoked cigarettes in the alley, roamed Thornden Park.  Especially this time of year, when the lilacs were out and the scent permeated the air for a week.  Jay was one of the neighborhood kids, a State Champion in wrestling, and the kid who didn't move away.  He came back to the house he grew up in while the rest of us moved out of state or to Skaneateles.  He stayed, buying houses, painting houses, renting out houses on his block.

Jay was the last of us.  I asked his brother, who is my age, if he would be back once the house was settled. He seemed startled.  With Jay gone and the rest of us dispersed...why?

These people are both part of my extended families and as such are dear to me.  As an only child my friends became my siblings.  Cathy at the lake was my first maid of honor, the little sister I never had.  Gail and Rick bought a place in Skaneateles and I realized even Westcott Nation people could live there.

Even thought there's sadness in seeing these two men leave, there is also the joy that I had - we had - such great places to grow up.  Alex had the lake, too, and his friends are the sons and daughters of my generation.

I wish every child had such good memories.  I wish every child had a place - or places - that are as evocative as the lake and our inner-city neighborhood.  I wish that could be recreated, but I know it can't.  I wish parents would think of that when buying homes, and I know many who do.

Tomorrow we'll say good-bye to Mr. Moore (and the church will be filled with people from the lake). Then in the afternoon we will "wake" Jay, as he requested, and see old faces and tell old tales.  It's good, it is as it should be.  A moment stolen from time to remember other times, other people.  And feel blessed.

Open House Alert! 4605 Limeledge Rd

                             Come one, come all!  Sunday, May 10th from 12:00 to 2:00

How pretty is that?  Come and spend a few minutes on the back deck under the canopy.

I like to do something special when it's a special day like Mother's Day.  I don't exactly know what that will be yet, but I have a few thoughts.  Drop in and see what I came up with ... and you might just fall in love with this home!

The price is now an incomparable $189,000.  A bargain!  Almost 2500 square feet for that price?  In Marcellus?  In such great condition with so many updates and improvements?  I think you should buy it now before the sellers reconsider and raise the price!

I chose to do an open house in part because Sycamore Hill Gardens is holding their annual open "gardens" on Sunday.  The hours are 11:00 to 4:00, I believe.  Check it out at www.SycamoreHillGardens.com.  The Hanford family generously open their gorgeous land to visitors on this day.  To get there, you most likely will pass Limeledge Road off Old Seneca Turnpike just west of Marcellus Village.  Please stop in!

And when you do, tell me you saw this blog, please!

Floor Plans - Check this out!

These are floor plans for 4605 Limeledge Road in Marcellus, ML#327491.  Blogspot which hosts this blog didn't like my pdf files, but wanted an image....so I pulled out my trusty cell and took photos, but they weren't very good.  I resorted to my camera and these are better, but not perfect.  You will just have to come to my open house on Sunday to see the real things!  And the house!

A while ago Jerry Morrissey of another agency in Skaneateles started doing floor plans with his listings. They were - and are - very interesting.  I asked him about it and he said sellers really liked them.  I couldn't imagine doing them, but he said someone else did the actual measurements and converted them into the plans.  I like what I do that's different - post cards, this blog, my communication - and felt it was an add-on I could live without.

While I was opening a house for a friend/buyer/client so her new home could have new carpets as quickly as possible after closing, the man who measured showed me how easily the measurements were done and how the layout was transposed into a floor plan.  It really was neat - and fast!

I prevailed on the sellers of Limeledge to let me give it a try at my expense.  They are always interested in new ways to market, so they agreed.  Unfortunately the roll-out of these floor plans was not as smooth as I would have liked.  The carpet measurements are vastly different from creating an actual floor plan with windows and utility rooms and such.  There were mistakes, and they prevailed on me to add the garage and deck because both are excellent features of the home.  I took measurements myself, Jason at our Skaneateles office produced a method of adding to the original floor plans, and we were slooooooowly in business.

I will include floor plans in the future for the majority of my new listings.  Some houses won't lend themselves to it (I think of my nephew's house that measure 640sf and sold the first day) and other sellers may not want it done.  But I like them enough to try them for a year or so.  Monitor and adjust - that's what it's all about!

Open House Alert! 4625 Phillips Road

Sunday, May 3rd - 1:00 to 3:00

I am showing you the back of the house so you can see the door with the little awning over it.  This is the door in what I would consider the back bedroom, even though it has no closet.  When I asked the owners about it - a bit odd, I thought - they reminded me that the house was at one point reputed to be a tavern during Prohibition days.  And a tavern then needed a back door for quick exits.

We laughed and left it there, but recently Intrepid Janet saw the home and became intrigued by its history. She googled it and came up with a fascinating article about the area, and specifically a "Speakeasy in the Falls," later identified as being on Phillips Street (but most likely Phillips Road.)

The link is http://redroosterpub.net/index_files/Page459.htm.  I just tried the link from here and it didn't work (permission denied?), but certainly you could find it another way.

Or really a better way is to come to the open house today!  I have several copies of that article by Charlie Major that I can personally give you!  At the same time you can see the home, walk out the back door even!

The price is $89,500....I am offering an incentive of a $50 gift card to the Red Rooster just around the corner, if you enter into a contract to purchase the home by May 10th.  Think: 3-bedrooms (at least) first floor bed/bath, public water and natural gas, J-E Schools, and Skaneateles Creek just across the street.
Plus privacy...only two more houses on the no-outlet road.

Come sit on the front porch and listen to the creek, or walk up the half acre lot and see this exterior back view of the home.  Now, without snow!

If you miss the open today, it is easy to come by another day....just give me a call a (315) 447-0441.

Thank you, Janet, for doing this research!  And stay tuned....I will tell you in the next week or so more about the history of the Falls.

As always...when you do come, tell me you saw this blog post...I absolutely love it when you do!