Passings

Last week was a doubly sad time for Skaneateles.

The Big News that was revealed on Wednesday was that WelchAllyn, the family-run business that established Skaneateles as a wonderful place to raise children, retire, enjoy the beauty of the land and not just be a destination for a week in the summer...WelchAllyn had been sold.  Its headquarters would be moved to Chicago.  The thirteen hundred jobs in the area....well, no word on those as yet.

As the week went by we learned that the Allyn family agonized over the decision as well they should.  They were such a huge part - are such a huge part - of Skaneateles.  They put their belief that a small town could stay a small town and be productive on the global market on the line.  Not just productive, but competitive. I always enjoyed living in Seattle but seeing WelchAllyn products, made just a few miles away from where I grew up. Not knowing then that I would ever live in Skaneateles, that Alex would graduate from the high school, that I would be so intimately tied to the company through real estate relocation.

I doubt that the company will leave the area in the way that Carrier (where my father worked until he retired) did.  I don't see the new plant on State Street Road falling into disrepair like the factories in Dewitt.  (I refuse to look at Skaneateles Falls and the WA Jordan Road plant across from the Red Rooster.  Not yet.)  I also don't see the jobs leaving the area...we are growing here.  Think Tessy Plastics.

I see change though....I see Skaneateles more and more becoming a wealthy town, a recreational rather than residential town.  Homes becoming B&Bs, fewer kids in school (already there!), retirees rather than new parents.  But that's not all bad...just different.

The second sadness came from the passing of Jack Tracy.  By way of introduction he was the patriarch of a family in construction....Lake Country Construction.  He was also the seller of the lake lot I have represented on Firelane 21B plus the house and 50 acres in Niles.  His company, coincidentally, built the WelchAllyn Lodge.

He was a tough old bird, and I mean that affectionately.   When I heard he was sick - he told me actually - I discounted it.  He had come back from worse.  I never thought I'd be sitting in the Presbyterian Church marveling at those lovely stained glass windows on a late spring morning, listening to his eulogies.  I really didn't.

He was a gentleman of the first degree.  He loved his wife of 59 years, Midge, and treated her with a courtly gentleness that I see rarely these days!  He was only 20 when they married....think of that. They were always together.  I can honestly say I have never seen Midge without him.

I still hear his voice.  Kind of a laugh, then a "I really want that lot sold, Meg."  I would argue for a reduction in price.  He'd laugh again.  Say "Well, no...no..."   I would sigh, say something like "Okay..." and give in another time.  Why?  I am not sure, except maybe to stay a part of his world.  Ego, most likely.  I wanted to sell it to show him.

My favorite lines are apt here, for the passing of both Skaneateles icons:

I listened motionless and still,
And as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
           
             
Poem:  William Wordsworth
Photo:  Alicia

Skaneateles Real Estate Update - Almost Halfway There!

This is the exterior of the house and the yard at 2572 East Lake Road. I love this photo!  It gives you the real sense of the house and its setting.  To the left is the pool, then one of the eight gardens in the foreground, the trees, and the house.  You can feel the peacefulness and tranquility the setting generates. See other photos on the MLS - S333098.  (It has 19 acres too!)

Currently there are only 89 active listings (including this one!) in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 26 are in the Village and 14 are considered waterfront.  Since reporting just before Memorial Day there have been 21 "new" listings (like the one above).  Nine are in the Village, ranging in list price from $189,000 to 2.2 million.  The Town's prices are $115,000 to $645,000 (the one above).  Two are waterfront new listings.  I thought the overall number was fairly high, so I went back and looked at which were actually new on the market and which were re-lists.  Only eight had been on recently, so 18 are brand new (like the one above).

There are 26 homes listed as under contract.  We have returned to three categories of this:  C - meaning under contract but continue to show (because you never know!), U - under contract (don't bother showing, we think it's solid), and P - pended, mortgage or cash and getting ready to close with no further contingencies.  When you look something up on REMAX.com, REALTOR.com, or CNYHomes.com you will see only the "A" and "C" listings.  The others will have mysteriously disappeared but may not have closed.

Back to the actual numbers....  Of the 26 under contract, 15 are new since the last update.  They range in list price from $99,000 to $459,000.  Seven are in the Village, and none are waterfront.

Really good news!  There are now 44 single family properties closed so far this year.  Seven are new since mid-May.  One was waterfront and two were in the Village.  This means a "Second Twenty" will be written soon.

That number seemed quite high so I went back and checked.  Last year at this time there were 29 sold and closed homes.  I had to keep looking way back to 2006 for more closings, or even close to 44 properties closing.  In 2006 there were 49.  The height of the market.  So - how do prices compare?

I sort of knew the answer, having had this discussion with friends a week or so ago.  The question is why homes bought in that era (2006 to 2008) haven't appreciated.  That was the the height - everyone scrambling to buy a house, driving prices up.  The good old days, when clients would arrive in town and see five houses and choose one so that they might get their first choice.  If not done then - it could be gone the next day. Prices in Skaneateles and the area were reasonable compared to the rest of the country, so grab the house and fix it up if needed, but make the deal or lose out.  Truly those days were "If you snooze, you lose."

Just the facts.  The median list price in 2006 was $300,000 for the homes that sold.  The median list price for the homes that have sold so far this year is $259,000.  Oh my!  Ouch!  But then again, there are bargains out there and they should be snapped up, as people are obviously doing.  We do volume sales now, that's all.

So hopefully this has been an informative blog.  It's helped me to pass the time while I wait for my three buyers who "snoozed" on their choices and will call me this morning to firm up deals or write offers.   (No, I won't let you know anything more....)

Open House Alert! 2742 West Seneca Tpke - Marcellus

2742 West Seneca Turnpike - Marcellus 

 OPEN SUNDAY, JUNE 7th - 12:00 to 2:00

This is a tale of two properties....First there is the land.  Eleven acres, reaching back into the trees.

Walking trails are cut into it.  You go back there, especially into the pines that were planted many moons ago, and you are in another world.  The swing and gardens are just the beginning of an adventure.

Then there is the home.  Built in 1835, it is filled with wonderful areas for living.  The above photo is of what would be considered the master - or the master's - bedroom.  That's a four-poster; the ceiling is vaulted. Look at the size of those windows!  On the eastern side are another set with a ledge.  Built-ins and more ledges are prominent in the room.  There is a memory that a small bathroom was in place and removed at some point.

Other features - a huge living and eating area with kitchen, bay window, great fireplace now converted to a wood stove, bay window looking out onto the patio and more trees.  Two more fireplaces, one in the front parlor and another in an upstairs bedroom.  Two full (modern comparatively) full baths, one up and one down.  First floor laundry room that used to be the kitchen.  What looks to be a three-car garage but has two bays and a workshop....and there is more.

This home is a space to be experienced.  No one has gotten in to see it yet and won't until the open house starts at noon on Sunday.  I am expecting agents and agents who have sent their clients.  I suspect there will be neighbors (always welcome!) and curious passers-by.  It is Olde Home Days in Marcellus this weekend, after all.

Price:  $249,900.....  ML#S333843  (home with the land....all one deed, in case I confused you.)

I plan on putting more photos in today after I walk the trails and see the progress the family has made on the inside.  Did I mention the screened- in porch?  You'll most likely find me there.  And do, please!