The Last 17 of 2016

I realized that I hadn't completed this, so before January ends I am finalizing the sold single family properties in Skaneateles.  In no particular order, here they are:

930 Old Seneca Turnpike      Skaneateles      $96,000

4379 Jordan Road                  Skaneateles      $57,500

870 Franklin Street                Skaneateles      $144,500

4023 Mill Road                     Skaneateles       $129,320

4951 North Road                  Skaneateles        $111,000

38 State Street                      Skaneateles Village    $430,000

7 State Street                        Skaneateles Village    $395,000

4883 Foster Road                 Skaneateles          $383,500

3838 East Street                   Skaneateles          $341,000

82 State Street                      Skaneateles Village     $340,000

54 East Lake Street              Skaneateles Village     $300,000

1060 Jewett Road                Skaneateles           $215,000

75 Onondaga Street            Skaneateles Village      $150,000

2418 Wave Way                 Skaneateles           $1,175,000

52 West Lake Street           Skaneateles Village       $700,000

40 West Genesee Street     Skaneateles Village       $529,000

6 Fennell Street                  Skaneateles Village       $455,000


And so it goes.....2016 off into the sunset!

Winterfest in Skaneateles

Saturday I held the office open from 11:00 to 2:30 while Winterfest went on around the Village.  There was no snow; call for a "winter" festival and that guarantees no snow, of course.  But the weather was crisp and clear, a few flakes fell, and the people were happy to be there!  And because it was so cold and will continue, the ice sculptures may last a while.  A fun event.

We are still feeling our way along as a new company in Skaneateles in reference to events.  Last summer at the sidewalk sale (aka Curbstone Festival), Trine Etoll, Jeannine Larose and I spent hours there enjoying the crowds and talking real estate.  The balloons were a big hit, so Mary Mac put some outside the door to attract attention.  As she left she texted that they were skidding away down Genesee Street.  I secured them and gave a couple away.

We wanted people to come inside, so we offered free hot chocolate and a chance to win a basket from Vermont Coffee just a few doors east of us.  Even people who didn't get the hot chocolate came in to simply admire our view.  I gave away key chains and my pens...

On Friday when we planned this I texted a few people who I knew might be around town to make sure they stopped in.  They came, if they could, and loved it!  The Village got quiet around the time of the Polar Bear Plunge and I had a five minute break - honest, the office was always busy from the moment we opened! Chris and Alicia returned after to share their videos of the plunge, so I got to see it.  Oh my - not for me! Loved the guy who just walked into that frigid water in his regular clothes, doffed his hat and dunked himself, then calmly walked out.

So fun was had by all, I believe!  Next time I will blog ahead when we do something so you know to come, too!

If you want to see photos commemorating Winterfest, please go to Skaneateles Sunrise Rotary!

2016 in Review

Pretty photo from the past...that's the lake in the distance.  We live in such a gorgeous area!

We ended 2016 with 117 closed sales of single family properties in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.

• 7 of these properties had listed over one million dollars.
• 40 Village homes closed
• 14 waterfront homes closed
• 63 properties were in the town (or listed as the town)
• The overall range was $50,000 to 1.9M 

Some thoughts about these facts, and a few more to throw out.  The median sale price in the Village was $375,000.  Eight homes closed in this range, while only 5 closed in the $200-$300,000 range.  Of all the 40 closed sales, 26 had 4 or more bedrooms and 32 had one or more bathrooms.  The median square footage was 2,262sf.

Regarding waterfront, the median was over 1 million dollars. Amazing, but then consider there were so few homes listed over the course of the year.  

In the Town (not Village or waterfront) the median sale price was $200,000.

It was an odd year.  For many years as I have noted, the number of waterfront homes listed and sold were about the same percentage as Village homes.  We are looking this year at the greatest disparity: 34% vs.8%. The Village percentage is about normal, but the waterfront is historically low.  One possible reason could be that a few homes that reside in Niles, Spafford, Homer and Sempronius (towns around the lake) are actually being listed in those towns rather than Skaneateles.  I promise further analysis and awareness this year.

I can't predict what this year will bring.  The rates are higher, the new Congress and Administration may change buyers' proclivities....Currently the overall number of listings is quite low, so sales presumably will be reduced.  Or move much quicker!

The focus originally was on my life as a Realtor in Skaneateles...I know that, with all its ups and downs, will continue to be a most enjoyable lifestyle and career.

Resolutions

This was our sunrise today.  The footprints you barely see are mine - and Louie's.  Remember, Louie is our cat who acquired us from an open house when his owners wouldn't take him to an indoor existence.  He's taken walks with us before, and when the boys are here he stays close to them.  Yesterday the temperature was about 12 degrees when I walked, but I invited him.  He stayed in my tracks all the way up the hill and into the cornfield.  An amazing cat.

So my main resolution is to walk, and walk some more.  I wear weights in the house (and have been known to wear them on floor time in the office).  I believe fully in the power of walking and the importance of it. Since Boo passed away I haven't gone out as much.  But I will, with or without Louie.  It is a solid resolution.

Every Monday morning - and this is a Monday - I receive an e-mail from John Arquette (of John Arquette Properties).  He attended a few of my brokers opens and started sending me his motivational messages:  Monday Wake Up Call: Your Motivation, Inspiration, & Direction for the Week Ahead.  At one point they stopped, but an agent in his firm got them going again for me.  (Don't tell him, but I share the e-mail with a non-real estate friend.)  They contain an insight and quotes.  My mini-sermon for the week ahead.

At New Year's the e-mail was about resolutions, and how they peter out over time.  A study showed that only 8% of the resolutions were kept and the specific goals were reached.  Each year, every year.  Further, by March, 40% are ditched already.  I am one of the 92% year after year.  The fitness and weight-loss thing....

I've kept others though.  I resolved not to rush a few years ago and it became part of my habits.  You will see me sitting places happily playing Words with Friends or texting while waiting for an appointment I have arrived for early.  I have learned not to do that in the Fiat on a street, however.  I look for driveways and parking lots now.

Last year Alex, my son, told no one and went ahead with his resolution to lose weight.  When we saw him at the end of January it was obvious a change had been made.  By May he was skinny....a loss of 50 pounds by the fall!  He did it the way the study in the Arquette wake up e-mail suggested...small goals, small gains, and he met his goal much sooner than expected.  The photos (which I won't share) of him in Bethany Beach in 2015 vs. 2016 are amazing!  Other members of his extended family were also inspired and lost weight; his father-in-law equaled the 50 pounds!  (Not me, not yet....)

He did this before, when he was a sophomore in high school in Skaneateles.  His tennis coach, Mac, told him about his own weight-loss process and Alex went right ahead and did it - in a couple months. His before and after photo (Phish hat, NIN t-shirt, Cayman Islands background) are on my desk now.  As an adult, with the two boys and a demanding job, he lost the weight with his health in mind this time.

I'm proud of him and the tenacity it took for him to accomplish his goal - and now the pride he takes in keeping the weight off.

So it can be done - and in his case as in many others it should be done.  Small steps, small goals....but start now.

To quote from the Wake Up Call and Zig Ziglar, with emphasis added:

      What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become 
           by achieving your goals.

Happy New Year!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Long Overdue Update

And a Happy New Year to you!  This is the start of resolutions and new beginnings....like resolving to write more.  I'll save those thoughts for another time, but I want to start with an update.  The last one was November 29th - oh dear!

Without further discussion....There are currently only 58 active single family listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 21 are in the Village and 13 are considered waterfront.  I checked another statistic this time: days on market.  Forty of these listings (of the 58) have been on the market 90 days or more. Twenty have been listed 180 days or more.  This does not take into account the properties that were on the market for a while, then "refreshed."  For example, of the 11 "new" listings since the end of November, 4 are what I call re-lists.

Under contract are only 8 listings.  Two of these were placed in this category in December.

Even though very little has happened in the past 5 weeks, 12 houses have been closed.  The end of the year is always a rush and the holidays make it even harder to close.  The actual paperwork and settlement are all done by attorneys here in New York, and getting 2-3 attorneys together with paperwork requested since before Thanksgiving (another holiday) is tough.  Twelve appear to have accomplished this - hooray!

The number of sales for the year stands at 117, and may improve as people return to work this week and have the time to enter the information into the MLS.  But 117 is still excellent!  I will analyze this in another blog, but I've listed the comparisons with other years below:
2015 - 129 sold and closed single family homes in the Skaneateles area
2014 - 108
2013 - 116
2012 - 129
2011 - 71

Well done!