The Plot Against America - "Book Review"

I read at night all the time.  Yesterday Boss and I spent a wonderful hour in the afternoon by the fire - I read, he slept.  I wanted to finish the book that has mesmerized me for the past month.

I first heard about it on NPR.  It was easy to remember the author - Philip Roth of Good-bye Columbus fame - and when I got home I asked Bob to order it for me through Amazon.  It came quickly as always and I immersed myself in it.  In some ways I am glad it's finished - I thought about it way too much during the day!  I admit to a couple nightmares, too, book-inspired.

The New York Times Book Review on the front cover:  "A terrific political novel....sinister, vivid, dreamlike....creepily plausible...You turn the pages, astonished and frightened."  I usually think sentences like that are hyperbolic - but not this time.

USA Today:  "A breathtaking leap of imagination..."

Published in 2004.

You learn in the first paragraph that this is a fictional history which poses the question - "What would have happened if Lindbergh had defeated FDR?"  In the interview I heard, Roth said it was one of those questions that got batted around and a few years later he developed the novel.  It is a novel - thank goodness.  Or is it?  (My version of hyperbole.)

As I heard in the interview, Roth talked about the election and how Lindbergh, a young hero at the time, was able to commandeer the most powerful job in the world.  His motto - "America First" - is based on the actual tenets of a real movement in 1940, as I am sure you know.

I won't spoil the novel for you.  Roth's writing is wonderful - easy to read but with a depth of insight and "facts" that reminds me at times of Moby Dick - but don't let that keep you from reading it!  The story is about a young boy - Roth himself - growing up in Newark at this time.  His family is Jewish, his life is that of a Jewish boy in an Eastern city.  Terrifyingly real.

I kept comparing the events Roth plotted with the reality of the past two years and the daily political news stories.  So eerie....  I wondered early on if Trump had actually read the book - or friends had - and had put into play some of the methods and techniques.  If his whole Presidency came from the novel.  Published in 2004.

I hope you read it - as the grandmother of Jewish boys growing up in an Eastern city it is so close to my heart right now.  As citizens of America, it may affect you too.

The Lightning 80th Anniversary

Last evening I attended the monthly meeting of the Skaneateles Historical Society at the Creamery at 28 Hannum Street.  I've been going regularly since last fall but I've contributed over the years, not knowing how wonderful these programs are and how much I would look forward to them.

Mike Yates presented on the Anniversary celebration scheduled for NEXT year between July 6th and 9th. The plans sound fantastic, but a HUGE undertaking.  They hope to have 120 boats in three separate races. There of course will be the true racers, then the sailors who race more for the fun of it, and a third group of older boats....all up and down the lake!

Mike was hoping to entice the Historical Society into joining in with the celebration.  The Creamery houses an actual Lightning, so presumably visitors to the area will want to see it.  He has also been working with local shopkeepers and interested citizens to make it a fun extended weekend for the families as well as the sailors.  Of course my mind starting turning over ideas and we will see what comes of them.  There will be people from all over the world coming to this event.  It will be the weekend following the Fourth, so it waill also include all the families who come for that holiday which occurs mid-week.  Get your parking space now!

A side note:  Years ago when I lived in Saratoga I went to an estate sale.  There was a photograph of Ruth Gordon (think Rosemary's Baby) sailing her Lightning on Skaneateles Lake.  I mulled over buying it, then decided against it.  I am so sorry I did!

If you would like to volunteer or learn how you can help, the committee's e-mail is: Lightning80th@gmail.com.

You may also want: www.SkaneatelesHistoricalSociety.org to learn more about The Creamery and future programs.  (April is once again about the Erie Canal.)

To find out more about Lightnings and their sailing history and early production in Skaneateles check out Wikipedia under "Lightning boat" or Olin Stephens, their designer.

Buying/Selling a HUD Home

Lately there has been a lot of interest in HUD homes.  I see them coming on, including a recent one in Skaneateles.  Candy Costa, the agent who was handling the listing, told me of a little-advertised class to be taught by Ray Warda of BLB Resources, the new asset management company (since October 2016) for our area.  So I went yesterday morning for a couple hours to the GSAR building and was one of about 60 agents to attend. I have to admit I saw no one I knew from our area.

Ray likes bullets - keep it simple when e-mailing him, he said.  This blog follows that dictum.

• The goal for the talk: "To bring agents from hate to slightly like HUD homes."
• When searching for a HUD home, start with the HUD Home Store first.  Listings will appear there before they reach the MLS.
• After a bid is placed there will be a quick response, usually within 24 hours.
• An owner occupant is defined as a buyer who will make the home his/her primary residence for 12 months.  He/she may not have purchased a HUD home within the past 24 months.
• Closing expectations:    investors and cash buyers - 30 days; 45 days for financed homes;  60 days allowed for financing with a 203K loan
• Extensions may be granted in 15 day intervals for a cost of $10/day
• The down payment can be as low as $100
• http://.BLBResources.com 
• http://FarnettRealEstate.com   (Candy Costa's brokerage) 
• http://Adolfi.com   John Adolfi also handles HUD homes and has for many years.
• http://www.HUDHomeStore.com

Did it make me like HUD homes any better?  Not really.  I find the process very stressful because of the time factor and the little unimportant (to me) issues, such as using blue ink to verify that someone actually touched the paper.  Bidding is done online and with deadlines that can be hours away.  Once a bid is accepted, all the pages must be sent out within 48 hours. I think the closing deadlines are extremely short for owner occupants who finance.  When I successfully sold a home a couple years ago John Adolfi and his staff were incredibly helpful and talked me through it, as well as Martin Carpenter of RE/MAX Realty Plus.  Of course HUDs wait for no one - it was being processed while I was on a rare vacation.  Of course!

The crowd - and I do mean crowd - was attentive and quiet for two hours while Ray took everyone through the process.  We see so few homes in the Skaneateles area that are HUD homes, and there are so many other online bidding companies, it is difficult to practice once the process is learned.  But was the workshop helpful?  Yes.

The Buying Process - Part Two

You found a home!  Even with blizzards raging, you found a home!  Of course, you say, you need to get it for the right price and under the right conditions.

Assume right now it's a normal sale....you have no other house to sell before you can buy this one, there's nothing very different about your mortgage - conventional or FHA - so you can go ahead and write the offer. Your Realtor - let's make it me - says let's meet and do it!  Sometimes I meet people at the office and we have access to the scanner so I can e-mail it afterwards to the other agent.  Sometimes I choose Panera Bread in Fairmount because 7/8 offers I've written there have gone through.  I've written offers in the house being sold, on the hoods of cars, sitting on park benches....I believe that when you, the buyer, wants a house we need to write it up and get it done!  ("If you snooze, you lose!")

That also goes for pricing.  Yes, my job is to get the house for you at the best price possible.  I generally come armed to a serious showing with comparable sales in the area.  If I've been with a buyer in a specific location for a while, we both know what has sold and for what price.  But if you see the home you want, and the price isn't unreasonable, buy it by going to the list price.  There are no rules that say you must get it for less... Today each $1,000 in price represents about $5 per month in mortgage payments.  Coming in $5,000 off the price means $300 will be saved in 5 years.  Rates are going up - waiting for another house you can get for less may mean paying more to begin with - and if this is the home you want, then buy it.

There are contingencies to any offer.  Written into the contract we use from the Central New York Information Service is a paragraph stating that your attorney has three days to review the signed offer and can, with no reason having to be given, disapprove of the contract.  This "out" is rarely used, but it is used. He/she can also add further contingencies.

Purchases may also be contingent on a home inspection and radon test, as I noted in Part One.  These are generally done within 7 days of signing by both parties - the quicker the better - and then you can have another day or days to negotiate.

So say you make it through these, but you are financing.  After you have applied for your mortgage, then the appraiser goes into the house.  The appraiser's job is to "guarantee" to the mortgage company that the house is worth what you are paying for it.  There are no guarantees, but the appraiser puts his/her name on the assertion that the house will not lose the bank money.  Appraisers do say no, at times.  As far as the purchase offer goes, you can say that any repairs that the appraiser wants done must be made by the seller, or you can offer to pay for them.

Abstracts (the history of the house) and surveys follow.  The attorneys - buyer, seller and bank attorneys - check the house for liens, judgments, and issues with the land being purchased under the house.  There have been several homes that I know of in which the house was actually part of a neighbor's property.  Not a good thing to find out....especially after closing!  Have a survey done - please!

Other contingencies are well and septic tests.  Certainly you want sufficient potable water and a septic system that works.  The seller, in our contract, is responsible for testing them.  I loved the gardens of my first home in Skaneateles;  yup, the septic had failed under it and those gardens were "fertilized."  The seller paid for a new one.

All these contingencies are in the offer you have written.

The CNYIS purchase offer is 7 pages long, plus you usually will have disclosures from the sellers about the house to the best of their knowledge, a lead-base paint disclosure for houses built prior to 1979, and sometimes other information such as the MLS sheet, your pre-approval from the mortgage company, and possibly an old survey.  You submit it through your Realtor to the listing agent and you wait - for a counter, an acceptance, a refusal - usually no longer than 24 hours.

Check out Part Three (coming soon!) to see if you get your offer!

Blizzards

Nothing like a good blizzard, especially in March!  Growing up here I was used to missing a few days of school now and then, but a real blizzard was rare.  I can vaguely remember the Blizzard of '66; my recollection is helped along by photos of me playing in the snow.  Our street in Syracuse was always one of the last to be plowed out.  I certainly didn't care back then.  We had mounds of snow to play in and Thornden Park behind our house for sledding.  And no school for days!

The Blizzard of '93 we missed.  Alex and I left Skaneateles and went to Saratoga, figuring it would be fun to be snowed in there with friends for a few days.  It was - I loved the huge snow tunnels through the roads.  It felt like I imagined Colorado mountain towns to be in the winter, or Switzerland.  But when we got home we had three feet of snow in the driveway.  I never had anyone plow.  We lived on a corner where the wind blew the snow away, and besides, Alex and I both knew well how to wield a shovel.  We waded in to the house, got a shovel, and started digging.  Within  a couple minutes the shovel broke!  We couldn't leave the car in the road, so we drove to a friend's house to get another shovel.  And we shoveled enough to get the car off the street.  Not a good plan to be away....

When I lived in Seattle there was virtually no snow for the seven years I was there.  It's changed now - climate change - and they have several inches a year, I hear.  About the fifth year there 8 inches fell during the day.  People abandoned cars and walked.  Schools closed for two days.  My friends then were from states that experienced real winters, like Illinois, North Dakota and Ohio.  We would sit and dream about snow sparkling under the lights at night.  But I really didn't think then I would ever come back to Syracuse winters.

But here I am.  This is actually an old photo from February of 2010.  You can see Bob and Boo going over the berm to explore our back acreage.  Boo loved the snow; it energized him.  Boss loves it too - bounding through it from footprint to footprint.

Later I'll put on snowshoes and make a trail for him....I've learned to like the exercise and being outside, cross-country skiing, bringing in wood.  Not what I imagined as a kid, but good and solid.  Home.

The Buying Process - Part One

I was asked yesterday to explain the process of buying a home.  I thought I'd write it as simply as I could here, then personalize for the actual buyer.  I don't like to just hand out paperwork because it's rarely a fit for the circumstances.  Everyone is unique, everyone's process will therefore be different.  We also are blessed with a multitude of houses of varying ages, in varying areas.  Add mortgage issues to that and a simple see - like - buy process becomes quite complex.

Start here:  Why do you want to buy a house?  Figuring this out before you engage in the process will save you headaches and lost time.  You need to have a goal in mind - simple and direct - that you can pull out when you are standing in 10 degree weather in an unheated house.  "I am here because...."  For everyone it's different:  "I can't rent because I have pets whom I love dearly and the 5 huskies need a home."  "I want a place to help me save $$, not just give it to my landlord every month."  "I just got a job here, I am living in rental housing, and my 6 kids and wife started the trek across country..."  "My grandmother said I should buy a house and this will make her happy."  Whatever the foremost reason - decipher it now.

Go there:  How much of a house can you afford?  Even if it's cash, know what you want and can spend.  I want everyone who works with me and plans to finance to have gone through the pre-approval process for a mortgage.  Carol Alger from Paragon Home Loans has been with me from the beginning of my real estate career.  I say "with me" - I receive nothing except good service and a quick response time for my clients from her.  She will look at your credit rating, income, etc. and let you know what type of mortgage to use and how much you can afford. It's like going to the bank and getting money in hand when you go shopping.  CarolAlger@ParagonHomeLoans.com.  (Of course you can choose your own lender!)
                With cash you will need proof of funds - something from a bank or financial adviser.  You may know you can do it, but the agent and attorneys on the listing side want proof.  In writing.  At the time of the offer.  Get it before you shop.

Shop:  Think of it as going to the mall....there are many places to buy things, but it's helpful to know what you want to buy.  Keep it simple, as with clothes - what size, what cost, what style.  This is early on, so see what's out there.  There may be a "must have" - room for those huskies, handicapped accessible, a certain school district.  Too many of those criteria limit your search.
          If there were a mall with many house stores it would be easier.  I send my clients from the MLS (multiple listing service) listings that fit their initial criteria.  Realtor.com is also available as a good source because it is up-to-date with availability.  When I send listings I see what is called "private remarks."  I can also see the history of the house and do further research.  I try not to limit choices, but give additional information.

Really shop:  Choose 6 or 7 possibilities and drive by them.  You can't really tell what's inside - don't pre-judge - but you can see the area.  Would you and the 5 huskies be comfortable there?  Can the kids walk to school safely (if that's important).  Then call, text or e-mail me (if you are working with me) these homes and let me look more carefully at them, most likely calling the listing agent too.  Make an appointment and see them!  More than five homes gets confusing, but in a space of about two-three hours you can see them all.

Repeat shopping:  It can take one trip out or several, or years(!) to find the right home.  I've always bought the first home I've seen and it's worked out in each case.  I knew what I wanted, it happened to be there, and I did it.  In 99% of all searches, it's not the first house you see that you buy.

Once you've settled on the home then the real work begins.  Stay tuned for another blog - Part Two!

Homeless in Hawaii

The snow is coming down here, and it was fairly cold yesterday when I drove across town for an appointment.  I listened to the 11:00 NPR program on WAER-FM about homelessness in Hawaii.  I found it hard to believe that there were people without shelter there.  It always seems so upscale and lush - never having been there - and without the poverty issues we see in the metropolitan cities I am accustomed to visiting.

But because of that upscale lifestyle, there is definitely a homeless population that's growing.  Dr. Josh Green, an ER doctor as well as state legislator, has come up with a unique way to combat this problem.  He pointed out that the small percentage of homeless people (3% or so) accounted for 61% of all the medicaid payouts.  (I was driving, so taking notes really wasn't possible...this is from memory.)  The homeless visited hospitals for needed health reasons over and over, costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.  A homeless person's lifespan averages 50 years; non-homeless lifespans in Hawaii are 81 years.  But once a homeless person "had a roof over his head" the hospital visits slowed, or even stopped.  But that "roof" in Hawaii cost $1800 per month.

Dr. Green knows this because his proposal revolves around writing a prescription for shelter for a homeless person. This means a change in how the "problem" is viewed:  no longer is it a social issue, but now a medical one.  I would extend that to the people themselves - they have an illness (chronic homelessness) that can be addressed medically.  Their illness is akin to an addiction and can be cured, or at least ended on a day-to-day basis.

It was a fascinating discussion.  I have often looked at inner-cities and, especially when I was teaching, wondered what a difference it would make if kids were raised outside of the city.  Homelessness is one huge step further into the problem.  That Hawaii - with its warmth and beauty - should have these problems also put a whole new spin on everything.  Our costs for an apartment are much less, and it should be do-able to bring people in from the cold.  Mayor Miner has provided housing for virtually all the Vets - what more can be done?  As Dr. Green pointed out, it makes sense fiscally too - All that time and money spent over and over with the same issues that could be ameliorated with a prescription for a roof, social services, and a chance.  A problem to be wrestled with over the next few years as the homeless population grows....

Continuing Education - The E-Pro Day

When I started this blog way back in 2007, the emphasis was on what a Realtor does on a day-to-day basis, using my life and my experiences.  It has since morphed into more information about the Skaneateles housing market.  I'll bring it back a bit with this blog, ending up somewhere between the personal and the market.

As licensed salespersons with the State of New York we must complete 23 hours of continuing education every two years.  This can be done online or in classes.  I much prefer the classes: give and take, questions, getting more than the outline of a course.  Plus, since I work from home a lot, I like getting out and seeing people in a classroom setting.  For these reasons I've traveled to Watertown, Ithaca and Saratoga to take classes which interest me.  

One of my favorite teachers is Randy Templeman.  He knows so much from years of experience in his own brokerage and as a presenter.  It came up in class that he may sleep only rarely, he does so much.  He is entertaining but the wealth of knowledge!  Oh my!  Over the 8 instruction hours I took 10 pages of notes. And those notes were to remind me of the information he imparted outside of the 127-page book.  Plus my own notes about what I wanted to do as a result of this class.

Some of those notes follow, mostly paraphrased:

"We are no longer in the information business but rather in the interpretation business."

The average age of Realtors is 57.  Only 5% are under 30.

Marketing cannot be "spray and pray."

"Whether you rent or whether you buy, you will pay for your living space."

"Today people research on their own for 3-4 months, then find a Realtor to help them."

I learned overall more than I ever needed or wanted to know about social media.  I need to sleep, and I like staying in touch with my clients through direct, personalized contact.  I send notes, e-mail, call, and see people as they walk by the office (at 32 East Genesee Street, by the way).  My clients have become friends - I know about their lives and they know about mine.  Skaneateles is still a small town.  I like that, just as I liked Saratoga.  I will market, yes.  But I also know in the end it is the personal connection that counts for me.

Randy will be back in April and June to the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors office in North Syracuse.  I will be too.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Spring or Winter Update

The title of this blog references the fact that yesterday, the first day of March, I took Boss out into our dog park for a brief play period with the ball and stayed there the rest of the afternoon working from the table on the deck.  It was SOOOOO gorgeous!  Somewhere around 65 degrees, at least!  Today as I look out the window over this computer I see birds hoping for a few sunflower seeds under the snow-encrusted feeder, swaying with the (almost) hurricane-force winds.  You  have to love Central New York weather!

Tuesday evening I parked on Genesee Street and enjoyed a blissful walk over to the Creamery on Hannum Street for the monthly historical society meeting.  Please see www.SkaneatelesHistoricalSociety.org for an article about the program.  Ron Beavers spoke about his home on West Lake Street, and the years-long project he went through to discover its history and renovate it, preserving as much as possible the original structure from the 1830s.  Imagine a home on West Lake Street with 50 acres!  The part I liked the best (besides the cookies from Heart 'n Hand - www.heartnhandpies.com) was the comparison of his house with another in Aurora.  Apparently even back then the same general home was re-built, just as the builders do today.

This long lead-in to the actual update is because there is very little to report, and that is because the inventory is so low.  I heard the same from my Realtor friend in Colorado....there are few houses coming on the market and when they do, they sell.  This could be why the price of homes, at least in NYS, has risen 8% in the past year.  That old supply and demand market at work again!

There are currently 53 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 15 are in the Village and (only) 9 are considered waterfront.  Of these 9, 3 are in the Village and are more like condos than lakehouses or camps.  And also with the 9 waterfront listings, only 3 are under a million.

In the past few weeks since the last update on February 9th, 9  (all these 9s!) listings have come on the market, but only 4 are actually new.  Houses have been selling - 16 are under contract and of these - you guessed it! - 9 are new sales!

Year-to-date we have 8 sold and closed single family properties.  We are about average with the rest of the state in that we will have (statistically) run through the current listings in about 7-8 months.  It is definitely the time to put houses on the market - before everyone else does and while the market is hot.  I have buyers looking and I know others who do, too.  Even if it is winter - today!