Open House Alert! 82 Lakewood Lane

OPEN SUNDAY, August 18th

12:30 to 2:30

Lakewood Lane

The view from the deck

Behind this line of trees is a lovely cottage built in 1989.  It appears when you first approach it that it's a small ranch....but wait!  There's more!  It's main floor has two bedrooms and a living room/kitchen combination - and of course the deck which extends the living space.  The full bath is here too.  Downstairs is another bedroom and another family room, plus storage.  Open the door to a small patio under the deck, and views of the lake.  The home is ready for its new owners:  radon has been mitigated, drainage has been addressed, carpets are cleaned, the 2,000 gallon holding tank has been inspected and pumped.  You can own it before the frost is on the pumpkins!

To me, the best part of this property is the land surrounding it.  The seller has a small fire pit and pretty perennial gardens - yes, both with views of the lake!  Trees surround it, creating a sense of privacy that is a reality because there are only a few houses on this easily-accessed  road.  In the "back" yard, away from the lake, is a huge concrete pad.  The seller didn't install it so its purpose was never  discovered.  An outdoor gazebo?  Bunkhouse?  More room for entertaining?  We've even looked into outdoor kitchens!

And yes, there are stairs.  I have walked them carrying signs and just for exercise.  They are sturdy and should last a long while. One of the neighbors has a tram built in to make it easy going up and down.  People across the lake have done the same, and as the population ages there will be more on the lake.  I sold a camp a few years ago with a pulley system to bring goods up and down.  Another group live on their boat and use their camp when it's raining. (Pure fantasy - but I can picture it.)  Others have built bunkhouses on the shore and dock.  It's not that far, really.  " The longest trip down is your first," I tell people.  Think of  NYC fifth-floor walk-ups.  It's shorter than that - and what views!

Please come to the open.  From the Village go south on Route 41A (West Lake Road) about 10 miles/10 minutes. Look for Lakewood Lane, the fire lane before the big white barn.

As always, please tell me you read this blog - I love hearing from my readers!

ML#S1203996

$429,000

The Second Twenty

In hope of making up for the previous much-delayed blog, here is the Second Twenty!


Town of Skaneateles

3321 East Lake Road                      $2,100,000

4272 Jordan Road                              $810,000

1819 Cherry Valley                           $715,000

2611 Rickard Road                           $570,000

1393 Foxfield Drive                         $469,000

3543 Millrun Terrace                        $416,500

2432 West Lake Road                       $350,000

2104 West Lake Road                       $325,000

3816 Knightsbridge Road                 $275,000

863 Milford Drive                             $261,500

1922 Stump Road                             $230,000

2130 West Lake Road                       $229,500



Village of Skaneateles

90 East Lake Road                             $590,000

46 East Lake Street                            $466,000

97 East Lake Road                             $399,000

19 Griffin Street                                 $370,000

23 Onondaga Street                            $348,000

5 Highland Street                                $335,000

149 East Genesee Street                     $330,000

15 Orchard Road                                $180,075

The First Twenty + One

It took until the middle of April for 20 single family residences in Skaneateles to close.  I never documented them!   I found out today when I sat down to do the Second Twenty.  Here they are now:

The Town of Skaneateles

1797 Russells Landing                    $850,000

3500 County Line Road                  $605,000

3394 East Lake Road                      $599,000

2432 West Lake Road                     $350,000

1620 Coon Hill Road                      $330,000

2411 Wave Way                              $315,000

3350 County Line Road                 $300,000

3816 Knightsbridge Road               $275,000

697 West Genesee St. Road            $254,900

1697 Buffs Bluff                             $233,000

4549 State Street Road                    $199,000

2548 East Lake Road                       $150,000

2949 West Lake Road                      $150,000

4252 Jordan Road                            $140,750

4810 Jordan Road                            $137,800

3817 Gully Road                              $45,000


The Village of Skaneateles

35 Lakeview Circle                          $451,500

62 West Elizabeth Street                  $367,000

62 East Lake Road                           $340,000

8 West Elizabeth Street                    $310,000

26 West Elizabeth Street                  $277,000

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Summer Update

No excuses.  I have been blogging since 2007 and I took a break.  I realized about a week ago that I wasn't as up-to-date on what was happening in the area.  I did a lengthy comparison of waterfront homes, and enjoyed it.  So I am back blogging.  

Not that there's been a lot happening.  We are still low on inventory, and what is out there is relatively high-priced.  Or so it seems.  Our range is wider than ever.  

Currently there are 56 active single family listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 16 are in the Village;  10 are waterfront.  The range is from $49,000 to 9.5 million.  Twelve are over a million and 5 are over 5 million.  The median price is $435,000.  In the Skaneateles School District which spills into other towns there are 68 active listings.

Under contract now are 26 single family properties.  Four are in the village and 3 are waterfront.  The median price is $369,000.

Since I've been doing a lot with waterfront I thought it would be interesting to go to the more generic "Skaneateles Lake" as criteria.  There are 22 active listings, with a range from $245,000 to 9.5 million.  Under contract in this category are 9 properties, ranging in price from $248,000 to 1.4 million.

With such little inventory I thought certainly the number of sold and closed homes would be a lot less than last year - but no!  We have the same number at this time (44) and virtually the same median price of $330,000.  

Now I owe a Second Twenty of closings!  And a reminder to all that 82 Lakewood Lane (ML#S1203996) with 100 feet of waterfront plus pretty gardens and a well-built 1989 home is open This Sunday, August 4th from 12:30 to 2:30.  

Skaneateles Real Estate - The First Update of 2019

It's been a while.  During the past few months we did an uncharacteristic thing:  we took a true vacation!  Ever since starting real estate in 2001 we have gotten away a few times for about 4 days at a time.  Why go anywhere?  Skaneateles is lovely throughout the year, and we have camp in the summer on Otisco Lake. 

But this year there was an opportunity.  I had had a great year, my listings had sold for the most part, the kids were going to Florida for a family celebration with their other grandparents, I wanted to see my cousins in Alabama, our friends were renting a lovely place in Carpinteria....and I had just bought my new MINI. 

I left January 31st.  The temperature was -5 degrees.  Boss and I saw snow as far south as Tennessee.  After a couple weeks Bob took the train from Syracuse and we picked him up in San Francisco.  From there we traveled where we pleased and where the weather would allow.  We missed 4 feet of snow in Flagstaff by a couple days.  We got sunburned two days later in Las Cruces, New Mexico. By the time we got home on March 8th we had put 8,000 miles on the MINI.

During that time I took phone calls, people helped out by showing houses.  I went to an open house in San Mateo with friends;  the little ranch was priced at 2.2M.  They had seen it when it was 1.8.   A friend's daughter saw and bought a home for $700,000 or so while we were visiting in San Francisco.  Half a house, really.  We appreciate Central New York and its prices!

And not much was happening here.

Currently there are 34 single family homes in the Skaneateles area that are listed as active.  Of these, 11 are in the Village and 10 are marked as waterfront, but only 6 have true waterfront, not just access.  Only 10 listings are new since the first of the year.  Prices range from $105,000 to 9.9M.  The next price up from 105K is over $250,000.  Sixteen of these listings have been reduced.

In the district which includes homes in smaller towns such as Spafford and Niles, there are 45 listings.  With these added in there are 4 homes under $250,000.  Of the 45 active listings, 20 have been reduced.

But people are buying.  In Skaneateles there are 15 under contract, with the median price under $300,000.  In the district, 19 are under contract and the median is slightly over $300,000. 

In Skaneateles so far this year 14 homes have sold and closed.  Again, the median is $300,000.  Four were in the Village and one was a true waterfront.  In the district there were 21.

What this means:  You will be fairly certain of selling a worthy home priced under $300,000.  At least now.  If you price your home too high because there are so few on the market, you may wait a bit.

But it's spring!  People are out and about and we can look forward to sunny days, and in our case, happy memories from our around the country trip.  It is a beautiful, rich country but there's no place like home!

Compilation - The Last Fifteen and The First Update

It can be gorgeous out there, this winter.  Cold now - frigid even - but so beautiful too.

Below are the last 15 single family properties that closed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing system in 2018.  They all closed from November 1st to the end of the year.

Village

112 Fennell Street          $130,000

14 Gayle Road               $430,000

135 East Genesee St.     $415,000

185 East Genesee St.     $415,000

59 Jordan St.                  $257,000

104 West Lake St.          $550,000

7 Onondaga Street         $487,500


Town

810 Hencoop Road       $675,000

3872 Highland Ave.      $238,000

1089 Jewett Rd.            $259,000

105 East Lake Rd.        $460,000

839 Old Seneca Tpke.    $95,000

1725 Russells Landing  $510,000

1017 The Lane              $657,000

1397 Thornton              $510,000


What's happening now to start the new year?  There are currently only 35 active listings in the Skaneateles area.  That's it, folks!  Of these, 9 are in the Village and 10 are considered waterfront.
In the Skaneateles School District there are 44 listings (and don't forget the 10 lots I have listed in the Town of Sennett but Skaneateles Schools!)  The median price of both areas is around $430,000.  The lowest priced house is under $50,000 while the highest priced listing is 9.5M.  Quite a range!  Only one truly new listing came on the market this past month; two others are re-lists. 

This weather, the uncertainty of the shutdown....all are contributing factors.  But remember, investing in real estate in Skaneateles is, in my humble and quite prejudiced opinion, always a great idea!

End of the Year: 2018

All year long agents and buyers complained that there was no inventory; there simply were not the houses to sell or buy.  If a house came on the market it was a mad rush to see it and then most likely to submit an offer.  "You snooze, you lose" became "You blink, you sink."  We all learned about escalation clauses, and how to use them to our clients' advantage.  It continued into the fall.  Even houses that had been on the market for a while hit a moment when they were discovered and multiple offers were made.  Wild.

The statistics bear this out.

Only 94 single family homes in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service were closed.

• Of these, 38 were in the Village (a high percentage) and 18 were waterfront. 
•  The highest -priced home was almost 4 million dollars.  
• The lowest was under $50,000.  
• Only 4 were under $100,000 and 11 between $100,000 and $200,000.  
• Seven homes sold for over one million dollars.  
• The median in the Town was $339,000 and in the Village it was $370,000.  

In 2017, 123 houses sold in the Town with 41 in the Village and 14 waterfront.

In the Skaneateles School District which includes parts of the towns of Spafford, Owasco, Sennett and Elbridge there were a total of 117 single family homes that closed in 2018.

• 20 homes were under $200,000.
• 8 were over one million
• The median was $332,000
• 25 were considered waterfront.

In 2017, 155 homes were sold in the school district.

For the past few years the sales in Skaneateles have topped out over 100 homes sold.  The median price was in the high $200,000s.  There was competition, but not like it was last year.  

What will come?  Who knows, and I mean that sincerely.  The rates went up but have now settled below where they were in September.  

I can say this with some authority:  Skaneateles will be a wonderful place to live for years to come.  It will serve all ages - a safe haven with walkable streets for the young, an easy commute to Syracuse or certainly WelchAllyn-HillRom, a marvelous Village in which to retire from the hustle and bustle.  And don't forget the tourists, the people who discover Skaneateles and never want to leave.  And yes, prices will continue to go up, but not as they have elsewhere.  As I sit here in the office looking out at the snow-covered lake, I realize what a very special place this is and how privileged I am to work here.