From Granula to Granola - Skaneateles Historical Society Program

That gorgeous day I wrote about yesterday turned into a wonderful - if breezy - night!  I tried to park for the 7:30 program on Genesee Street at West Lake, but there were too many cars (for the first time, I might add!)  I parked around the corner, across from Tops and followed Bob Eggleston in to the Creamery.

The presenter was Lynn Pascale from Farmer Street Pantry by way of the Onondaga Historical Society.  She started by saying how rich our area is in history - the Erie Canal, the lakes, various communities - and then told us about the Nonesuch company which made mincemeat in Syracuse for many, many years (1885-1981).  I had always used it without knowing it was local.  Just last week I sent in a mincemeat pie to my mother-in-law.  (That one I didn't make - Heart & Hand did.)

On to granola, and its relationship with the Glen Haven hydrotherapy approach.  It was famous for helping people to get well or at least get healthy.  The lake, being sooooo cold, was the perfect place for it to be located.  The hills behind the buildings were perfect for walking.  A typical day for residents/patients was breakfast, a bath in 72-80 degree water, a walk, lunch, another bath, another walk, and rest.  People came and stayed for months sometimes.  A room could be had for $5 a week, or $10 if you wanted a fireplace.

The owners were a man who was a known abolitionist, prominent in the movement.  His wife was one of the first female doctors in New York State.  Together with another female doctor they ran the Cure, opening it in 1847.

The food was not rich - just healthy and minimal.  They depended a lot on graham flour, which was ground at New Hope Mills just up the road.  To make it easier to prepare, they would add milk the night before and it would turn into something else by the morning - our first granula/granola or cereal.  Eventually a Mr. Kellogg came for a stay in their second "spa" in Dansville, NY, and then went back to his home in Battle Creek, Michigan.....the rest is history.

A side note I enjoyed was the description of the clothing the women wore.  Corsets were not going to make it on the regimented hikes up the hill, so they adopted bloomers that could be worn outdoors as virtual pants.  They also wanted the women to be able to breathe, so gone were the tight-fitting bodices, replaced by an over-blouse to match the pants.  The "American Costume" was born.  (My grandmother was chastised for wearing pants in the early 1900s, so apparently it was not fully adopted by the fashion world.)

This was a marvelous 45-minute program and then we were served samples of mincemeat and applesauce from the Farmer Street Pantry.  (http://farmerstreetpantry.com)

For more information about upcoming events at the Creamery at 28 Hannum Street in Skaneateles go to skaneateleshistoricalsociety.org

There are several holiday programs, the Creamery is festive anyway, and it's an excellent place to buy presents.  I am planning to take high tea with the Queen and friends on December 17th!

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Post-Thanksgiving Update

What a gorgeous day it is here!  I am in the office, the streets are quiet because it's a weekday and the Dickens people are elsewhere, but the lake is wild, the "surf" pounding.  We are experiencing one of those late fall anomalies we get on occasion....blue skies, brilliant sunshine, decent temperatures (50s).  Tomorrow it may snow, but for now it is lovely.

Unbelievably, there are currently ONLY 29 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  (A first!)  Of these, 4 are in the Village and 8 are considered waterfront.  They range in price from $49,000 to over 5 million.

In the Skaneateles School District there are 37 homes, encompassing towns like Marcellus, Spafford and Sennett, as well as Skaneateles.  My marvelous listing, 29 Calemad in Parcell Woods, is an example - but it just closed.

Waiting to close are 16 properties in the Town of Skaneateles.  They range in price from $39,000 to the mid-$500,000s.

To date there are 109 single family homes sold and closed.  Nine of these are new.  If the under contract homes all close before the end of the year, then it will be a great year - not record-setting, but a great year.

Taxes, Service Animals, and Letters to Sellers

I'm not really going to take these issues on because I am in no way an expert in these fields.  As a Realtor and home-owner, I am impacted though.

This past Monday we had a company-wide meeting of Berkshire Hathaway CNY agents, held at the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors building on Taft Road in North Syracuse.  The room was packed, with people coming from Utica and Oswego, and Skaneateles representing the far western boundaries.

Anthony Gatto, Director of Legal Services for the NYS Association of Realtors, spoke on legal matters.  The two topics were personal letters and service animals.  Many buyers will want to include letters with their purchase offer, trying to convince sellers to choose them over another group of buyers.  This can lead to discrimination and the perception of discrimination.  Fair housing laws are strong, and the letters, drafted with all good intentions, can be lethal.

Service animals are becoming more common these days.  In rental situations they can be problematic because landlords may prohibit pets.  As we learned, service animals are not pets.  They should be considered as necessary "props" for the person with the disability who requires them.  His example was perfect - you would not disallow a wheelchair in a rental unit, so consider the pet to be as essential as a wheelchair.  (Or a wheelchair!)  Very helpful concept!

At the close of the meeting Dan Hartnett, our broker/owner extraordinaire, talked about taxes.  He and another agent had approached Representative Katko to voice their opposition to the proposed tax legislation.  A basic outline:

Property tax exemptions will be capped at $10,000.  This means, according to the National Association of Realtors, that the average cost to taxpayers who pay over that will be $815 per year.  We are a high-taxed state.  It will certainly impact us, as Realtors and homeowners, greatly.

Because of this, the value of homes over $300,000 will drop 10%.

A third issue was capital gains.  Currently you must live in a house for 2 of the 5 years you own it to not pay capital gains on its sale.  Dan says the new proposal is 5 of the 8 years.  Since the average length of time people stay in a home is 6 years, this is problematic.

As I say - I took notes and got as much down as I could.  To find out more, go to the National Association of Realtors website - there are articles there about these tax issues.  And stay informed - call your representative - listen to the news.  It's a complex issue and once the reform is in place it may be there for years and years to come.

The Fifth Twenty

Catching up!  Closed since August 29th....

The following listings are all from the Village of Skaneateles.

5 Hawthorne Woods Court           $375,000

62 West Elizabeth Street              $335,000

5 East Lake Street                         $455,000

42 East Elizabeth Street                $349,000

9 West Elizabeth Street                 $257,750

43 Griffin Street                            $175,000


The following listings were all in the Skaneateles area (non-Village) of the multiple listing service.

2008 West Lake Road                  $2,475,000

1682 Amerman Road                      $489,000

2111 West Lake Road                    $450,000

3441 East Lake Road                     $429,000

2314 West Lake Road                   $699,900

1686 Amerman Road                     $441,800

32 Lake Vista                                 $395,000

1552 Heifer Road                           $318,000

2595 Benson Road                         $269,000

3960 Jordan Road                           $184,900

639 School Street                           $107,000

2762 Rickard Road                        $260,000

659 Crow Hill Road                      $190,000

4846 Jordan Road                           $65,000

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Long Time Coming Update

With many apologies....sitting at the computer was just not happening the past few months.  I did open houses almost every weekend, traveled a bit, got several houses listed and sold, plus ran around with buyers to find their new homes.  It wasn't rushed, it was quite pleasurable, and I think I accomplished a lot.  Just keeping up with this blog was definitely not one of those accomplishments!

But it's windy and rainy - Seattle weather - and Boss is curled up at my feet, the fire is keeping us warm, and my curiosity was piqued to see what exactly has been happening in the Skaneateles market overall.

Currently there are 39 single family homes listed in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  I have been writing this blog for over 10 years - I've never seen a number so low!  I know by experience that yes, there are very few homes out there for sale these days....but 39?

Then I remembered that a while back the CNYIS group who run the MLS started fining people for putting listings in the wrong townships.  For example, my listing at 82 Lakewood Lane is in the Town of Niles, but on Skaneateles Lake.  I used to be able to put it in as Skaneateles because of the lake, but I would be fined if I did so now.  Is it in the best interest of the sellers?  I think not - people from out of town won't know to look in Niles but will certainly look under Skaneateles for a place on the lake.  The rationale is that we must fully disclose, and "promising" one town and delivering another is not being fully transparent.  And for the most part Realtors are complying with this new regulation, making sure they write in Skaneateles as the waterfront so searches can proceed with that as the criteria.  Of course, this is why buyers need Realtors to represent them....

Taking it another step, I checked the number of active listings under Skaneateles School District as the primary criteria:  now there are 51 listings.  Of these, like the first group, 6 are in the Village (for obvious reasons.)  The other towns represented are Spafford, Marcellus, Niles, Sennett and Owasco.  Spafford actually has 9 listings within the district!  Buyers beware - go a few miles out of the Village and across the town line and you will still have Skaneateles Schools.  And if you are in the Township of Skaneateles there are no guarantees that the house will be in the district!

To finish up.....There are 18 single family homes in the Town of Skaneateles under contract at the this time and hopefully they will close this year.  In the School District there are 26 homes under contract.

The best news - there are 100 (exactly) homes closed in the Town and 120 in the District.  We are on track for another record-breaking year - even with the new regulations!

Open Sunday - October 15th - 82 Lakewood Lane on Skaneateles Lake

OPEN Sunday 1:00 to 3:00! 

ML#S1080906 for more photos and the listing!

I love this cottage and grounds.  So peaceful, about 10 miles down the west side of the lake from Genesee Street in the Village.  The Fire Lane is easy to navigate, the cottage is set back from the road and toward the water, the neighbors are hardly visible.  There are 100 feet of beautiful lakefront.  As you can see in the top photo there's even a beach.  The views are phenomenal from the dock and landings for the stairs.  Watch the moon and sun rise from the cottage, too.  The price is $470,000.

The home itself appears small, but immaculate and larger than you'd think from the photo above.  The wrap-around deck offers another few feet of summertime living space; there are three bedrooms, a full bath and two living or family rooms.  What you can't see from these photos is the walkout lower level.  You will see it if you come to my open tomorrow, though!

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

Is it Fall Yet?

The last six weeks have been incredible.  I've spent more time at the lake soaking in what should have happened in July - warm weather, moons rising, suns rising, paddling, talking to neighbors.  It's been lovely!  At the same time I've listed houses and sold those very same houses.  There's a new crop that came on over the past week, and I will start there.

This pretty home built in 2012 is 111 Shire Way in Camillus.  The sellers built it as their retirement home, but then decided that Florida was a bit warmer...can you imagine?  They came through the hurricane and are now willing to part with this home.  It's located in Westshire, a small community about 5 minutes outside the Village.  It has a huge master bedroom/bath, great room with cathedral ceilings, small morning room looking out on the fields beyond, and two bedrooms in the front of the house with a hall bath.  They added an egress window in the basement with a rough-in for a full bath. It has rented easily over the years.  The current tenants pay $2,300 and have enjoyed their time here. The list price is $229,000.  The ML# is S1080504.  There won't be any open houses, so if you want to see it please call to set up an appointment.  Oh yes!  There's an HOA that plows and mows!

We don't just do residential listings at Berkshire Hathaway CNY Realty.  This is a 2-family in the Village of East Syracuse.  You are looking at the rear of the house actually.  That little side porch opens into the first floor apartment, a 2-bedroom.  Upstairs the entrance is in the front;  there are 3 bedrooms, a larger bath, and even hook-ups for laundry (you bring the washer and dryer).  The chain link fence on the right side of the photo belongs with a corner parking lot.  Only a block off West Manlius Street, five minutes to Bridge Street and 690.  Rents are $750 and $800 plus utilities, and the tenants want to stay.  103 West Ellis Street - ML# S1080446 - $82,500.

More to come - including the waterfront cottage that will be open this Sunday, 1:00 to 3:00.  Mark your calendars!