Gas & Grass

I love grabbing my readers' attention!

Last weekend an old friend came through Syracuse for a memorial service.  We went to school together way back when and reconnected around our last reunion.  He was from my "hood" and we shared that.  He is also a Realtor in Colorado.

We had lunch at The Sherwood on Sunday.  He'd been away so long he honestly didn't know where it was, except that it was in Skaneateles!  Now he does, and the lunch awakened memories of his mother bringing him and his brother and sister to the Village for a day away from our Westcott Nation neighborhood.  Even back then people loved Skaneateles. 

We talked about this and that, what people were doing, whom we had seen recently.  Then he told me about courses he had taken for continuing education to keep up his license.  One of them was about marijuana, and how to handle the new law in his state and the ramifications of it for real estate.

I had just seen a house that most likely had been used as a "grow" house, at least according to a code enforcement officer.  We smelled something as I turned the key in the lock, and then realized what it was when we saw the lightbulbs.  So how is that disclosed?

In Colorado it should be done, he was told.  It's beyond belief to me that there could possibly be a part of the state disclosures that asks:  "How many plants have been kept in the house?"  "Are there still plants on the property?  If so, what are their locations?"  I am imagining, I don't know.

How does a Realtor handle walking into a house that openly displays plants?  You are allowed - it is legal - to have two producing, mature marijuana plants in your home, and two immature, non-producing (at the time) plants.  There is no reason to hide them.

On his way to an appointment he saw the Gas & Grass station and took the photo I reproduced at the top of this blog, and sent it to me.  It's also hard to believe that grass is still illegal in parts of this country, and that people are fined or even go to jail over it.  As he says, "Colorado is just different than New York."  That it is.

Open House Alert! 3681 Causeway Road

This is a photo I took a few years back of the beach on the south side of the Causeway that runs (used to run, really) across Otisco Lake.  This area is a couple minutes' walk from 3681 Causeway Road, the home I am holding open this Sunday (June 12th).

When the seller bought the cottage a while back we were told there were lake rights.  Many of the homes in the area had them written into their deeds.  Everyone used the beach, cleaned up after themselves, and generally took care of it.  Presumably the original seller had also.  Unfortunately there is nothing written in the deed, but traditionally there are no issues.  It's a small community, and even with written permission from some long ago owner it would not be acceptable to treat the beach poorly.  Isn't it lovely?  Imagine those hills in the fall.  As someone said recently, "Just being near the water is calming."

The cottage is also serene.  As you can see, at some point an old porch was enclosed to create this lovely great room with the vaulted ceiling, supported by those beams.  You are looking at it from the kitchen...a small table on the right side looks out at the lake.  Although the house itself is small, it has three bedrooms. One of them is upstairs and actually has a balcony.

I went back and looked at my notes.  We - the seller and I - first put it on the market in 2007 when she realized that her move was too far to make it a practical commute or even weekend retreat.  When it didn't sell after a couple months, she was approached about renting it.  The people ended up staying for years, they liked it so much!  Since then we've tried to sell it a couple more times, but the home rents easily, the mortgage gets paid, and the tenants treat it kindly.

This time she would like to sell it, so we started early.  The price is $59,000.  "Really?" you ask.  "Yes, really!"  I say.

Let's do the math.  Say you put down 10%...that's $5,900, but let's call it $6,000.  You will then finance $54,000.  Amortized over 30 years, at 4%, your payments will be $257.80 per month.  Taxes are about $3000 per year, so add a monthly $250 escrow.  Insurance too....another $50 per month...Rounding again you owe $550 monthly.  This is without the STAR tax discount, without appealing the assessment, and without taking into account the tax benefits of a mortgage.

Clearly this 3-bedroom home so close to the water is a very good deal.

So come this Sunday between noon and 2:00 and see the home and give it a good thought.  It's in Tully School District....the marina is just around the corner within walking distance....you can get to Syracuse or Auburn within 45 minutes, Cortland in only 30 minutes.  And when you get home, relax on your very own deck!

Multiple Offers - 'Tis the season!

The market is booming.  I have clients looking for a home in the West Genesee, Marcellus, Westhill or Skaneateles Districts.  We've see quite a few, enough to get a good feel for what you can buy for around $200,000.  One early house we saw came on the market just above that - and had 7 scheduled appointments before I could schedule ours.  More buyers than homes.

We saw another one this weekend.  The house was priced under the assessed value and staged very well.  We saw it after 6:00 on the first evening it was available to be shown.  When I called the agent to ask about coming back, she said there were already two offers in and a couple more expected.  Oh my!  One of the offers was taken the next afternoon.

I felt like I was rushing them when I said it would be gone.  That old Realtor game...hurry up and buy!  But no, I wasn't, and certainly how it all played out proved that. 

The message here is simple.  Be ready.  See a lot of houses if you must, but when you see one you want - take it.  I always think the test is asking yourself...."How would I feel if it were gone the next day?"  If there would be sincere regret, don't play around....take it. 

You take it by giving the sellers their asking price, or a bit more.  You make it hassle-free.  If you can tolerate no inspections and can say "we'll deal with whatever comes our way," then you add to the value of your offer.

Very few places have unique homes in the way Skaneateles does.  I know homes in this Village that literally get "visits" when they come on the market.  People will say, "I loved this house 10 years ago when it was for sale.  I have no intention of buying, but can I just take a peak?"  They know they may not have a chance for another decade if they don't look now.

That's the same with buying.  It may be another 15 years before the house emerges onto the market again.  A family will have raised their children there, spent Christmases and watched parades, walked home from the fireworks on Labor day... and then turn it over to another generation.  If you see a home like that, and you can afford it, take it.  Enjoy it.  Plant your lilacs, watch your dogs play, walk your kids to school. 

Just do it!

The Second Twenty

I am so pleased to tell you that I am working from the office today during my 10:00 to 2:00 floor time.  The weather is phenomenal - hot, even,and filled with sunshine - but the Office is still cool.  Mary MacKaig, the VP of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services CNY Realty (and that is a mouthful!) stopped by and we put up a flag.  People are looking in the windows and I can hear bits of conversation floating by....So lovely!

There is rhyme and reason to how I am organizing closed listings.  Can you guess?  "Town" and "Village" of course refer to Skaneateles....If the property is listed in the Skaneateles area because of the school district or some other reason allowed, but is really in another town I will put the town's name.


7 Academy Street     Village      $290,000

1682 Amerman Rd    Town       $385,000

2595 Benson Rd        Town       $230,000

21 Calemad Dr          Sennett     $575,000

3827 Clapp Rd          Town        $250,000

3092 County Line      Town       $314,000

13 East Lake Street   Village     $206,900

50 East Street             Village     $271,000

3754 Fisher Rd          Town        $160,000

1190 Greenfield        Town         $1,285,000

4331 Jordan Rd         Town         $130,000

1889 W Lake Rd       Town         $175,100

2138 W Lake Rd       Town         $382,000

2356 W Lake Rd       Town         $362,000

3087 W Lake Rd       Town         $299,900

1031 Old Seneca       Town         $134,500

780 Sheldon Rd        Town         $164,600

24 State Street          Village       $273,000

2338 Thornton         Town          $1,460,000

4338 Vinegar Hill    Town          $153,000


I was thinking also of delineating which were waterfront, but somehow I bet you can guess that too!

Get outside and enjoy this day!

After Hours with the Chamber - The Citizen

Each month (or even more often) the Skaneateles Chamber sponsors an "after hours" event.  I wrote about the one at Finger Lakes On Tap (www.fingerlakesontap.com) a while back.  My first one was at Anyela's (www.anyelasvineyards.com) (...hmmm...a theme is developing here). I missed the Last Shot Distillery (http://www.lastshotdistillery.com) after hours with the move to Berkshire Hathaway taking up some time. (Definite theme.)  This week I made it to The Citizen in Auburn though.  No, not a new bar - the newspaper! (www.auburnpub.com)

The Citizen has been publishing since 1816....amazing!  It covers the Auburn and Cayuga County areas with a 6-day publishing schedule.  It also publishes the weekly Skaneateles Journal - or actually the West Onondaga County Journal, as it's now known.  The Journal was published for 10 years covering solely Skaneateles, but was re-branded this year to add Marcellus, Spafford and Elbridge.  You can find it at http://wocjournal.com.

Tara Lynn, the Chamber's Director, gathered us together for a quick tour of the facilities.  I was really surprised at how cumbersome the machinery was...how "old school" it seemed to me.  The papers were put through several machines to create the colors.  Somehow I had thought they were spit out of a vast copying machine!  What a process!  And how much paper is used to make the Citizen, Journal and the Chamber's Directory, which it also prints.

We were all astounded....this amount of paper you see here - it's only one month's worth!

I think I will go to as many of the after hours events as I can attend.  I really enjoyed the time  - thanks, Tara!

And oh yes, the Chamber's website:  www.skaneateles.com

The Berkshire Hathaway Office - First Floor Time

32 East Genesee Street

This is the view from the front desk, where I sat to do floor time yesterday.  The front door was open, and while it was a bit noisy, the air felt phenomenal. Intrepid Janet and Sarah (Facebook) Cole stopped in to visit and gave the office enthusiastic thumbs up. No clock is necessary...we have the M&T clock to watch.  In the upper right-hand corner of the shelving is the listing for the Purple Monkey.

The view from the deck is amazing.  We don't have chairs yet, but will soon.  Heavy, wrought iron chairs so when the wind swirls around they will stay in place.  Sun comes in all day long because it's southern exposure.  I remember from my Gallinger days that you can watch the moon cross the night sky.  When you walk out onto the pier, look back: the building is light yellow and and you can see the deck clearly.  Walk through town and if I'm in the office I'll give you a tour.


The first floor time was a bit on the quiet side.  The computer guy was there installing the large screen monitor in the conference room.  Another man assembled file cabinets.  The nice thing about an office this size - 1200sf or so? - is that everything must have a place and be in that place.  Kind of like our camp...nothing extra...just what is needed.  And because everything is exposed it must be neatly placed as well.  Nautical, is the term we always use.

I'll take more photos as the days go by.  It was extraordinarily bright in there - all windows across the rear - so I was having trouble with my camera settings.  At one point Janet remarked how cool it was.  I checked the temperature outside - 87 degrees!  But with the front and rear doors wide open the breeze came through and naturally cooled the space.  Janet said, and I agree, there is nothing like the breeze from a lake.  And especially Skaneateles Lake.

Skaneateles Real Estate - The First Floor Time Update

One of the things I like about Berkshire Hathaway's new office in the Village is floor time.  I had it at Gallinger when I started and it grew my business rapidly.  One-third of all my sales in the first couple years came from floor time....another third was from WelchAllyn and the last came from open houses and friends. But as a new agent, that floor time was invaluable.   I remember the people coming through that first fall so vividly!  Floor time is simply time dedicated each week to time spent in the office as The Agent.  Phone calls and walk-ins go directly to The Agent, unless of course the potential buyer/seller is looking for a specific agent or property already listed by Berkshire Hathaway.

My time today is 1:00 to 5:00.  Saturday I will be there from 10:00 to 2:00.  Please stop in!

To prepare for floor time and answering questions about the area, I decided it would be helpful to write an update.  I always love quoting the number of sales, the listings, the breakdown in categories.  I write the update as much for me as for you.  I know other agents take advantage of it too!

Currently there are 71 listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 27 are in the Village and 16 are considered waterfront.  The latter is an increase of 6 properties in the past 16 days....Memorial Day is this weekend, after all.  (Plus the weather decided to go from winter to summer this week.)  Thirteen of these listings are new, with only two being re-lists.  Four of them are priced over a million dollars.  Seven are waterfront, while only three are in the Village, a new development away from past trends, certainly because of the approach of summer.  The median price is $569,000....a huge jump since it has been hovering around $300,000 for the past couple years.

In the under contract category, 28 single family properties are waiting to close.  Three are new additions to this list since the last update on May 8th.

Hooray!  We now have 41 sold and closed homes for the year.  This is exactly the same number as last year at this time!  And remember, last year there were a record number of closings....129.  We are on track for another record-breaking year!  That also means I will be writing "The Second Twenty" sometime soon.

So once again, please stop by at 32 East Genesee Street and say hello.  The office is bright but cool, the deck overlooks the lake, and hopefully the phones are now working despite the Verizon strike.  If you want to reach me, please text or call my cell: 315-447-0441.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!