Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

All right - so I'm late a day....there was this historic inauguration and I stayed glued to the TV... then wrote an offer, took a listing...little things like that....but I apologize!

There are currently 121 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. An amazing 10 of them are new this week - well, 8 are brand new, 2 are re-lists. A further breakdown shows three in the village and the rest in the town, with one of these in the Marcellus School District. If you come from outside upstate New York you might be surprised to see this overlap, but it exists everywhere. You could be in Cayuga County, Skaneateles Schools, Town of Sennett and have an Auburn (or Skaneateles) phone exchange.

There were no new sales in either the contingent or pending areas, but thankfully my lovely 11 Onondaga is now officially pended because the commitment came through to everyone. I can say with good conviction that the sellers and buyers and agents involved are thrilled!

We have one new closing and it's a village home that has seen much coming and going. It closed for under the price of its sale not too long ago and almost $30,000 under its assessed value. We now have two closings, year-to-date, but if my level of activity is any indication we will have more and soon.

So - if one of those 121 active homes doesn't appeal to you there are also three multi-families, two in the village and one just outside on the market. It's a great way to buy a home and let someone else help you with the mortgage. Prices range from $200,000 to $300,000.

There are also fifteen condos out there in various stages of construction. You can be on the water for 1.4M or overlooking it for half that price. It's a good way to visit in the summer and have someone else take care of it in the winter. Unless you want to be here and go ice-fishing (shanties are on the lake), ski locally, or skate in Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse under the Christmas Tree.

But if you want to build your dream house you have 89 lots to choose from. Think of that number - a few years ago it was hard to find buildable land. One of the new construction listings today came on at $342,000 for one of those lots. A full four bedrooms, 2.5 baths and two acres, included in the price! Competition is getting stiff!

I hear from everyone that there is movement at last. I know the appraisers are busy - but is it refinancing with these great low, low rates (4.3%!) or new purchases?