Good news, bad news, sad news - it's all out there. I went in to this blog update without anything in mind as far as further exploration, but I ran across a small fact that will turn itself into an editorial before I'm done. But first the facts!
There are currently 136 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Three of them are new this week. I had a chance to see one on brokers' open - upper $500,000s in the town on a gorgeous lot. Pat made her chocolate covered strawberries and they draw me to her homes every time! There's also a lovely, lovely "new" - think 2006 - waterfront on the market for well over one million dollars. The third listing is actually a re-list of a very wonderful home built and remodeled for someone who likes views and contemporary architecture.
There were no homes marked contingent this week, but hold on, they're coming!
Two homes closed. One was originally priced in the mid $200,000s and slowly reduced until a sale occurred at $150,000. That would be about 62% of the original price. The other sale in the countryside also started in the same range, but closed at $114,000. This is slightly under half the first price of the first listing.
We now have 37 closed properties, as compared with only 19 last year at this time. Excellent progress! In 2007 there were 39 - but who's counting!? We will have a good year!
My editorial comment: The home that sold at under 50% of the price paid for it in 2005 was a dream home for a family, as I understand it. It needed work and they did some work, but then needed to rent it to make payments. The renters moved their animals inside out of the cold. In less than two years the home was almost destroyed.
I am not against renters. When I moved back from Seattle to Saratoga I lived on a great estate in the summer cottage. We kept the place as neat as my housekeeping skills allowed and stayed a very happy seven years. I've rented out my camp and found it cleaner afterwards than before. But somewhere along the line something happened and this house and the dreams of its owners were plundered. I feel a great sadness - I hate seeing homes and families hurt.
Back to the good news portion. That low offer I wrote about in my last blog may actually come together some day - I haven't given up and neither has the other agent. We'll see!
The May flies are ba-ack! They love a week in Skaneateles as much as the next bug!
Our RE/MAX TV show is a go! We start July 5th at 11:30AM on the Fox local stations. I've taken two spots each week, so if you'd like to see your home on TV, let's get it listed!
