There is so much to talk about! So much exciting news!
We'll start at the very beginning....a very good place to start. There are currently 143 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Four are new, well, sort of new. A village condo is being listed as single family, which in essence it is, with a reduced price. A home in the town has also come down so it's been re-listed and re-photographed - same house, but a new presentation never hurts! A house that had been under construction is now nearing the trim stage, so instead of a "lot" it is now a real house with a price in the mid-$400,000s. I toured it Saturday - lovely! A large village home has also been listed for the first time - asking price in the low $600,000s.
There's one new property marked contingent, a great ranch that just came on and was priced under $200,000 to sell quickly - and by golly it did!
Another property went straight to "pending" - gorgeous waterfront, well over one million.
AND!!!! There are now 50 closed properties, year-to date. That's an increase of four in the past week - a lot of active attorneys and mortgage people and agents! A village home closed in the mid-$600,000 - could be why the new one came on at that price! It was reduced over time from almost $800,000. Another village home that original boasted 10 feet of waterfront sold the strip, reduced the price, and then sold the house. Original price about a million, sales price (no water!) that pesky mid-$600,000 range. A third village home sold on the low $400,000 having started in the low $500,000, a reduction of about 20%. A home in the town also closed in the high $200,000, down from its original list price of about $330,000.
Two other properties closed that are of interest. One was actually in the Town of Niles although listed in Skaneateles also. When it closed, after a couple years on the market, it had to be counted in Niles - but that sold also close to its asking price in the mid-$500,000.
The second fascinating closing was a lot in the village that contained 2.87 acres. It closed for $600,000. Remember the old "location, location, location" axiom? Truer words were never spoken. Congratulations to the the new buyer and the agent who made it happen! (Not me, unfortunately!)
Last year we had only closed 29 (yikes!) single family homes by this time. You can really tell the difference in the market, and what we went through last year, by referencing 2007 with 63 closings, and 2006 with 66 closings. I am glad the market is turning around - HAS turned around!
There's a new program out there some of you might be interested in checking out. Not much is known about it, and true to form New York State has rolled it out without much information and no forms and no place to apply for it. One of my clients alerted me to it - oh, yes, and no fanfare either! You can access what information there is through http://www.nyhomes.org and go to the Quick Links on the right of their home page. It's a program for first time homebuyers that I've seen credited with saving up to $15,000 over the course of 10 years. This is on top of the $8,000 (possible) Federal tax credit.
Not only will this impact my client who qualifies and is buying his first home, but also my sellers who have homes that first-time homebuyers might buy. I also had a call from a friend who asked if his daughter, college-aged, could buy a home with funds from the family to make it happen earlier than she had anticipated. I strongly suggest anyone in this position, or with questions, to call a mortgage person. Today. The Federal program demands that the property must have closed by December 1, 2009. There is such a small window of opportunity here to grab both programs that time is truly of the essence. Remember - 60 days to closing is average, from the time the contract is accepted and the documents are signed. You and everyone else will be signing papers on Thanksgiving - if you can find an attorney to work that day!
It's great to see movement!
