I can't wait to get all the information. It seems as if there was a lot of movement - new listings, listings changing brokerages, price changes - and hopefully some closings! If you missed it, get the Sunday Post-Standard for the House of the Week. Renee Dwyer's RE/MAX listing has had a great deal of attention from my buyers who are not ready yet to purchase but they absolutely love this property. It's a charmer - and well under $200,000!
Currently there are 146 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. We have seven new ones, well sort of new, this week. Three are actually new, all outside of the village and in the $250,000 to $350,000 range. One is on the market but can't be seen until mid-October, but the agent wants some exposure at least. The other four have come on either with new agents, new prices, and one with a reduction marked by less acreage for a quicker sale. There is everything - waterfront, village, town, and real country. Prices are all below $350,000.
There were no new contingent sales or pending sales - seven total that have been waiting to close, always the hardest time for the buyers. The sellers can pack and clean and pack some more, maybe go out on a buying spree of their own, but the poor buyers just have to wait - unless of course they're selling their house, too!
We do have three new closed single family homes, bringing the total to 57 for the year. A gorgeous waterfront property closed well over a million dollars with a ten per cent reduction in price. A village home closed within 6 per cent of the list price thanks to the careful pricing of the Realtor who insisted they not "start high and see what happens." And the third closing was 20 per cent below the original asking price, but it was a quick sale, always a good thing.
Last year at this time we had only 33 closed sales. "How do you know," suggested a seller, "that the market is going to fall apart?" That's the important part of pricing - plan for the quick turnaround because as we've all seen the bottom can fall out. By last fall we certainly knew that things were bad - the year before there had been 66 sales and in 2006 71 by that point. To start high was really not an option, but hope springs eternal, as my mother used to say. Now there's a cautionary tale in the numbers. We haven't recovered yet.
But you need to look no further than across the street from Joe's Pasta Garage for inspiration. An adorable little store opened last Friday evening with very little fanfare but with wine-tasting from Pheasant Ridge streetside. Check it out online: www.bluedanube.com. And if you're in the neighborhood, take a taste of the peanut brittle. Or get a latte, or take some tapenade or fruit compote home with you. And the cheeses! Be still my heart! The whole place might put you in a buying mood, so wander down Jordan and into our office, right next to Doug's Fish Fry.
