We went out yesterday to see a horse Bob had considered buying. I drove out separately, taking Route 20 to Cazenovia. It was one of those days when, if I had been going to Albany, I would have taken Route 20 and then of course regretted my decision when the trip's length increased. But the sky was blue, the hills were fluid, the countryside a Lang calendar photo. I passed "Seabury" and thought of our old theater professor Seabury Quinn, Jr., at Ohio University, and his cat also named "Seabury." How lovely those autumns had been in Appalachia years ago. And how lovely Central New York is now.
While Bob and his friends from the stables where he rides observed the horse, my friend Deb and I caught up on our lives. She was feeling the same exuberance I was, and had just driven out to Bouckville because the day was so inviting. "It's one of those days," she exclaimed, "when you know why you live here and wouldn't live anywhere else!"
Currently there are 143 active listings, a number that seems to have held very steady over the past year, in the Skaneateles area as defined by this multiple listing service. The change comes November 17th, and village will be separated from town then. We've also been told that we MUST enter listings in the correct area, but can search for them in a multitude of ways. We'll see - change is never easy!
There are two new listings, one a re-list with a reduction in the town. The other is a village with lake rights listing that should - famous last words - go rapidly.
The big news is that three properties have sold in the past week. Not closed, but are marked contingent. One is new construction, another is in the village, and the third is a definite fixer-upper just outside the village. They should close by the end of the year - but again, you never know what the contingencies are - to add to our total of 64. The new property that closed was a village fixer-upper that came in about 15% under the asking price.
I took a look at all the categories. One multi-family closed this year so far as well as a commercial property (think Cam's). There were no condos or apartment houses that closed. Five lots/land closed. One property that was under 3 acres but in the village closed for $600,000, while 48 acres in the town sold for $300,000. Location, location, anyone?
Stay healthy and dry, but if another day comes like yesterday, get the bike out or the convertible, and ride Route 20 between Skaneateles and Caz. It's worth it!
