Halloween came and went, and we had no one come to our house yet again. Every year Bob buys candy and waits patiently for the hordes of youngsters he remembers from his childhood in the city and then at his house on the east side.
We went to our friends' home after a fruitless half hour. They were dressed for the occasion - he as a clown (it's hard to talk to someone with a giant smile painted on his face!) and she as a very pregnant bunny rabbit. Their house and the neighborhood were lit for fun times, kids roamed freely on the quiet street, every once in a while Ben let off a puff of smoke from the smoke machine in his side yard to add to the ambiance. The moon was full. I thanked them for letting Bob have a Halloween with children and gave them half our candy. We ate most of the rest watching the Series, then I asked him to hide the remaining few bars.
Meanwhile, back in the Skaneateles real estate market, 10 homes were expiring. There are currently 130 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service as compared with 143 last week. One "new" home came on, but it is actually a re-list of a lovely 2 bedroom with acreage out in the countryside. (Bet they don't get trick or treaters either!)
A house priced in the mid-$200,000s was sold, or at least marked contingent this past week. When we get the new system, contingent sales will be divided into two groups - 10 under contract, continue to show or 2) under contract, do not show. Hopefully this delineation will help to end some of the confusion. Personally, I think if a home has not had contingencies removed then it really is active, but an accepted offer should be disclosed.
Another house went directly to pending, a lovely watefront home that had dropped a bit in price. It may close before the end of the year to help boost the waterfront numbers.
We now have 65 closed properties this year. A home under $200,000 sold for within 4% of its list price and fairly rapidly. No trick or treaters there, either, I am sure!
With all these houses now off the market, the same existing active houses are being shown over and over. It will be interesting to see which ones sell in the next month, but I believe several will before the end of the year. Or at least be "under contract," in the language of the new multiple listing service due to take effect in a couple weeks. Stay tuned!
