I want to correct one possible misconception in my last blog post. I spoke about Realtors being the facilitators after the purchase has been made but before closing. This does not mean that we set the closing date and time. That is left to the three attorneys - buyer's, seller's and the bank's (if there is one). Only they know when all the paperwork has been filed and the numbers are ready. And those numbers change - the tax amount to be paid back or ahead, for example, is computed on a daily basis. I do wish at times we had more control over closings, but we don't - we can listen to sellersand buyers, make sure the paperwork does come to the appropriate places, and speak with attorneys - but they set the date.
Phfew! That could have easily provoked a discussion!
Now! There are currently 151 active listings for single family homes in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 32 are in the village - a relatively high percentage. Six new listings came on between the 11th and the 18th - four are around $200,000, while the other two are well over a million dollars each. One is basically a lot on the lake and the other is a gorgeous home on acreage but not on the lake.
There are 9 properties listed in the "C" category - continue to show but under contract. Four new ones joined the other 5. One of those very sweet village homes found its selling price. Two waterfront properties also were placed in this column. Another one in Marcellus Schools was also marked contingent.
Sorry - no new pendings!
There is another closed village house, purchased well under it's original list price. That brings to 39 the number of homes sold in Skaneateles so far this year.
The past week I've kept a record of my hotsheet because I saw that several times the number of new listings was less or equal to the number of reductions. During other times the ratio shows usually a good deal more new listings than reduced ones. For example, one day there were 10 new single family homes, and 7 (in the areas I check) were reduced. Another day the number was the same: 20. Still another day 10 were newly listed but 16 were reduced. I then went back and checked the Skaneateles area. Rather than go through all 151 homes, I looked at the 27 properties under $200,000. Fifteen of them had been reduced (one went up!). It's hard to make absolute statements because some were taken off the market and then re-entered into the system, but reduced at that time.
Overall conclusion - prices are coming down, the rates are still very, very low, and now is the time to buy!
