So the rant continues. I went in to a closing this morning. Correction - I started driving in to a closing this morning but received a call as I drove up Old Seneca Turnpike outside of Marcellus. All the paperwork hadn't arrived from the mortgage company - Wells-Fargo - so we would be delayed an hour. Not a big deal, but since we had had a difficult time getting to this point, a bit worrisome. They are located out west, in a different time zone...maybe that was it.
I went back to the lake, did a bit of work there, took a phone call or two, then headed into Syracuse to be in time for the now-10:00 closing. My clients met me in the coffee shop. "Another half hour." So we talked and shared a few stories.
The seller's attorney arrived for 10:30. Still no documents, but we caught up a bit. I decided that waiting around was not going to make things happen, so I left. I went out to Pier One and shopped, then as I was leaving (at noon) I got a text that said "Fifteen minutes." Hooray! I texted the agent on the selling side and went in to the city.
My clients had made it upstairs to the bank attorney's office by then and they were indeed signing papers. But they were still waiting for Wells-Fargo's documents, just getting ready. I left again at 1:00, at their urging.
They finally closed at 3:30. The very sad part of all this is that their purchase was the first in a series of four homes that depended on their closing.
Buying a home should be a joyous occasion. It should be the culmination of a process and after months of dreaming it should be thrilling. This was far from it, and the bank was to blame in this case. How sad that makes me -
But there are currently 151 properties listed as active in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. Of these, 47 are in the Village and 32 are considered waterfront.
Four brand new listings came on the market this week. Two are mine, as it happens. One is listed for $218,000 and also for rent on Old Seneca Turnpike at the corner of Highland. It is truly a fun home - all arches, fireplaces, steps, and colorful! The other one is at 1650 Coon Hill Road ($179,000), towards the East Lake end of the road. It is next to the fire station - and no, the siren does not sound there any more! It has hardwoods, four levels of living space, and a deep back yard. It will be open this Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00. The other two listings are in the higher range - a village home on a quiet cul-de-sac has come on for around $600,000 while a waterfront property is at the half million mark.
Sorry - no new contingent or under contract, do not show homes this week. One has gone to pending, however. So there are currently 15 homes altogether in these categories.
We do have a new closing, though, bringing the year-to-date number to 52. A sizeable waterfront home in the village closed, within 10 per cent of its original list price and six months from the date of listing.
So please do not let my sad tale of woe dissuade you from buying a home. I went to two other closings today, too - and they were in and out in just over an hour. Of course this was a local bank, with a local mortgage person hovering to make sure all went well. And it did!
