What does a Million Dollars Buy You in the Rochester Real Estate Market?

In some parts of the country, it's not unusual to pay a million dollars or more to buy a nice house but in the Rochester, NY area it is a rarity. In fact, for a measly million dollars you get a really, really, REALLY nice house!

For just over a million, $1,059,000 to be exact, you can purchase a 6 bedroom, 3.5 bath waterfront front home with a 36 foot indoor pool, hot tub and three fireplaces. For details and photos, click here: Canandaigua.

While most of the million dollar plus properties are waterfront, not all of them are. In Caledonia, the historic Wadsworth estate is on the market for $1,800,000. The estate includes a main house with owner's quarters plus three apartments, a pond-side cottage and a two-story barn/party house on a 30 acre lot. To see the listing, click: Caledonia.

For a whopping $4 million, there is a 37-acre home built in 2008 that boast 11,000 sq feet of living space. (I hope they issue a map at the front door because I have visions of getting lost here!) Located in Penfield, this property was originally listed at $6 million! The listing is rather vague in details and photos, but here it is: Penfield.

To see all of 48 or so listings with a price tag over a million, check out this link Million. In fact, if you enjoy watching the local real estate market, don't hesitate to register with the site, develop a search and have listings delivered right to your computer in-box. And if I can be of assistance, don't hesitate to call.

Mary Shelsby
ReMax First
585-756-7457

Million Dollar Homes

Once upon a time, it was extremely rare for a house to go on the market with an asking price of a million dollars or more. Today, that's not real unusual, as noted in the real estate section of today Democrat and Chronicle. I've put together a list of Rochester, NY area million dollar listings. Many of these gems are waterfront property but the rest are just simply pure luxury!

View all properties that match your search criteria here

State of the Finger Lakes

Most people think we had a wind storm yesterday. Actually, it was me on a whirlwind tour of the Finger Lakes. I had clients yesterday from Costa Rica that love summers on the Finger Lakes and so we looked at property on five of the lakes. So this seems like an excellent time to give a market report.

Conesus Lake continues to offer some of the most reasonable waterfront property. Currently, there are only ten pieces of property on the market. We found everything from an adorable house on a tiny lot with with only 25 feet of frontage for less than $240,000 to a breathtaking lot with 130 feet of waterfront land and a so-so house for $370,000.

Honeoye Lake had the slimmest pickings with only one current listing, a 3 bedroom ranch for $269,000.

I had forgotten just how beautiful the southwestern tip of Canandaigua Lake is! Had I not had a car full of clients, I would probably still be sitting on the side of the road snapping photographs. The thing about Canandaigua Lake is it is easy to drop a cool million on a house with decent frontage. Currently, there are 16 homes listed, with a 5,000 sq foot beauty listed for $3.5 million as the most expensive home in the Eastern Finger Lakes (curious? click here for details www.RochestersBestHomes.com/720955 ) A less expensive way to own Canandaigua is to purchase property at Bristol Harbor or one of the other communities, but you will be sharing the lake frontage. A 2 bedroom home at Bristol Harbor is currently listed for $179,900.

Next, we visited Kueka Lake, where we learned an important lesson. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. From the photos, I thought we would be looking at an attractive waterfront home. The home was attractive, BUT it was a short hike to the lake and the waterfront was actually across the road. What do you expect for a mere $450,000? Thirty six properties are currently being offered on Kueka, ranging from $73,000 (a 1963 mobile home) to $1,098,000 for a 2005 built contemporary home with 3 bedroom and 4 baths (peek at www.RochestersBestHomes.com/726899 ) Average time on the market for the current listings is 144 days and average asking price is $515,000.

Our final stop yesterday was Seneca Lake. As we drove along the lake, the sun was low in the horizon and lake was bluer than blue. Simply gorgeous, even this time of the year! This was my first time to show property on this lake and so I'm not as familiar with it. I plan to explore the area more thoroughly this spring. Currently, there are 24 offerings on Seneca, with two listing in excess of $2.5 million. Current time on the market averages 126 days.

Without a doubt, it's early in the year for waterfront property shopping. Traditionally, inventory starts increasing between March and June. If you want to be kept up to date on Finger Lakes real estate offerings, drop me an e-mail or give me a call.
Mary Shelsby, ReMax First

Buying Based on Property Taxes

"The biggest disparity between New York and the rest of the country is the property tax."

That's what the front page of today's Democrat and Chronicle reported! No sh#%t!!! I talk to people all the time that are considering relocating to New York and once they get a peak at the property taxes, well, I need to bring out the smelling salts!

Case in point, last week I got a call from Costa Rico from a gentleman considering waterfront property in the Finger Lakes. He picked out two properties, similarly priced, located about a mile apart. One has annual property taxes of approximately $8799 and the other tax bill runs about $11,500. Interestingly, the house with the lower taxes has an asking price of $11,000 more than the other and from the questions that this buyer was asking, I got the feeling that he was leaning towards the more expensive house with lower taxes.

The house with the lower taxes was assessed for approximately $90,000 less than it's competitor. The reason, it has approximately 1800 sq feet of living space compared to 2500 in the other house. Both houses have similar lots and were close in age. So, while no one likes paying higher taxes, the larger house with the lower list price is probably the better deal.

Market Report - Finger Lakes Water Front Property

For a 2008 market report, go to http://rochrealestate.blogspot.com/2008/01/state-of-finger-lakes.html .

According to today's Democrat and Chronicle, the demand for waterfront property is bigger than ever and prices on the Finger Lakes are going up. (See article http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070722/NEWS01/707220326/1002/NEWS ) I was on a couple of the Finger Lakes yesterday, and there seemed to be more 'for sale' signs than ever. So I dabbled in the MLS for a while this morning, and here is what I found:

Keuka Lake: Just three years ago, if something popped on the market, there was a mad dash to be the first to show it. Otherwise, it might be sold. Today, there are 66 properties on the market, with prices that range from $137,900 (actually not lake front - 3 feet of lake access and the private remarks note: Path to lake is a joyous adventure, good shoes and agility required!) to $1,650,000. To peak at current property on the market, go to : Customer Full Report

Canandaigua Lake: Here is where the D&C article was right on. They reported this was the most expensive waterfront property in the area. Current listings range from $182,500 (again, not true lake front) to a whopping $3,500,000 asking price that earns you the right to pay $41,000 per year in property taxes. There are currently 37 properties for sale on Canandaigua with and average asking price of $721,029. But are they selling? A quick check of the MLS shows 9 pending on Canandaigua Lake, with an average asking price of $511,000. To see current listings, check here: Customer Full Report

Conesus and Honeoye are much smaller lakes and much smaller price tags. Conesus currently has 27 properties that can be viewed here: Customer Full Report and Honeoye has only 6. They are provided here: Customer Full Report.

For more specific information about any of the properties or Finger Lakes real estate, don't hesitate to give me a call at 585-756-7457 or e-mail me at MShelsby@rochester.rr.com ,