Rochester Best Buy: 1165 Bay Street

Here's a house that definitely should be sale pending! This 3 bedroom colonial with finished basement needs painting and other cosmetics but is a steal at the current list price of $63,000. Details and inside photos at Bay St .

What makes this such a good deal? Similar properties in this neighborhood have sold for prices in the $73,000 to $83,000 range. Here are the recent sales: Customer Full Report

For an appointment, give me a call at 585-756-7457.

Mary

New York State Property Taxes

This should come as no surprise. New York homeowners pay highest property taxes in nation


According to a recent report by the Washington-based Tax Foundation, New Yorkers are saddled with the highest property tax burden in the nation. The counties paying the highest actual property taxes in the nation are Westchester and Nassau with average burdens nearing $8,000 per year. Monroe County ranks 80th in the nation with an average tax bill of $3,486.

An interesting twist to the data is that when taxes are compared to their homes' value, Monroe County ranks 5th in the nation with median real estate taxes running at 2.84% of median home values. Neighboring Orleans County tops the list!! I guess the eternal optimists in me wants to report this as good news. I mean, we could be paying more than a quarter of a million dollars for a starter home and have huge taxes too.

Anyway, I'm working with a reporter who is doing a story about the impact on the local real estate market of Governor Patterson's proposal to eliminate the STAR rebate checks. If you have some thoughts to share on this subject, either leave a comment on the blog (with contact information) or send me an e-mail at MShelsby@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Million Dollar Real Estate

It's a new year and time for new dreams.

Just a few years ago, it was very rare to find a property for sale in the Rochester area for $1,000,000 or more. Currently, there are more than 30 listings of luxury homes with a million dollar or higher price tag. And with today's difficult economic climate, these prices are dropping faster than a brick out of a 3rd floor window.

Here is a link to current Million Dollar Listings. Enjoy and stay warm!

Rochester Real Estate - The Year in Review

Happy New Year Everyone! This is a perfect time of the year to reflect back and plan for the future. As I look back over 2008, the thing that keeps coming to mind is "The Day the Phone Stopped Ringing!" Literally! I was having a little slower than average year with about 20 sales when suddenly, around September 1, 2008 no one wanted to look at real estate, no one wanted to sell real estate, no one even wanted to talk about real estate.


Things have improved, somewhat. Since Thanksgiving 2008, I've been busy. I showed property the day before Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve (two different clients) and even to three different clients this week and just about every day in between. My phone is ringing like crazy. Buy I'm not selling property. People are skittish! Buyers are not writing and when they do, the offers are so low that the sellers aren't biting. And sellers are wanting more for their property than they will probably get. It is tough to make a living in real estate these days.

The other striking thing about 2008, was how difficult it was to work with the banks. My first canceled contract came the first week of January in which the bank simply changed its mind about giving a mortgage for a two family property because it was in a neighborhood zoned low-density residential. It was sad as the family had everything packed and were ready to move when the bank backed out. Some of the other frustrations came from banks requiring two appraisals on properties owned less than 6 months and a few incidences of the appraiser acting more like an inspector. Some of the bank changes are good. An individual should have a job and a history of paying their bills on time before a bank loans them a ton of money. That only makes sense.

There was, fortunately, more to 2008 than our financial crisis. I got to work with lots of wonderful people. I got to help young couples like Megan & Ev, Marci & Paul and Lynn & Jason purchase their first homes. I helped several families transition from a long time residence to something new. And I worked with numerous investors that decided they liked the return on real estate much better than the stock market. I guess more than anything, I feel like I made lots of new friends this year as I assisted them with their real estate business. It's not been an easy year, but very rewarding, if not financial.


I'm headed to North Carolina for a little R&R with my husband, Jim, but best wishes to you and yours for the New Year. Please don't hesitate to call if I can assist with your 2009 real estate needs.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Santa's sled should have no problem swooping from roof top to roof top here in the Rochester area as we have about 2 feet of snow on the ground. And once he gets inside, boy what treasures for his eyes! I put out an invite to my former clients and all blog readers to submit photos of their holiday decoration, and boy, what a treat it has been.

I received several entries from Mendon, including this nicely decorated fireplace in a beautiful farmhouse on Lanning Road from Jeff and Jeanne. Another Mendon family put their angels in front of the tree instead of on the tree. Lexie, Addy and Mia look gorgeous in front of the tree, don't you agree?

The furthermost entry received was from Wanakena, NY in the Adirondacks. Patty and Roy reported that they simply decorate their fence and the local deer pose as ornaments!

I also received an entry from the very block in which I live. Vern and Joan sent a very nice photo of their Alberta spruce they decorated in their yard. And my neighbors Geri and Joe invited me over to photograph their beautiful home all decked out for the annual Sector 6 Holiday Buffet.

Fran and Pat (yes, the one and only from http://www.patandfran.com/ fame!) from the neighborhood of the arts e-mailed me a beautiful photo of their Christmas tree. It's been several years since I've been inside their home so it was nice to get a glimpse of it from the photo.

I received several entries from the suburbs as well! Mark and Tricia of Mumford sent a photo of their beautiful red Isaac Memorial Tree which they set up in memory of their beautiful baby boy who went to Heaven before his first Christmas.

From Gates, Juanita and Derrick sent this photo of the beautiful table setting for the holidays. Boy, doesn't that look like a great spot to spend Christmas dinner?

Giovanni & Elizabeth also sent in a photo of a very beautiful Christmas tree set up in their home in Greece. Giovanni, a fairly recent U.S. citizen, is from Cuba and some day I'd like to tell his story of arriving in the U.S. on a small boat and making a very nice life for himself and his family here.

My very favorite Christmas tree photo was taken at L.David Salon in East Rochester, which by the way, is a great place to go if you need to get spiffed up for your New Year celebration or any other celebration, for that matter.

     And now, the moment everyone has been waiting for. As promised, I put all the names in a hat and had a random drawing for a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. And the winner is.....

Pat and Fran Reed! Congratulations. And to everyone else, thank you for taking the time during this busy season to e-mail photos to me and better luck next year.

     Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

Mary Shelsby

Buying and Selling Real Estate During the Holiday Season

It is a question that comes up a lot this time of year, “should we keep our house on the market through the holidays?” One for thing is certain, you have a much better chance of selling it if it is on the market than off. That being said, keep in mind that there are fewer home shoppers during late November and the month of December. Those that are out there are generally pretty serious shoppers. Another consideration in making this decision is how do you feel about keeping your home in ready-to-show condition throughout the holiday season?

The holiday season can be a great time to buy a house if you are willing to squeeze house shopping into your busy schedule. Just last year, I negotiated nearly $50,000 off the asking price of a waterfront property during Thanksgiving weekend and for another client submitted an aggressive purchase offer on Christmas Eve for an East Ave condo that was accepted without a counter. In both of these instances, the properties had been on the market for a while and the sellers had moved on to new homes and not interested in maintaining the property over the cold winter months. Not all sellers are that eager to sell but there are good deals to be had over the holidays.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate during the holiday season, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Let's Have Some Fun! Contest Time....Send me your photos.

Maybe it's your mantel. Or perhaps you have a knack at stringing garland along your staircase. Is your tree too pretty for words? Does your yard cause traffic jams? Maybe I'm just nosy but I'm just dieing to know how you decorate for the holidays. So I'm asking all readers of my blog, even first-time readers, to send me your digital picture of your holiday décor (inside or out) before December 17th at midnight and you will be entered into a random drawing for a $50.00 gift certificate to your favorite Monroe County restaurant. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Everyone is eligible except my competitors, i.e., Real estate agents and employees of real estate offices.

By submitting a photo, you do give me permission to publish the shot here on the my blog. Hopefully the photos will help generate some decorating ideas for those like me that are challenged by such artistic endeavors. So let’s show the world just how nicely Rochesterarians know how to deck the halls for the holidays! Entries should be submitted by e-mail to MShelsby@gmail.com but please put "Deck the Halls Contest" in the subject line.

"Let's Say Thanks" In support of our troops

I found a wonderful web site and since it is Thanksgiving week, it is an especially good time to visit it. It is designed to allow the public to send postcards to the troops overseas. The post cards were designed by school children across the country and they are adorable. You choose a design, then choose a message or write one of your own, then hit the send button. Xerox then takes care of printing the card and delivering it to our troops from all military branches on active duty around the globe. The site also will allow you to download one of the postcards so you can mail it yourself to s specific person. Check it out at: http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html And a super thanks to Emily Carpenter for pointing out this site!

Lots to be thankful for this year! I love my career in real estate and the many families I get to work with when they are buying and selling houses. And I am very thankful of my husband, for his love and his support of my career. Without him, I couldn't do what I do in real estate. As a cancer survivor, I am very thankful for my current good health. I'm thankful for Mayor Duffy and all his efforts to make Rochester an even better place. And I'm so very thankful of digital cameras so that I can take as many photos as it takes to occasionally get a good one.

And you? What are you thankful for this year?

Have a safe and fun holiday.

What's all the Twitter About Twitter?

Do you twitter? I'm trying! I just signed up this morning and so looking for twitter pointers. Right now I've got one follower. It's Barack Obama! I guess things have slowed way down since the elections because I got a notice that he was following me about 30 minutes after I signed up to twitter. How's that for big brother watching over your shoulder!

Anyway, I'm serious. My Twitter handle is MaryShelsby. Real creative, huh? Look me up. Follow me. Better yet, lead me because I don't know what the heck I'm doing!

Got to run. Doing an open house in Webster today. Stop by if you get chance. I'll be at 1175 Channing Woods Dr. Here is a list of all the opens in Webster today: Webster Open Houses 11/23/08


Stay Warm!!! It feels like February out there!

A Winter Blanket

Some of my least favorite words in Rochester are "Lake Affect!" Well, we've had some lake affect over the past few days which left a nice blanket on Nathaniel Rochester. Photo taken at the Sculpture "Reflecting," located at South Avenue and Alexandria Streets, in the South Wedge.

For more information about Nathaniel Rochester and his interesting life, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Rochester

Difficult Economic Times

Usually, I can hardly wait to check my e-mail. You might say I'm an e-mail-holic! But it seems that in the past few weeks, I've found more bad news e-mails than good news e-mail. And pretty much all of the bad news has to do with employment, or more accurately, lack of it. All the scary news on television starts to hit home when you hear from a recent client that they no longer have a job or from another that is concerned about the stability of the company he works for. One client I'm very worried about. She is a CPA with excellent experience in the non-profit sector...if you know of an employment opportunity, please let me know so that I might pass the job lead on to her.

Rochester's real estate market has slowed down pretty dramatically. I'm still looking for my first November sale, and so if you know someone looking to buy or sell real estate let me know. I've had plenty of idle time on my hands to dream up interesting thank you gifts for your referrals. :-)

Home are still selling in Rochester. I did a quick check of the MLS, and there has been 841 single family homes put on the market since November 1. Of those listings, 31 have gone pending in the first 17 days of the month and two new builds have have already closed. In addition, 2 of the properties have been withdrawn from the market. That means there are 806 fresh listings out there and one of them could be just perfect for you!

M&T Bank Offers Up to $7500 for First Time Home Buyers!

Usually, the first home is the most difficult to buy. In most cases, you must still pay rent while trying to pull together the funds needed for closing costs and down payment. Well, M & T Bank has a very nice program to help low and moderate income buyers save for a down payment.

The M & T First Home Club is a savings plan in which participants must make a monthly deposit into a M & T savings account and the bank will match those funds $4 for every dollar deposited up to $7500! The program is a 10 month to 24 month program and participants must also participate in HUD approved homeownership education program. Many of the education programs also provide credit counseling and so this could be a good option for a potential homeowner that needs some time to clean up their credit report. There are income requirements to participate in the program. For this program, a first time home buyers is defined as someone who has not owned a home for the past three years.

If you know someone that might be interested in this program, have them call me. My cell phone is the best way to reach me: 414-5513

When Things Don't Work Out

One of the very best things about being a real estate agent, is turning over the keys to excited buyers at closing. There is always such optimism about the new beginning.

But sometimes things don't work out to be happy ever after, especially in today's economic climate. I just noticed a listing for a house I just sold a couple of years ago. It sold for $127,500 but is now being offered at $114,000 subject to short sale (the bank agreeing to a shortage.) This is sad for those buyers but could be a good opportunity for the new buyer. If you are interested in a large split level on a very quiet cul de sac in West Irondequoit, check this out and give me a call Rochesters Best Homes.com.

Hopefully the new lending guidelines will keep history from repeating itself.

Speaking of lending, big news today is that rates have dropped significantly. There are many good programs out there, especially for first time homebuyers including the $7,500 tax credit. If you know anyone on the fence about buying, have them call me today. 585-414-5513

Please Vote!

To watch the media today, it's easy to conclude that the next president has already been chosen. But in the last few weeks I've asked hundreds of individuals if they knew who they were voting for and many, perhaps even most, were still undecided.

I've found a web site that takes personality, race and even Saturday Night Live out of the mix and instead focuses on the issues. You answer 12 questions on the issues and the site determines how the candidates stack up on the issues that are most important to you. Check it out. And even if you don't, please go vote today. Select a Candidate Quiz

Rochester Foreclosures

Last week I showed two properties back-to-back that were listed as potential short sales (the bank agreeing to taking less than owed, i.e., shortage) but when I arrived both had bright "Winterized" caution stickers and duct-taped toilets that indicate foreclosure. So I was surprised when I got an e-mail stating that in the state of New York, foreclosures are down 10 percent in the third quarter that just ended September 30th.

So how does Rochester stack up with the rest of the country in foreclosures. I found a cool map on the internet that paints a pretty vivid photo: Foreclosure Map According to this map, New York state is in the orange, or a foreclosure rate of 1 in 1,200 homes. That's not too horribly bad compared to states like California, Nevada, Missouri and Florida with rates of 1 in 150! Unfortunately, Monroe County doesn't fair as well as the state. Currently, 1 in 600 homes are in some state of foreclosure with some of the large pockets in Rochester's 18th and 19th Wards with rates at the 1 in 150.

The bottom line is we have a serious situation with foreclosures. In fact, the state of New York has enacted a law that requires lenders to wait 90 days before starting foreclosure proceedings.

There are organizations that can help if you are facing a possible foreclosure. The most important advice is talk to your Bank! Avoiding the situation will only make matters worse. Do not just desert your property. If you remain there and maintain it, the bank is more likely to work with you. And call for help. The Housing Council provides FREE foreclosure prevention counseling simply by calling 585-546-3700 Ext. 3015.

And if you are interested in purchasing foreclosures, take a peek at my post from last December: Buying Foreclosures Yes, there are some good deals out there but you need to keep a few precautions in mind when shopping for foreclosures.

I'm a optimist by nature. We are in a difficult economic climate right now but it is temporary. Soon real estate will be fun again.

Have a super Halloween!

I'm in the Capture Rochester Book!

Maybe you got an e-mail from me asking you to vote for my photos. Maybe I tried to bribe you with coffee and asked you to vote for my photos. Or maybe it was the tears as I pleaded with you to vote for my photos. Whatever it was, it worked because not only is one of my photos included in the Capture Rochester Book but it also won a People's Choice Award for being one of the top 25 photos in the book. I'm so excited!!

The book is beautiful and probably 95% of the photography is better than mine so it's pretty shocking to get the award. The whole concept of the book is pretty amazing. They asked the general public to submit photos and 1,166 people submitted nearly 25,000 photos. Then they asked the public to vote "yay" or "nay" for the photo and the received more than 1.5 million votes! Isn't that incredible. Any way, if you'd like to order a copy, go to http://www.capturerochester.com/

Say Somthing Nice

It's been tough to blog lately. I'm a firm believer in the saying that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So I've been silent. There is not much nice to say about the local real estate market right now.

I've got clients, mostly buyers, but they just are not finding anything to buy. It seems that with all the doom and gloom in the news, sellers are not selling unless they absolutely have to. Latest stats out show that the number of local listings is down by more than 10 percent.

Good houses are still selling quickly. In at least 4 occasions during the past six weeks, I've had buyers not quick enough on the draw. One agent told me yesterday that she wrote five offers in October but four of them didn't come together, some due to mulitple offers. So if you are thinking about selling in this market, it is esential that you de-clutter, clean and be up to date on all maintence. Then price it right and it will sell! (If you are thinking of selling, call me and ask about my staging offer.)

Banks are giving mortgages but you've got to have decent credit. I've had a couple of buyers with scores below 500 wanting owner financing. Guess what? Owners check credit as well. Now, more than ever before, Americans should pay their bills on time and make strides to get out of debt. Ever hear of a Budget? It's time to adopt one and stick to it.

I will get back to blogging, I promise! I appreciate the e-mails asking if I'm okay. And I guess there has been one very nice side to the current real estate market, I've been able to spend more time with my husband and enjoying photography and other hobbies! Have a fun and safe Holloween!

Yes, There Still Are Mortgages Available in Rochester!!!!

I know that this mornings headlines scream that the credit crunch hits local, but after surveying several banks and mortgage brokers, I've learned there are still mortgages available in Rochester! In fact, you don't need perfect credit either. FHA insured mortgages are still available for individuals with a credit score as low as 580 with 2.25% down payment!!! Minimum down payments will increase January 1, 2009 but for the time being you only need two and a quarter percent down.

Conventional financing is still available with a 5% down payment. Rates are based on credit scores with buyers having a score of 740 or better earning the best rates.

Please, please, please if you know someone thinking about purchasing real estate, encourage them to call a bank or mortgage broker and not believe everything they hear at the gym or golf course. There is a ton of bad information out there!