real estate

OPEN HOUSE THIS SATURDAY 1-3 p.m. Gorgeous three bedroom, two and a half bath brick Colonial, only 13 years young! Fantastic kitchen with granite counters, island with butcher block top and maple hardwood floors. Master bedroom with walk-in closet and bath featuring marble countertops and large walk in tiled shower. Large two and a half car attached garage. Very private back yard smartly landscaped and additional outbuilding just under 700 square feet with high ceilings, living room, office, one bedroom and full bath. Call Charles Flynn today for more information or visit the open house.

53edgewooddrive.howardhanna.com

Summer is almost over but we have some hot summer listings! Call Reliant Real Estate today, we'll help you find the perfect home!
For more information in these listings;

• Click here for 68 Oak Street, Batavia.
• Click here for 52 North Lyons Street, Batavia
• Click here for 10627 Alleghany Road, Darien
• Click here for 10638 Alleghany Road, Darien

All of these listings are easy to see, call Lynn Bezon today!

So adorable -- Spacious Cape Cod in the Town of Batavia on a sleepy dead-end street. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths, with first floor master bedroom and bath. Large living room with efficient wood-burning insert in beautiful natural stone fireplace and custom mantle. Gleaming hardwood floors. Country kitchen, dining room overlooks private back yard with mature trees. Built in fire pit -- detached 2-1/2 car garage. Beautiful three season enclosed porch, first floor laundry. Recent remodel with new siding, windows and metal roof in last two years, new bathroom and cozy upstairs bedrooms -- large walk-in closet.

Nothing left to do but move in and it's in remarkable condition.Truly a must see! Public water and sewer-workshop in semi-finished basement is everyone's dream. Call Nancy Crocker today or click here for more information on this listing.

So adorable -- Spacious Cape Cod in the Town of Batavia on a sleepy dead-end street. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths, with first floor master bedroom and bath. Large living room with efficient wood-burning insert in beautiful natural stone fireplace and custom mantle. Gleaming hardwood floors. Country kitchen, dining room overlooks private back yard with mature trees. Built in fire pit -- detached 2-1/2 car garage. Beautiful three season enclosed porch, first floor laundry. Recent remodel with new siding, windows and metal roof in last two years, new bathroom and cozy upstairs bedrooms -- large walk-in closet.

Nothing left to do but move in and it's in remarkable condition.Truly a must see! Public water and sewer-workshop in semi-finished basement is everyone's dream. Call Nancy Crocker today or click here for more information on this listing.

So adorable -- Spacious Cape Cod in the Town of Batavia on a sleepy dead-end street. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths, with first floor master bedroom and bath. Large living room with efficient wood-burning insert in beautiful natural stone fireplace and custom mantle. Gleaming hardwood floors. Country kitchen, dining room overlooks private back yard with mature trees. Built in fire pit -- detached 2-1/2 car garage. Beautiful three season enclosed porch, first floor laundry. Recent remodel with new siding, windows and metal roof in last two years, new bathroom and cozy upstairs bedrooms -- large walk-in closet.

Nothing left to do but move in and it's in remarkable condition.Truly a must see! Public water and sewer-workshop in semi-finished basement is everyone's dream. Call Nancy Crocker today or click here for more information on this listing.

Our objective is to guide our clients through a stressless (yes, it’s a word) and enjoyable home buying or selling experience that they will recommend to others.
Why Reliant?

• Reliant Real Estate is Personal and Capable.
• We strive to make your experience with us as simple and as enjoyable as possible.
• We can assist you through the process of buying a property that is being sold by any agency in New York State.
• We are a part of an advanced and intricate system of realtors. When you hire Reliant, we mobilize the entire WNY real estate community.
• We know more about investment property than anyone.
• We leverage our extensive relationships for your benefit.
• We combine years of business education and experience with decades of real estate experience.
  Call us and ask us anything. We are happy to share our knowledge.

Need help financing? We can recommend you to one of the many competent lenders we are familiar with. Call Reliant Real Estate today, 585-344-HOME!

Home sales surged this summer in Genesee County, reflecting an overall regional trend.

In Genesee County, closed deals for the four months ended Sept. 30, increased by nearly 26 percent to 186, up from 148 last year, according to data provided by the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors.

The median sale price rose by 5 percent, to $105,500. The average sale price rose by 1.8 percent, to $114,427.

“This was probably one of the busier summers in the last five or 10 years,” said Robert Gerace, a broker for Realty USA in Batavia. “Once September hit, things quieted down again.”

Total closed sales from June through September in the Buffalo-Niagara region rose 9.2 percent to 4,728, up from 4,329 last year, according to the BNAR.

For the year-to-date, closed sales rose 7.7 percent to 8,187, up from 7,604 in 2014.

“We’ve had a record year,” said Joe Rivellino, the BNAR president and owner of Rivellino Realty in Warsaw.

The BNAR credits an improved job market, falling unemployment and rising earnings for driving home sales. 

“We’ve had a strong market for quite some time,” Rivellino said. “We also still have very aggressive interest rates.”

Rivellino reminded that “real estate is local.”

“The Erie County market is stronger, and that’s where you tend to (see) more multiple offerings and sales above list price,” Rivellino said.

Beyond Erie, the situation varies by county and municipality.

“Wyoming County might have a few pockets where there are slower numbers,” he said. “Property taxes being higher here than they are in some other areas is somewhat of a deterrent.”

Indeed, closed sales from June through September in Wyoming county fell 12 percent from last year, from 128 to 113, the BNAR said.

Both the median and average sale prices were up in Wyoming, however. The median sale price rose 4.3 percent, to $98,500, while the average price rose 3.8 percent, to $114,837.

Homes in both counties were however spending more days on the market before sale — 80 days on average, compared to 74 days in 2014.

Still, summer saw a seller’s market overall.

Gerace recalled taking one couple on visits to 30 listings this summer.

“There were multiple offers,” he said. “Everything was full price — and more.”

Which prompts an observation: To the quickest go the spoils.

“If you want it, you’d better jump on it,” Gerace said.

Rivellino, who has owned his agency for 12 years, is optimistic the trend will continue for at least a little while.

“I believe the interest rate is going to stay aggressive for a little bit longer,” Rivellino said. “There’s no doubt they’re going to go up, but I just don’t know how quickly.”

A Conversation with Kay Ognibene…

Seated at her kitchen table, Kay Ognibene, dressed like she was ready to go back to the office, with her cellphone by her side, spoke of her 40 years in real estate.

“It started in 1974 when I was asked if I was interested in taking a '14- week' real estate course on Wednesday nights at Genesee Community College," Ognibene said.

Though Wednesday was her bowling night, she thought it sounded like interesting so she signed up.

Prior to starting a career in real estate, Kay said she worked at the telephone company for 16 years and then was a stay-at-home mom. But then she completed the real estate course and got her license. She worked while her children were at school, occasional evenings and weekends.

"I worked and I was still able to have supper on the table for my family…I trained my children not to answer the phone because she had to answer if clients called."

Kay initially worked for her brother-in-law, Tony Giordano, until he moved to Florida; then she was hired by Feary-Hyatt Realty. Of her days working with Dick Feary, she said the business was growing at the time and she remembered Dick keeping his team motivated and competitive amongst each other in a very positive manner. He taught her the term “Circulate to Percolate” -- he was referring to getting out in the community and talking to people to “percolate” or produce more connections and possible sales. After her start with Dick, she then worked with Pearl Hyatt and later Howard Cohen. And when Howard moved to Florida, she went to work at Mancuso Realty.

She spoke positively of all her colleagues and repeated how much she loved her work.

"It is a great field and you have to like what you are doing. My advice would be to work hard and listen to people. If you listen, you will give people what they want.”

Asked if it was difficult at the beginning working in a male-dominated career, and she replied “No, everyone was good to me."

Kay was the first woman on the Genesee County Board of Realtors. She says throughout her career, she kept up to date by going to seminars and taking required tests every two years.

“I went to seminars to improve myself -- I wanted to be successful."

And successful she was, with a career that spanned for four decades. One of the big changes in the industry was the use of advertising.

"When I first started, the newspaper was the main avenue to advertise," she said. "But now the use of the computer and online listings are how most people look for real estate. In addition, the secretaries used to do the computer listings, and only about eight years ago, she learned to do her own listings, use e-mail, and work with technology."

But some things don't change.

"If the price and location are right… the house will sell. Location is key."

Interviewing Kay, it's clear that she enjoys her chosen field.

"It was fun... I loved real estate. ... When I took that course, I did not know what a mortgage was. I guess I’ve come a long way.

Kay continues to be active in the community and is a member of both the Paolo Busti Organization and Batavia Businesswoman’s Group.

The Batavian is partnering with Rochester-based Property Source to launch a whole new way for finding and selling homes in Genesee County on a site run by Property Source under the brand ZagPad.com.

The new site will replace our housing link in our main navigation on July 15.

For the first time we will be able to offer our readers access through The Batavian to MLS listings and offer local agents great tools to feature their businesses and and their listings.

The site also features sections for rentals, home improvement and senior living.

We will also be managing the Wyoming County real estate site for ZagPad/Property Source.

We think the new site is going to offer both people looking for housing and the real estate community a set of tools and features that haven't truly been available locally before.

As Genesee County's #1 online news source, the #1 Web site of any kind locally, we are excited to bring the county one centralized, go-to place for real estate.

One of the things we liked about ZagPad is the platform gives us the opportunity to deliver to our local readers and advertisers a Genesee County-focused real estate Web site -- one that is tied into a regional network of real estate listings and media partners (such as WHAM13 and WHEC in Rochester and the Bee Newspapers in Erie County). This gives local users and advertisers the best of both worlds -- a local focus with a regional reach.

Real estate agents and brokers who need more information should call Lisa Ace at (585) 250-4118.

The regional real estate market may be picking up steam, but the impact is muffled in Genesee County, according to Howard Cohen, owner of FearyCohen Realty in Batavia.

Cohen said since the Batavia area is considered a bedroom community -- meaning a lot of folks commute elsewhere to work -- it doesn't get big ups or downs in the market that metro and resort areas do.

"We have a stable market," Cohen said. "Most people tend to stay in the area, even when they buy up."

The Democrat and Chronicle reported this weekend that a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers is heating up home sales.

"The tax credit is making homes go off the shelves," said Garry Britton, an agent at Nothnagle's Fairport office.

Homes priced below $150,000 in good condition are moving swiftly, followed by those under $200,000.

The tax credit is available for first-time buyers, and returning buyers who haven't owned a home for at least three years, who purchase a home by Dec. 31. It allows them to get a tax rebate of up to 10 percent of the selling price, up to $8,000.

Existing home sales for January through March were 1,648 compared to 2,112 in the first quarter of 2008. That's a drop of 22 percent, according to the report released Thursday by the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors. The median house price of a house was $105,000, with half higher and half lower in price, which represents a 3-percent decline.

The data spans a 12-county area from Seneca Lake to Genesee County and Lake Ontario to the Southern Tier.

The tax credit may help improve those numbers, but it probably won't have much impact locally, according to Cohen.

"We don't have a lot of first-time buyers here," Cohen explained. "We're still in a bit of a slump, but sales are a little stronger that in the last period of 2008."

The folks at Bob Harris Realty said they are optimistic that the tax credit will help boost sales, plus buying typically picks up in springtime.

Real estate advisers say to avoid low-ball offers in these categories and to expect a negotiating window no greater than 5 percent.

My husband and I are house hunting, and recently we found a house we fell in love with except, it is part of a homeowners association. Now we have been asking friends and family what they know about homeowners associations. Today I heard about this story and am giving second thoughts to being involved in an association.

From the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet:

When their son was deployed to Iraq in October, Terry and Sue Lewton installed a flagpole outside their Loveland, Colo. home to fly the American flag 24 hours a day until his return. Sgt. Jason Lewton is still stationed in Iraq, but his parents’ homeowners association asked them to remove the 20-foot flagpole to maintain “the high standards of the community.” Sue Lewton refuses to remove the flag until her son comes home. The flagpole is not taller than the Lewtons’ home, the flag is kept in respectable condition, and they received no objections when they asked their immediate neighbors before installing the flagpole.

What rights would you give up to live in a more structured community?
( surveys)