Central New York Real Estate Podcast with Chip Hodgkins

Today I’m joined by a really special guest—Peter Hunt, the CEO of Hunt Real Estate. Together, we’ll discuss the dynamics of the Central New York real estate market.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleThere’s been a big fall-off with respect to the number of closings and transactions in Central New York. It’s really a tale of two cities (or price points): under $250,000, between $250,000 and $300,000, and over $400,000. Under $100,000, Peter Hunt of Hunt Real Estate has noticed a huge drop-off mainly because there aren’t enough sellers. Under $250,000, it’s still the same. So what can be done about that? According to Peter, the bottom line is that because there aren’t enough sellers in the market, there is an overabundance of buyers. The solution is to bring more supply to the market. This is the perfect time for sellers, particularly those looking to trade out their home for another home. There’s probably never been a better time to maximize their equity because of the relationship between buyer demand and seller supply. As supply gets lower, demand gets higher, and prices go up. We’ve seen it all across Upstate New York, and it’s certainly true for Central New York, as well. As a matter of fact, on average, we’ve seen the prices of homes under $250,000 go up anywhere from 4% to 5%. If you’re thinking of selling your house right now, there are more buyers in the market than we’ve had in a long time, and the rate of appreciation at the lower end is going to be greater than the appreciation at the higher end of the market.When there is a two-year supply of homes like we have in our market, you’ve got to be aggressive on all fronts.In this market, if you sell lower and buy higher, you’ll be making money on that transaction because it’s appreciating faster and for more money on the lower end of the market, and it’s appreciating slower and for less money the higher you go in the market. In other words, the rate of return for buyers goes up as you buy a higher-priced home because of price compression on the high end and price expansion on the lower end. Just as the number of transactions below the $250,000 price point has decreased due to the lack of sellers, the number of transactions above the $400,000 price point has dropped due to a lack of buyers. We have over a two-year supply of homes between $400,000 and $1 million. As a seller in this price range, what can be done? Peter says the obvious and unfortunate solution is that you may have to compromise on the price. When there are too few buyers in the market, the first seller who brings down their price will be the first one to set a new bar in that marketplace. The good news, however, is that all across the country, prices on the higher end are down—30% in Southern California and more than 25% in Manhattan. We’re currently in a situation where we’re not as bad off as the rest of the country for the high end of the market. This can be an opportunity for those who act now: Set a new bar and be willing to negotiate. I always tell clients looking to attract more buyers that they can either increase the condition of their home or decrease the price. However, we’re not in an either/or market: You need to do both to sell well in the high end. When there is a two-year supply of homes like we have in our market, you’ve got to be aggressive on all fronts. A lot of times, high-end homeowners are less likely to want to improve the home because, in many cases, this is their caste. Even still, it’s our job as professionals to go through that house with a fine-tooth comb and give homeowners every bit of meaningful advice that brings a real return on investment—carpet, paint, kitchen, bathrooms, landscaping, and so on. Improving and upgrading these areas doesn’t cost a lot of money in proportion to the value of the home, but they do bring a return to those who upgrade with the market in mind and actually make the house more sellable. Today’s buyers are a lot fussier, and they know what they want and what they’re willing to pay for. Finally, in our market, it’s important to work with a team that has an intimate understanding of all the competition in the market—that knows the condition of every other house in the neighborhood—so that you can be sure your home is the very best in that price range. If your listing is best-in-class, the other consumers will know it, and so will other brokers. If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the Central New York area, or if you have any questions for me, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.

Prime Heating and Air is a great, family-run business here in Syracuse. They recently gave me some great tips for homeowners that I want to share with you.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleI’m here today with Neal Carr of Prime Heating and Air to talk a little bit about his business and how they can help homeowners reduce energy costs when it comes time to turn their furnaces back on this fall. Prime Heating and Air is a family-run business that’s been in operation for just over three years now in the Syracuse area. Neal and his brothers have been very successful and have a lot of knowledge about heating and air systems. So what does Neal think are the biggest issues that homeowners have when it comes to their systems? The two biggest issues they run into are regular changing of furnace filters and getting yearly maintenance done on their furnaces. The filter in your furnace should be changed every 30 to 45 days. The filter will only cost a few bucks, but being diligent about replacing it could save you a ton of money in the long run by making sure your furnace is more efficient and works longer.A filter only costs a few dollars, but can save you a ton of money by making your furnace more efficient.As far as the yearly maintenance is concerned, Neal and his team will be able to come in, take a look at the furnace, and make sure everything is working in proper order for just about $80. The more preventative maintenance you do on equipment like this, the fewer expenses you’ll have down the road and the longer your system will last. Neal recommends the fall as a good time to get your heating system serviced. If you have any questions for Neal or need Prime Heating and Air’s help with your yearly maintenance, be sure to give them a call at (315) 802-4287 or send them an email to info@primeheatandair.com. If you schedule a furnace servicing with Neal and mention us, he’ll throw in a three-month supply of filters at no additional cost. If you have any other real estate questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

30% of our nation’s veterans are missing out on the tax benefits they have earned.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleAre you a United States veteran? If so, I would like to share a statistic that may interest you. Did you know that 30% of veterans in our country are not taking advantage of their property tax exemptions? This equates to thousands of dollars left on the table. So if you or someone you know would like more information about this, please reach out. To hear my full message, watch my short video.

Home staging is an underrated way to boost your home’s sale price. Here’s how our friend and favorite home stager, Lorrie White, does her magic on homes.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleI was delighted to be joined recently by Lorrie White of Lorrie White Staging Company, aka “The Secret Weapon” to talk about what she does and to see her work in action. We’re at one of Coldwell Banker Properties 6797 Dutch Hill Road. in Dewitt, NY. This house has been on the market for a little while, and the owners have had Lorrie come in to stage the entire house. Watch the video above to get the full home tour after Lorrie and her team did their magic. Did you know that according to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of homes that are professionally staged and professionally photographed will sell quicker and for more money? According to Lorrie, these are the top three things people need to know about staging a house: 1. Staging is affordable. Many people are under the impression that staging is too expensive or not worth the money. It’s important to know that there are many different variations of staging. Lorrie is always willing to work with budgets, and some home staging is better than no staging at all. Even just working with a few key first-impression spaces can make a drastic difference in the presentation of the home during staging. Lorrie’s consultations typically take anywhere from one to two hours.80% of homes that are professionally staged and professionally photographed will sell quicker and for more money, according to THE NAR.2. Staging is not the same as decorating. Even the best-decorated home can sit stagnant on the market for a number of reasons. They may be a little too taste-specific or individualistic. Decorating is more of a personal thing for everyday living. Staging is done for marketing purposes to help a product appeal to the most number of buyers possible. 3. Square footage sells. It’s extremely important to your home’s value. Certain things in a space can make a home feel smaller (i.e. large area rugs, dark paint colors, and too much furniture). It’s all about opening up your home, which Lorrie did wonderfully as you can see above. If you have any questions for Lorrie or want to get in touch with her to see how she can help expedite your home sale, visit her website, follow her on Instagram, or give her a call at (315) 420.9291 If you have any questions for me in the meantime about home staging, the market, or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon. 

We’re proud to announce that our team is endorsed by none other than Barbara Corcoran, one of the most respected names in real estate.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleThere’s only team Barbara Corcoran trusts to sell her home in our marketplace, which is why she endorses the The Chip Hodgkins Team. She recognizes our proven success, because the numbers don’t lie. We attract full-price offers every day due to our extensive marketing, and we guarantee that if we don’t sell your home, we’ll buy it ourselves.Chip attracts more buyers in one day than most agents attract all year. - Barbara CorcoranTo learn more about our guarantee program and how we attract so many buyers, visit SyracuseHomeLink.com. To hear Barbara’s full endorsement, watch the video above. If you have any other questions or you’re looking to get your home sold, don’t hesitate to call or email us. We’d be happy to help you.

If you’re selling your home next spring, you need to take pictures of your home now before it’s too late.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleIf you’re thinking of selling your home sometime in the spring, you’ve got to go out and take pictures of it now. Fall is coming, and soon the foliage will be gone. Right now, your home looks better than it will in March. When the time comes to put it on the market, you’ll have a whole catalog of beautiful pictures ready to go.Don’t delay any longer.You only have a week or two at best to get this done, so don’t delay any longer! If you have any questions about taking listing photos or would like to enlist the services of a professional photographer, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I’d love to help you.

Looking for a good butcher in central New York?Look no further than Sidehill Farmers right here in Manlius.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleWe’re excited to introduce you to another great local business calling Manlius home. This time, we’re with Greg Rhoad of Sidehill Farmers. I’ve been a big fan of theirs for a while now. This is easily one of the best butcher shops in central New York.Sidehill Farmers has been in Manlius for three years now. Their mission is to bring local products from local farmers to local consumers in Manlius, Syracuse, and surrounding areas. They are a real farm-to-table business, representing over 60 farmers around the area. They’ve got pasture-raised beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and more. All their meats are hormone and antibiotic free as well. People come from all over central New York for a cut, or just for a bite at the sandwich shop. You can come in and get a quick bite, a holiday roast, or anything in between.Sidehill Farmers is a whole-animal butchery, meaning they utilize every part of the animal from snout to tail. They also take pride in their ability to provide any and every customer with the proper education about the meat they are buying and how they should prepare it. You can come in and get a quick bite, a holiday roast, or anything in between. Whenever you need meat, go head over to Sidehill Farmers.If you have any questions for them, you can give them a call at (315) 682-MEAT(6328) or visit their website here. If you have any other questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out anytime. I look forward to hearing from you.

If you’re itching to sit down and enjoy a nice craft beer, I recommend you check out All Who Wander.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleIf craft beer and good company is your idea of a good night on the town, you’ll like today’s local business spotlight. I’m talking about All Who Wander, a craft beer bar and grill at 315 Fayette St. According to co-owners Dan Chapman and Joe Ori, the name “All Who Wander” speaks to the experience of finding your place to enjoy a nice craft beverage, a grilled cheese sandwich, and having a nice social experience. For them, it’s as simple as taking the products that they love and sharing them with their customers. Speaking of products, they not only have wine and many regional beers on tap, but also on-tap nitro coffee. If you haven’t heard of this new trend, nitro coffee is cold-brew coffee infused with nitrogen so it pours out of a tap just like a Guinness would. It adds a silky, smooth flavor that’s nothing short of delicious on a warm day.Dan and Joe consider it an important part of their job to represent beer itself.All of the craft beers they serve are hand-selected by Dan and Joe. They consider it a very important part of their job to represent the beer itself and share with people the way certain beers are supposed to taste. Furthermore, the history and story of the beer brings more to the drinking experience (I call this “knowledge-based drinking”). One of the fulfilling things about their work is sharing stories back and forth with their customers. To know more about All Who Wander, you can visit them online at www.wanderhere.com or send them an email at letstalk@wanderhere.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to speak with you.

Saving Face Barbershop is a versatile and high-end barber shop that I highly recommend. Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleIf you’re in need of a quality shave or haircut, I have the perfect place to introduce you to. That place is Saving Face Barbershop, where I’m live on location speaking with barber and co-owner Taylor Horseman. Located at 127 East Seneca St., Saving Face has been in business at this new location for about four months. They also have another location in Camillus that’s been open for seven years. According to Taylor, what makes their establishment different is that their employees have been at their jobs for a long time and have a passion for what they do. Cutting hair is more of an art than a job to them. With the communal atmosphere they present, they intend Saving Face to be a place where men can hang out and build friendships in addition to getting a haircut.At Saving Face Barbershop, cutting hair is more of an art than a job. While you wait for a haircut, you can watch TV, play shuffleboard, or pour yourself a nice cup of coffee. They like to be versatile and able to accommodate any customer, so they perform many different types of cuts, including straight-razor shaves and full facial treatments. To learn more about Saving Face Barbershop or to schedule an appointment, you can visit them online at www.savingfacebarbershop.com or email them at savingfacemanlius@gmail.com.I highly recommend that you visit this location in the near future. It’s great for Manlius, and I look forward to featuring more local businesses in the near future. If you have any other questions, give me a call. I look forward to talking to you soon!

We are going to be donating an amount equal to 12% of all our commissions from buyers and sellers who do a transaction with us in April. Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleOur team is not only dedicated to our clients, we’re also dedicated to our community and we are always looking for ways to improve it and the lives of those who share it with us.This is why we are here today with Kate Houck of David’s Refuge. This nonprofit is all about caring for the caregivers. They are able to serve parents who have a child with special needs or a life-threatening illness with their support. They send the families on beautiful two-night getaways in order to refresh them, show appreciation for them, and remind them they are not alone. We couldn’t be more happy to support David’s Refuge We couldn’t be more happy to participate in a worthwhile cause like this. In the month of April, we are donating an amount equal to 12% of our commissions to David’s Refuge. The more people we are able to help buy and sell homes, the more families we’ll be able to help. We are aiming to help 60 different families in the next year with the help of David’s Refuge.To learn more about David’s Refuge, visit their website here. If you have any other questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

Today I’m here with Casey Crabill, the President of Onondaga Community College, to discuss the many benefits OCC offers to its students and their families.Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleToday I’m here with Casey Crabill, the President of Onondaga Community College. We’re going to discuss how OCC helps their students and their families.As a community college, OCC has a couple of different missions. First of all, they help freshmen and sophomores make their way towards a bachelor’s degree. “We provide the first two years in a variety of majors,” President Crabill says. “We also have some students who are here for a career-focused education.” Those students study things like nursing and, instead of transferring to a four-year program, they get to work once their two years are up.What sets OCC apart from other schools? President Crabill knows that many people are worried about the cost of college. OCC is an affordable alternative. “We can pretty much cut your college costs in half for a transfer degree,” she says. OCC has transfer agreements all across the country and all throughout the SUNY system, which makes it easier for students to transition into a four-year program.Attending OCC can cut your education costs in half. Price isn’t the only advantage of attending OCC. Onondaga also has small class sizes, even for freshmen and sophomores. At large universities, some students do not thrive when they are one out of 100 students in a classroom. The average class size at OCC is 22 students, so you will get know your professor better. President Crabill says, “We provide a more personal approach.”Another advantage of attending OCC is that you will not be taught by graduate students. All of the faculty members are actual professors. Even your first-year courses are taught by professors, which definitely sets OCC apart from other universities.OCC is known for several different programs. They provide everything from music or nursing to manufacturing and technology. “We have a thriving honors program,” President Crabill says. “We are also known for our lacrosse national championships.” The lacrosse program is simply a benchmark of the strong athletic programs OCC provides. There are plenty of options for students to choose from.As for cost, full-time tuition for one year is $4,200, not including other fees and expenses (such as textbooks or room and board). “We have 874 students living on campus,” says President Crabill. All told, there are 1,100 students enrolled at OCC, making it the second largest post-secondary institution in Central New York, right after Syracuse University.As we mentioned earlier, OCC is also part of the SUNY (State University of New York) system, which presents a few advantages for OCC students. OCC’s transfer pathways are rock solid because the other institutions know exactly which courses OCC provides. You will also receive a quality education, as OCC will meet the expectations of the SUNY system.OCC is truly a great option for a number of students. If you have any questions for President Casey Crabill, give her a call at 315-498-2214 or email her at president@sunyocc.edu. If you have any questions for me, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleToday I’m joined by Warren Pfohl with David’s Refuge to tell you about an incredible partnership that raises donations to help continue the mission of caring for the caregiver. Because of the exposure that David’s Refuge got from this campaign, we were able to do 17 transactions in April, which allowed us to donate an amazing $12,000 to David’s Refuge!"We’re so honored and happy to be a part of the family and part of David’s Refuge." Do you know what that means? That means David’s Refuge can serve 25 families. These families will leave knowing that they are not alone, that what they do matters, and that God loves them. That is amazing. We’re so honored and happy to be a part of the family and part of David’s Refuge. If you’re interested in learning more, visit www.davidsrefuge.org.

Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for saleA lot of people have been asking me, “What’s the one big thing that’s happening in Syracuse real estate?"The one big thing happening right now is that we have a big chasm between buyers and sellers. The average buyer is about 37 years old, while the average seller is about 67 years old. So what’s the big chasm?The chasm is that the average seller bought a home, fixed it up, and made it theirs. They may have put new floors in or made other changes to make it theirs. That’s the way they want to sell their house; the hardwood floors might need to be refinished or the countertops might need updating, or the bathrooms might need renovating. They don’t want to do it for the buyer, but rather have the buyer update the home their way. That’s what they had to do, after all.Buyers today are considered “entitled” because they want to have things done right for them. The 45 and under buyer really wants to have a house that’s already updated for them, because they don’t have the time, money, or effort to make the updates. The average seller might not want to put in granite countertops for fear of choosing the wrong color, for example, but the buyer looks at this as a lack of effort to sell. The average buyer would rather pay more for the same house if it’s already updated. We’re seeing that houses that have professional photos, staging, and updates are selling so much faster than those that aren’t. Buyers are disappointed in the inventory for this reason. What we’ve got to do is coach the sellers to do some of the updating, and coach the buyers to understand that, with the help of a contractor, there’s not much work to be done. Refinishing floors, installing granite countertops or replacing a bathroom vanity doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars like some think. We can help sellers with updating and staging, and we can help buyers get set up with contractors or anyone that can help with a new home. If you have any questions, give me a call or shoot me an email and let’s talk soon!