CSA you say…what is that ?  It stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

It is a community effort of families and individuals to bring healthy, and locally produced farm fresh food to the table.  Members have a share in the produce that is grown.  I have belonged to the Keuka Lake CSA and membership is $500.00 per year. This allows me one share per week.

Every week different crops are available and are picked up at one of the participating farms.  In the Spring it starts out with asparagus and rhubarb May/June to winter squash in the Fall.  Usually when you pick up your vegetables, folks have recipes available for the produce you are picking up, to make the most of your fruits and vegetables. When you sign up,you are given the names of the farms involved in the CSA.   Almost all farms involved in CSA’s grown their produce organically.

CSAs benefit the farmers as well as the community share member.  For the farmers, they know in advance what they need to grow for the share supply and they have upfront money to purchase their seeds.  The consumer is guaranteed fresh and healthy produce every week and every week the produce is a little different. These programs are a huge win/win for all involved.  New relationships are developed between the shareholders and the farmers.

These types of community efforts are also part of the reasons that folks from other areas want to purchase real estate here.  A little way of being green.

If you are interested in eating healthy and would like to be an integral part of your community and its efforts to support local farming, CSAs are fo you. Contact one of the local CSAs in your area now, since most are going through their sign up periods.  If you miss out on the deadline for your area, you can still inquire into the farms that are supporting the effort.  They may have additional produce to be purchased for non-shareholders.  This is a program that will make you feel good in many ways !

This information brought to you by Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes. 315-719-8377 www.winetrailproperties.com

$2,000 “up in smoke”

We have all done embarrassing things in our lives, most we don’t tell anyone about, some are witnessed by others and become the basis of a good laugh and some even become lesson learned teachings.  I have actually spoken to the gentleman this tale is about.  He is bright, intellectual and a real people person.  I  contacted him because of the business he created in the Finger Lakes and his conversation led me to believe he was very passionate about his endeavor.

So what was the embarrassing moment?  Apparently he was heading out on a trip and realized he had some cash in the house and decided to hide it in the fireplace wrapped up in foil and then carefully placed within the ashes.  What a perfect place.  The problem is that when he came back home from his trip, there was a chill in the air and he decided to start a fire in the wood stove. Ouch !       

The story now takes a turn.  Because he wrapped the money so carefully in aluminum foil, the money was actually in such a condition that it was legible to its denominations.  After a trip to the bank, he mailed the money to the Federal Reserve as directed, thinking it would be a lost cause.  But fortunately 18 months later he received a check for $1995.00 which was $5.00 less than the $2000.00 that had been wrapped in the foil. 

He should not feel alone.  My grandmother used to hide money in kleenex and tuck the tissue in her clothes.  When it came time to do laundry, she would forget about the money being tucked inside and toss the kleenex out.  Sometime she was fortunate and able to withdraw from the trash other times she would send the kleenex on its way in the toilet bowl and only realize what she had done as the water-soaked kleenex exposed the bills in hiding as they swirling down the bowl… Never to be seen again.

I must have picked up her habits of hiding things.  I used to hide money in my car under the rugs, but usually did not remember it until after I sold the car. I hide things so well, I can never find the items when I need them.   Needless to say, I am trying really hard not to hide things, as I have not been as fortunate as the man with the singed bills.

If you are planning on stashing away the money that will eventually be used for your down payment in purchasing your home, always remember where you are putting it and most definitely do not hide money in the fireplace.

This information brought to you by Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, 315-719-8377  www.winetrailproperties.com

Every little town has a place or two that the locals know about, but for some reason they neglect to tell those visiting.  I am not sure why that is.  But when friends and associates find out about Morgans, they ask me “How long have they been there?” and look at me as if they should have had prior knowledge about the store.

For all of the meat lovers out there, you can find a great steak at Morgans and the filets will melt in your mouth.  Once visitors find out about Morgans Grocery and try their meats, they show up with a cooler on their next visit to take a supply home – yes, the meat really is that good.  Besides being a great butcher that will cut the meat to your liking, you can find groceries, plenty of  fresh baked goods and an old-fashioned lunch counter. 

If you are looking for convenience, look no further.  Morgans has a great selection of stuffed pork chops, stuffed peppers, barbecued beef or pork and even meatloaves that are ready to throw in the oven.  Need a side dish ?  You will also find a huge assortment of deli salads.  If you go home empty-handed, must be you don’t like to eat.

So if you are in Penn Yan, head down to Hamilton St located just over the railroad tracks off of Elm St.  Or just ask any of the locals.  Bon appetite !

This information brought to you by your favorite waterfront Realtor, Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377  www.winetrailproperties.com

Seneca Farms Ice Cream, a local landmark in Penn Yan, especially so for the summertime vacationers to Keuka Lake.  Everyone has to visit Seneca Farms at least once.  For many it has become a tradition.

Is it the home-made ice cream in an unending amount of flavors or is it the fresh strawberry sundaes made with fresh picked local strawberries that brings families back year after year. Or maybe it is all of the cute young ladies that serve the ice cream up.  Whatever it is, Seneca Farms has gone through a couple of expansions, including a full fast food menu with some of the best rated chicken and fritters.  (yes, I did say fritters, and yes we are up North )

For me it is a terrible atrocity when they open up for the season.  Why ? Because I only live a stones throw away and the temptation is just too great sometimes to just pass by or in my case walk by.

Since they have closed for the season, the temptations will be gone until March when they open back up and will be advertising their Easter Ice Cream cakes. 

This is a small reminder of how quiet and desolate it feels around the lake once the cold weather comes along.  The lake people have gone, the wineries are having their big weekends and then will be winding down until the early part of next year.  The only increase in vehicles will  be the salt trucks and the snow plows.  The go-cart track is closed until June and the empty parking lot is a reminder of that, with only empty tires outlining the course but no carts to be seen. A walk down to the park on the lake is easily shared with the geese that are not quite sure if they should migrate or not.

So for now, I patiently wait to see the ice cream sign light up, the lines of cars pulling with hungry visitors willing to place their order for a cold ice cream on an even colder day. Because, then I know everything will begin to fall in place right behind them,  Dougs Meaner Wieners and Keuka Karts.   For me that also means the lakefront buyers will be out looking to purchase the perfect waterfront property and I want to be ready for them !  Where do I take my new clients ?   Well Seneca Farms of course !

This information brought to you by your favorite waterfront Realtor, Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377  www.winetrailproperties.com

REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Yes, I am proud to say that I am a “Realtor® “.  It stands for professionalism, accountability and integrity.  As Realtors®, we agree to work cooperatively for the benefit of our clients.  All real estate agents are not Realtors®. If that is confusing to you, it is understandable.  For example in New York State, a person can qualify and take the exam, pass and receive their license to practice.  Now if they want to be considered a Realtor®, they must join as a member of the National Association of Realtors and agree to abide by their guidelines.     NAR is continually updating us with statistics, marketing data, information for buyers and sellers and the best practices for our business.   When you work with a Realtor®, you should feel good about it. 

Are there some bad apples out there, that give Realtors® a bad name or scar our reputation ?  Of course there are and it is also part of our job to encourage these agents to work ethically and professionally. If it becomes an issue, it is also our responsibility to ensure we report this information to the proper party, which is usually their broker.

I feel personally responsible to be my best at serving my clients by setting the bar high for myself wI hen it comes to professional excellence. I achieve this by attending informational seminars, taking continuing education courses an in my case, taking courses as they relate to vacation and second home property buyers.  My niche is selling waterfront property in the Finger Lakes region in New York State, so I became certified as a Resort/Second Home Property Specialist.  I am proud to say that I was one of the charter members of this exclusive group.  Many of my clients know me as an agent that is always coming up with new ways to market my business, having received links to blogs, email newsletters, youTube videos, and now Facebook page links.

So next time you interview an agent when you are ready to sell or buy, ask the agent if they are a Realtor® and if you are calling on me, rest assured that I am most definitely a Realtor®.

This information brought to you by your favorite waterfront Realtor®, Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377  www.winetrailproperties.com

Keuka Lake, is one of the more desirable of the Finger Lakes, not because of its unique Y shape but because of the setting, the ambiance, the tradition, the quaintness, the little hamlets and villages and a little of all above.  Here you can find a $25,000 mobile home in a private park to a multi million dollar home rumored to have been purchased by John Travolta for his wife Kelly.

With homes like those that would attract a Travolta type buyer, you would expect to see many multi million dollar sales on this lake.  Quite the contrary… in fact there have only been 9 sales on Keuka Lake over a million dollars for as long as the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors has been tracking them.

The first and only home this year on Keuka Lake to sell for over a million dollars, just sold for $1,400,000.  It is located at 10219 E Lake Rd in the Town of Urbana, located at the Southern end of Keuka Lake.  It has a great private location that includes 305 feet of lake front, 1.2 acres, a boat house, in ground pool with pool house complete with bath, a 2 car garage with loft above and a traditional home of 2,717 square feet of living space. 

The luxury waterfront home was originally listed by Vang Real Estate for $2,375,000.00 in July of 2009 and a buyer was brought to the table by Mike Hanna of Realty USA in Hammondsport. 

There are not a lot of private and spacious settings left like this on Keuka Lake.  Here is wishing great times and newly developed memories to the new owners.  Keuka Lake is truly a delightful place.  I am quite sure the Wurtelle family will miss this great vacation escape that they have enjoyed for many, many years.

 This information brought to you by your favorite waterfront Realtor, Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377 www.winetrailproperties.com

As a waterfront Realtor in the Finger Lakes, I have always said ” It’s all about the lake. “  Well now I guess that is partially to completely true.   With over 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes,  visitors to the wineries are responsible for the continued vitality of the wine region in the Finger Lakes.  I am now receiving requests for get-a-way properties that do not have to be on the water, “close to the winery trails and of course a great view would be nice”.    Yes, folks have been doing the winery tours for approx 25 yrs.  However in the past the tasters also wanted to finish out their weekend on the lakeside, even during unfriendly weather.  The tides seem to be changing.  

 Throw a hot tub in with a nice relaxing setting and you have paid guest for the weekend.   The tasters can hit the road in their hired limos, or designated drivers. spend the day tasting and dining their way around the lakes and then head back to their rented house, pour a full glass of their favorite vintage and relax in the hot tub – only to do it all over the next day. For these visitors, who has time for the lake ?

There will still be a demand for lakeside rentals.  The visitors to this area are expanding on their needs.  Some are coming from lakeside communities and their entire mission while in the Finger Lakes is to enjoy the wine, they will be returning to their lakeside or oceanfront homes somewhere else. 

There are some visionaries with the intent of creating a second Napa Valley type destination, where the concentration is about the wineries, and the beauty of the vineyard setting and five-star restaurants serving up local produce.  This will be an area where future wine makers will learn about the trade through seminars and hands on instruction.  They will learn about the newest and best way to train the vines, the best grapes to grow, insect management as well as disease control.  Some folks go away to practice being a cattle hand, folks will be able to come to th area and play wine maker.\

But until this evolution takes place completely in the Finger Lakes, I think the water still takes first place for tourism attraction and dollars.

Mary St,George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, 315-719-8377        www.winetrailproperties.com

As I started on the path of putting this blog together, I remembered a YouTube that my friend and fellow Realtor, Jeremy Havens put together.  I have added that video to this blog and give Jeremy well deserved kudos for it.  We pretty much follow the same lines of reason when it comes to working with our clients.

When choosing a Realtor for your Lakefront/Waterfront  – keep the following things in mind:

1. Find a Realtor that will listen to you and your needs.  You do not want a Realtor that will tell you what you need or want.  Yes sometimes, after conversations with clients, the priorities, needs and wants to present themselves differently.  This comes after allowing your Realtor to ask you numerous questions and listening to the answers you give.  For example;  What is your timeline ? What is your motivation ?    A great Realtor will ask lots of questions, so expect it.
2. Communication – this is so important in most transactions and should be a priority when choosing an agent.  How will they communicate?  Will it be via fax, text, email or phone ?  You decide, you are hiring them.
3. You want an agent that will give you lots of options when it comes to resources so that you can decide which attorney to hire, which lender to use or which home inspector will be the best for your needs.  Realtors should have many options available, if they don’t, then are they really serving your needs, or are they giving you names that will just close the deal ?  You want to make sure that your best interests are served.
4. You want an agent that has experience with waterfront sales, or at least will be working with someone in their office that has.  I have seen more than one closing almost not happen because the watershed processes were not put into place as required by the specific towns. After talking to an agent and finding out more about them and how they do business, you will know if that agent feels good to you and if they will be a good fit.   It is much more than the agent working for the biggest and best company.  You will leave with a feeling that the agent is definitely working for you.  As Jeremy Havens says ” Trust your instincts.”
5. Hire an agent that is not too big.  Why ?  Well if an agent is too big, will they really be able to work with you on a one to one basis ?  Will they be able to communicate with you as you expect ?  Will they have the time to work cooperatively with other agents as they should ?  Will they show you the properties that you want to see or the ones they want you to see because they have the listings ?  Will they be able to coordinate the showing of your property if they have to worry about showing their other 100 listings.   All agents sell properties and it just may be another agent that has the right buyer for your property at the price more acceptable to you. 

If the agent you are interviewing starts telling you that they are the only one that  can sell a property or that they are the only one with buyers, scratch them right off the list.  In this day of the internet and the ability for buyers and sellers to investigate prices and statistics as well as neighborhoods and schools, there are no agents that control the market.  The other important item to the equation is the multiple listing service and it’s guarantee that agents will work cooperatively with each other.

In another blog we will be talking about the importance of using a buyers agent and in almost all cases, it will cost you nothing.

This information brought to you by Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377  www.winetrailproperties.com

I live in the Finger Lakes, which is a huge destination for vacationers and is also a second home market for those with the wish, desire and ability to own a vacation and or lakefront home.  So naturally, when the National Association of Realtors created the RSPS program, I felt compelled to register, and did.

The course was an eye opener to the second home market.  It allowed me to understand the demographics of the buyers, the diversity of the market and to understand the global reach of the buying population.  The process and certification have empowered me and given me the confidence to work daily with my buyers and sellers. 

As Realtors we have minimum standards of education to maintain, so why not maximize the process with courses and certifications that compliment our market?

You should feel very confident when you contact me about either purchasing a vacation home, or selling your lakefront home in the Finger Lakes, with the knowledge that I have utilized every piece of training available to me as a Realtor for your personal benefit.  Below is a brief description of the certification obtained from the National Association of Realtors website and the same place that where you will find the directory that lists all of the agents that have been certified as a RSPS agent..  I look forward to working with you to complete your goal as either a buyer or seller, so give me a call !

What is the Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS)?

The Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) is an education-based certification program. Launched in 2006, the RSPS Certification was created by the National Association of REALTORS® to better serve the growing second-home and resort real estate market and now has over 1,300 elite members. RSPS is recognized as an official NAR certification and allows buyers and sellers to have confidence in the ability of a REALTOR® who specializes in resort and second-homes to assist them with their search.

Who should earn it?

RSPS certification will appeal to REALTORS® in resort & second-home markets around the world who wish to distinguish themselves among their peers and among consumers. Practitioners who facilitate the buying, selling, or management of properties for investment, development, retirement, or second homes in a resort, recreational and/or vacation destination are involved in this market niche. Those who want to dedicate themselves to lifestyle real estate should earn this certification.

How do I earn it?

There are a variety of ways to earn RSPS certification. Completion of the Resort and Second-Home Markets course is required of members in good standing with the National Association of REALTORS®, in addition to either completing two elective courses or holding a qualifying designation.

This information brought to your by your favorite waterfront Realtor, Mary St. George, Associate Broker, Wine Trail Properties, Your Personal Connection to Lakefront Living in the Finger Lakes, 315-719-8377 www.winetrailproperties.com