By Gini Denninger

By Gini Denninger

Thinking about popular neighborhoods in Rochester; Park Ave, Upper Monroe, Corn Hill and the South Wedge come to mind. They are trendy, have lots of stores and restaurants, strong neighborhood associations, and offer a vast variety of home styles. But, did you know there is one neighborhood that offers all of that and more? Located in the North-West side of the city is The Maplewood Neighborhood. This area has been horribly overlooked and additionally, the shrinking of Kodak has not helped. Yet, a revival seems on the horizon for this part of Rochester. People are beginning to remember or uncover the neighborhood for the jewel of the city that it is. More homes are being restored and new businesses are becoming established.

Bounded by the Genesee River as a natural boundary on the east side, Driving Park is the southern boundary, Mt. Read Boulevard on the west and the Riverside and Holy Sepulchre cemeteries’ on the north. In this area you will find some of the most interesting architecture in the city, from small, simple homes to grand mansions, this neighborhood offers huge variety. There are three full size grocery stores within a two mile radius and many small “mom & pop” stores and national chain convenience stores, some with gas stations. Varied restaurants are pocketed throughout the neighborhood. Besides city schools, Nazareth Academy and Aquinas Institute are also found here. There are numerous beautiful churches and Rochester’s only cathedral, the magnificent Sacred Heart Cathedral. A newly refurbished YMCA serves the community and there are even three large parks!

With all this one would think Maplewood would be the premier area to live. Unfortunately negative publicity began to overshadow the positive points of the area. There are down-trodden pockets, some of which are sadly associated with violence, noise and crime. Sadly, this negative image is what sticks in many peoples minds when thinking about the North-West side of Rochester, including the Maplewood area. What people do not know is that most of the streets here are actually quiet neighborhoods!

At this point, I must make a disclosure. I have lived in the Maplewood neighborhood for the past eight years. As a displaced east-sider, I shared many of these misconceptions. I came here because I bought an incredible bargain, a shell of an elegant Queen Anne Victorian. It had good bones and I thought I would restore and flip it. Yet I am still here, because I discovered what a gem of a neighborhood I live in! My greatly restored home is beautiful, roomy and relatively inexpensive! Add into the equation, where else can I find this quality home for the price? I stayed put, and am continually discovering more reasons the Maplewood Neighborhood is the quiet jewel of Rochester. I no longer wonder why the area has such loyal residents, some even are starting to move back in, after leaving for various reasons.

Why love living here? First, and foremost, housing prices immediately come to mind. In this area you get more for your money! Most of the old homes were built on a larger scale. While many have been converted to multi-families, there are still large numbers of single family homes that are unscathed by the frenzy to chop grand old homes up into apartments; so, so many years ago. These homes, invested with quality materials, were a cut above in quality to many other homes in the Rochester area. Lots are generally large and often planted with ornamental trees and shrubs. Inside, find chestnut instead of gumwood for trim, doors, and moldings. Leaded and stained (often quite intricate) glass windows are commonly found. Homes range in design from Victorians, Italianate, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Prairie, Mission, and many other styles. Rare is the street with cookie cutter homes in Maplewood.

Single family home prices are ranging from $24,000 to $119,000. The average family home sold in the last year is 2500 sq.ft and cost $60-65,000. 2-4 family homes currently on the market range from $40,000 through $120,000. Two real estate firms operate in Maplewood. They are Platinum Properties and Goodman Realty. Vince Nebbia, a Realtor with 25 years experience opened Platinum Properties at the corner of Flower City Park and Lake over seven years ago, growing it to a full service Realty which also offers property management services. Vince chose to live and work in the Maplewood area because it “is a beautiful part of the city and offers so many unique and beautiful homes”. He saw opportunity in a neighborhood with potential to rebound. Another thriving Maplewood Realtor is Sam Morreale, who had the most real estate deals in the area in the last year. Besides working here, he lives here. Sales in the area have been steady. Ask any Realtor that knows the area and they are all likely to agree that single family home prices are currently the lowest they have been in a year, combine this with low interest rates, this is the time to buy into the Maplewood Neighborhood!!!

When people ask what brings a neighborhood back, I tell them several factors come into play. Some of the biggies are properties with unique features making them interesting. A perception of having lots of value for the dollar, even when factoring in property improvements. There must be business infrastructure in place servicing those in the area and providing space for new businesses to come in. The neighborhood has to be easily reached by expressways and major arteries of the city. And preferably there should be unique neighborhood features not found in other parts of the city. Lastly, there should be a strong neighborhood association like the Maplewood Neighborhood Association. The Maplewood area boasts all of the above.

In addition, there are special features many are blissfully unaware of. Did you know that the Maplewood Area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as of 1997? Or, that there is a world-famous Rose Garden on the corner of Lake and Driving Park, with thousands of rose bushes lovingly tended by the garden staff. You can attend the

yearly Maplewood Rose Festival in June, when the roses are at their peak. This two day festival has vendors, workshops on growing roses and lots more! Holding weddings here has become very popular! The gardens are next to the Genesee River Gorge, where a trail runs alongside ending at Lake Ontario. It’s very scenic and equivalent to Letchworth Gorge in many ways. Yet most Rochestarians have no idea that they live, play or work near this natural wonder. Stand on the Driving park bridge and enjoy awe-inspiring views. On one side you can see the depth and length of the gorge, on the other side; the falls. The “upper” and “lower” falls are visible from the bridge. Walk down the path by the newly refurbished YMCA and you can stand right next to the “lower falls”, feel the ground rumbling from tons of water rushing by and get wet from its spay. After that, meander a path under the Driving Park Bridge to the Maplewood Park and back to the Rose Garden or continue on the trail to Lake Ontario. The Maplewood Park was famously designed by Olmstead. It is one of the most serene parks in the city.

Love looking at houses? Take a walk to see the many styles. By Nazareth Academy is 1017 Lake Ave, one of the earliest surviving homes in the Maplewood historic district. Further north enjoy the Vanderbeck House at 1295 Lake Avenue. This home is featured on this years Maplewood House and Garden Tour. Its owner John Acker, bought the property after it suffered extensive damage due to a lightning strike. He had always loved the house and when the opportunity came to put it back to it’s former glory, he jumped at the opportunity. His firm “Cam Real Estate Development“, has beautifully restored the house to it’s former glory, housing John’s office and four apartments. If you love Queen Anne homes, stroll down Lakeview Park. There are many examples of this style here, some rival the painted ladies of San Francisco. Seneca Parkway is known for the many Tudor Revival style homes gracing that street. If you like Bauhaus inspired buildings, check out the apartments at 1043-1059 Lake Avenue. Further north are the famous Thistle Apartments at Lake and Seneca Parkway. This building is a rare example of a Tudor Revival apartment building. These mentioned homes and buildings are just a small sample of what the Maplewood neighborhood has to offer. Its time you get acquainted with Rochester’s Quiet Jewel! Who knows, you might just find your own private jewel, like I found mine!

By Gini Denninger

The term “Short Sale” was relatively unknown before the financial melt down changed the real estate world. Always around, short sales were much less visible years ago. Over the past five years, extreme economic factors converged, bringing short sales into the limelight. Sellers learned short sales are valuable tools when they need to sell their homes but are unable to get as much or more, than what they owe on the property. Buyers are aware of and interested in finding short sale deals. More agents are short sale experienced. And lenders now opt to work with short sales rather than resorting to foreclosure. The increased use of short sale options has been noticed. It seems everyone is talking about short sales and the opportunity for buyers and, yes, sellers!

We hear of short sales and foreclosures all over the country, but what about here in the Rochester area? Are we affected too? It turns out we are, but not to the degree that other areas are. There are reasons for this. In real estate, the story is always local. Despite the fact that large cornerstone businesses like Kodak,  Xerox and Bausch & Lomb downsized, our real estate market stayed relatively stable, except in some areas and for some types of properties like investment properties in the City of Rochester.

Investment properties are one area of real estate especially hard hit with short sales.  2-20 unit investment properties are the most commonly sold as short sales. A combination of unsound leveraging schemes, poor property management and City of Rochester code enforcement issues, creates the perfect storm involving investors. They begin divesting their properties leading to more investment properties available than buyers. Too many properties on the market combined with deferred maintenance on many of these properties, pushes property prices down further. When this happens, the only options can be short sale or foreclosure, depending on the condition and value of the property.

Our suburban areas also offer short sale properties in all price ranges. One of my clients, Robin, bought a Perinton property in the Blackcross neighborhood for $60,000 less than what other properties in the neighborhood were selling at. The owners had fallen on hard times due to divorce and job loss. They no longer were able to maintain the property, letting repairs pile up. Sales appeal was lost in comparison to what was available in the area, forcing the property to be priced ever lower, in an effort to find a buyer willing to put money into the property to bring it back up to neighborhood standards. Robin has greatly improved the property and if she needed to sell, would have no trouble doing so. These buys are out there, but be warned, difficult to find.

Bob Hibbard, a short sale specialist real estate salesperson in the Rochester area points out short sales have to be priced right to sell. If too high, no offers come in. If too low, the bank might not approve the deal. Some people think “short sale” means fire sale. Not so fast! Hibbard says the average discount for a short sale is between 20-30%. This is proven, by the price paid by my client Robin. She should be able to sell between $170-180,000. Short sales might be priced slightly under current market value, which makes them hard to spot. The owners try to get as much as they can to the property to ensure bank approval of the short sale.

Just because someone is willing to make an offer, there is no guarantee the bank will approve the price for a short sale, for various reasons. An appraisal might show more value to the property in question, despite the fact that it has been on the market for an extended period of time and had multiple price drops before the offer came in. The bank may be willing to wait for a better offer to come along, which does happen, depending on the property and its desirability. Desirable neighborhoods, especially higher end suburban areas usually have smaller discount margins than less appealing neighborhoods.

Short sales are a long process. Buyers have to be willing to wait out the process. Robin put her offer in and had to wait for bank approval. Fortunately for her, a previous buyer had begun the process, but was unable to complete their deal. Robins accepted offer was able to be inserted into that buyers place, shortening the wait time by three months. The average short sale takes between 4-6 months from start to finish. But be warned some take longer, even over a year! If the price is right and a buyer is able to wait they will get a great value for the price.

Why would a bank even agree to a short sale? Mike Smith, a Nothnagle Realtor specializing in short sales explains that in NY State, the foreclosure process is very difficult and drawn out. The time it takes to foreclose is double that what it was a few years ago! Before accepting a short sale offer, the  bank will calculate what it will cost to complete the foreclosure and what the property could sell for if foreclosed on, in addition to fees for the sale and maintenance of the property. If the sum is more profitable to hold they will hold, foreclose and sell the property themselves. If they calculate they will benefit more by selling as short sale, they will usually opt for the short sale.

Sellers chose to do short sales once they recognize this is a way out of  a property they cannot hold on to any longer. Sadly, many who are upside-down with their mortgages do not realize selling their home as a short sale could be an option to them. They think their only option is foreclosure. Hopefully they learn that short sales are an option before losing their homes.  Short sales are far less injurious to a persons credit history than foreclosure. Foreclosures take 200 points off credit scores, while short sales only 50. Also, foreclosure must be admitted by a former owner every time they apply for credit or mortgage. Hibbard,  points out that short sale sellers can even buy another home in two years while those who opted for foreclosure, wait five years or more.

Short sales arise from sellers need as well as the buyers and lenders recognition of benefits to themselves when party to such sales. Short sales are not without pitfalls, but as long as they continue to benefit all parties involved, they will become more accepted as part of the real estate landscape. The term “Short Sale” will no longer have strong negative connotations and will become just another tool in the selling of property. Selling as a short sale helps those who are genuinely in financial distress, benefits the banks in that they have less foreclosures and is a boon to buyers like my client Robin, who was able to afford a home in Perinton, that she might normally not have considered. Short sales, while difficult and uncertain are a great way to buy a property in our area as well as nationally.