By Jill Nagy
Area real estate brokers expressed glee recently as they described the current local market, using expressions like “great,” “excellent,” “very, very strong,” “unusually hot,” and “booming,.”
Inventory, especially of houses at the lower end of the price range, is low and a new listing rarely stays on the market for more than a week, they said.
Susan Kassal of All American Properties in Glens Falls, said she showed a townhouse on a Sunday and received three offers for it by the following Monday.
“Literally within minutes of being listed, they are sold,” said Daniel Davies of Davies-Davies & Associates in Queensbury—but admitted that he was exaggerating a bit.
People are attracted by relatively low prices, favorable financing, a stock of historic buildings, and the beauty of the area. Peter Hoffman of Glen Street Associates in Glens Falls, for example, recalled when he was practically laughed out of a local banker’s office when he asked for a $1 million loan. Today, loans of $7 million or more are not unusual. Bankers are more willing to lend because they have seen successful projects, he said.
On the commercial side, many buyers are looking for investment property. With a volatile stock market and low interest rates on savings and bonds, investors see real estate as a stable investment, said Davies.

By Christine Graf
Buddha Ventures, an LLC owned by Nancy Scumaci of Bolton Landing, purchased property at 16 Exchange St. in Glens Falls for $348,250.
The 4,000-square-foot building is home to Milk & Honey, Juicin’ Jar and Advokate LLC. It also includes a private two-story apartment that is occupied by a tenant.
Ann Parrish, the owner of Milk and Honey, purchased the building in 2005. It was not on the market at the time Scumaci expressed interest in buying it.

By Jennifer Tsyn
Whether your business is just starting up, expanding, or relocating, you are likely to find yourself negotiating a lease. Of major concern to most commercial tenants are the maintenance, upkeep and repair of their space and the entire building. These issues should be carefully negotiated and then written into the lease.
1. Who is responsible for repairs and maintenance of the tenant’s space?
Commercial leases often require that tenants maintain, repair and replace those portions of the HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and water and sewer systems that are located inside or outside of the leased space, but which exclusively serve the leased space.
Tenants should always take steps to learn whether the heating, cooling and ventilation for their space will be provided by a shared HVAC unit or a designated HVAC unit, and whether that unit will be considered to be inside their space or outside of it (for example, if there is a rooftop unit).
In addition, tenants should be aware that maintenance, repair, and replacement are not the same thing, and each should be addressed. If the tenant is going to be required to “maintain” any of the HVAC or other systems, the tenant should make sure to know if they will need to enter into a contract for regular maintenance with an outside provider, and, if so, how much that is expected to cost.