Catskills - Sullivan County - Ulster County Real Estate -- Catskill Farms Journal

I was up with Lucas in Saugerties over the weekend and we did a bunch of stuff, like go to the Ulster County Fair, and then the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary, which was an odd place of randomly rescued pigs, goats, turkeys and chickens. One chicken came over and unexpectedly pecked Lucas and then he went around for two days saying the 'chicken got him' (saying it over and over and over). A funny guy picked up a story about us and his take on our business and our PR is pretty good. I don't know about all that money he thinks we are raking in, but it's good nevertheless and cool he thought we had something interesting enough to post about. Realty Biz News So I rented a cabin upstate so I had a home base while we are building a few houses up there. It's sort of like starting over, since when I started in Sullivan County my first abode was a tiny little modest thing too. This time, however, the modesty is more or less by choice - back then it was because I didn't have a pot to piss in, let alone much discretion in my housing - I bought that first Sullivan County house for $23,000, advanced from a credit card.

It's not easy furnishing a house, buying mattresses, going to the Target, the grocery store, etc... with a 2 1/2 yr old in tow. I mean, talk about doubling the effort. "I'm thirsty', "I'm hungry', "I'm tired", "I want my mommy", "toys, toys, Lightning McQueen" - and that's just my needs - Lucas has a whole set of his own. I got a little carried away at Target and Lucas got the short end of the stick, getting crammed between his new race track and the toilet paper - some moms were giving me the evil eye dirty look thing but I gave it right back to them, commented on their big butts and double chins and mini-vans, and continued doing my thing.

The next day we had to come back for more.

It was pretty hilarious shopping for the cabin, because this house will not just be my headquarters, but it will also serve as sleeping and lounging quarters for my subs and trades and employees. So I was buying coffee and toilet paper and plates and silver ware and sugar and paper towels and soap, beer and soda, mattresses and linens. I caught myself more than once trying to picture what type of beer Rich the plumber would like, or how soft of toilet tissue do these guys really need, or imagining everyone smelling like Irish Spring, or cheaping out on the beer. Best was the mattress and linen selection - 'this 100 count sheet will do just fine, as will that $60 mattress' was the refrain heard from within my head most frequently. Then off to the 150th Ulster County Fair. This was Lucas' first time at a fair so after we left the livestock we stumbled onto the neon lights of the rides. Here is a picture of him getting close to his co-rider - this was like one spin before he started crying and wanting to exit asap.

And this ice cream cone took him way way up, and left him perched for a really big fall, which happened in the indoor trampoline, when he just shut down and laid in the middle of a bunch of kids jumping - I had to go in and get him.

Some big swine at the Fair. I saw like 40 pigs over the weekend and they were always just laying around sleeping.

And Lucas at my Cabin with his train.

Then, a few weeks earlier, we went to Paws and Claws, some almost-ghetto zoo in the Poconos, the type of place PETA is lurking around every corner waiting for a miscue. But they had everything - snakes, giraffes, tigers, lions, foxes, camels - This snake was huge -

And this camel was really dry and humorless. Guess he doesn't look in the mirror much.

all for now. just landed a job to build a homestead type of thing - really about 5 of our houses in one, so that's never a bad thing.

Micro Cottage 4 - all 800 sq ft, all 7+ acres, all screened porch, all back stone patio, all 2 bedrooms, 1 bath - is nearing completion. And boy is it a beauty. It's simple. It's modest. It's hot.

Heather signed for this one back in May, and she will be able to enjoy most of the fall in the home. we expect to close on it here in the next week or two.

The Micro's are great - the bedrooms are plenty big, the ceilings are plenty high, the open spaces serve up just enough space to easily accommodate a dining room, a kitchen and a living room - all flowing into each other nicely.

This kitchen is like twice the size of the kitchens most of my clients have in their city dwelling.

And a bath...

and a bedroom...

Couple of more things to do, and then she's finished up for good. Another great home for another great person.

This Cottage 28 redux is going up and going up and going up. It's on 4 acres, 7 miles from Saugerties, 7 miles Woodstock, on a real nice piece of land. it's for sale. 2 bedrooms, 1300 sq ft, 1.5 baths, full walkout basement - you know, the works. - $375k.

And Farm 17 is 'in the ground' now too. This was pre-purchased by a couple with a neat story - to neat to detail at this moment.

Real nice homes in a real nice area. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Ok, so I've doing a lot more texting now that I got my new Iphone back in March. Before that I had some stupid non-email, non-text phone, where when someone sent me a text, responding was so laborious that typically I just needed to pick up the phone and call them back (PIK - pathetic I know). AFAIK (as far as I know), I'm dragging tail on the text abbreviations so I've decided to pick up my game and printed out a 'text abbreviation cheat sheet' and now drive everyone nuts with my abbreviations. Anyways, ADAD (another day another dollar) - Here's Cottage 36 making some good progress. it's a very smart use of 2000 sq ft - it's got a little of everything - 15 acres, 2 story loft space in the main house, and a built out walk out basement. Cool house for a mom, dad and two young kids from Rye - Westchester County, NY.

It's a fun design that Matthew the patriarch of the family broadly envisioned from early on.

Big back porch is planned with an outdoor fireplace and screened section.

This past week the septic went in (see machine in background), the well went in (250 ft, lots of water per minute), and the stone guys got set up.

That's my new dump truck I bought last winter. A real winner in terms of meeting the needs we bought it for - plowing, dumping, salting, loading, etc ....

That's Job, one of our star guys (no, this isn't some dumb intro plot line for a bad porno flik - it was just hot outside) Speaking of, it was hot outside, like 100 degrees in the shade.

Mudroom area with salvaged wood as wainscoting. the sheetrock and wood wall coverings are finished and we are starting the flooring today.

Upstairs looking down.

Master Bedroom.

And a finished basement.

Talk about living large. It's BAU here at CF, and GGOH. (it's business as usual here at Catskill Farms and I gotta get out of here).