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

January's have a way of being big sales months for us. Januarys, Februarys - since we start some homes typically in September and October, we bring them home to roost early in the year. A lot of times, in the last few years, we won't close homes in December, since that would drive higher income taxes, payable more or less immediately, as opposed to timing them to finish in January, which allows us to float the tax money for a year. It's amazing once you start making some money how much good tax strategy counts. Very rarely is a purchase made, a debt paid down or an investment made without understanding the tax implications of said maneuver. And being in NY State, makes this effort only more necessary. For instance, say you have a 5% home mortgage, and say you find yourself with a little extra cash that needs to be put to use and you are trying to decide whether to pay it down more quickly than the 30 years, or maybe to invest it for growth. If you find a stock or bond paying 6% it may be a no-brainer to keep the mortgage debt and invest the cash - until you take taxes into the equation - you earn 6%, then need to pay 15% in capital gains, whereas paying down debt, i.e. reducing your mortgage, is a true 5% return early on in the paydown, even more since some of that interest is deductible. Anyway, it gets confusing real quick for non-math head, - all I know is that at this point, if I'm not calculating post-tax returns, I'm really not nailing down the true colors of the investment. For example, since I deal with real estate for a living, most of my real estate transactions/profits are treated as ordinary income, as opposed to capital gains, making real estate investment not really that attractive other than our day to day homes. This may one of those rare times that all the people who write me saying I have no idea what I am talking about may be right, but I know I'm onto something nevertheless. Up above and down below are two pictures of Cottage 33, that is set to close in the next week or two. Big bleacher stairs finish off the front. These two financial professionals were inspired by Cottage 29, and used that design as a resource for this design, with lots of little pieces of customization along the way. We run across a lot people who downplay their design talents, but we find those that choose to build and buy from us have an active or latent design itch that needs to be scratched. Granted, having the opportunity to live in what you design is just the prize, the by-product of making it happen during real life during the weekday. Once we get it tightened up with the appliances and stuff, I'll post some real great design decisions that were made along the way.

Below is a stained piece of built-in cabinetry that I think is planned to hold books and wine. We also have a retractable big screen and AV system tucked up under that top piece of wood, that glides down effortlessly when a button is pushed.

Pretty fast bath with red vanity, subway tile and black and white flooring. Modern lighting as well in strategic areas.

Micro 2 is shaping up nicely with rough sawn spindles and a stained porch roof.

A clean modern-leaning interior works for me. This is a big room for a small house. We used a plywood countertop sealed with a heavy duty epoxy.

Great bath vanity, very unique, with the duel flush toilet.

We get asked if our houses are green sometimes, and I'm like, ah, YEA. They are about the greenest homes out there - of course, you won't find that red herring word 'green' anywhere in our literature - I prefer 'high-performance' - or 'kick ass' - or 'super fly snuka off the top rope bad'. Green, how overdone. It's a great idea, but what it means to me is great insulation and small homes and best building practices. How unsexy is that proposition. The fact that all our homes come with spray foam insulation, literally no lie big time upgrade that comes standard in all our homes, is an indication of our seriousness - a little product that carries a big load, and no bullshit saves our customers some serious dough. Big window in the bedroom. This micro-cottage should close in Mid-January.

Cottage 31 - unique, detailed and expertly executed, this abode for two design and fashion professionals will live large above Lucky Lake outside of Narrowsburg, NY.

Mark the floor sander who hurt his back and just about gave me a nervous breakdown was working hard this morning, New Years Morning. In fact, all of these above and below pics are pics of holiday progress. We keep working, getting it done, keeping it real. Good pic of him putting down the polyurethane so we can continue with construction on Monday. Cool cable rail, hand made barn door on right, and a sunken living room. One of the owners of this cottage writes for the NY Times and did a remarkable article on Courtney Love the other week - in my mind, it was remarkable not necessarily for the content, but because he painted the scene (and the scenes) so subtly tangibly. You felt you were a fly on that wall. It was good writing. My friends in Richmond had read it and said the same thing. You could smell the cigarettes and booze, and observe the obscene a lot like Nick did at Gatsby's parties. I guess what I am saying is it was non-judgmental - it was good reporting.

And our first Shack at 500 sq ft, 1 bedroom, views, and a couple of porches. The siding came from the factory stained, and the 2nd coat will take it to another color. Cedar shake in the front door nook. It's our first Shack, and we are hoping to get around $160k for it. When you build a house this small, most of the cost is wrapped up in land, driveway, well, septic, clearing and foundation, and electrical infrastructure. It will be interesting to see who buys this house when.

Open big room and big stone boulder steps. Norm done that.

And great big ole Farm 15 on 7 acres. This home and garage is really moving along and I'll be passing along some advice to 'lock in those rates' soon, meaning we are within 60 days of closing.

The sheetrock is in, 2nd coated. By end of the next week we will be putting in the floors and wood wainscotting and ceiling planks. This farmhouse will close in Feb/March.

And Cottage 34, bring back the siding yellow that we used on Peter's house up in Walton. If you remember, Peter was that semi-famous dress designer. I think this enlarged Cottage 23 really has some great proportions.

Walk out basement (above) and spray foam insulation below. This house will close in March.

And our newest piece of speculation - Cottage 35. Going to be a great little 1000 sq ft cottage. Think Cottage 19, only different.

And the one house we currently have for sale - Cottage 29.

So much going on that I forgot to snap a winter shot of Farm 14, that will be closing in January as well. There you have it - half our 2011 sales goals already in the bag. Should be a banner year of economic tailwinds and hard-earned experience.

I happen to be in Norfolk, VA at Lisa's grandmother's home, snowed in under the 4th heaviest snow fall on record. What should have been obvious, but really wasn't, was that the reaction down here to expected and forth-coming snow is markedly different than up north in Eldred, New York. First, no one has shovels, window scrapers, snow boots or gloves. 2nd, no one really has any idea when the plow trucks are coming. I haven't seen one all day on this side street, and, ominously, the one I did see didn't have a plow on it. In an example of the seriousness of the situation, even McDonalds was closed. 3rd, they can't stop talking about every nuance, flake, news story or possibility concerning the storm. 4th, I've been in Lisa's grandmother's 1935 1 bathroom little house since Friday. She doesn't live here anymore, having moved onto an assisted living facility - so the thermastat's battery is dead (no consistent heat), our room at the back of the house has no heat (it was , literally, no exageration, 56 degrees all night Christmas eve), pitting me against my wife and son for the thin blankets intended to keep us warm. Did I mention that we are sleeping on queen-sized air mattress, with the wrong sized sheets? And that it took us 30 minutes to blow it up with the automatic ease-of-fill because we didn't check to see if the relief valve was open? Lisa has been on the road since the 18th or so, and I flew into Norfolk Christmas Eve. We are staying in the house that Lisa's grandmother has owned, raised her 3 children, for as long as anyone can remember. Lisa's mom went to elementary school up the street. So it's snowing like crazy and we go to Walmart, the only store open for miles - looking for some food for dinner and maybe some gloves, snow shovels and maybe some walkway ice. Let's just say that looking for a snow shovel in Virginia during a once in a decade snow storm was a lot like looking for a generator in Sullivan County when the electric goes down for week. Anyways, we are going to try to continue our trip tomorrow, up to Richmond, before we do Phoenixville and Lancaster PA. Be back some time late in the week, hopefully.

(our 2010 client christmas gift - oven mitt with built in fridge magnet) For all those counter-intuitive, contrarian, out-of-the-box, against the grain thinkers, we salute you this Christmas season. My Way Lyrics - And now, the end is near;And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.

I've lived a life that's full.
I've traveled each and ev'ry highway;
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I've had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

I've loved, I've laughed and cried.
I've had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
"No, oh no not me,
I did it my way".

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

Hot Damn - Put on the Oven Mitts.  2011 is going to one hot year for this little business.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our Faithful readers.

Don't tell Lisa that Jake, all 100 lbs of him, was lounging on our lazy boy when I turned my back for a quick second yesterday. Cottage 34 is looking good. It's an iteration of Cottage 23, just a great design inspired one morning while looking out the window at breakfast one morning. This 1450 sq ft 2 bedroom cottage on 6 acres lives pretty large a few miles outside of Narrowsburg.

Pete Kestler getting the well in.

And Renee getting his stone on at the chimney chase. We should be insulating next week and a sale set for late February.

Double decker kitchen...

...and a large living room.

The house around the corner reserved by Dr. Chemistry. This 7 acre spread runs around 2300 sq ft with 3 beds and 2.5 baths.

We expect a March finish. Cottage 31 is just about finished and it's turning out pretty spectacular. Big views, cedar shake, interesting floor plan and some great salvaged wood accents from our neighborhood barn wood guy, Hall.

This cottage has sunken living room with a lot of windows and stone, wrap-around porch with dog gates and radiant heat.

Upstairs another bedroom and bath, with a cable rail and salvaged post stair system. This house is set to sell in January.

And cute little Shack #2, all 500 sq ft of it, on 5+ acres.

A living room/di ning/kitchen with a wood stove, 1 bedroom, 1 bath, front and back porch and a full basement. Doesn't get anymore compact than this. This is a our first shack and it's for sale. We haven't figured out the price yet but it will be in the mid-100's or something close.

Bedroom below.

And Farm 14, we had the final walkthrough/inspection this past Saturday. This is one of our few homes in inventory, and in January it will be gone gone gone.

This terrific home has a great flow, and a lot of open space outside. Fireplace and radiators keep it warm and some in-wall speakers keep the party going.

And Cottage 33 will be closing in January as well. This instant classic sports slate gray clapboard siding and galvanized metal roof, wrap-around porch, partially screened in.

Micro Cottage 2 is finishing up also, and set for sale in January as well. Between the homes we have in contract set for sale in January - March, and the 2 or 3 that are set to start in 2011, we should be ready for another busy year of full employment business growth.