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

I've made a living out of being contrarian, not following the herd, etc... I build new old when this old house was a naive fad, I build small when the mcmansion was raging, I develop small little 15 acre pieces while everyone else was buying hundreds of acres and getting caught up in the planning boards for years. Which leads me to - you say 'green', I say baloney. Not that building green and making homes more efficient is bad, it's just that many of the ideas are either nonsensical, unaffordable or so small in their impact to be hardly worthy of the energy it takes to describe them. When the green thing started catching on in 2008 it was the first time I really realized how uncreative and copy-catty the press is - I mean, green was everywhere, on every magazine, every newspaper, every tv commercial. It was just a big echo chamber of mostly nonsense with some good ideas buried under tons of makeup and marketing. I am a pretty serious builder with some pretty fast customers, and luckily I had the good fortune to be selling some homes during this initial green rage, and I tell you, I was shocked that my customers, - these cutting edge, hip (so, not you Gary or James :}) urban professionals didn't give a cat's ass about green - they cared about their tile, their kitchens, their wainscotting, but they saw right through the green baloney being offer up as value-added. It wasn't as though they didn't care if there house was efficient or not - they just weren't buying into the whole idea that recycled cardboard was a good countertop, or that if you weren't composting your garden with your own feces then you were contributing the early demise of your children. Green to me is high-performance, best practices, keep-your-eye-on-the-ball best practices. For instance there is a company out there- New World Home - a modular company who claims that their houses 'are the greenest in the country', that their homes use '50% less water', that by buying one of their County Living modulars, you are saving the planet. Baloney. And homebuyers are smarter than that. Sure, if it was a faucet, or a light, or a paint claiming these things, no big deal. People will take it in good faith, whether the claims are true or not. Ask someone to spend $400k on a dubious claim, and you have exactly the problem they have - people don't believe it, or at least they want some serious quantitative proof. Which brings me to my next point. I had no idea LEED did not measure a building's final energy performance. Here you have the good standard of green building, and to get LEED certification, you do not have to show any superior performance from your home. You have to pay a few thousand dollars, and you need to navigate a forest of paperwork and administration, but you do not need to meet any performance criteria. Are you kidding me? Isn't it scary that the gold standard of green building has no capacity or tool to measure a buildings final performance? So, like I said, mainline green building is baloney. LEED organization is now being sued by a mechanical engineer who is claiming that without a final performance test, their accreditation is somewhat pointless, a marketing ploy. I'm looking forward to the lawsuits from homebuyers and condo buyers who claim to be paying the same amount in energy bills as their non-LEED house they owned before. It's a real opportunity for an enterprising attorney. Here are a few green building truths, and while you don't need an army of administrators to achieve them, and you don't need to pay thousands of dollars in inspection fees, - they form the foundation of making the housing stock better - insulate with spray foam insulation, build small, and use your brain while building. I know our homes would measure up to any quantitative measurement and I have never used the word green in our marketing. I prefer 'respecting the intelligence of our buyers.' Relately, an Interesting New Yorker article hypothesizing that increased efficiency in homes and vehicles and what have you only leads to increased usage, because it's cheaper. So the more efficient we become, the more energy we use. If we drove a non-efficient uncomfortable Model T we would drive less than an ultra-efficient hybrid Escape - more efficient, drive more. We can use more air conditioning because it is more affordable because it is more efficient. If our light bulbs and appliances are so efficient our electric bill keeps dropping, we can keep buying more bulbs and appliances and electric gadgets. It was a very interesting article about the pickle we are in.

(Previously published on FaceBook - if you like this blog, feel free to 'like us' on facebook) Ok, so maybe first I can use this social networking to figure out what to do about this social networking. Never one to procrastinate, here goes: 1. My first piece of confusion is how to differentiate between the blog and facebook. Obviously, right now, I just feed my blog into Facebook, so sometimes I get comments on Facebook, and sometimes directly on the blog (after my review). Should these resources be kept separate, are they redundant and not necessary? Do you get the same SEO points for Facebook links and verbage as a blog offers? 2. Am I wrong to think that I should encourage 'friends' who are kind enough to 'like this page' to become 'people' who 'like this page'? Actually what is the difference? 3. Of the 165 'people who like this' and 27 'friend who like this', how many get a feed of my posts as they occur? i guess I thought everyone saw everything once it was posted, but that seems unlikely since some people have a lot of friends and that would be a lot of noise. 4. Would it be better if I toned down the blog and became more 'corporate' so 'people who like this' page aren't embarrassed that people know they like it? I mean, this would have several positive repercussions (like easier to find liability insurance coverage), but the essence of the blog is 'the world according to Catskill Farms' (or more accurately Charles Petersheim)(I love talking about myself in the 3rd person). 5. What's the best way to attract 'people who like this' and start this social media viral thing going? 6. How do I control the comments? I get a fair amount of pretty rude comments, that I cut off at the pass before they hit the public's eye? Anyways, there is a start. Any suggestions? Does Facebook have spell check? It's going to be an exciting year for small businesses with some dry powder. the problem with recessions for most businesses is that between the lack of active cash flow and need to lay off some good people over the course of the 4 year retrenching, even when consumer demand picks up, many companies are wounded and just faint shadows of their former selves. That said, we are raring to go. Ok, just found out Facebook does have spell check and spelling suggestions. Cool.

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.