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

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.

I love that new commercial they show during football games where the guy backs over another car and he and his girlfriend start fighting, and they each turn into the other's perfect 10 mate, and she's like - 'oh, this is what you want. I'm perfect the way I am....etc...". It cracks me up. We had our first company Christmas party on Friday, and it was pretty cool. I'd guess 70 or so people, many driving over a hour each way to get there. Probably a 1/4 of the attendees had never been to the sticks of Eldred NY. It wasn't a party for our homeowners, it was a party for our team - and pretty much the whole team showed up for beer, wine and food at Baker's Tap Room. I mean the guy who makes our reflective 911 signs at the Ambulance Auxillary, the guy who puts our gutters up, the cleaning company, 4 reps from our electrical company, 5 from our plumbing company, our architect and his friend who he must have paid to act like his girlfriend, the president of ProBuild Lumber, the President of Jeff Bank, the county Planning chairman, and really just about everyone who makes the Catskill Farms clock tick - too many to shout out by name or trade. It was a real tribute to our efforts. Some of the people there have been with me for 5 or 6 years, since we were just a little company, barely surviving, taking the knock-down punches on a weekly basis, uncertain which would be the final blow that put us on the mat for good. There's a large sampling to choose from - lack of money, world-wide real estate crash, some instances of just plain insanity from a few of our clients, vendors/employees/tradesmen who let us down or frankly just screwed us, interest rate increases, construction insurance, real estate taxes, lack of help, computer system meltdowns, impossibility of financing homes during 2009, or just keeping control of a fast growing business- and that's the stuff I can come up with quickly. A couple of the real good ones can't even be mentioned because of their delicacy and lingering raw feelings. One of the secrets to our business is the fact that I like building a team as much as I like building and designing homes, or selling these homes to amazing people. The reward for me watching our team grow, mature, get better, execute more precisely, -watching the individual efforts grow and become broader in perspective. At the end of the night, Janice my assistant asked me I got a lot of pictures. I mean, I'm a big picture taker, especially of events like this. But I hadn't even lifted my camera all-night - it just seemed pointless to try to capture the sense of the ambition, journey and accomplishment that this party signified. It's one of those occasions where a picture cheapens the reality by being unable to capture the essence of the moment. So, here's to 2010 - a historic achievement against all odds. Kind of the same as 2009. I guess I shouldn't forget to mention 2008 was kind full of headwinds as well. Someday, when we get some economic tailwinds, then watch out- then we will really be something to watch. Wife's out of town with Lucas. I got to get back to Call of Duty: Black Ops.