Baloney
I say baloney. I say that the finanical panic and crash has very little to do with real life. I say all the headlines, media, gov't officials and the like scaring the bejesus out of us are mostly wrong, and all us normal people not dealing in commerical paper, financial ponzi schemes, get rich schemes, and short term bonus' for longterm disaster schemes are actually not too bad off. This past week I borrowed a bunch of money from my bank to continue building the 6 homes we have in contract, looked into buying a new truck ($7500 off sticker, with incentives) and received a credit line increase from Bank of America. Banks are lending, don't be fooled. Just the rules have changed - you got be qualified, you got to have good credit, and a steady job doesn't hurt. What I haven't seen is a denial of credit, a reduction of my line of credit, non-existent auto loans, etc... Forbes has an article out stating more bank to consumer lending occurred in Sept '08 than Sept '07. So what gives - the statistics don't even show we are in a recession. We definitely live in the era of hysteria and catastrophe. It's what sells, it's the new 'sex' (playing off the old adage that sex sells). Hysteria and catastrophe is the quickest way to the bank for many industries. So what does this mean to me, and my customers - I'm smart, and they are smart, and with our team of good attorneys, good banks, houses full of value, adequate comps, and well-qualified homeowners - I only have one thing to say to all the end of worlders - Eat my shorts. Life goes on. And if you got the dough, its a great time to buy something, or build something, because all the cocky salespeople and customer service reps are working harder than ever to make sure your process and purchase is satisfactory, and to anyone who has consumed or purchased anything over the past 24 months, it's a great change. The world has righted itself -
Early Morning In October
It's October and last night Lisa and turned on the heat for the first time this year - in fact, it's the first the heating system has been turned on, period, since it's a new system. And boy were we warm. The house heated up quick, and most impressively, stayed warm without the boiler circling back on every 5 minutes. That's impressive for a 140 yr old lady with single pane windows. We done good. Our construction show is ongoing, all the time, and today - Saturday - is no exception. Roofs, painting, siding, trim carpentry, porch building. I actually had to reprogram the default setting on my construction software so it included Saturday's without asking - since for the most part, we are always working on the weekends. Charcoal black roof going on at Farmhouse #10. Black trim, white siding, black roof will really set this house apart. Everyone loves this design. It's truly quintessential and a big hit.
As I mentioned and posted previously, we are building a barn with this house. And for those dedicated followers, it will be clear this barn did not exist 4 days ago. It's going to be completely conditioned - electric, heat, etc...- and will serve as a little music studio. it's also going to be green as can be - with radiant heat, solar panels, sun-heated hot water and heat water, maybe some engineered flooring, etc...
Barn and House.
House with big back porch and walkout basement.
House and barn glaring in the morning sun. Those twisty black walnut trees are unusual and pretty cool.
More Construction and Great Design
Cottage 9 Interior painting - Thank you Tito.
Cottage 15 Septic installation - Thank you Pete and Casey.
Porches being built at Farmhouse 10 - Thanks Greg and Dave.
The barn at Albert's house going up quick - Thanks Mike and crew.
And the roof at Cottage 14. Thanks Edwin for this Biscayne Blue beauty.
But mostly, thanks Gavin, Emily, Gayle, Albert, Dean, Jeanne, Deb, Nick and Albert for presently building with us.
Although I guess if I am doing shout-outs, I might as well cover them all from the beginning - thanks phil, karla, Angie, Richard, Stan, Leslie, Andy, michael, dukhui, paul, frank, ellen, nancy, itzak, andrew, robin, sasha, tracy, kevin, julia, katrina, crystal, hugh, jasmine, tammy, cheri, matt, chris, david, mauricio, christine, gavin, emily, pablo, anna, leah, rob, jeanne, deb, charles, suzanne, steve, luba, sarah, dennis, shannah, erik, julia and husband, benoist, monte, todd and tracy.
I'm sure this good intentional gratitude will bite me in the ass cause I forgot someone - but it was a good college try, i think.
Truth
It's hard to say what is true and what is not true in today's economy - whether the urgency is real, or whether it's just a way to lessen the pain of those investors and financiers who made bad bets. For all the talk about lack of credit and lack of liquidity, millions of people are buying houses each month - sure, they have great credit, they have 20% to put down and they have a solid employment history. But there is no shortage of people buying things and living up here in the sticks helps us stay grounded in one fundamental way - we aren't bombarded everywhere we go with competing news programs, newspapers and magazines. It's fear-mongering and when everyone is scared - it sells newspapers. Comparing today's economy to the great depression is pretty irresponsible, because any student of history knows this comparision is malarky, and actually diminishing how rough those times actually were. What's most interesting about the statistics is the media is comparing today's home sales to the early '90's, like when they say 'new home starts are at their lowest level since 1991'. Duh, that was the last time we had a housing correction - so that would make sense. To get some truth, following the deal action and house closings of Catskill Farms is a great way to get some real information and insight into the current housing environment. We closed 11 deals in 2008 as each day brought more disaster news on the mortgage front, and now we have a deal a month to get closed over the next 5 months. I would venture a close examination of the next several months and our ability to successfully finish the houses, and get our clients to closing will be more valuable real life perspective than any of the rags selling newspapers on the backs of the country's confidence. So, when all the heavy and exageratted economic 'statistics' get you down, check on in and see how a common business cycle is not motivating our clients to put their live's on hold indefinitely. Or, as Luther Vandross, McFadden & White and the Spice Girls have crowed - Ain't no stoppin' us now We're on the move (You said it, we've got the groove) Ain't no stoppin' us now We've got the groove (Whoo-hoo-oo-oo Whoo-hoo-oo) Tomorrow the documentary tv/film producer pops in from NYC. Friday, My staff were all discussing our wardrobe for the spot, and of course Lisa has her 2 cents on the apparrel.
