Saturdays I have to pull double duty - not only do many of the contractors we employ work the weekends, but it's also a day when Catskill Farms homeowners and prospective homeowners are in town. So on top of meeting and strategizing with tradesmen, a lot of Saturdays are spent designing homes, showing homes and walking land. For the most part, Catskill Farms meets with homeowners and possible buyers whenever it is convenient for them. We had one customer who could only meet after 6pm on Saturdays and Sunday - so that's what we did, and got the house built without any delay.
Truth be told, without all the built advantages of building or buying with Catskill Farms, most of our customers wouldn't own a country home. We are available 24/7, we pay the interest charges while building, we pay for anything unexpected, we pay for the architect, we pay for the engineeers, we pay for the permits, we pay to market our homes saving everyone a lot of money, etc..., etc..., etc...
In Sullivan County, most construction projects should include a cynanide pill with the construction contract, since 8 out of 10 projects don't get finished or are so painful, negatively life-changing, and over budget to make ending it all an attractive option.
Catskill Farms consistently delivers brand new old house within 4 months of commencement, a pretty amazing feat anywhere, let alone up here in the middle of nowhere where even simple tasks are complicated by distance, delinquency and dumbness.
We take the home-building/home-buying process pretty serious, and understand the stress on the pocketbook and relationships. We think building/buying one of homes is definitely life-altering, but in the case of our customers, only for the positive. It's a rare experience.
Today was busy. Up at 6am, Home Depot by 7am to pick up 7 misc. items for the punch list at the Jeff Lake house, met Juan at 8 to drop off misc. items and give him the keys to the Uhaul I rented yesterday so we could move furniture out of the Jeff Lake house (we furnish our unsold houses) and finish the punchlist, then to a quick meeting at the Kittay house addition (this addition is for President of the Chapin Estate Homeowners Association), then to McKean Real Estate to finalize the deal on mini-house #1, otherwise known as Cottage 5, then off to look at 14 acres of land priced right, then back to the Kittay residence to meet with the architects and engineers, then down to Farm #9 to meet up with the Carrs. Presently we are designing the lighting, kitchen and beginning to think about which rooms will be sheetrock, where the wainscotting will go, and where we can slip in some perfect plank ceilings.
Then a 2 hour nap, and now Amy and Lisa are in the kitchen (barefoot of course) cooking up a nice country dinner (in between fighting off this very aggressive and active Kitten) and listening to some Christmas cd's I impulsively picked up at the local gas station.
