We have a lot of great clients and they do a wide range of pretty great things, including spending a lot of money locally and in a very impactful way, helping drive the economy of our local towns. Some businesses 'get it' and try to cater and attract these residents, and other businesses just miss the ball entirely.
Barryville NY is becoming a hip little spot with some great new stores (adding to some great existing stores). I love micro-economics - where one venture feeds another venture and inspires another venture that feeds the other venture that eventually becomes self-perpetuating and self-generating.
Our good friends and clients Bryce and Thom (Cottage 17) have opened a little store in a rehabbed corner building in Barryville, selling regional products (hence its name, REGION). And then they stock stuff from around the area including homemade goods from Jeanne (Cottage 14), who also supplies the local tavern of choice (Baker's Tap Room) with Cakes.
What's nice about our clients when they open a business or launch a venture, they typically do it very well, with the right look and feel, pricing, product, etc...
And I was over at Benoist's house the other day having a cocktail and conversing with some of his friends from up the road in Eldred. We built his house back in 2005.
And now for the stuff under production -
Not messing around in Saugerties with Cottage 37. We are striking a very exciting deal with Village Green Real Estate, which is owned by Coldwell Banker, which is partnered with Corcoran. Hopefully we can put together a dynamic marketing team that we never were able to do over here in Sullivan where everyone wanted our money but no one wanted to invest in serious marketing.
I would bet I spend more per month than most sullivan county real estate firms spend per year.
Farm 17 going up. You know we build fast when the houses go up faster than I can blog about them.
I had Lucas over in the area over the weekend, and showed him around the job sites. He likes big tractors.
And Farm 11 really seeing some serious action - siding, fireplace, interior wall coverings, interior floors, etc....
It's like a ballet its so well orchestrated.
This 1950 sq ft 4 bedroom home on 12 acres is pretty much the cat's meow.
And Cottage 36 - which Matthew wants to call Cabin 1, but I'm just not starting over and if he wants Cabin 1 he'll need to over to Chapin Estate and pay another $200k. (Just joking MM - we can informally call it anything you want, just don't call me late for dinner).
Siding, fireplace, septic, well, interior finishes...
We invest more than $400k a month into these little towns, supporting a wide range of small businesses, allowing many of them to really not just survive but actually prosper. We have been an economic catalyst for 9 years.
New use of salvaged wood above the fireplace - I think it looks pretty sharp. The TV gets mounted as well.
And Mid Century 5 is just about finished, with stone pillars at the carport.
This dandy is for sale for $210k.
And Micro-Cottage 4, getting ready to sale in a week.
All for now. Got to go see how much less Lucas' college fund has in it.
Haven't read your blog in quite a while but good call in the short-term about the stock market. I had been buying for the few days and on 8/8 too. Longer term their are still serious leverage issues to be dealt with in both the US and abroad. One of my favorite recent stock picks though is CSIQ - Canadian solar (I also have bought a bunch of Chinese solar companies, but they are riskier).
ReplyDeleteSolar is something to think about adding to some of your houses as the price of panels keeps coming down and the tax incentives are pretty good. Plus for vacation houses, the excess power generated when residents not there can be sold back to utility in many areas.
Solar will make a lot more sense in the coming years, especially compared to something like hydro-fracked natural gas.