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

Wow, I don’t have student loans anymore, so I didn’t realize they were still being paused from Covid.  I guess they were paused almost immediately after the Pandemic started, but who would have known they still hadn’t kicked back in?  The reason I mention this is because I’m a financial literacy aficionado and know so many people in the ole USA really don’t really have a great understanding of their personal finances, and what certain decisions do and don’t do.

I mean, student loan repayments restarting - that’s a pretty big deal for a lot of people.  I’m not an expert on federal vs private loans, and nuances therein, but federal loans and interest on those loans were halted back in Spring of 2020. That’s 3 years ago, that people have not had to budget this very real expense into their budgets (not that that many people budget accurately).  And now the monthly bills are coming due, and they will be monthly bills for years if not decades.  

Dave Ramsey always uses the story of the twenty something or early 30’s living with their parents and using their incomes to buy designer handbags and going out to eat, postponing the very real reckoning of living on their own and the expenses and obligations therein (wow, used ‘therein’ twice in one blog post). I heard it on his podcast a bunch but just recently have I observed in real life, and that's the thing about Dave, his observations about people and their behaviors - he usually has some pretty good insight.

But jeez, if you were a family that was receiving pandemic aid, had their student loans paused, and received this and that pandemic handout - this is going to be a really rude wake-up call - and not short term.

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I guess all of this plays into the inflation story.  There’s lots of angles to the inflation story, but this is certainly one of them - that the average consumer with student loan debt didn’t have to pay that monthly payment so could spend $300-$1000 a month on ‘stuff’ - lord knows they didn’t save it.  Add in the Gov’t aid, and each and every individual had money in their pocket - some loose coin, some spending cash, some jingle jingle.  Besides the financial strain, it must just be depressing to know it’s coming.  And the habits of spending are hard to just give up - be it restaurants, handbags, beauty or whatever. It’s painful.

From what I read, credit card balances for individuals are growing, interest rates are up, student loans coming due.  I wonder how long it will take the decline in individual spending to show in macro economic data, and then relatedly, how long till it starts to bring down inflation because of slacking consumer demand.

Or will people not stop spending, borrow more for cars, take out home equity loans, fill up their credit cards until their is a real problem nationwide on the scale of the housing crisis of 2008, where it was clear something stank but everyone ignored it.

For my business, I’m not sure it matters.  My clients, and their respective social-economic position, it doesn’t seem that they are impacted or sensitive to interest rates, student loans, etc…  Whether they have a big lump sum sitting somewhere I don’t know - but I do know their monthly take-homes are pretty significant.

And as Dave Ramsey likes to say - it's the size of the hole (expenses and debt) versus the size of the shovel (income).

I know, I should be on the Central Bank Board of Governors.

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After a year of planning board meetings and requirements, after spending more than $150,000 in engineering, legal and surveying fees, I received in May the final approval of 9 building lots in one of the most sought-after areas perhaps in the country.

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I liked the Town of Olive Planning Board. I think they overdid some things that had little benefit to anyone, from an engineering perspective, but overall, a true cross-section of the community, with a fairness commitment to both the applicant and the community.

This low inventory environment is so because of all the NYC’ers who never found a home during Covid when demand spiked, compounded by the true lack of inventory, and the idea that no one who still wants to live upstate wants to trade houses because for the most part a lot of families are locked in at low interest rates.  7% instead of 3% is real money.  There’s a $1000 a month difference between a 3% loan and a 7% loan on a $600k house with $120k down (loan of $480K).

But at the same time, $1000 a month isn’t really the problem for new sales - the problem is inventory, priced sanely.  And that’s what we intend to supply.  I’m sure it will be a hit. The bank appraisals for my financing for each home have eye-poppingly elevated - elevated isn't the right word since it infers 'artificial' - but just what the market will bear.

I’m reading Hammer of the Gods, a 70’s book about Led Zeppelin.  I read it before, way back, but I needed something easy to read since I was having trouble with reading books and making progress, which is something that doesn’t make me happy since I’ve always been a reader.  One thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the main-stream music press ignored, disdained, underplayed the size of the impact, the crowds, and the achievements of Led Zeppelin.  Just didn’t write about them, or panned their music, or just gave them less due then was due considering they were outselling the Rolling Stones and blew the Beatles off the charts.  Part of the reason is they didn’t court the press, they didn’t cowtow, kiss ass, etc…  They were bad boys who played loud music and were a bit of heathens with the women.  

Catskill Farms, or actually me, I’m a bit the same way (sans the heathen with women part).  Whether it be Escape Brooklyn, or NYT’s, or a dozen leading pubs, we get ignored.  Why, because we are quantifiably the best selling outfit around, and have done it outside the traditional confines of how that is typically done.  Escape Brooklyn, which is literally a magazine directly targeting our audiences, won’t let us advertise in their publications even though we have best in class stuff.

Ashokan Acres -

Used to bug me, not that long ago really, but it turns out a saying I read not that long ago makes sense - in fact, 2 of them resonate with me.

'You never find haters that are doing better than you.'

And

'I light my way by the bridges I burn.'

It’s just my way, and I guess Ill come into this world and go out of it without really changing too much.

Or as Waylon Jennings liked to sing - ‘being crazy kept me from going insane.’

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Catskill Farms has been developing building sites, designing homes, building homes, and selling homes since 2001.  We have built over 300 across Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess Counties.  Our clients are mostly NYC metro professionals, successful and with a good eye for design.

We are seeking a professional who can lead, can wear multiple hats, and is not afraid of jumping in across the design, construction and operations front.  This person is supported by a full staff of day to day operations staff, in the office and remote.  The job requires a ‘can do, can figure it out, no job is not my job’ small business mind set.   Waking each morning ready for whatever challenges come their way is critical.  Not for wallflowers.

Some specific skills that are helpful include MS Office proficiency from Word, Excel, Powerpoint.   Comfort with Revit is helpful but not necessary.  Google Drive, email organization and general software comfort level required.  The successful applicant will be uber-organized, with an ADHD need to maintain and spread that organizational habit across the company.

Familiarity with construction and the work and product flow of a new residential home build is essential.

This is an in-office position, Monday - Friday, 8-5pm.   It pays $100k+, comes with retirement and healthcare, and a 24/7 use of a car.

This is a busy company building legacy homes across the Hudson Valley.   The successful applicant will see their work built across a large swath of the gold coast of the Hudson Valley.

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Sitting by Lake Moomaw, in western Virginia, one hour west of Lexington VA, south of the Monongahela National Forest, east of the New River Gorge, about 1:30 northeast of Roanoke VA.   Took the traveling Van - a 2022 Ram Winebago Travato - out for the first trip.  It’s camper van, portable office with a full bathroom, kitchen, sleeps 2 or 3, solar panels, gas stove, microwave, running water, refrigerator, heat, AC and a lot of other bells and whistles.  I spent a month plus getting to know the vehicle and learning to the best of my ability how to use the Van.  I don’t run much equipment, and this thing has a lot of equipment, completely new to me.  I guess once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty leveragable across all RVs and Vans to some extent.

It’s got 110 power, 220 power, it’s got ‘chassis power’ and ‘van power’, its got ‘generator power’ and you got ‘boon docking’ travel (not being hooked up to water and electric) and that’s a lot different then when in a campground with facilities and hooked up directly to power and water.

It’s gone well, and I’m experimenting a lot with all the systems and measuring and monitoring them closely with the modern gauges and electronic dashboards that show the levels of propane, fresh water, solar power, and how full your waste tanks are.

Currently, I’m 40 hours ‘off-grid’ and still have plenty of water and electric.

The real destination is Asheville NC, and the Biltmore mansion and hotel, after riding the Blue Ridge Parkway for awhile - like a couple of days.  I tend to travel this way - pick a completely random spot on the map, go there, rough it a bit and then work towards luxury, which I’m sure the Biltmore will have no trouble providing, in between our clay shoots, horse-riding, mansion-touring excursions.  

I have Lulu with me and my Friend Anne.  Our first stop, after leaving Milford PA was Lexington VA, for the Virginia Barrel Racing Classic, where 2000 girls and women competed for the crown of who can navigate a triangular set up of barrels for the quickest time.  16-17 seconds was the most common, in the 15’s rare, but the winner would have to beat 14.92 seconds, which is darn quick.  It was a big event of horse people, horse trailers, dogs, etc…. I’m sure the people on the circuit see each other all the time.  Big arena.  4 day event.  We had our boots shined.

Out here by Lake Moomaw, this is serious Cracker territory.  Strong, almost comical Southern accents among the red-necks - where Appalachia meets who knows what. I’m not judging since I'm a stone's throw from being white trash myself. Basically, guess what I'm saying is there is not a lot of airs being put on out here.

Trying to decide if camping, or more accurately, campgrounds are for me.  I like to control my environment, especially of sounds, and campgrounds are a bit of a free for all.  You can be stacked right on top of each other, people make a lot of noise with their kids and firewood chopping and TV’s and carrying-ons.  We pulled into Lake Moomaw, which is REALLY out there, and right beside us was a family of 4, 2 young kids with 2-3 year old who would not stop crying, screaming, laughing, repeat - but mostly crying and screaming, which is a lot louder in a completely quiet environment - it felt like an SNL skit, and luckily the National Forest campground was not full and we could move our lakefront camp spot to an off lake but quiet space.

Until literally (8) 20-somethings, their baby, and 4 dogs including 2 large German Shepards, poured out of two tiny cars at 8pm as the sun was going down.  They had 1 tent, and were as country as country gets but worked as Unit, like a hive of ants, to set up the camp, gather firewood, drinking their soda pop (not a bottle of water to be found), and hang 2 hammocks.  The next day there were out at the break of dawn with their fishing rods and women and dogs, and disappeared for the day, only to come back around 5, swim, pack up camp just as efficiently and off they went.  Interestingly, to a team manager like myself, I watched, or rather listened to them, and nary an instruction was heard.  Everyone knew their tasks, the men worked together hunting and gathering, and I’m sure the women-folk did their part at the campsite. They kept their voices low.  And poof, they arrived, they did their thing, and poof, there they went.

The lake is pretty big, so when the only boat on the lake, anchored 150’ off our site (which we returned to after the screaming toddler family left) and had a boat load of joy-loving, screaming kids jumping off the boat in a circular jump, scream, splash, routine that went on for hours, the adults played loud music and swore as casually as a dog licks her ass.

So, yes, it did feel a bit unexpected to arrive at a wilderness campsite and be impacted by humans to such a level and maybe a camera was going to pop out of the bushes and say ‘haha, got you’ for some viral punk stunt, but here we are on day 3, and not a sound to be heard but lakeside birds singing to each other, the soft hum of conversations a few sites over, and the soft smell of someone’s campfire.

I take that back - we seemed to be inadvertently parked under a squirrel playground of tree-scrambling, nut-dropping, squirrel-screeching orgy of activity.

Visiting our neighbor who keeps getting older on us after a health scare.

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