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

There are consequences to adding 3 full time jobs to my position within the company already laden with responsibilities: HR guy as we solicit and interview and then hire, doing most of the client-facing stuff that Amanda did, and then coordinating our vendors and subs.  One of the consequences is my brain is full, so losing my phone and other mishaps should come as little surprise.

But losing your phone on the Killington Mountain over President’s Day comes with a lot of insight into phone usage.  Yeah, for a couple of days it will be inconvenient for sure, as we wait for the new one to arrive- but with all my passwords in a password app and my data and pics and videos correctly backed up the cloud, the real problem I’m running into is the 2nd layer of security recommended, the double authentication, where they send a code to your phone. Try to log into my iCloud account, nope.  Try to log into my verizon account, nope.  Try to ‘find my phone’ on someone else’s phone, nope.  I did find some workarounds, but that took a lot of time to figure out.  Thought for sure someone would turn it in, but nothing yet.  I used to be a big loser of stuff, or at least misplacer a lot of stuff - hasn’t happened in years, and only happened this time because my new fancy ski bibs were unfamiliar and I missed the pocket when I redeposited my phone after a glorious top of mountain photo.

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I’m up in Killington for a 3 day boys weekend, a tradition going on or maybe exceeding 10 years by now.  We went go Stowe for 7 or so, which was a lot of fun because we would stay in Burlington, and gather at the hotel bar as families trickled in, eat at some fun restaurants and had a good rhythm.   50 minutes to the slopes the next day was a pain, though we would always stop for fresh bagels on the west side of town from an independent baker, at 6:30am.

I like Killington because it’s a bigger mountain, and a lot more ‘blues’ of varying technical difficulty.  Most of Stowe’s slopes were somewhat steep, even in the ‘blues’.  Used to be 10 plus of us, but now just Lucas my son, a good friend John and me.  In a 3 bedroom rental in Rutland, 10 minutes from the slopes.  Seems to be a late start crowd - we get there at 8, hit the slopes, and pretty thin crowd until 10 or so, and then fades again after 2.

I don’t think many people ski like we do.  First on the slopes, last off.  Makes for some tired bodies for sure but you get a ton of skiing in.

Feels good to be out and about after the harrowing 4-5 weeks I’ve just been through.  Proves my point of a few posts ago, that you always have to have gas in the tank cause you never know when you are going to need it.  You always have to be able to be able to dig deeper and find the energy to tackle whatever is needed.  A few friends of mine said, ‘of course, we knew you’d step up and knock it out of park’ type of sentiment, and it’s nice to know that’s how I’m perceived, but when it’s just me myself and I, I can’t say I harbored the same confidence. Kicking the foot starter on the old engine, in my mind anyway, was no sure thing of an engine starting and running well.

This was a gigantic effort - to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  No means assured, no assurance that it wouldn’t come without true costs in time, mistakes, errors, and team-stress.

But we are on the other side now, and while by no means glued back together wholly, it made it easier when I realized I didn’t want to glue it back together,  I wanted to reinvent and reimagine, so that made it more fun, more strategic, helpful, as I envision what this company maybe should have been awhile back, but you don’t mess around with the gears when everything is going great, or appears to be.

Not be redundant at important positions is an ‘owners’ mistake.  Allowing information silos to be built, is an owner’s mistake.  Allowing non-cooperative, lack of sharing of responsibilities is an owner’s mistake.  But I don’t mind the mistakes- mistakes are what defines a company,  - every company makes them, and the more you do and press forward and press your competitive advantage and try new things, the more mistakes you are going to make - mistakes are your friends - they guide you as effectively as success.

In fact, out there in the wider entrepreneurial world, I wouldn’t be surprised if mistakes are valued more at times, because mistakes add a layer of caution to your plans that success doesn’t.  Success can build over-confidence, and ‘do no wrong’ attitude, and enough of that type of thinking can really lead into danger zones, too much speed heading into the bends in the road.

Mistakes and errors are like a good wingman. What I’ve learned most in the last 4 weeks, and I’m sure there are a lot more lessons and clarity to come, is that the best tool and resource that my company has - me - has been totally under-utilized as of late.  Like your star player sitting it out.  However this company looks in after I reimagine it, the number one thing it will be is more collaborative - and that will be more fun, more redundant and better for all involved.  So maybe the re-inventing isn’t even that hard - removing the impediment to that sharing made not only the need, but the desire, to work together more among my team a really neat thing to witness.

And as I’ve said more than anything, other than wealth, other than self-determination, - one thing you get as a self-employed person is situations that demand all your energy focus creativity resourcefulness, and the outcome is largely dependent on successfully deploying ‘your all’ - not many other lifestyle choices leave you completely at the mercy of your own abilities in good times and bad, in good luck and bad.

Off to ski the Beast (Killington nickname).

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At the Crest in North Branch NY, I own a few hundred acres of really pretty land with big views.  Like my project in Saugerties NY where I reluctantly acquired 16 building lots in March 2020 right when Covid hit, I bought this land just about the same time, maybe a few months later.  Both share similar attributes - really scary at first, then one of the best decisions I ever made - being flush with land during the Covid gold rush.

I would be in an entirely different place if those reluctant land purchases didn’t happen - because by June-August 2020, it was clear that the Pandemic was going to impact the Catskills real estate market in very positive ways as an outward migration from NYC began, and then increased speed for the next 2 years.  Even though it has slowed, there are still many more buyers in the market than there ever was pre-pandemic, at prices that were hard to achieve prior.

I use the word reluctant for a few reasons - 1, these deal were actually made prior, say beginning of 2020, when the real estate market looked shaky at best.  I think we hav 4 mini-ranches going up, as I hedged my bets on a tightening real estate market.  2, When the pandemic hit, it was very unclear who the winners and losers were going to be - if there were going to be any winners at all.

But owning 16 lots in Saugerties, and another 3 in Olivebridge, and a couple in Kerhonkson turned out to be fortuitous, and allowed me to sell as many houses as I could, since I had the land.  And sell I did.  I think we had 25 houses going up at one time in early 2021.  No wonder Amanda quit, the workload was insane.  It was exhausting.  I definitely worked from pre-dawn, to nightfall for a year plus, making my rounds to the houses on a Saturday or Sunday - hitting 15 at a stretch. Walking through them, making lists, getting aggravated, moving onto the next one.

We bought the Crest from a money manager and NYC apartment building owner, who had built some nice projects in Sullivan County (by built I mean the infrastructure - roads, utilities, subdivision process) and then literally didn’t sell a lick for 14 years.  Seriously nothing.  And that is a testament to how tough the business climate was in SuCo - just downright hard.  Tough, narrow lanes of success.  And more than that, the distraction of a team from NYC trying to get some of these lots sold was real, and diluted their efforts at their main NYC business.  But walking away from $5,000,000 isn’t easy, and acknowledging the mistake is hard.

That is, until the pandemic hit.  One of my personal theories about why the economy grew so robust during and after the pandemic was because a lot of businesses and investors were able to get rid of non-performing assets - and they could do it without losing face.  “It was the pandemic” was a cry you heard all around, when really the Pandemic didn’t have anything to do with EXCEPT force people to get really serious and focused, turn on survival mode, shed bad assets and focus on their core business.  Equipment, software, employees, divisions, land, etc… it all had to go if it was a loser because there was no room for distraction - either capital distraction or personal distraction - as the pandemic impacts roiled through the economy.  It’s true a lot of companies prospered, but it wasn’t easy by any stretch, and it took all your attention.

Also, the stimulus money sort of compensation for these losses - yeah, you might have walked away from $1,000,000 mistake, but the government gave you $800k and your core business is booming.

So a lot of people getting serious about their business survival, and being forced to cut the fat to the bone - made a lot more businesses lean and mean, and focused on the core businesses.  And focus produces results.

I mention all the above because we have 2 more homes going under contract at the Crest.  2 Ranches. Finished homes.  That makes 11 built and sold up there, on a plot of land the previous owner hadn’t sold a thing in over a decade.

But the bottomline for me, for us, is without those pre-pandemic decisions to stockpile some land because of being in the right place, not necessarily at the right time - meaning, embracing an opportunity even though the timing wasn't right - and I've said many times, you don't get to time opportunities, you get to act on them - I stock piled land and then was in a position of strength as the market went crazy.  Little luck, little being in the game, a little willingness to take a risk all added up to not joining the fate of what a lot of businesses suffered - a lot of business prospects, but not able to act on them due to some deficiency - could be land, could be employees, could be money, could be marketing. But in the end for a lot of those companies, it was like being in a life raft in the ocean surrounded by water you can't drink. Frustrating and maddening indeed.

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One of the positive consequences of losing my primary aide de camp is I’m having a lot more interactions with my clients - yes, my clients.  Turns out, I let myself be distanced during the design process, after the deal is done, land cleared, driveway in, foundation in and house framed.  Then, the way it has been structured for a few years is that my project manager/designer took over.  And when I mean ‘took over’, I mean, I never heard from my clients again.

Which was weird - because I never found any emails saying ‘don’t contact Chuck’, but the radio silence was complete, which is weird since someone would at least inadvertent copy me on at least some early emails, but nope, didn’t happen.

So, regardless of why it happened, it happened.  Maybe after 15 years of 24/7 I was happy to work in the background if possible.  Maybe the designer knew I didn’t add anything of value at times (true).  Maybe our unspoken delegation of duties and respective silos worked fine.  Maybe I needed a break.

All true to one degree or another.  But, now that I’m back in a client-facing saddle, I see all the good-will, relation building and general camaraderie that comes with contact.  For the last few years, other than working diligently each day in the background, the times I moved to the front was when there was a problem to be solved, and solving a problem with an arm’s length relationship is not as easy as solving one with a solid, growing, ongoing relationship.

I mean, what we do for our clients is pretty fantastic, so there is definitely something to be said about being more present in the process, and not just the man behind the curtain pulling all the strings.  We hurdle so many problems without even alerting our clients, I’ve said many times we make it too easy, so we lose some of the credit we have earned.  I’ve seen other contractors, pool builders, landscapers just include the clients in every little hiccup that the flabbergasted and frightened client feels so grateful to have this person by their side.  We just take care of and move on, and skip the whole Stockholm syndrome charade of rescuing clients from the precipice of disaster.

So, in the last 3 weeks, I’ve had more phone calls and meetings with clients during their construction project than I’ve had in the last few years cumulatively.   And it’s been great.  I have a lot in common with most of them (definitely more than my ex-29 year old designer), people like my story, and what I’ve built, and I know my stuff.  We talk about kids, and life, and travel and the house.  We build relationships.

A valued client of ours in Stone Ridge and me shoot the shit on occasion - his house will be finished in a few weeks, just 8 months or so after we started it.  It was part of the successful ‘our homes your land’ campaign we launched last year after we ran out of land in County Ulster and couldn’t find anymore to buy.  And he summed it best when he said our home building process is really suited for ‘reasonable logical people’ who know how to collaborate effectively.  And I agreed - and I would add ‘nice’ to that description, because we definitely deliver better results for ‘nice, reasonable, logical people’ than we do for ‘nasty, mean-spirited, entitled, pompous people’ who we avoid at all costs if we can if we can spot it.

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I’ve just been part of a miraculous really unexpected counterintuitive turn of events.  By losing a trusted aide, and inviting the team in to see me pay her a heart-felt thank you and goodbye, I seemed to have inspired my team to new levels of commitment.  Let me explain.

As a boss, you really become a caricature of yourself, a one-dimensional being, hell bent on job site discipline and efficiency and quality - so you are that guy, that is the guy you project, and that is the guy that is received.  There’s not a lot of nuance to barking orders, complaining about quality, bossing people around.  There are different ways to go about it, but usually they don’t entail a whole lot of deviation from stern-ness and an all-business approach, done with variations of the sweet talk and the stick.  Sure you can shoot the shit, or bring some coffees, ask about the wife and kids, but it’s small talk and recognized by most as filler to the real lead up of the conversation - discipline, efficiency and quality.

So, by inviting 40 of my closest colleagues to an event which was actually detrimental to me, celebrating a person who really kind of left all hanging there at the end, and most importantly, giving a truly emotional speech about the difficulty of this 2 decade journey, and what not only this individual meant to me, but what the whole team meant to me - gave me the opportunity to be 3 dimensional, and on this occasion, I killed it.  I resonated.  Which was great at the moment since I was beforehand afraid of embarrassing myself beyond redemption, but turns out, was even better after, as the my words and my willingness to say them sunk in and percolated and marinated with my team, and for a moment right now and hopefully it lasts, they could really see how much I put out there, all the time, for myself, but also for them.

And it could be my imagination, but I surely feel a renewed vigor among the team, a clean up of the daily loose ends, an eye on the ball, a maturity that wasn’t there just a week ago.  So now my job is to not revert into the one dimensional boss that is an easy and comfortable lane for me, but instead, use this moment of connection to strengthen long-term the bonds that hold this top-notch team together.

It’s not the first time that I’ve been part of making lemonade out of what looked like lemons - the only difference this time is I’m the one that brought the sugar.

Another thing I'm seeing is that when a vacuum opens up in a company, especially this one with caring talented employees, people rush to fill it, making talent visible that were cloaked under the sometimes suffocated blanket of the person that left. Just the same old lesson - even success has dangerous status quo ruts you are best to avoid, if you are looking to continually maximize the potential of your business and team.

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