Sullivan County Real Estate

High Speed Rail for Sullivan County?

Yup, I bet that headline got your attention. High speed rail between Sullivan County and NYC has been as much — or even more — of a dream for Sullivan County boosters than casinos. The Mid-Hudson News reported today (see report) that Sullivan County's 2 state legislators, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and State Senator John Bonacic, have introduced a bill to form a commission to study a high speed rail line for Orange and Sullivan counties. Now, introducing a bill to form a commission to study something is a long way from that something actually happening. But its a start. The timing may be right, though. 3 plans are under study to replace or expand the Tappan Zee Bridge, and one of those plans includes adding a rail line across the Hudson to connect Rockland County, west of the Hudson, with Metro North lines east of the Hudson. A Sullivan/Orange rail line could be included as part of that comprehensive plan.

This is not something that will happen in the short term. But I, for one, applaud out legislators for getting us into the transportation debate and looking to this region as a likely growth area from the city. The Port Authority of NY/NJ's decision to take over Stewart Airport in Newburgh as the NY region's 4th airport  can only strengthen the argument for high speed rail in this direction, as well.

Just Announced - Philharmonic To Open Bethel Woods 2nd Season

Mark the date! July 7th. The NY Philharmonic will be back to open the 2nd season at Bethel Woods. Tickets go on sale at 10AM on April 23rd for the Philharmonic. The rest of the concert and event season will be announced at a later date. For more information, www.bethelwoodslive.org.

Corzine Signs Law Forming Township, School Consolidation Commission

Ok, Jon Corzine is the governor of New Jersey, not New York. But maybe legislation, like a cold, can be catching to a nearby neighbor. Blow the wind this way, Jon.

New Jersey has been struggling with property tax reform for months. One part of the final property tax package in the Garden State is a law establishing a commission to study which of the state's 616 school districts and 566 towns would benefit from being consolidated or sharing services. (The bill was watered down, stripping the commission of the power to force townships and districts to consolidate, but its a start.) Its a major strike at the cherished, but ultimately expensive and inefficient, concept of home rule. New Jersey, like New York, labors under just too much government. In Sullivan, a county with about 70,000 full time residents, we have 15 townships and 9 school districts. That's a lot of government per person.

Consolidation makes economic sense, but given the beating that Spitzer is taking in trying to make health care more efficient, its unlikely he'll tackle townships and school districts. We'll just continue with a patchwork of state subsidies, property tax increases and financial three card monty without dealing with the heart of the property tax disease. That is, until it becomes so painful, like in New Jersey, that it becomes a matter of political survival. Maybe Corzine and crew can go up to Albany to give a little seminar.

A Green Counterpoint to My Casino Shift

I expect to get flamed about my pro-casino comments (below). But that doesn't mean I've abandoned by (generally) green principles. Sullivan County isn't unlike a lot of other areas, with a polarization between pro-development and pro-environment forces. But we here in Sullivan County have a tremendous opportunity to distinguish ourselves as the 'green showcase' in New York state. It will take resolve, determination and coordination — which are in far shorter supply here than the fresh air, water and natural resources we seek to protect.

An article in this past Sunday's New York Times describes Woodstock, NY's initiative to reduce net-carbon emissions to zero by 2017.  A handful of other 'left leaning' cities like Portland, Oregon and Boulder, Colorado, have also taken the net-carbon zero emissions plunge. Green is 'hot' — just think about how many articles or news reports you've seen in the last year or two about global warming, hybrid cars, energy efficient buildings and solar or wind power.

Why can't Sullivan County be a green showplace, from development policies and new construction to energy and waste disposal? The pro-environment faction looks at the casino, or other big developments, as environmental scourges. But what if Sullivan County mandated "offsets" of some type, so large development projects had to contribute to the funding of green initiatives. What if Sullivan County made a commitment to build or attract alternative energy production equal to the amount of energy expected to be consumed by the casino? Can we mandate that the casino subsidize low-emissions alternative fuel buses to transport casino guests to and from NYC?

The Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development has been working hard to bring commercial wind farms to Sullivan County (hey, we got plenty of wind 'round these parts). (See a recent article in the Sullivan County Democrat, Wind Power Promises New Source of Funds for Towns.) Its an uphill battle, because there isn't a lot of incentive for property owners to convert valuable mountain property to wind power generation. But what if we started tying development and subdivision approval to the level of green initiatives a developer was willing to include? For example, permitting higher density in exchange for designating land for wind power, or installing a common geothermal heating and cooling field? Or go one step further like Boulder, Colorado, and require all new construction to 'earn' enough green credits before getting a building permit. Or provide property tax breaks to smaller energy efficient, LEEDS (leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified construction and disincentives to the large 5,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. country McMansions were starting to see pop up here. (I've long thought that there should be a 'house guzzler' tax similar to the 'gas guzzler' tax on big cars.)

I yearn for the day to see us on the cover of the Sunday NY Times Magazine with the headline "The Sullivan County Catskills --- from Borscht Belt to Green Belt." We can do it --- if the will is there.  Sullivan County  can be known as the greenest county in New York, even with a casino.

Why I've Tilted Pro-Casino --- We Need Hotels!

For years, I've labeled myself 'casino agnostic'. I've neither shared the economic salvation euphoria of the casino proponents, nor the doom and gloom predictions of casino opponents. If the casinos came, fine --- this is a big county with plenty of room for everyone. If they didn't, that was fine with me, too. The renaissance of Sullivan County seemed to be chugging along just fine, at least on the surface.

In the last few months, I've changed my tune. The reason is hotels. We just don't have enough hotel rooms to support a vibrant, growing tourist industry. We need a tourist industry to support new restaurants, shops, galleries, outdoor outfitters and all of the other low-impact small businesses necessary to revitalize our small villages and hamlets. The second home market, while certainly an economic bright spot in Sullivan County, isn't quite enough.

We need new hotels and resorts, enough beds to sleep hundreds or even thousands of overnight guests. City folks who will stay over and eat in our restaurants, golf on our courses, canoe our rivers, shop in our shops, frequent our fairs and festivals and buy tickets to Bethel Woods, the Forestburgh Playhouse, the Shandelee Music Festival and the Delaware Valley Opera.

Over the past few years, I've talked at length with at least a half dozen hotel developers. They've heard the buzz about Sullivan County and want to do something here. They're not amateurs, but pretty experienced hotel people with innovative ideas who've done great projects in other areas. They come and they look. But they don't commit. The reason, simply put, is that our season is too short. They can't justify a major resort investment with just a 2 or 3 month summer season with a a short fall foliage kicker plus a few weekends for fly fishing and hunting. Without good downhill skiing, we just don't have a robust winter season.

These hotel developers aren't necessarily looking to build casino-centric hotels within a mile of the Monticello raceway. But they do see at least one casino here as essential to expanding the 'season' and making a resort financially viable. They try to pencil out scenarios to lengthen the season without a casino, by including a spa or water park, and filling midweek rooms off-season with conference business. But it always comes down to the draw of a casino to fill off-season weekends that seems to tip the financial scales.

For now at least, without a casino, hotel developers (with the exception of Capelli at the Concord) are just waiting in the wings. And Sullivan County continues to wait for the new hotels that I personally think are so essential for the next  spurt in Sullivan County's turnaround. Without a lot of new hotel rooms, I doubt we'll see the New York Philharmonic commit to Bethel Woods as a permanent summer home, nor will we likely see a major expansion of Bethel Woods itself, with an indoor performance hall and other facilities. We probably won't see a lot of new restaurants, shops and galleries, as well as more frequent bus service from Manhattan.

So I've come to believe that a casino isn't just about a casino, or the jobs it will directly create. I think it is essential to bring other development to Sullivan County that will increase the viability of other businesses in far reaching parts of our county. Its great to wish for a nice restaurant in Livingston Manor or Jeffersonville (both Stella's in Jeffersonville and Resort in Livingston Manor are now closed), but without patrons that just isn't going to happen.

NYRI Agrees to Consider Alternate Routes

The proposed NYRI (New York Regional Interconnect) power line project, proposed to run through the western part of Sullivan County, has faced tremendous opposition from residents along the route, as well as county and state politicians. Until now, NYRI has refused to consider alternate routes. Well, that was before Congress and the NY Governor's office flipped from Republican to Democrat. The political winds must have changed, because now NYRI said it will study two alternate routes — along the NY Thruway and along the existing Marcy South power line right of way.

One likely factor contributing to NYRI's previous intransigence was an ace-in-the-hole card — the possibility that if state regulatory approval failed, NYRI could fall back on the Federal government to designate the project a strategic energy corridor, which would trump state oversight. Such a designation is more likely under a pro-business Bush administration, but time is marching on to the 2008 Presidential elections, and there may be a shift in the political winds if the Democrats succeed in grabbing the White House.  It appears that NYRI is smelling the political roses, and  now willing to consider other options.

We're not out of the woods yet with NYRI. They have not abandoned the proposed route along the Columbia pipeline through Sullivan County, but have only agreed to study other routes. But its a BIG victory for the anti-NYRI forces!

Swinging Bridge Refill to Start This Week, Future Uncertain

The fate of the Swinging Bridge Reservoir (and the other 3 reservoirs in the Mirant system, Toronto, Rio and Mongaup Falls) has been front and center in the news here for the last week. And given all the conflicting information, its probably easier to pick a party nominee for President than figure out what the future holds for Sullivan County's largest lake. Last Friday, the Sullivan County Democrat had a front page article, "Mirant's sale of massive properties makes for uncertain future" that painted a pretty pessimistic picture. The paper raised the question on everyone's mind — will Alliance Energy Renewables continue to operate the reservoirs at their historic levels after the acquisition from Mirant. While all the politicians quoted consider Swinging Bridge and the other reservoirs to be an important asset, none really had an answer. State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther pointed to the state as a possible owner. But County Attorney Sam Yasgur was quoted as saying "The country tried to interest some public entities [NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, the NYS Parks Dept and the NYS Power Authority]", but "to no avail."  And Gunther added that making the property a state park or preserve would come with usage restrictions.

But then today (Tuesday), the Sullivan County Democrat published a much more optimistic take, "Plans Call for Rising Waters at Swinging Bridge Reservoir." A Mirant spokesperson was quoted as saying that the refilling is scheduled to start this week, although was a little foggy about how long a refill will take. The article includes a fairly circuitous discussion about the license status and the role of FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) in ensuring license compliance by the new owner, Alliance, and whether this can force Alliance to keep the reservoirs at their historic levels.

Notably absent from the 2 Democrat articles and the article in the Times Herald Record is any comment from officials of Alliance Energy Renewables, the likely new owner. A statement from Alliance that they are committed to maintaining the reservoirs at their historic levels and operate the hydroelectric facilities would go a long way to settling jangled nerves.  The papers tried to contact an Alliance spokesperson to no avail.

February 07 Sales Data and Market Analysis Posted

My Current Market Conditions analysis this month is very interesting. How can sales plunge 36% over a year ago, while prices are actually holding? Doesn't that go against everything you learned in Economics 101? There are reasons. You'll have to read my Current Market Conditions to find out. I'm sure you'll have your own thoughts, so please come back here and leave your comments, too.

Help Redesign My MLS Search

The MLS Search capability is the most popular feature of my website. Dozens of people drop my every day to search for properties. If you're reading this blog, you've probably spent time there, too. I use an MLS Search system provided by a 3rd party company, IDX Pro. Its the best 'off the shelf' system I found, but the ability to customize it is very limited.  We're considering "rolling our own" MLS Search system, which will be an expensive and time consuming endeavor and almost unheard of for a little company like Catskills Buyer Agency. But I think, with your help, we can build a better, more responsive and user friendly system.

There are some limitations imposed by the rules of the Sullivan County Multiple Listing Service that I have no control over. For example, we can't show the "Days on Market" or the direct property address of a listing, nor can we include "sold" listings. But within the rules, there's a lot of flexibility about what could be done.

So let's build a new and better MLS Search together. If you're like most buyers, you've been on a lot of Realtor websites in different areas, and have tried a lot of search systems. There are some you've loved and some, I'm sure, you've, well, loved less. I'd like to hear what you like - and don't like - about my MLS search, as well as other sites you've been on. If there's a real estate website anywhere - it doesn't have to be here - that you really like, I'd like to hear about it.

Here are some starter thoughts on what I think are limitations of the MLS Search on my site. I think the photos are too small, especially on larger higher resolution monitors. There's no ability to search just for lakefront houses, or lakefront houses on a motorboat lake, for example. The current search system groups anything water related into a single search category 'Waterfront' --- that includes lakefront, riverfront, stream front, properties with ponds, and properties with lake rights. What I do like in IDX Pro is the ability to save listings, save searches, and receive daily updates of new listings that meet your search criteria.

What do you like and don't like? What would you like to see? Is the current search system as easy to use as I think it is, or are there aspects of it that are frustrating? I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

Catskill Farms Unveils New Affordable Cottage Series

 
I've been blogging for months about the demand for smaller, finely crafted homes with charm that are affordable. The inventory of existing homes that meet these criteria is very low, and most builders have been focusing their new construction on larger, more expensive homes. There's been this real gap. New construction in the $300,000 range has tended to be uninteresting suburban modular in style, and more interesting new construction has been in the $500,000 to $700,000 range.

Chuck Petersheim of Catskill Farms, who's built many of those beautifully detailed reproduction farmhouses in the $500,000 range, and I have been talking about this for a while. Now Chuck has decided to roll out a new series of more affordable, smaller cottages, with many of the same charming detailing that has made his Farmhouse series such a hit. The new Cottage Series features smaller houses, under 1,400 sq. ft., on 5 acre parcels at a price point right around $300,000. He already has two under contract, both of which sold before the foundations were even in the ground.

You can see the series here on the Catskills Farms website. But if you want to tour the sites, see what's already up, and yes, buy one ... please give me a call. After all, how I make my living is selling real estate, not just writing this blog and maintaining this website.

This is a great new product that I think meets a real need here. I'm thrilled that Chuck has decided to take a risk, that a builder can make a living by bringing smaller, more finely detailed homes to market. After you've looked 'em over, please come back here and post your thoughts on the new series.