Sullivan County Real Estate

Ramps Festival This Weekend

I'm not setting out to become 'Events Central' for What To Do postings here in Sullivan, but I am partial to what Victoria Lesser and Joseph Lennon are doing at the Old North Branch Inn. This weekend if the First Annual Ramps Festival (sponsored by a newly formed Slow Foods group here), and the Old North Branch Inn is planning a number of events featuring Ramps. (Ramps are a very short-seasoned wetlands sort-of-leek that are very tasty.)

I'm reposting their email with the info:

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The North Branch Inn is doing it again. 

On Saturday May 3rd we will host a Ramp Dinner with guest chef Peter Yurasits.  This follows the success of our first Guest Chef Dinner last Tuesday with Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez.

Peter Yurasitis will be preparing a three-course dinner featuring ramps, the short season wild leek found in our area.  The cost is $40, beverages are not included.

Peter’s cooking career began in the South of France where he worked as a private chef.  In the early 90’s he launched Fine Food Affairs, a catering business in New York, concentrating on local foods.  He describes his style as New American influenced by his Provencal experience.  The menu will highlight not just ramps but other local products.  Peter is very familiar with our local farms; he shares a house in Callicoon Center with Andrea Ratimorszky and their son Lukas.

Peter will also be conducting a Taste Workshop at the Old North Branch Inn as part of Slow Food Upper Delaware River Valley's 1st Annual Ramp Festival on Saturday May 3rd at 1:00pm.  Because of these events we will not be open for regular business. 

For reservations call the Old North Branch Inn at 845 482-5925 or email josephlennon@earthlink.net  Seating is limited and reservations with a $20 deposit is required. 

If you are unable to make this dinner we have more in the works including a return by Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez from Lassi June 17, Amanda Freitag from the Harrison July 15 and Anita Lo from Annisa and Bar Q July 22.  This list is in formation and we are not yet taking reservations for these events.

We are currently open with our off season hours: Friday 5pm-10pm, Saturday 9am-10pm and Sunday 10am-6pm.  We're serving beer, wine and light fare. Please come by for a visit!   Reminder: this Saturday May 3rd, because of the Ramp Festival events we will not be able to serve our regular menu.  Please bare with us as we work out the logistics for these dinners.

   

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Victoria Lesser and Joseph Lennon

The Old North Branch Inn

869 North Branch Rd.

North Branch, NY 12766

845 482-5925

www.theoldnorthbranchinn.com

Fresh Favorites

In the past couple of weeks I've gotten really excited about some new listings that have come on the market, and some good price cuts on others that have brought them into my "Well, at this price this is really interesting" category. I've picked out 9 listings priced from $219K to $399K that are among my current faves.

Click Here to View the Listings  (Note: This link will expire on May 28)

This list includes an adorable renovated schoolhouse (complete with working bell) near Fremont Center for $299K, a tastefully updated house on a few acres at the edge of the village of Jeffesonville for $219,900, a pretty stylish renovation of an older 'cape' style on 5 acres in Bethel for $285,000 (gotta love the cement countertops!) and a very privately set farmhouse on 17 acres outside of Callicoon Center for $379K. There's also a rarely available Catskills Farms' house on 5 acres near Eldred just listed for $338,000.

I'm not saying that all of these houses have everything that a second home buyer could want. The lakefront house for $319,000 on Bodine Lake needs some updating and reconfiguring, and its not secluded and set in the woods --- but its more lakefront house for the money than I've seen in a while. The Callicoon Center farmhouse isn't a 'magazine ready' renovation, but is cozy and very private. The $399,000 house at Loch Ada can use some updating (well, lots) and lightening up, but has plenty of space and potential to go along with the inground pool and tennis court.

I have my eye on a dozen or so other listings that are just on the verge of moving into my "Favorites" but aren't quite there yet. Some need just need to go on a little bit more of a price diet. And there's a small renovated farmhouse, for example, that made a nice drop from $489,000 to $429,000 in the last few weeks, but didn't quite make this group because I wanted to cap these favorites at $400,000.

$4 Gas Boon or Bust for SC?

The sharp run up in gas prices has real estate tongues wagging up here. The conversation starter, "What about them Mets?" has been replaced with "What about them gas prices?" (OK, I'm not that into sports and have never started a conversation with "What about them Mets', but you get the point.) There is some worry that high gas prices will choke the New York second home market. But I have a somewhat contrarian view.

Once the shock of higher gas prices passes, and you get used to the sixty buck fill up for a Suburu, there could actually be some benefits for Sullivan County. The biggest plus is that Sullivan County, as a second home destination for New York city-ites, is relatively close compared to the Berkshires, upper Hudson Valley/Columbia County and far closer than the Adirondacks, Vermont and Maine. Wurtsboro, the closest village in Sullivan County to the city, is only 75 miles from the GW Bridge. (Hudson in Columbia County is 125 miles; Stockbridge in the Berkshires is 166 miles). The majority of our lakes are within 100 miles of the GW.

Over the past decade, the prime area for many second home buyers in Sullivan has moved further north and west to the more rural areas (think roughly of a crescent shaped swath from Livington Manor in the north to Barryville in the southwest) and led to the revitalization of hamlets and villages like Jeffersonville, Callicoon and Narrowsburg. Some of Sullivan's more eastern hamlets, like Mountaindale and Hurleyville, haven't fared as well. Higher gas prices could get buyers to rethink those areas, as they look to get 30 miles closer to the city. Their proximity could lead to a revitalization. Likewise, Emerald Green around Rock Hill, one of the closest lake developments to NYC, could see a rise in demand. (Younger 30-something second home buyers from NYC have tended to bypass Emerald Green due to its more 'suburban' style in favor of lakes further afield with a more rustic, 'mountain lake getaway' feel.)

There may also be some rethinking about 'privacy and seclusion', two of the most in-demand second home features that buyers I've worked with in the past few years have requested. In general, finding privacy and seclusion means being further from a village. Houses at the edge of a village or hamlet, on an acre or so of land (plenty for a nice sized garden) may become more appealing again — if it means you can take a short walk to pick up the Sunday Times rather than drive 5 or 10 miles.

I also expect that in the next year, airfares are going to skyrocket. Airlines are back in their old pattern of losing billions of dollars, and at some point they have to bite the bullet and raise fares. The era of being able to fly a family of four round-trip to Florida for $800 is probably past. As fly away vacations become more and more expensive, a close by drive away second home becomes more appealing.

I'm not saying that high gas prices won't have a negative impact on the real estate market here. But as we retool to adjust to those prices, Sullivan County may fare better than some other areas.  Already higher gas prices have definitely had a downshifting effect, from the size of houses people are looking at to the size of cars they're considering to get to the house they're thinking about buying.

I think that some parts of the primary home market are going to have a tough time. Remember a year ago those billboards on Route 17 touting a new development around Hurleyville that proclaimed "Drive 30 minutes and save $50,000"? Daily commuters who work in Middletown or Newburgh are going to think long and hard before they add 50 or 60 miles to their daily round-trip. For daily commuters, convenience to work and shorter commuting distances are going to become even more central to their home shopping.

So what are your thoughts about the possible impacts of higher gas prices on Sullivan County? Will we see more cluster housing? Will some of the unbuilt developments originally targeted to primary homeowners retool for second home owners? Will we get more frequent bus service between Sullivan County and NYC? Will Mountaindale become the new hotspot?

Clarification About Being Busier

On this blog, and in my April Current Market Conditions report, I wrote that business started to pick up in mid-March, after a molasses-slow January and February. Some sellers, it seems, gave grabbed on to this tidbit to convince themselves that the market is charging ahead, and returning to its pre-downturn go-go levels. In the past few weeks, more than one listing agent has said that they've had conversations with sellers about reducing their asking price to a more realistic level, only to be met by resistance backed up by a reference to "David Knudsen on his blog says that the market is picking up."

I feel a need to clarify my remarks. Yes, there is definitely more activity than a couple of months ago. But there is a significant difference between buyers today versus a year or two ago. Buyers today are VERY value focussed. That doesn't mean that they're all lower end bargain shoppers, but no matter what they're looking to spend, they want to be very confident in the value. The houses that are seeing action are those that have been put on the market at a very attractive price, or have had a major price reduction to bring them into a price space where buyers say, "Wow, this is a great value." Baby-step price reductions, say from $399,000 to $389,000 or from $265,000 to $259,000, just don't have that affect.

Sellers need to take a very competitive stance, not versus buyers but rather versus the other houses on the market competing for the same buyers. Sellers (well, those who want to actually sell their houses) should sit down with their agent and be open to a 'tough love' talk.  Review the houses similar to yours that have actually sold, and ask your agent why those houses sold and yours didn't. What houses are your direct competition on the market, and what can you do to beat those houses to get a buyer? You might not like what you're going to hear, but you gotta hear it. If your agent can't give you a really good explanation of your position on the market, and what it will take to get your house sold, maybe you should start looking for another agent. Getting a general answer that "The market's slow" isn't an explanation. Have any other houses similar to yours sold? At what price? The market may be slow to dead for your house at your current asking price, but the variable may be "your asking price", if other houses similar to yours have sold for 25% less.

Old North Branch Inn - Wine Bar Opened, Slow Food Dinners Planned

I'm posting the following email I received yesterday from Joseph Lennon at the Old North Branch Inn. They've been working on getting their wine and beer license, and also putting in a larger kitchen so they can offer more food options as well as host Slow Food Dinners with chefs from the city. (The 1st Slow Foods Dinner is slated for next Tues. Apr. 22nd ... more info below.) The Inn is really lovely, and designer Victoria Lessor has done a beautiful job with it. And for those of you in the country with limited high speed internet options, there's free wifi to go with your morning coffee and muffin!

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Its official, Baxter’s at the Old North Branch Inn has wine and beer. 

 

We are also kicking off our highly anticipated Chef Dinners.  Reserve Now! 845 482-5925

On Tuesday April 22 we are happy to welcome Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez as our first guest chef.  Heather is the chef-owner of Lassi, a tiny take-out restaurant in Greenwich Village specializing in North Indian Cuisine.  Heather will create a 3-course prix fixe dinner for a limited number of diners at a cost of $25.  Any beverages are additional.

For many years Heather was know for her 3-star desserts, and her pastry chef resume reads like a history of NY’s most esteemed eateries.  She created desserts at some of New York’s top restaurants including Mondrian, L’Impero, Union Square Café, Veritas and Judson Grill, as well as working as a consultant for France’s Michel Cluizel Chocolat and Domori Chocolate in Bologna, Italy.

Three years ago Heather struck out on a different tack opening a small Indian take-out restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village.  Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld of New York Magazine write, “Even though she is an unlikely Indian restaurant owner, she’s a passionate one”, adding “Her food tastes unlike any other Indian restaurant in town — fresher, cleaner but undiluted in its intricately spiced essence.”

Since opening, Lassi has received rave reviews including New York Magazine 2006 Best Take-Out in New York City and in 2008 Saveur Magazine picked Lassi as part of their yearly Favorite 100 items in food.

Lassi was Heather’s first personal venture.  She has gone on to create a line of Lassi Spice Mixes donating a portion of proceeds for small loans, through the Grameen Bank, to struggling third-world female entrepreneurs.  She has just launched a line of handmade chocolates.

 

The Old North Branch Inn will be participating in the Slow Food Upper Delaware River Valley's May 3-4 Ramp Festival.  As part of the festival it will host a Taste Workshop with Peter Yurasits of Fine Food Affairs at 1:00 Saturday May 3.  Peter will also be the Inn’s guest chef on Saturday May 3rd creating a dinner celebrating the ramp, a short season wild leek found in our region.  

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Victoria Lesser and Joseph Lennon

The Old North Branch Inn

www.theoldnorthbranchinn.com

869 North Branch Road

North Branch, New York 12766

845 482-5925

Gas Leases and Drilling An Important Issue

When you drive through the pastoral landscape of western Sullivan County (or neighboring Pike and Wayne counties across the river in PA), about the last thing that comes to mind is gas drilling. But that's exactly what's on the horizon, with all of its noise, disruption and environmental consequences.

The impending arrival of gas drilling has been in the newspapers here for months now, but I have to admit I haven't paid that much attention. Gas company representatives have been approaching local landowners to sign gas leases, and they portray it all as rather benign. They'll just make a little hole on your back 40, suck out some gas and send you nice fat checks. Heck, to hear them talk, you'll hardly notice they're even there.

But the more I learn, I'm coming to understand that the reality is very different. The use of toxic chemicals in the fracing process, polluted wells and ponds, drilling rigs and tanker trucks lumbering down roads at all hours of the day and night, tall rigs lit up 24/7 like Christmas trees. Over in Hickory, PA, the gas drillers have been doing their thing since 2006, and their experiences are very instructive --- they aren't a happy bunch. The gas companies are moving east, and have set their sights on the Delaware River valley.

I've posted a mailing from a group organizing against the drilling, Damascuscitizens.org. (Click here to get the .pdf of the mailing.) While you may not have any intention to sell the gas drilling rights on your property, your neighbor might.  This is a difficult issue, because  often local farmers are the landowners with the large acreage holdings that are most attractive to the gas companies. And those local farmers can have a tough time making ends meet - so the revenue from gas leases becomes very attractive.

I encourage you to learn more about this issue, because its something that could affect us all for a very long time.

March Sales Data Posted - Finally

Sorry for the delay this month in getting the Current Market Conditions report posted. While the March data is something I may want to forget (monthly closed sales were off 66% from March 2007), the delay wasn't due to any desire to postpone the delivery of bad news. Believe it or not, I've been backed-to-the-wall busy since mid-March with both clients here in Sullivan County and trying to get my new pied-a-terre in the city in shape. There's been a noticeable pickup in business the last 3 or 4 weeks, and I've been doing "real work" --- showing property, writing offers and negotiating deals. Check out this month's Current Market Conditions report and then drop on back here to post your thoughts and comments.

March Sales Data Coming Soon

Believe it or not, I'm a little behind in getting together the March sales data and analysis because I've been BUSY. Yes, a four letter word I was worried I wouldn't utter this year. BUSY. I've had a full appointment schedule for the last two weekends, the first time that's happened since last fall. Weather certainly plays a part — spring has sprung in the city (although its still a couple of weeks away up here.) Buyers also seem more serious, although of course cautious about value. I've written 2 purchase offers in the last week, one accepted and one in negotiation. That comes after 6 or 7 weeks of nada, nothing, bupkus.

I've taken a peek at the March sales data, and the picture isn't pretty. In March, it looks like there were only 21 closed sales in the Sullivan MLS, down from 63 in March 2007. That's not surprising, given that the phone just wasn't ringing in December and January. The next couple of months are going to be an interesting litmus test.

I should have the full data picture out in a few days.