Quintessentially Upstate Fall Weather (and my son's 16 birthday)
I'm not going to try and argue that the gloriously seasonal weather we've been having since July makes up for the 9 months of constant and dreadful rain we suffered through from March 2023-December 2023, but evaluated solely on its own, it's been clockwork weather of warm summer days, then a cool September, and shiver-me-timbers October. Leaves are changing, aurora borealis came through last night, and fall is unmistakenly and undeniably in the air.
Beautiful fall day up at our project at the Crest, in North Branch NY.
The weird thing about the show from the heavens last night was it wasn't able to be seen with the naked eye, at least from NE Pennsylvania. The iphone brought out the colors the eye couldn't see. Not sure the science behind that.
I took a drive around to a half a dozen job sites, and now that we are winding down from a 4 year sprint, I'm starting to ask myself how I actually pulled off what Catskill Farms pulled off. Our effort and results are really hard to grasp now that they are in the rear view mirror. It was a lot of things, but the number 1 thing it was was me holding the team - field and office - together on a daily basis. No one else did that - that was all me. Hiring, firing, mentoring, correcting, supervising, interceding, fixing messes, etc... When I went out to the field, we have 6 homes going in Sullivan County, another 14 in Ulster, probably one in Dutchess, and at one point another 4 in Phoenixville PA. I would go out and create list after list and bring it back to Amanda who had her own list and we would just work through them, item by item and house by house. And Breanna would keep the money flowing.
This new Ranch foundation on 21 acres went in about as fast as you can put a foundation in. Ready for framing by mid week next week.
The complexity, on all levels - deal-making, permitting, engineering, breaking ground, inspections, scheduling, ordering, client coordination - was not for the faint of heart and not achievable to most people. It was literally a 4:30am to 9pm, 7 days a week focus. And, now it's over. The homes have been built. The profits banked, reinvested, growing. The experience gained forever to be leveraged. The team members - those who are left standing - sharp, polished and knowledgeable. The systems put in place scalable on demand. The relationships battle-tested, nimble and responsive.
The custom home in Forestburgh is coming out great. A testament to the talent of the team.
A 800 sq ft Ranch coming to market shortly.
An 800 sq ft cabin also coming to market shortly.
So as I toured our 4 homes under construction yesterday in SuCo, I look back with genuine amazement that I was able to keep that frenzy of activity in line, in order, moving forward, controlled and completed for the last 4 years. That's a long time to be in the red RPM zone. That can cause some measurable damage in a wide range of health issues, mental and physical, and I think I can proudly claim that I bore them all, suffered through them all, and got up and took that first step of the journey the next day, and the next, and next until I've reached today - with it all behind me except the healing.
Another good looking Perfect Barn just about complete. We've built 5 or 6 versions of this home over the last year. Such a versatile home.
Although, when you can say your building and selling 7 homes currently across 2 counties is walk in the park, you know you've far outpaced what poses as your competition.
Great night for Friday Night Lights. My son turns 16. We've had quite the run together as Father and Son team. Happy Birthday Lucas Richard Petersheim.
