Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I couldn't believe how busy we were on December 28th. We had one person in after the next all day long! It was great. And everyone had their mind on one singular focus- building their new home this year!

If you too are thinking this is the year- to stop renting or to finally build your dream home and get out of your drafty old one, this is the perfect time to start.

Our next home building seminar is scheduled for the end of January- you can get updates in the office or on the web. But save the date of January 28th.

And on the website there is a great timeline to help keep you on track if you are trying to take advantage of the federal housing tax credit which will expire in June. We cannot impress on you that NOW is really the time to start!

Thank you for your continued trust, we look forward to earning your business!

Christmas puppies

Eric & MIchelle -

Thank you so very much for the lovely Christmas ornament! This is such a very special Christmas for us - our first one in our new dream house and the house looks amazing with all the holiday decorations. We wouldn't be here without all your help and we appreciate all you have done for us more than we can express :-)

Here's a cute picture of our 5 goldens arranged around the hearth & woodstove we constructed under the chimney chase; we had just come in from a walk and the dogs all took up spots around the woodstove to warm up - are they spoiled or what . You can see how much they appreciate the new house too :-)

Ken and Joan

It's nice to be appreciated.

I know for me the holidays are always a time to reflect on the year and count my blessings. I guess I am not unique in that, as we have received sooo many nice cards this week from clients we have built homes for- some this year, some many years ago.

Doing a good job, and building a nice home should be reward in and of itself, but I have to admit it is nice to know that our efforts are appreciated.

And for that, I thank you everyone :)

Michelle

Cookie Day

Every year, as a tradition passed down from my mom and Aunt Judy, I make tons of Christmas cookies for my friends, co-workers and neighbors. A little holiday treat from my heart to their tummy.



One of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping families create new traditions of their own in their brand new home. From hanging stockings on your new fireplace, to roasting marshmallows in your chiminea, we are honored to be part of a chapter in your life.

Happy, happy holidays to you and yours.

Let it snow!

Well we got our first substantial snow of the year today. I have to give Casey and Christie props for keeping their appointment to discuss their new home- and "crawling" in all the way from Malone.

It was beautiful, but we have become so spoiled with the mild weather that I found myself already grumbling.

The good news is, that we still have a small window of opportunity and if we get your foundation in now, we can continue building over the winter. We need to do things in a different order this time of year- getting the heating system installed and the home up to tempertature before we can do interior finish- but yes it is possible!

If you want to take advantage of the federal housing tax credit, visit our website www.plattsburghhousing.com for a time line so we can help keep you on track.

Happy holidays and enjoy the snow. It is really pretty and puts us in the holiday spirit!

Time is of the essence

We were so excited that the Home buyer tax credit has been both extended AND expanded.

Read all the highlights of the entire program at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.

We were so happy that some of our customers were able to take advantage as first time buyers this year. We are happy that some of our customers building in 2010 will also be able to tak advantage as repeat buyers!

But one thing is for sure. You MUST stay on track in order to meet the June 30th deadline. I know that feels far away, but we have created a time line to help you understand the building process. With your permission, we will help you stay on track!

Our suggestions? Start sooner rather than later as you never know when there will be a delay with financing or during construction, such as getting power. Some of the process we have little control over.

And we also suggest that you commit to your project so that we can "put you on the board" as there are already 10 scheduled projects going into the new year- all wanting to take advantage of this program.

Want a copy of the time line? Visit www.plattsburghhousing.com or email me at michelle@plattsburghhousing.com and I'll email you one!

Happy Thanksgiving. I am blessed to have a wonderful family and a job I love.

Universal Designed Homes

I had an interesting day meeeting with Valerie to help her design her new home for she and her son. A single mom, Valerie has all the same concerns of any mom, wanting to make sure that her son stays safe during bath time, but she has one more obstacle that most of us take for granted. She is wheelchair-bound. So we went room-by-room virtually to make sure that we have every detail accounted for while her home is still a dream on paper.

We have adjusted the height of her cabinetry, made changes to the bath design, and have kept the home as open as possible. We are not recreating the wheel, our builders have some good ideas that they have shared with us too.

I am excited to help with this project as it will give me much needed insight for the next time this situation arises.

14 coming for dinner

We just had the nicest conversation with Gil Jock. He and Yyvonne built their dream home in Morrisonville earlier this year- a cape cod on Shingle St. They sat in their front yard with their Bill Lake T shirts on and watched in wonder while their home was constructed that first day.

Gil was in town and just stopped in to say hi today. We love that! He was telling us how much he has done on his new "bar" and is excited to be hosting their first Thanksgiving in the new diggs.

That made my day.

A sigh of relief

We were so pleased to hear that the home buyer tax credit has been extended and expanded into 2010!

There is the same provision for first time buyers, up to $8000 but now repeat buyers, who have owned for 5 of the last 8 years, can now get in on the action and get a credit of $6500.

Talk to your accountant or go to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com to get all the details.

But don't sit back, with the tax credit ending June 30, 2010 we cannot impress on you to start your project early to take advantage of this incredible program. We would be happy to start a time line for you!

The rain held off

It is an unusually warm day here as November is often a turning point for North Country weather, but the sun gods have shown down on Lake Placid today for our set on McKinley St.

Our new homeowners, Erick and Erin, are downright giddy as their home has officially been craned onto the foundation.

Our set crew is pretty happy too as they get to shingle the roof and side the home with November weather in the high 50s.

It's a good day. Now if I get my computer back from the "doctor" after a windows crash, I will want for nothing else :)

The end of the rainbow is in Champlain, NY

Who knew? Anyone reading this from Champlain, you need to start playing the lottery... or at the very least, attend the next Bill Lake Home Show!

Last October the Bedards won $6000 off their new home, and just last week Mike Duquette was the BIG winner at the October 24th show. And they are all from Champlain!

Attendees had a great day, touring the facility with tour guide Bill Lake who showed them the advantages of modular home building- a site built home built indoors. He demonstrated how energy efficient modular homes are with the blower door test.

Then, after refreshments, all visitors toured the model homes and design center.

But for Mike, the day was to get even better. We has now won $18,000 off his new home! Congratulations.

Perhaps the best part of my job

The day one of our customer's new home arrives and they get to walk through their months of hard work is such a highlight for me.

This week, we had three such occasions.

The LaValley's in Chazy researched and researched their home and decided on a Mohawk 3 from Bill Lake Homes with a walk out basement. They were excited to tell us of the great find on stainless appliances they were having delivered!

Their first set of stairs is the F150 in front :)

Second, was the Miller house in Peru. Chad made some nice modifications to this Manorwood ranch in the Select series. It has a great kitchen!

And last was the Giroux home also in Peru- practically around the corner! This home they had modified from a manufactured home we had on display- and the changes came out perfectly. I had always liked the plan as we had it at the sales center, but I think I like this even more! Good job.

All these photos represent day one of when the home has arrived on site. It is amazing what a few hours can accomplish for a modular home!

Trick or treat! Halloween Fest is not complete without rain!

Our tenth Halloween Festival has now come and gone. It is nice to see familiar faces each year, and those who come sincerely seem to enjoy themselves. BUT... it is so frustrating to have the rain come each year, as some of the events must be outdoors.

Some highlights, one of our customers who was in working on their new home the morning of the festival handed me a crisp $50 to put towards the event. Their good deed was rewarded by winning one of the raffle items they tried for!

Another highlight, a mom called me mid-week to see if she and her kids could come volunteer. I gave them the craft room which they enjoyed. They had come to the event each year but the kids were now too old. It was really nice and I appreciated the help.

We managed to raise $4200 this year for the Ronald McDonald House in VT. Audrey Magram (Magrams Dept Store for those of you old enough to remember) had requested my help all those years ago and she was at the event this year. It was a nice touch. We have now raised over $33,000 for the RMH in total. Many of the families who use their facility are from our side of the lake, and over the years I have heard how it has touched many lives locally.

Of course, Sunday was sunny and gorgeous :)

Rain rain go away!

Tomorrow is our 10th annual Halloween Festival. I remember those first years when the boys were tiny- the whole reason we started the event was to help families have a fun, safe place to bring their kids for Halloween. A nice, but originally unexpected side effect of the day was that we have now raised over $30,000 for the Ronald McDonald House in VT.

I will meet Audrey Magram tomorrow- the lady who talked me into raising money for the house. I hope she sees how hard we have worked for the event.

Which leads me to ask just one question- mother nature, why can't you throw me a bone? Out of ten years the weather only cooperated once. Once. We're trying to do something good here!!

And this year, ironically, we not only have to deal with rain, but according to Gib, it is the remnants of a hurricane!

Anyway, please come regardless. I'll save you a donut :)

A new chapter

We love success stories.

I just received some great photos from Stacey and Nicci Bedard who are expecting their new daughter if a few weeks.

They won $6,000 off their gorgeous colonial by attending the Bill Lake Home Show last fall and we built their new home in Champlain for them this year.

They did such a nice job decorating their daughter's room. Welcome baby Callie Ann :)

A new day!

Welcome to our new blog.

This was a busy weekend. It started Friday night at the Holiday Inn with our last home building seminar of 2009. It was a good turnout, which I am always thankful for. It is nice to have our efforts appreciated since we put a considerable amount of time and money into it!

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day at our fall open house. Thanks so much to our builder reps who travelled through an early season snow storm in PA to come see us and our clients!

I had a great day meeting a couple of nice Internet customers who visited for the first time! After communicating for months, its like meeting old friends. I am looking forward to working with them.

We got high marks for our new display model too! I was so pleased with how it turned out!