A red letter day

This Saturday was a great day for many reasons. It was day one of the Bill Lake Open House in Sprakers, NY.

While it is a distance from Plattsburgh, we usually do have several of our clients attend to partly try to win the big prizes and to see how modular homes are built. It is fun to see everyone out of the office with so much to talk about.

I was particularly excited this open house because we had two of the four homes "on line." It was nice to see the homes during the construction phase, and also because Valerie, one of our customers saw her home for the first time. When she got there, I knocked on the side of the home and said "is it real yet?!" She was obviously pleased as we scoured over everything- especially her pocket doors which were of particular importance to provide her with good mobility throughout the house.

I may just have the best job ever.

Take care of your mother

Mother Earth that is. In honor of earth day here are some tips:

The New 3 R's:

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling Materials: first reduce how much you use, then reuse what you can, and then recycle the rest. Then, dispose of what's left in the most environmentally friendly way. Read the tips below
for some easy ideas.
Reduce:
-Buy permanent items instead of disposables.
-Buy and use only what you need.
-Buy products with less packaging.
-Buy products that use less toxic chemicals.
Reuse:
-Repair items as much as possible.
-Use durable coffee mugs.
-Use cloth napkins or towels.
-Clean out juice bottles and use them for water.
-Use empty jars to hold leftover food.
Reuse boxes.
-Purchase refillable pens and pencils.
-Participate in a paint collection and reuse program.
-Donate extras to people you know or to charity instead of throwing them away.
Recycle:
-Recycle paper (printer paper, newspapers, mail, etc.), plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans. If your community doesn't collect at the curb, take them to a collection center.
-Recycle electronics.
-Recycle used motor oil.
-Compost food scraps, grass and other yard clippings, and dead plants.
-Close the loop - buy recycled products and products that use recycled packaging. That's what makes recycling economically possible.
Learn at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/home.htm

We’re right there with you! It feels like the nice weather just started, and there are all sorts of fun things that you want to do...BUT…

We don’t want you mad at us, when you come visit us after Labor Day, and want your home built by Thanksgiving.

Building a home takes time. Every year we have to have the difficult conversation with anxious customers about the realistic time-line for building a new home.

For those of you who have your land and financing in place, you may have a little breathing room, but realistically the entire process takes 4-6 months, so we really encourage you to come in to get started now so you are not disappointed later. Have we ever done it quicker? Sure, but we’re not going to be the ones to overpromise and under deliver!

Don’t be fooled by those who will advise you “can be in your new home in as little as 6 weeks…” Your mom’s old adage of “If it sounds too good to be true…” applies here.

We suggest you get started now so that we can protect the pricing on your new home project and pencil it onto our construction calendar to get a great building date! Learn all about it at the next home building seminar on May 20th~ we look forward to seeing you there!

We're so excited!

It is a new season at Plattsburgh Housing Outlet. We have three, count 'em three new models arriving soon. We are excited because each is a great value and have their own unique personality.

The first to arrive is a new Titan Home. It has a log porch and rugged steel roof. It will make a great camp or primary home with its cedar beams and rustic feel.

The second will have a 5/12 roof and 8' flat ceilings and is in the Sunset Ridge series from Skyline Homes. It will have a flat screen TV as a standard feature greeting you when you walk into the living room. It will be great for a family with its 4 bedrooms.

And last, but certainly not least is a new Classic home from Champion Home Builders with every option under the sun. It has maple cabintery with drywall throughout the entire house. The fireplace makes the home sophisticated and cozy all at the same time.

Come in and visit or ask to be put on a list to be notified as the models arrive. We look forward to earning your business!

Material prices increasing

I'm sorry for the tone of this post, but sometimes there are important things to talk about that aren't great news.

We have just received several price increases from our manufacturers... yup, I know, it stinks. It will mean a $1000-1500 change in most projects so not the end of the world, but it would have been more fun to use the money for an "extra."

Here are some of the reasons why we have been experiencing the increases. Trust me, we are not lining our pockets.

-Lumber. According to an update we received from Ward Lumber this week. OSB and plywood have increased dramatically. They stated in the notice that the wholesale price of 7/16" OSB is now more than they were retail selling it before. They sited that the Chilean earthquake is part of the reason for the jump.

-Asphalt, in all it's forms. Manorwood Homes said that gypsum (drywall) has increased over 20% in the last three months. All petroleum based products- shingles, siding, vinyl clad windows, and more have increased because of raw material increases as well as increased demand in places like China.

-Copper. Also has gone up by over 20% recently.

We encourage you to solidify your building plans so that we can "lock in" your prices and protect your project from further increases.

We appreciate your business!