A story years in the making

This story started way back in the early 1940’s when my wife’s Grandfather purchased a few pieces of property near the Bob Sled Run in Lake Placid, NY.  That being said, I won’t bother with the details – but suffice it to say that my wife and her family enjoyed many summers on the property with her Grandparents.  Back in 1997 when we were married the property on which my wife had spent so many wonderful times with her family came up for sale.  Her Uncle was retiring to Arizona and couldn’t use the property as often as he’d like.  We approached her Uncle Walter and were able to purchase the property.

That’s where our part of the story begins.  Being newlyweds and full of the ‘I can conquer’ anything spirit, we instantly started visiting our ‘property in the Adirondacks’ and developing our grandiose plans for rehabilitating the camp and putting a cabin on the property that we could share with our children and family in the years to come.  Once our first child, Gabrielle, was born, we knew that it would take a little longer to come to realize our dream.  Our second child, John Jr., came shortly thereafter and our lives were enveloped in love and starting new ‘stories’.  Unfortunately this left only a weekend here and there to visit our property to start the memories.  Our busy calendars coupled with the expenses associated with ‘vacationing’ in the Adirondacks made it difficult to visit more often.

All the while we visited home shows, spoke with builders and were continually met with the realization that there was no one out there that would help us meet our vision in the budget that we had.  One day someone at work mentioned that their Uncle had worked with a group in the Plattsburgh area and provided the contact information.  I reached out to this group via email and within what seemed like minutes received a response from Michelle.  Subsequent fact finding led to a conversation, then numerous exchanges of floor plans and more discussions.

Finally, we felt like someone was understanding the dream, our vision and even more so was willing to work with us to leverage patience, compromise and further understood the concept of building memories with one's family.

We drove up to our property to meet Michelle and her team in person to get a lay of the land.  From that meeting we came away with the same ‘can do’ attitude, and an overwhelming feeling that we were on the right track with the right builder.

We had developed a floor plan and were very close to ‘pulling the trigger’ when Michelle called and said ‘I couldn’t sleep at night if I didn’t provide you this new plan’.  Ultimately, it was this new plan  that we went with – with some modifications and what we ended up with was something in between what we wanted and what we could afford.  A plan that saved us substantial money with limited compromises.

Here's what we think is the best part.  Throughout this whole process, mind you it was a matter of 6 months or so, we received the utmost in personal attention, understanding and an overall feeling of 'family'.  Working with Michelle was just a wonderful experience.  We found that we both had children around the same age and started sharing stories of our sons escapades on the baseball field.  Our sons even have the same nicknames...  Too close? - not at all.  Michelle welcomed us, worked hard on our behalf and instilled a feeling of trust that we hadn't received before.  Being over 4 hours away and doing 90% of this by phone you'd think there'd be some level of apprehension - there was none.  We felt like our Sister was building us our dream.

A few days before we were supposed to take delivery of the house and have it set, Michelle called.  She knew that we'd taken time off from work to come up and watch this spectacle; and she also knew of the pending weather event that might shut it down.  She was proactive and called with the bad news that she thought we should delay the set, knowing that we'd be disappointed to some degree.  That said, she was able to move things around so that the delay would be less than a week and our plans were amended and back on.

The day finally came and we were there bright and early only to meet the set crew busy readying everything for the day's events.  within a matter of hours the house was set and they were on to weathering it in.  Our dream was a reality. 

Michelle made a special trip down that day to meet us and share in our joy.  Talk about personal service.

It's been about a year now since that day.  We've been given our dream - a beautiful home in the Adirondacks that we can share with all of our friends and family, creating lasting memories of our own.  In addition, we have gained a great friend and member of our family in Michelle and her family.  Our boys have met in person and shared a few frames at the local bowling alley and have acted like best friends fooling around at the dinner table.  Yes, Michelle and PHO have made our dream a reality and helped to make our house a home.

We cannot tell you how wonderful and experience this has been.  We were able to create our own dream with the help of a wonderfully talented staff and a dedicated builder.  Again, all done electronically, over the phone and through the wonders of the internet; Michelle took the time out of her schedule to answer every question, and make things happen.  She worked with the builder, the town and all other needed parties to make this all smooth and seamless.  We never had a reservation or concern about this endeavor regardless of the distance between us and the site - Michelle and her team took care of it all.

We look forward to many years of enjoyment with our family and to our new friendship with Michelle and her family, and would recommend PHO without reservation to anyone -whether near or far.

Thanks Michelle - you will always have a place at the table in our new home.

The Garizio's, Brookfield, CT

A first

We have been sent cookies, cakes, flowers and thank yous.  We have gotten Dunkin Donut cards and other restaurant certificates thanking us for our work.  But we have never been invited over for dinner...until tonight.

We had a lovely evening at Mary's new home.  She wanted to get settled, and then wanted to get her AC in before having us over, and then it was baseball season so we got very busy at dinner time- but finally the stars aligned today and we enjoyed dinner today.

Mary built a new 2000 sf home for she and her cat.  Some may call her eccentric.  Perhaps she is, but she lives the life she wants and doesn't have a mean bone in her body.  We got to see the many collections she had tonight.  We got to hear the stories behind each wall color she chose, and the talents until tonight I didn't realized she possessed.  She is an accomplished artist- watercolors, oils and sculpting.  She has awards after awards from local county fares rewarding her work.  It was heartwarming to see.

And we spoke of our families, and the chicken she made reminded me so much of a family recipe from my mom's side.  All pretty cool.

And I have to admit, all the colors of carpet and paint, the window locations- all the things that I may have had some doubt over- I was wrong.  It all is perfect and works.  She was right and she has created her perfect safe haven.  Her vision came true.  And we are pleased in some small way to have played a part in its creation.

Pizza and Prizes

It seems like we just has a seminar, but yet here we go again!  We try to have a workshop every couple of months, because our clients come in throughout the year and we never want them to have to wait to long.

The seminars at the very beginning of the year tend to be the best attended- we had 54 in January.  Which for my ego is nice, but this time I think we will end up with 15-20 in attendance, and I actually really like that size as after the session is over we can all spend really good one-on-one time with those who came.

If you are considering coming, please try to make the effort.  It is an educational environment not a high pressure sales setting.  Of course we would like the opportunity to earn your business, but not because you got pressured in, but for the right reasons.

If you are not available for this session, there will be more in July and October!  Come enjoy dinner on us and learn before you leap!

How to stage your current home for a quick and profitable sale!

Once your home has been scrubbed, de-cluttered, and repaired,  staging your home is the last step you take before your home is ready to show. Think of staging as the difference between you getting ready for work on a regular day, and you getting ready on your wedding day.

You are clean and presentable every day, but the day you got married you went above and beyond.

We often describe our model homes as being “staged.” It is how we try to show the homes in their best light with carefully selected furnishing and décor, minus life’s day to day clutter.

Staging can help sell your home quicker and for more money so it is worth the effort.

It is all about evoking an emotional response from potential buyers.

Staging can be done by professional companies, but here are a few tricks of the trade to help you accomplish the same result:



• Use silk or wool throws over a side chair to add dimension

• Display knick-knacks in odd grouping (3,5 etc– that kind of odd– not Use plants, twigs, pinecones etc to bring in natural elements

• Re-luster furniture and cabinets to make them look richer

• Use a large bowl and fill it with fresh fruit for a focal point on your kitchen island

• Add a basket of bath products to the corner of your soaker tub

• Tie new towels with a pretty ribbon

• Use potpourri and fresh cut flowers to make your home smell pretty. Consider baking bread before a showing.

• Arrange some potted flowers or patio tomatoes on your deck and by your front door.

An informed customer is a happy customer

Eight years ago we started our home building seminars.  The first one was held in May at the Holiday Inn, Plattsburgh.   We weren't sure what to expect-whether customers would be interested in taking time out of their busy days to come listen and learn.

But while the content has evolved over the years, and the venue is now Dino's Pizza, one thing has stayed the same- our customers are appreciative of the information we provide.

The first year we did one seminar, the second year we did two, and since then we have done 4-5 every year.  We space them out so that there will always be a new learning opportunity in the not too distant future.  We go over how to finance a home and what a lender is looking for to qualify you for a mortgage, the differences and advantages of manufactured and modular homes, and how long the building process takes. 

One of my favorite points in the evening is the question/ answer portion because it changes each time.  I "bride" the attendees with little prizes for asking a question because people are shy at first, but it always gets going and sometimes gets pretty animated.

And while we offer this service with no cost or obligation, and while its primary intent is to educate our clients on what to expect during the somewhat daunting home buying experience, there has been an interesting unexpected effect from these workshops.  An informed customer is a happy customer.  It has also helped us as the builder when a new client has been to the home building seminar.  They have an idea of what happens next and aren't surprised when we talk about things like appraisals or NYSEG delays.

Our second session of the year is scheduled for tomorrow.  We have a couple "second timers" who are now a little closer to building who wanted to come learn a little more and several new faces- some have been into our see us, and some who saw the advertisement in the paper and tomorrow we will meet for the first time.

So as long as we have continued interest, we will put in the effort to host them!

A special thank you

We received a special acknowledgement of our and our contractors work yesterday.  It warmed my heart.  Our customer, Mary, came in and presented us with a beautiful play-by-play photo album of her home's completion from start to finish.

It was done with love, and she was so proud of her work, which made it even more special.

On a busy day, in a busy week, it was nice to get a thank you.  It reminds me of why we work hard at what we do.

February is American Heart Month

Heart disease has probably already affected you or someone you love.  In fact, it is the #1 killer of women.  Learn more and share your knowledge with those you care about- you could be a lifesaver!

Check out http://www.goredforwomen.org/ and order a GO RED healthy heart kit for up to 5 women you love!

Share heart healthy tips for Valentine's Day!

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Heart-Healthy-Valentines-Day-Tips_UCM_322023_Article.jsp

For every free Valentine you send on the Heart Association's website, Macy's will donate $1 up to $250,000 to  GO RED for women!

Take care of your heart and help protect the hearts of those you love. 

Your family needs you!