It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Like most people, I enjoy the holiday season.  Yes, can it be a little stressful?  Of course, but it is still wonderful to get together with family, and I just LOVE giving gifts.

I put together the gifts for our first year home owners to put in the mail today  (one couple stopped by

today so it saved me a couple of bucks, LOL) and I hope that gives them a little enjoyment knowing that we are still thinking about them- and understand that is the most important part of owning a home- the memories that you create living in it.





And I also get a lot of satisfaction getting pictures from our previous customers and their house all

decorated for the holidays.  Do I think the home is beautiful?  Yes!  But again, more than that, it's all about the people who live there.  The pride they take in their home, and the happiness they get when they invite their family and friends over to enjoy it.

Best wishes from all of us for a happy and safe holiday season!

Eric and Michelle

Giving thanks

This time of year, we make sure to send a little thank you to all our staff, subcontractors and other vendors who make up our team all year long, letting them know that we understand without their hard work, our lives would be much more difficult and we appreciate their efforts.

It is nice, however, to also hear it in reverse.  It is human nature, after all, to only mention the negative, and forget to remark on a job well done.  So it was particularly nice to hear that today on the eve of Thanksgiving.  It is nice to know you are appreciated, and the little "extras" were indeed noticed.

"Michelle, Eric, Wayne, Chris, Little Wayne:

At this Thanksgiving time, and as we enjoy another visit to our new home, we want to pause and take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks for all that you did to get us here.  we feel so fortunate to have found you - thanks to the ad in the real estate magazine!  Your willingness to work with folks at a distance, your constant communication, upbeat attitude, and extreme patience, made this dream a reality for us.  We will be forever grateful to you for guiding us each step of the way and making what we had begun to think impossible...possible.  Thank you for the excellent people you referred us to.  Thank you for always answering our questions without ever making us feel clueless even though we probably were in many regards.  Thank you for going the extra mile with the porch pillars and water test and probably many other things as well.  Thank you for thinking about things and asking questions/ making suggestions about things we wouldn't have even begun to consider.  Thank you for tolerating our perfectionist tendencies.  Thank you for just being such people with whom to work!  We truly can't imagine going through this process with anyone else and surviving it.  You are the best.  We are very pleased with the final outcome, and we know we will enjoy many happy years in our snug, pretty home in the woods--all thanks to each of you at Plattsburgh Housing Outlet and the superb way you do business.  So thankful for you, Sincerely, Marilyn and Durwyn."

 

 

We wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  All of us at Plattsburgh Housing Outlet

Fall open house time

This is the time of year we head off to our manufacturers to learn about the new trends in housing, see models with updated decors and features and meet up with the folks who build and service our homes.

We bring up issues we have encountered throughout the year, bring up innovations that our customers are looking for, and get energized being around people in the same industry we have chosen.

So while it can be hard to be away from the office for a few days, it is well worth it.  It helps us, and ultimately helps us serve you better.

I am excited to report back what I find- and look forward to getting to see all of you at our open house the following weekend!

It's a whirlwind sometimes... but it's my whirlwind!

"Spring" Open House

Soooo.  Mother nature has been tricky this year.  We worked so hard to get our new model up and ready and she thought it would be fun to have a mid March storm right before our open house. 

Well what she didn't know is that north country folk are hearty, and once the snow was cleared, and there was a lot of it, our local

customers still came out to see us.  It is always nice to see familiar faces and some new ones too!  Thank you so much to our builder reps who all made the trek to see us and answer questions and meet our customers. 

But no rest for us!  We will be back at it tomorrow, getting information for those who were in this weekend, and then Thursday we hope you can join us for our home building seminar.  Great information, even if you have already built a home, there is a lot to

think about.  And while it is not mandatory, our happiest customers over the last 11 years, have been to one or two seminars.  It just helps put their mind at ease as they have a better understanding of what to expect.

Thanks again for visiting us yesterday, we appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to earning your business!  Eric and Michelle.

Can Eric hold down the fort?

The next two weeks are going to be exciting and down right life changing.  Our son, Josh, is graduating from high school on Saturday.  This kid, who has been a part of our lives, for over 18 years, is about to venture off on his own.  Luckily, the nest isn't quite empty yet.  Jacob is only 13 and will be home for several more years.

So for Josh's graduation gift, he and I are going on a European vacation ( look kids- big ben...) and I'm freaking out a little bit.  I knew the timing would be hard.  I don't want to disappoint anyone who needs my help.  And I have never been away from the office for 10 days.  Ever.

So, I am going to have to accept Eric's help and let go a little bit and trust that he can keep things under control in  my absence.  After all, he did actually successfully run Plattsburgh Housing Outlet for 9 years before I came on board!  And it might be a good lesson in letting go a bit with Josh headed to college this fall.  No parent has ever done their kids any favors by micro-managing their lives and not allowing them to learn to fend for themselves.

So on July 1st, Josh and I will hopefully have an adventure of a lifetime- something that he and I will both fondly look back on as he begins this rite of passage into adulthood.  Like I said, I don't want to disappoint anyone.  Least of all my first born son. 


Congratulations Josh, your hard work and dedication has paid off.  We couldn't be more proud of you.

I don't care who you are, it is nice to be recognized.

Any business is a lot of work.  There is working with your customers to make sure you are doing a good job for them, there is the negotiations with the vendors you work with to get a fair price and good product, and there is trying to work together with your colleagues to create a good work environment and team among other things.

And after all of that, there is the day to day working in and on your business.  At the end of a good, hard day you often wonder if you are doing the right thing and are you doing enough.  Everyone hopes they have but you often wonder.  Once you are out of school, there is not a black and white way of measuring success.  Gone are the days of class rank and SAT score.

So a couple of ways that I hope we are measuring up compared to our competition is based on

employee longevity.  Plattsburgh Housing Outlet has blessed with many long term employees.  Lisa LaPorte, joined the company in 2003 and just celebrated her 10 year anniversary.  And Mike Trombley has been with the company since 1993, almost since the beginning.  In May we had a celebration to recognize their hard work and dedication. 

In April, Plattsburgh Housing Outlet, received national recognition at the Manufactured Housing Institutes's National Congress, when they were named Retailer of the Year for the Northeast and MidAtlantic states.  Each year, the choose 4 companies from across the nation and bestow this honor.

They research a company's reputation and dedication, its community involvement, customer satisfaction among other things.  They also look at the way the company presents itself with model home staging, and customer education initiatives.

http://www.northcountryman.com/news/2013/may/01/plattsburgh-housing-outlet-recognized-sales-center/

So, I have to admit, on the days that business feels hard, it is nice to be recognized and hope you have made your family proud.

23 years in the blink of an eye.

So much has changed since Eric started at Plattsburgh Housing Outlet, fresh out of St. Michael's College.  Plattsburgh Housing Outlet at that point was located up on the corner of Route 3 and Route

190 on rented property near the bank.  When the opportunity arose to purchase the property next 

door, we moved and set up shop with paved sidewalks, lawns and landscaping to create an professional yet inviting sales center.

Over the years, much has changed.  Mortgages became available for manufactured homes.  The trend changed from single to double wide.  And then in the early 2000's we added modular homes to the mix, which took us to another level. 

It has been a pleasure helping the good folks of the North Country build their homes, a safe place where they have friends over and raise their families.  It will be exciting to see what comes next.