What's in a (town) name? Understanding town/city labels in Upstate listings.

When I bought my Upstate weekend cottage in 2005, I was a complete real estate neophyte. I saw this one house, asked few questions, and didn't attend the home inspection. I told my sister excitedly that I was buying a place in The Catskills in a town called Claryville, and she asked if that was anywhere near Denning, a beautiful place she'd visited a couple of times for a friend's annual weekend gathering at their historic family demesne. My answer was that it didn't ring a bell.

The Neversink River as it flows through Claryville, Town of Neversink.

Claryville is in Denning, as it turns out. So for all of you who scratch your heads when you see two "towns" listed for each property, here's the skinny: What you and I would call towns are technically "hamlets", or as the MLS lists them, "cities", which we know is certainly a misnomer up here. Hamlets are grouped together for the purposes of shared government, so that rather than every pokey place having their own town hall, government and their functions like highway department (road maintenance), taxing authority, zoning and that type of thing are covered by one umbrella body. Those entities are referred to as "towns", as in the Town of Denning. There are 15 towns in Sullivan County and 20 towns in Ulster County.

Town/County tax bills go out every January, and reflect rates required to cover the budget of that town (or grouping of "hamlets") plus contributions to the county budget. So when looking at real estate listings, the overall rate of taxation by town may be quite relevant. In Sullivan County the Town of Neversink has the lowest taxes because of a deal they reached with the City of New York when the Neversink Reservoir was created (by flooding Neversink) to provide drinking water to the city. The Town of Fallsburg has the highest.

But as with all rules, there are some confusing aspects. Some hamlets have parts in different towns. Taking Claryville, for example, part of it is in the Town of Neversink, and the other in the Town of Denning. Callicoon, a pretty "hamlet" (it's actually a terrific town/business district) along the Delaware River, is NOT in the Town of Callicoon; it's in the Town of Delaware. And Callicoon Center is a separate hamlet altogether, but IS in the Town of Callicoon. Go figure.

And while we're on the subject, school districts are separate from distinct town boundaries. In fact, schools may incorporate several towns and cross over town or even county lines. So the school district, which has its own taxing authority (school tax bills go out every September), can play a large part in the amount of taxes attached to a property.

Hope that goes some way to demystifying some of the labeling you see regularly on real estate listings.

Constellation of stellar press for The Catskills

Crawling out from under the two themes that have dominated coverage of The Catskills for decades: "Former Borscht Belt" and "Quest for a casino," it appears the area may have reached a tipping point, and is now in the good graces of the travel media. Judging by the somewhat sudden, rising tide of articles and top rankings that The Catskills has received over the last couple of months, and from top-tier publications, no less,  Sullivan and Ulster Counties are in for a fun ride.

There are a number of hot new boutique hotels, including Phoenicia’s Graham & Co., that are receiving consistent coverage, including in Travel + Leisure's Best Places to Travel in 2015. But happily that piece does venture to my particular area of the region, citing The Arnold in its praise, a hip reinvention of the former Lanza's Country Inn in Livingston Manor, which is the latest venture from the folks who lost The Lazy Beagle pub and restaurant in a freak explosion a few years ago.

Coming in at #39, The Catskills just appeared in this Sunday's New York Times Travel Section among the Top 52 Places to Go in 2015, while Fodor's places The Hudson Valley and The Catskills on their Go List 2015 (we are alongside The Arctic, it should be mentioned).

The lesser-known of the three largest ski mountains (Hunter and Windham being the other two) in The Catskills, Belleayre, received huge kudos by landing on Condé Nast Traveler's Twelve Underrated Ski Resorts in America: Readers' Choice.

Leaders Of The Pack

It should be mentioned that the main stream media is following a trend that began with bloggers and even print publishers, in identifying this 2-3 hour remove from, particularly, Manhattan and Brooklyn, as THE get-outta-Dodge destination for the stylish and hip. And with a vacation rentals company, Red Cottage Inc., that offers cool properties, most owned by these creative urbanites, and rented to similar-minded folks, we've seen the level of interest in, and excitement about, The Catskills soar over the last couple of years. The energy self-perpetuates as they inject local communities with their ideas, businesses and investment.

Green Door Magazine, alas, closed its doors last year, but covered the colorful and creative people and places populating the Sullivan County area. And they coined the frequently used phrase "Hickster," which really does accurately portray that Brooklyn cool meets Upstate flannel population of weekenders who are buying and visiting in increasing numbers.

The award-winning Watershed Post is more news outlet than travelogue, but is one with a refreshing human-interest angle as well. It's replaced the role of the largely defunct "local paper", and provides a wider canvas for Catskills coverage. The Upstater website is popular with "down-staters" interested in exploring their real estate options for a country house.

With comprehensive write-ups and fab photos, Erin and Denny, the bloggers at Escape Brooklyn, have a huge following, documenting their Upstate sojourns, and developing not only a network for themselves, but for those of us who follow them. Case in point: follow their Instagram postings, and you'll learn about so many other interesting ventures, high-energy people, and creative efforts, that these counties seem to come alive with an energy that has clearly resulted in what we're seeing reflected in the wider press today.

The casino is a go in Sullivan County, what does this mean for real estate?

A digital rendering of the 391 room, 18 story Montreign casino and hotel, coming to Monticello in 2017.

It was a huge week in the history of Sullivan County. After a forty year quest for a casino meant to jump-start the economy of one of New York's most ailing counties, the area was delivered an early Christmas gift with the recommendation by the Gaming Commission Location Board that Sullivan be granted a license, and equally importantly, that Orange County not be granted any. As previously mentioned here, that possibility would have likely scuppered the potential for success of a Catskills casino, because how many people would be willing to pass a casino 45 minutes from NYC, to travel another hour north to a different facility. The "one and none" recommendation was an absolute score for Sullivan County.

(As an aside, let's call it a resort now, shall we? The casino is simply one component of a huge destination resort. For many, the reference to "casino" detracts, not adds, to the tone, and resort sounds like something we can all get excited about.)

But what does this all mean, especially for real estate? The scale of this project cannot be underestimated: The annual budget for the county is $202 million. The investment to build Montreign (the casino and hotel) and Adelaar (the water park and entertainment village) will likely top $1 billion. And the mandated timeframe for completion of the hotel and casino is two years from the final sign-off from Albany, which should come in the next couple of months. Imagine $700 million being spent in a 24-month period in this county of about 77,000 people. And this doesn't count the myriad businesses already eager to set up shop in the county and cash in on some of the significant earning potential surrounding the sudden influx of construction workers, then tourists.

PHASE I CHANGE TO LOCAL REAL ESTATE: THE RENTAL MARKET

We know this project means thousands of jobs, first the trades to build it (mostly union), then the employees to manage and operate the project. There is not enough local population to meet the hiring needs for construction, so they will come in from neighboring counties and will require housing. This brings up the first phase of the resort's impact on real estate. The inventory of rental properties (as opposed to short-term vacation rentals, like our sister company Red Cottage Inc.), has been scant and fairly down-market. Where there is significant rental stock, Section 8 housing often dominates. So with a sudden spike in middle-range rental housing required, it is possible we will see some landlords improve properties and target this more lucrative new market and their attractive per diems. This will presumably raise up the more down-at-heel areas as landlords upgrade their properties and cater to a more diverse rental pool.

I would expect that multi-family properties within 30 minutes of the resort should be worth substantially more today than they were last Tuesday. And it stands to reason that the same holds for most of the businesses that will see a transformation of their levels of commerce with the jump in local population during the building phase, like restaurants, markets, gas stations, big box stores, etc.

PHASE II CHANGE TO LOCAL REAL ESTATE: THE FULL-TIME HOMEOWNER MARKET

The second phase occurs when the tradespeople leave and the full- and part-time employees start to staff and operate the resort. Figure the casino and hotel should largely be complete by spring of 2017. Again this will solidify and likely further enhance the rental market that grows out of phase one. But it will also stimulate the yearround homeowner market by creating demand for the middle-range home purchases, say, in the upper $200,000s to lower $400,000s. These will likely be double-income families and management who have either been living locally and have seen their earning power improve, or employees who are new to the area and are seeking a home purchase for the first time in the county. This new wave of homebuyers should significantly change the value profile of real estate in Sullivan County.

Similarly, indirect improved prosperity will also drive this trend. New business activities should flourish around this project and will themselves attract investment, employment and increased housing demand, all pushing forward the real estate market in the locality.

PHASE III CHANGE TO LOCAL REAL ESTATE: THE SECOND HOME MARKET

My primary focus at Country House Realty is the second home market. Not long ago I mentioned the prospect of the "casino" while discussing various options in a buyer's search for a $1m+ country property. The response was quick and clear, she did not want to be anywhere near such a thing. And I get it. I, too, was against a casino originally, before I had a more thorough understanding of all the amenities that will be available to guests and to us local residents, as well as all the much-needed shot in the arm that the local schools and government would enjoy from the resultant taxes.

The reality is that Sullivan County's amenities have in recent decades (since the demise of the Borscht Belt when the county was THE happening place) been very skewed to outdoor amenities, an area in which we are so fortunate to excel. Think fly fishing, hiking, canoeing, and just good old unspoiled scenery. There is a handful of good restaurants, and slowly there are towns that are becoming what I would call "hubs", which have enough retail and appeal that you would want to park and spend some time there. Among those towns are: Callicoon, Livingston Manor, and Narrowsburg.

But comparatively, Sullivan has suffered from a lack of "indoor" amenities, for lack of a better description, particularly yearround offerings, as many businesses go quiet during the winter months. Ulster County's property fetches a premium to Sullivan, and many second home buyers are attracted by the amenities (eateries, shops, galleries, live entertainment), along with a greater number of high-quality housing opportunities. The economic activity generated by Montreign and Adelaar promises to bring Sullivan more in line with its neighbors. It will stimulate towns by raising average incomes, increasing the viability of new businesses and services throughout the county, but also, in one fell swoop, provide dining, shopping and entertainment options, thus improving quality of life for those of us who live here, and who choose to spend weekends and vacations here. There will be 200,000 square feet of retail shopping, dining, live entertainment venues, a multi-plex cinema (don't underestimate how excited I am to be able to go to the movies without driving an hour!), spas, salons, and more.

HOME STRETCH

So my take is that Sullivan County's property values improved on Wednesday...in theory. It will take time for the market to bake in the premiums for the various sectors, with rental properties presumably being the most immediate beneficiaries. 2015 should start to see some inching up in the for sale markets by speculators and perhaps a small group of initial project management; In 2016, project-related employee purchases could drive the for sale market. In 2017 and beyond, if all goes smoothly, I think we'll see more metropolitan buyers choosing second homes in Sullivan County as a magnificent place where they can revel in its memorable scenery, and luxuriate in its many and varied new amenities.