Inside Aspen Hills: Why This Modular Community Is Turning Heads in the Capital Region

Aspen Hills (00:01.73)
Hi, this is Mike Caruso. on Real Talk with Sterling Real Estate Group. I'm here with. My name is Sarah Itterman, also a Sterling Real Estate Group, and we're here today talking about our new construction development, Aspen Hills. Yeah, yeah, we're going to get into all of it. We just wanted to hop on here and talk a little bit more about the community, how it's turning heads, what's involved, a little bit about the construction, because we've been spending a lot of time there recently and.

There's a lot of great new development. Yeah. It's exciting. You know, we have 15 Killington, which is pretty much done. We're going to be hosting a couple of open houses this weekend at a Brokers Open on Tuesday. So it's really, really great. Yeah. Yeah. And we, we have currently four home sites left that are vacant and ready for a new build on. So there's a lot of excitement to come. So

What was your first impression of the community? How big it was. It know, when you go in, there's already so many homes. And even though right now phase one just has, you know, less than 10 home sites right now, the fact that we're going to be bringing in over 80 additional home sites in the next couple of years is really just incredible. I can't believe that we're actually going to be able to do this and, you know, just build up Johnstown and

bring all this affordable housing to such an amazing community. so we're just really, that's what makes me excited the most about it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's, I mean, it's filled with opportunity. And my, one of my first impressions was you turn in, you see this beautiful paved road and you look around and you see really every home is unique.

to its buyer, to its new homeowner, from your window grids, from your siding, one of the houses looks beautiful in a powder blue. And that's really one of the parts of the process when building at Aspen Hills, the buyer will have the freedom to go ahead and really custom design their house. They actually get a personalized design meeting, which I think is really cool. And what do you think?

Aspen Hills (02:25.934)
What do you think makes it different?

I think one of the aspects that I really love about our new construction community is just with Bill Lake in general is the quality and how well everyone works together. Bill Lake isn't a builder that is just going to throw things together, cutting corners, cutting costs. Everybody is able to build their home, customize it, like you said, to how they want it.

But also know that quality assurance is going to be there too. You know, just with even like our Fabuwood you know, soft clothes, courts are granite countertops, just all the amazing quality you're getting, which is so unique versus like, you know, what do you think of modular? It'll let you get into that more in a minute. Just, you know, a lot of people can think that maybe it's not that great or that it's cheap, but that's what makes us different. And that's what makes it incredible. Just for even

a lot of our first time home buyers who like, I'm going to have a mortgage for 30 years and I want my home to have amazing endurance and quality. Right. No, I completely agree. I think the fact that, I mean, firstly, you know, they're being, they're they're built off site under, I mean, I would say ballpark about 15 miles away. So that in itself, you know, it's close local business as well.

And I mean, the biggest thing, especially in construction, mean, this is offsite stick built in a climate controlled production facility under a roof. You know, all the lumber is being stored in the factory. So I think that's a big thing, a big benefit, you know, when you look at most new construction communities and how they're built. So yeah, I completely agree though with what your points were.

Aspen Hills (04:25.858)
so I wanted to get in a little bit about, modular and how it's really misunderstood. and today's it really came a long way over the past 20 years. and there, really are two different, there's really, there's really one difference. so modular is built to local municipal regional.

and state building codes. So they're built pretty much the same way as they would be on an onsite stick built. And from Bill Lake Homes they're building a very comparable to an onsite stick build. they call it over their offsite stick build. Now, where things kind of get misunderstood is with the mobile manufactured, which is built to, it's federal building code. So you are looking at different construction.

Typically, your exterior walls are going to be 2x4 and mobile manufactured. And when When you are building to regional, local, state, building code, you have to look at things like 2x6 exterior walls. So there's a pretty big difference in the construction. But also, offsite stick modular, they're going to be put on foundations, making it real property permanently.

many often, most often times mobile manufactured, they can be removed from where they're placed. I mean, their steel seems to be a stigma. It's a common misconception, but you roll into a community like Aspen Hills or even go out to Bill Lake Home's factory and you really can't even tell the difference. You don't even know when you walk into the home, it feels like

you know, it's been sitting there from day one, you would never guess that it was built in a factory, delivered, set on the foundation. you know, it feels like a real normal construction home, which it is in a sense it's just done a little bit differently. And so it's really cool. Absolutely. I mean, if you brought someone in there that isn't really familiar with construction and they saw the structures, again,

Aspen Hills (06:51.086)
I think probably nine and a half times out of 10, they would say, wow, this was a modular. Right. And with the modular, like any typical modular or mobile home, you're not getting eight foot or nine foot basements. Right. And that's what usually when I'm giving tours to people or just showing them, you know, whether it's Aspen Hills or any of our other new construction communities like Toad Hollow. Yeah.

That I always save for last because it's my favorite part. I love you know, having them go downstairs and just seeing all this incredible space. You literally have the same amount of square footage in the basement as you do upstairs, which people have that amazing option to finish, use for storage, like so many great flex space ideas and that you're never going to get in a typical, you know, modular mobile home. So. Yeah, absolutely. there's.

even with the construction in Aspen Hills, you when you are designing your home, you know, you can opt to look at adding dormers, you know, a shed or a doghouse, you know, in which those parts of the construction are prefabricated. You can look at having having a porch, you know, that Bill Lake Homes Homes will end up prefabbing as well. And it's the opportunity there is customization. customization, also But also

you can You can look at really getting what you want in terms of aesthetic, dressing up the house a little bit, giving it a little bit of personality, right? Exactly. And I think one of the unique things that we're able to also give people, which a lot of builders can't, or yes, you can go visit a model home maybe in a new construction site or whatever, which is awesome, but we could actually set up a time

for you to come to the factory and you could actually watch from the very first step where the first two by fours are being put down. And it just, you kind of progress as you walk through the factory at each stage of the process and how it goes literally from nothing to pretty much being almost all done before it leaves. you get to learn so much. And not only is it just like,

Aspen Hills (09:12.908)
the framing and the flooring and like all that, all a lot of the electrical, the plumbing, so many things are already done before it gets on site. And just to be able to kind of watch each and see each phase of it is so cool. And it's really helped people, I think get excited about their homes where they're actually able to kind of watch and see, this is, you know, if we're talking about, yeah, it's at this stage today, they could then picture in their heads, yeah, I was there. could.

see it in my head of like, how many, how many more weeks do we have? Exactly. So that's a great segue to then. So what makes a CD two is typically a lot quicker builds that a regular, you know, average construction home. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Going back to, know, what makes this opportunity a little bit different. Yeah. The, the construction timeline is, is generally a lot faster.

than your typical onsite stick build. In the factory, at the point of production, typically any of the floor plans that we're that were advertising, they're going to be produced 85 % complete in six to eight weeks. And really, once they get to the site, they get set onto the foundation, they get tied in by the set crew, the roof gets installed, the builder's going to have his site

plumber, electrician, HVAC specialist, set everything up in the next couple of weeks and then it's really just interior and and exterior finish work. again, when you look at, and this will segue into my next question or my next point I want to cover, when you look at people who are looking to get, or buyers are looking to get into housing relatively quickly, new housing, this is something that makes us different.

We provide that opportunity, that flexibility, which I I think a lot of buyers look for. Yeah. I mean, especially in this day and age, timelines are so different. Yeah. And we can be talking to someone that that needs to be in a new home in four or five months, or maybe someone who is like, I'm going to be moving to the area in a year. And we can accommodate whichever time time frame works better for them, which is really...

Aspen Hills (11:37.646)
Yeah, again, very unique to us and really great that we're able to offer all of these different solutions, right? We want to to provide people with what fits best for them. It's already stressful enough with with thinking about buying a home. we want to, especially if it's new construction, all those decisions, that's what makes us great is, like you said even earlier, you get your own personal design team meeting. You get to sit down with one of our experts and just kind of.

plan how you want your home to be. And we provide all of this great support every step of the way from day one all the way up until we get you into the new home. So I think that helps people a lot when they're thinking about everything that's involved. Very forward path for new construction, I think. who Who is this community perfect for though?

and I've been thinking about this, I'll let you go first and then I'll kind of give my input. Wow, no, that's a great question. I see it as being a very excellent community for young families, first time home buyers, younger couples. I mean, our home plans are so diverse, it's even for people who want a new construction home that are trying to downsize too. Yeah.

It's really, Aspen Hills is such a unique community because we're not just building 80 80 spec homes, all the same size, all the same look. Each one like we've been talking about is going to be so unique whether to how big they are, the designs. so I think it really just appeals to pretty much almost everyone and anyone, but really how affordable they are. We're not building million dollar homes in Johnstown. We are building

You know, very competitive price point homes, which reaches so many more people and helps that home ownership dream. Whether you're a first time homeowner, maybe you've, you know, done it a few times and you're moving to the area, whatever it may be. We want you to be able to to come in and know that you're making a great investment, that it's affordable and the quality isn't going to change because of that. Yeah. No, that's a great point.

Aspen Hills (14:00.202)
And I think that for buyers that are really looking for everything that's going to be right there, especially for what's under the dirt, I think this is, a perfect opportunity for someone who's looking for municipal water and sewer, electric, natural gas. These are all things that someone who's looking into new construction really wants to see. It's all right there.

And I also think too, there there is a convenience factor that's involved here in this location. You're very close to the Adirondacks. Let's say you have family or friend, or maybe a secondary dwelling up that way, or just want to go for the weekend. You're close to the the highway that takes you there. But also you're just outside of the heart of Johnstown, which there's so much to offer.

Johnstown is booming right now. Johnstown really on the come up. Yeah. So it's really incredible. You know, and you get so many, you're close to so many large box stores even, grocery stores, but you're going to feel like you're in the country, you know, which is, which is great. So you're close to the convenience, but far enough where you're not in the middle of the downtown. Yeah absolutely. Definitely a win, win, not to mention, you know, you're, you're less than an hour from.

some from Saratoga, right? About 40 minutes from Schenectady. Let's call it under an hour from Albany. You know, and a stone throws away from Amsterdam too. You know, about 20 minutes. again, geographically, know, you're kind of right, right in that area where you're you still have access to those locations. Right? Yeah. Yeah. No, it's very exciting. So

Definitely, definitely Definitely a lot of great stuff going over there. Yeah, absolutely. So we've been out there a couple of times, both of us with, with, you know, potential buyers and their, their agents, just showing them to the community. What are some reactions that you, tend to get, you know, when we have them do a walkthrough of one of our new construction homes at Aspen Hills?

Aspen Hills (16:23.782)
I think people love the kitchen mostly, you know, and they love the, the Island even, you know, just the countertops, the, the cabinets, you know, lot of people spend most of their time in the kitchen and so they just love the layout. A lot of the floor plans are very open concept. So, you know, you have your dining space, you have your living room space, you can be.

you know, interacting while still making dinner or having people over, but it's just just, um, they'll love the quality that they're seeing there. And also, I know I already mentioned, but just the wow factor of the basement and you know, just how exciting it is because we also have already installed the basement, the four by four egress windows. So whether you decide to finish that space or not, it's already there for whenever, however people want to do it.

A lot of that wow factor is is, you know, having all that extra amazing space already set and ready. Couldn't agree more. Yeah. I think the craftsmanship the craftsmanship is number one. You know, when I'm doing a walkthrough and from the trim work to the installment of the flooring, to your point, the cabinetry, and they look around and they look at the...

the quartz countertops and the solid plywood base cabinets and the luxury vinyl plank flooring. And they ask, wow, how are you able to do that at this price point? that's what we're offering here. This is a fantastic opportunity at this price point for really what's included on the interior. And to your point, the kitchen just has so much to offer in terms of your cabinets, your countertops countertops.

You know, your appliances, again, you know, that is to vary on each floor plan. You know, how your kitchen's going to be set up, what kind of size island you're getting, et cetera. But again, at the end of the day, you know, these are all things that you as the buyer looking into new construction at Aspen Hills has the opportunity to go ahead and customize. You know, we are we're flexible on...

Aspen Hills (18:46.328)
what you're looking to have involved colors on on kitchen cabinets, siding, et cetera. So yeah, there's definitely, we definitely get a lot of woes. Right? A lot of comments of, never would have guessed, know, that this was a modular home. Exactly. it kind of, yeah. Yeah. Going back to, I know we touched upon a little bit about the community.

You know, I think this opportunity also yields. It's because of how close you're going to be to Johnstown. There's so much to offer. The convenience is there. There's so many cute little shops, coffee shops, restaurants, diners. I know there's a steakhouse in town. know, I think...

Seven Brew for all my Seven Brew lovers out there. Every time I'm out in Johnstown I gotta stop for my Seven Brew. I was so excited to see what out there. Yeah, no, And I think, you know, from a buyer standpoint, that's looking into new construction, you know, that's that's something that we see over and over and over again, where convenience is such a big thing. Yes. You know. Yeah, people are working hard these days and it's so nice to...

you know, have the option if you want your groceries still delivered in the country, you can still do that. Right, right. And one thing I was going to mention too that I didn't before about like my first impression, but, you know, I got out of the car and I walked out and it's just such a peaceful setting, know, it's quiet. know, you get this beautiful, peaceful country setting view and, know, that's again, if that's something that you're really looking for.

Well, it's here at Aspen Hills. But even if you're not, you get that peaceful community type of setting and vibe. Very unique. Now, I guess one of the things we haven't talked about too much is, what is the average land size? How much acreage are people getting with these home sites? It's obviously gonna vary a little bit, but what would you say is the average?

Aspen Hills (21:09.294)
acreage. probably about a about point point three, four point three, three of an acre. That's awesome. Yeah, it's like big enough so you can do so many different things create that amazing backyard space. Yeah, absolutely. But you're not going to spend three hours on a Saturday mowing. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's awesome. Yeah, no, it's um, and again, they're all they're all pretty comparable in size, but that's

That's what we're seeing for the acreage, which, you know, to your point, it's suitable for those who aren't, you know, looking for four, five, six, seven acres, you're right. yeah, again, that's what comes with it. Yeah, no, that's awesome. It's very doable, you know, when you're thinking of, OK, not only am I buying a new home, but now I got a yard I got to maintain, but...

a third of an acre really isn't that bad, especially if you're, you know, got a fire pit out there, however you wanna do it. You know, you're not, again, spending a lot of time on yard work every weekend, which is, think super important. I don't have time for that, Yeah, yeah, no, definitely not for myself either. also I just was thinking about like, why now for Aspen Hills? You You know, what is...

Why is now the time? That's a great question. I think now more than ever, the way how the economy is, affordable housing is extremely important important. People are needing to move, whether it's for work, whether it's for family, so many things going on in the world today. It's so nice to have that option where I can actually customize my home and actually afford to go on that vacation.

and live live in an amazing location that's convenient to so many many other, like you were saying, even Albany, the Adirondacks, or Toga, still be able to live life to the fullest. You could basically have your cake and eat it too with Aspen Hills And I think that now is an excellent time for that that. Absolutely. And you know what? Everyone's lining up to come and see what's going on here.

Aspen Hills (23:33.006)
You know, there's only a couple left in phase one. yes. Yeah. We got, we got to get you out here. We got to get you to, really see what this is. Um, so where where can they reach us, Sarah? Oh, a lot of places, obviously our Sterling 518 website. have our Sterling Facebook page. We have a whole site, I believe dedicated to Aspen Hills. Yeah. Um,

We're going to have our emails, phone numbers, contact information included underneath in the podcast info as well. So definitely a lot of ways to reach us for sure. If if we don't pick up, we're probably showing home in Aspen Hills now. Yeah, definitely reach out and let us know if you want to come by the community, see some new modular construction. We'd love to have you. It's a great community.

Yeah, just give us a call. Yeah, we're very excited. This is such, again, I know we keep saying it's just such a unique opportunity, but I really think it is. You don't see this every day, especially in today's day and age. so we are just really looking forward to seeing what the next few years brings as we bring on phase two with all these additional home sites and how we're going to be able to help build up the community of Johnstown and just...

strengthen the economy, strengthen those neighborhoods and yeah, make it so special. Anything else we want to add in here?

Aspen Hills (25:18.766)
How long did we go?

okay. Wow. I thought we were under. I thought we were 10 minutes in now. Did we cover everything on the sheet? I think we, yeah, we did. Okay. Okay. Just need a wrap up. thanks for tuning in.

Aspen Hills (25:37.304)
Did I say right in the beginning? Real talk. Okay. Okay.

All right, thanks for hopping on here for another podcast talk. I'm sorry, let's cut that again.

I thought that was a real talk. think we did good. think so behind the scenes. Yeah. Yeah. I think we covered pretty much everything.

Did you want to redo it or no? Oh, yes. yes. I'm sorry. Hey, thanks so much again for tuning into Real Talk with Sterling Real Estate Group. I'm Michael Caruso. I'm Sarah Ittermann. And we're thrilled to have you here. I'm sorry. Okay, we're going to redo it I'm sorry. We did so good, Apatili. No. So, let's just not say anything after that. Yeah, thanks for tuning

at Sterling Real Estate Group. And that's it. We don't need to say our names again. okay. I'm sorry, guys. No, no, you were fine. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Real Talk by Sterling Real Estate Group.