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First Posted: 9/19/2014 He&#8217;s coming back to the home that started it all.
Two years ago, at Christmas time, Stephen Gilpin and his brother Jeff were strolling Exeter Avenue in West Pittston. They came across 213 Exeter Ave. - a beautiful seven-bedroom home that Gilpin once owned.
&#8220;What is (West Pittston) doing with this beautiful home?&#8221; Stephen asked.
&#8220;They are going to tear it down,&#8221; Jeff responded.
Stephen Gilpin dipped into his own pocket to buy the home on Exeter Avenue. After a renovation and remodel, it&#8217;s now on the market for sale.
Gilpin, 46, whose family is riddled throughout West Pittston, is returning to his home town with a bus full of students, investors and brokers today, Sept. 21, to take a tour of the town and to spend money to possibly buy the flood-damaged homes through the former Garden Village.
Currently, Gilpin is the Director of Real Estate at the New York Real Estate Institute (NYREI). He was a real estate mentor and coach to Donald Trump. Gilpin and NYREI now bring this one-day training bus trip to West Pittston, which gives students the practical, hands-on experience they need to become successful foreclosure and short sale investors.
They won&#8217;t be just learning, Gilpin said. They will have cash ready to buy.
&#8220;We are doing this for investment purposes,&#8221; Gilpin said. &#8220;I think most of the properties will sell (Sunday). They are looking at the investment.&#8221;
Not only is Gilpin bringing in other investors, he&#8217;s been doing a little buying himself. He currently owns 14 homes in the area, and his plan is to move back here. But he wants to move home to what West Pittston once was, not what the floods have made it.
The home at 213 Exeter Ave. was the starting point for Gilpin and his vision to come back to West Pittston. However, he&#8217;s been working in real estate his entire life. After graduating from Seton Catholic High School in 1989, he went to Northeastern University in Boston. There, at 18 years old, he opened his own business. After landing a job with Donald Trump, NYREI was his next stop. He&#8217;s been buying and selling every since. Gilpin has also taken classes at King&#8217;s, Wilkes and LCCC.
His long-term plan is to move back to West Pittston, continue his real estate company and start a non-profit. Things are already underway.
&#8220;I want it to be the town I grew up in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I played in those streets. That&#8217;s what I want to see back. It was the most desirable place to live. Now, they don&#8217;t even say that. I want to make it most desirable.&#8221;
Gilpin understands that some homes must be torn down. He&#8217;s got a plan for that.
&#8220;Botanical gardens,&#8221; he said.
On just about every street, West Pittston will have beautiful botanical gardens, which gives good meaning to the town&#8217;s former name - Garden Village.
Gilpin remembers visiting his grandmother in New York City. He would walk their dog in Gramercy Park. That&#8217;s the feel these gardens will give the residents of West Pittston, he said.
These gardens will be part of GLAMS, the non-profit Gilpin expects to begin after speaking with the borough this week. GLAMS will help turn those green spaces in every part of West Pittston into gardens.
&#8220;Garden Village,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It will actually be that, in every neighborhood. That&#8217;s my goal.&#8221;
But there always has to be a business side to it. While Gilpin will make money off these homes - he plans to sell them for much less than the market value - the borough will also save money. With these homes and lots not in commission, the city would lose their tax revenue. Currently, there are 27 homes in West Pittston for sale.
There&#8217;s also the preserving of history. Some of the homes were built in the early 1800s. For instance, the Manny Gordon mansion was built in the early 1800s. Gordon was a well-known Lackawanna District Forester who worked for WNEP-TV and was most recognizable for his &#8220;Enjoy, enjoy&#8221; catch phrase. He passed away in 2009.
Gilpin is just figuring out how to preserve the home.
&#8220;If we move it, it will fall apart,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My biggest thing is how do we salvage these homes? The inside is gorgeous. Yes, it&#8217;s damaged. But those walls can be put back up.&#8221;
Gilpin comes home just about every weekend to the town where he grew up. He sees Main Street in Pittston and cannot believe his eyes. Now, his plan is to change the mindset of West Pittston residents. He quickly noted that the flood will happen again, but the town has to rebuild.
While living in NYC, Gilpin was stranded out of his home for three weeks while the city was under water during the most recent flood. That was at the same time the streets here were flooded.
&#8220;It will happen again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But you have to change the mindset of the town. We will find a way to deal with it and rebuild. I&#8217;m passionate for this town. I want to make sure this stays a beautiful town.&#8221;
During this bus tour, which has already been to Brooklyn and Queens and plans to go to Connecticut and Philadelphia, investors learn how to build a profit of 30 percent plus per property into their financial analysis. With Gilpin&#8217;s &#8220;Power Team,&#8221; active listings with the highest profit potential are shown for the tour. That&#8217;s why West Pittston is so desirable, he said.
The tour will start with a showing of 213 Exeter Ave. - where it all began.

Gilpin returns home to revitalize West Pittston