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13533. thoughtful - 1/26/2005 10:24:25 PM Got it.
It is crazy what house prices are doing in some areas. Around here people pay over $1 mil for a teardown.
Another nice old neighborhood i go through in the a.m. is very quaint...nice mid-century houses with older trees, good sized yards and such giving it quite a cozy and comfortable feeling. Someone is 'redoing' one of the old houses and rebuilding a mcmansion. It looks so out of place...makes all the other homes look like garages and it is very outsized for the yard. Most unattractive. Rather than the larger home building up the neighborhood, it's a detraction. 13534. resonance - 1/26/2005 10:36:17 PM Yeah, it is absolutely crazy what a house will cost you in the DC Metro area. 13535. Ms. No - 1/26/2005 11:02:55 PM The neighborhood my shack is in was pretty much crack-central a few years ago. The guy I bought my lot from, however, went in and bought up most of it (I think about 30 lots total) and there were a few others who came in as well and have restored some of the houses. There's a really nice B&B about four doors down from my place. So, with the renovations and the new construction going up the place is really appreciating.
The coolest thing, though, is that the major property owner there has a very distinct idea of what he wants the neighborhood to look like --- homes that fit. So he's building on these lots and trying not to tear out any of the trees and suiting the homes to the site rather than working from just a couple of pre-fab footprints.
They're nice homes and good sized but they're unique and they look right in the area. My place is the only true eye-sore right now with the exception of the only other two original structures in the neighborhood.
Hopefully that will all be done by next Christmas, though. I'll most likely rent it out rather than live in it right away. My thought was to get it done and then move in, but If I rent it out for a couple years then I'll be able to pay off the cost of the renovation, have full equity in the place and be in a position to do it all over again.
Nice to have a carpenter for a dad. I've seen friends try to get into the real-estate turn around thing and just sink themselves in renovations they had no idea how to do correctly or cost-effectively.
Scary stuff, but I'm feeling pretty good about this. God knows I'd never attempt it if I had to hire a contractor. 13536. thoughtful - 1/26/2005 11:18:34 PM Nice dad!
I remember hearing of someone whose full-time job was buying disaster places and renovating them for sale. They bought a home of an old woman who died...place in serious need of maintenance. No one touched the place after she died. Said they had to wear gas masks to be able to stand cleaning all the rotten stuff out of the freezer! Yikes.
But there's something wonderful about seeing something run down turn into something wonderful. Very exciting. Be sure to take before and after shots. You'll really appreciate them! 13537. Ms. No - 1/26/2005 11:48:38 PM Most definitely. I've got before shots and we'll take more as well as plenty of "during". What I'd like to do is to be able to eventually offer a catalogue of my father's work.
For the time being the shack's website just sits looking as if we've done nothing to the place since I bought it --- which isn't far wrong. There's been a lot of clearing out and hauling off but none of the major demolition has been done yet. Once that's done and they pull off 10 tons of roofing, we'll lift the house and pour a concrete footprint under it and then the real renovation will begin.
My dad was so amazed when he started inspecting the roof he called me right away. He could hardly believe the house was still standing under the weight of all those shingles. "At least we know the frame is rock-solid." 13538. alistairConnor - 1/26/2005 11:55:13 PM God knows I'd never attempt it if I had to hire a contractor.
Amen sister!!
I do believe I've officially finished the "renovation" of the former stable which opens off the hall here at the Moulin.
Nobody's ever lived in it before, other than stable boys who stayed close to the cows to keep from freezing in the winter.
but it's a damn nice biggish one-bedroom apartment now. It's absorbed all my free time for the last year... I was going to sign a rental agreement on Monday night, but it snowed... the roads are a bit tricky...
I hope the tenant doesn't get cold feet. 13539. Ms. No - 1/27/2005 12:26:51 AM Congratulations!
Do we get pictures??? 13540. alistairConnor - 1/27/2005 12:29:34 AM I'm thinking I should do some pictures. A couple of historical progress shots, plus a few finished-product things.
This weekend most likely.
The thing about the stable boys is true, I've met one of them. 13541. Ms. No - 1/27/2005 12:39:46 AM I believe it. There are plenty of people in the world still living through winter thanks to the heat of their stock animals. 13542. Macnas - 1/27/2005 10:56:20 AM I think some pictures would be good too.
If only so I can laugh at your handiwork. 13543. Ms. No - 1/27/2005 6:32:39 PM ooooh, cruel! 13544. The Summer Woman - 1/27/2005 7:57:35 PM Ms. No - that sounds really exciting.
Alistair - You live in a windmill?
I have always had a fondness for decayed and rotting things. I feel at peace in a landfill, looking at the detritus of other people's lives. 13545. PelleNilsson - 1/27/2005 8:28:17 PM No, in a former nightclub, le Moulin Rouge du Massif Central. Alistair has skilfully preserved a piece of the stage where he, accompanied by a fat-tailed Jordanian sheep and dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, performs lascivious dances for selected audiences, thus preserving several ancient traditions, 13546. alistairConnor - 1/27/2005 11:11:00 PM I have always had a fondness for decayed and rotting things well you'll certainly feel at home here - please let me know next time you're over this way.
Le Moulin Chorel is the the lieu-dit, but the (water) mill itself, which used to be on the other side of the stream, was demolished shortly after the first world war. The millstone is still lying in the field, I keep thinking I should dig it up and do something with it, but I haven't thought what yet. 13547. thoughtful - 1/27/2005 11:14:59 PM There's a home in our area that was a former water mill. They have a couple of millstones on end marking their drive and also use one as the step into their house. 13548. Magoseph - 1/28/2005 3:01:30 PM Hello, Mac, Ronski and everyone--I can't believe that January is almost gone--I did preciously litte so far this winter, except making certain that Flexy doesn't have the same winter as the last one.
It is so exciting reading about Ms. No's and Ali's renovations. I think about the satisfaction one gets in having done, or participated in, something that will last. 13549. Macnas - 1/28/2005 3:39:56 PM Hello Mago. 13550. wonkers2 - 1/30/2005 3:39:55 AM In December I embarked on my fourth career, representing unemployment compensation claimants in appeals proceedings (for any lawyers out there, administrative law judge hearings), and yesterday I received my third decision, a complete win for the claimant I represented. That makes two wins and one loss. My next hearing is Tuesday. It involves the termination of an engineer with 26 years service with an auto parts supplier for what seems to me a very minor matter, as the case law says "an isolated instance of poor judgment," not a "wanton or willful disregard of the employer's interest" which is the test in Michigan for establishing disqualifying misconduct. Not satisfied with firing the engineer and reducing the company's pension liability and completely avoiding any further health care costs, the company is trying to screw him out of unemployment compensation. His odds appear to me to be better than 50-50. If anybody is interested, I'll report after the hearing and administrative law judge decision. 13551. judithathome - 1/30/2005 4:41:12 AM I'm in! 13552. Magoseph - 1/30/2005 3:30:03 PM I am interested too, Wonk, and glad that you found something that seems to engage you—I remember what you mentioned about retirement.
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