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harryball
01-07-2011, 09:33 PM
Why I've not been on the forums as much for a few months...

Many know, some may not, that we have a large garage workshop attached to the house. We've been planning to build a shop for some time but can't make it all fit on the property without going in front of the house. The lake is too close in the back, the county won't permit one side since it is too close to the property line, the other side is too steep...

The solution? We bought a new shop that came with new property, house, lake and a salt water pool! :eek: (my wife tends to arrange that sentence differently). It's near Jackson, GA.

Yeah, we done and done it. We signed in October with a closing date of 11/22... and we closed yesterday. It was a 2 step forward, 1 step back exercise. For those interested you can read the short story below.

We are thrilled. We plan to move in about mid February.

Did I mention the catfish pond? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvrp1-cTcNg

A photo of the shop is attached. It is 36x36 inside with room to add onto the back. There is nothing inside of it including insulation so I do have some work to do. I plan to add an equipment room and office to the back. Since I'm about 6 miles away from a Georgia Power Hydro electric plant I'm thinking 3 phase might even be available.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and has a booming business/hobby in the coming year. When we get things cleaned up we'll invite everyone to a Shop Warming party.



The closing... short version
It was an Estate that needed to close and finish an auction then xfer to executor ownership.
The survey and legal description were incorrect. It took time to fix but it actually went faster than expected... that was the LAST thing that went faster than expected.

The roof needed to be replaced, we reached an agreement with the seller to each pay a share outside of closing and were good to go.

The first appraisal was delayed almost 2 weeks (lost). Then the appraiser decided to mention the roof, now the loan underwriter insisted the roof was repaired before closing. So now I have money in a house that is not even mine.

So we close? nope... appraiser now has to re-inspect the property (roof) and send in a work completed notice. That took more than a week.

So we close? nope... we have farm insurance. We added the structure to our policy (effective on closing) so both properties are insured. The underwriter decided that meant the new home was not our primary residence nor could we move without violating our current mortgage. They somehow repeatedly forgot we have no mortgage on our current home. We apparently also had to explain how we didn't want to go homeless during the move and would live here until we lived there. OK... they get it.

So we close? nope... turns out public water is available at the road and for reasons unknown the underwriter decided the DAY before closing we had to tap public water... 1000' away... under concrete, power lines, sprinkler system and either bore under or go completely around a septic tank system. A mere $10,0000. Without details... the requirement was waived.

So we close? nope... on 12/30/2010 at 10AM we are SITTING at the closing table with a big check, stack of paperwork, the seller looking at me, we are all chatting. The loan officer walks in and announces we can't close due to an error in the paperwork... a .55 should have been a .90. This error did not carry through but it was the DISCLOSURE and I signed with the number .55 stated rather than .90. The real kicker is I had questioned this information at least 3 times. But since she kept telling me it was right and when I checked the actual numbers they were right (i.e. the math was done with the .90 as it should) I dropped it. I had to sign a new disclosure with the .90 on it and wait 3 days... AFTER the first of the year.

Did I mention the rate lock and loan terms expired on 12/31/2010?

We closed 1/7/2011 at 10AM with the original rates and terms. It cost people who were NOT me to make it happen that way but it did close!

/RB

loriny
01-07-2011, 11:14 PM
Good luck. It looks good. You should appreciate it after all that.
Lorin

myxpykalix
01-08-2011, 02:03 AM
Harry,

I've had similar holdups buying forclosures and short sales. You would think these bankers would want to get these liabilities off their books rather then sit on them. Well good luck it sounds like its a definite move up in the shop dept.

kevin
01-08-2011, 07:37 AM
Looks great 3 phase is a good move.Thats my regret when I did my shop

gene
01-08-2011, 10:10 AM
Congratulations on the new house ( i mean shop) I know that you have a lot of work ahead of you . it will be worth it . I like the catfishes too

chiloquinruss
01-08-2011, 12:13 PM
What's that old saying "if it was easy everyone would do it!". I never had any problems with the banks, all of my problems were with the county. In my neck of the woods if it doesn't have horns and an udder they have no idea what to do! Congrats on a nice looking shop (no pix of the house that I could see) all we need for you to do now is to post the completed giant bat that will hang on the front of that great new shop! :) Russ

beacon14
01-08-2011, 02:41 PM
Very exciting!! Sounds like a fantastic place. Can't wait to see it all set up. I'll bet the house will be pretty nice too.

Congratulations!

jerry_stanek
01-08-2011, 03:41 PM
Your going to love that salt water pool. They are not what everybody thinks. No green hair and you can open your eyes under water without them burning.

curtiss
01-08-2011, 04:15 PM
I would suppose the real dream would be a long pole to slide to the shopbat-cave with someone named Robin to help...

chiloquinruss
01-08-2011, 05:53 PM
I just couldn't wait! :) Russ

myxpykalix
01-08-2011, 06:09 PM
don't blame me...Russ started it!:D

harryball
01-09-2011, 09:06 AM
LOL.

Actually, I do plan to have a big bat in the upper center. Just haven't decided how big or to add the name or not. My wife keeps reminding me, it is visible across from the house and one of the first things you see as you come down the drive. I keep assuring her, the house won't detract from the appearance of the shop at all. :rolleyes:

I think I will eventually repaint it to a more coordinated color. Probably add a small rock/brick whatever an outdoor wainscot / chair rail is called.

--

If I had a bat pole I think it wouldn't be long before this place became an estate again. ;)

--

The pool was not a requirement looking for a property, but if I had to have one it would be salt water. I have a friend that has had both. He will never go back to a chlorine pool.

--

The closing holdups were a pain but we got through them. It is a good loan / FHA 4.25% 3.5% down. I could have gone 10% down but the rate didn't drop enough to make it worth while, I decided cash conservation was a better goal. We'll be paying on a 20 year schedule with "bonus" payments every year based on our current home leased income. Projected payoff is at 12 years.

--

3 phase power would be nice. I've not officially confirmed it is available but I've been told "it should be". I also don't have a price. If it is too much I'll get by until we can afford it. Besides... I don't have anything running 3 phase right now anyway.

--

Ted may be dissapointed though. We are spending our "new bot" budget on the shop. The business has to pay it's own way so far as fixing up the shop. We were on track to consider a new bot late this year or early next. Maybe our income will improve so much we'll make it back up quickly. The current shop almost killed us this year. Some of you saw pictures of houses and boxes piled almost to the ceiling.

--

uoho... my wife is sitting here now.
"No excuses... had to buy a new house to get my new closet! It's been 3 years since I wanted my closet. And it's been cleaned out since then. Now, no excuses so don't you guys be trying to feed him any."


/RB

mitch_prest
01-09-2011, 09:09 AM
we also closed on our house on the same day ... not as big a shop... and no pond ...yet

m

harryball
01-09-2011, 10:07 AM
Mitch,

CONGRATS! It's all in what you can do and enjoy. In our case we lucked up and purchased the property for about 85% of the appraised "cost" value.

Market value was driven down by the forclosures. 5 of the 8 comps the appraiser could use were foreclosures. The land is either "small" or "large" for the area even at 17 acres. Most properties were either 50+ acres or 4- acres. Finding properties in the 15 to 20 acre range with comparable features was almost impossible. He had to go more than 20 miles in a few cases and with lots almost 30 acres to find enough. Almost unheard of. Two independant appraisals came up with almost the exact same market and cost values. The loan company only uses the Market Value.

The loan company would approve us for WAY more than we could "enjoy". With payments has high as they figured I could afford... dang.

Enjoy!

/RB

lrheimpel
01-09-2011, 06:45 PM
Congratulations, I like the shop.

gene
01-09-2011, 11:02 PM
Smaller payments are always a good thing :)