22 November 2007
Thanksgiving Day
19 November 2007
Rain
With 35% of the pad built, rain has shut us down for a few days. Hopefully it will only be a few days. Before they left for the day Friday, they packed the site anticipating some rain Saturday. And we did get rain Saturday, and some Sunday as well. The pit where they get the clay for the select fill is rained out at least for two days.
17 November 2007
Breaking Ground
At 9 am on November 13th, 2007 the heavy equipment showed up and we broke ground.
Here is a slideshow of the first trees coming down to make room for a house and home. Rusty and the guys at D&R Construction went out of their way to save what trees we could around the house and did a great job. Click on the picture below for a slide show of the event.
Here is a slideshow of the first trees coming down to make room for a house and home. Rusty and the guys at D&R Construction went out of their way to save what trees we could around the house and did a great job. Click on the picture below for a slide show of the event.
The Culverts
We purchased culverts, had crushed concrete delivered, and call the county to install the first little piece of our driveway.
12 November 2007
Taming the Land
A Photo album of our first foray into clearing a little bit of the forest. Here is a slide show from April of 2005.
The Property
Finally! After six months of looking, we stumbled across exactly what we were looking for. 1.49 acres of tall pine trees and a few hardwoods. Not far from anything and next to nothing. Deed restrictions that would keep the mobile homes from moving in next door, but not so restrictive as to tell us how to mow our grass. Motivated sellers. We offered a lower price than their already low price and they took it.
From each direction:
Almost
We started narrowing our search as we looked and dreams and starting defining what we really wanted. Here, we found something close. But it still had flaws, and we held out for better. Now we know what and who developed as neighbors, and we are very thankful we held out for exactly what we wanted.
The Beginning - Tax Foreclosure Auctions
It's hard to be an exact beginning on this project. We started looking back in 2004 at property. We started attending tax foreclosure auctions on the first Tuesday morning of each month in downtown Houston, Harris County Texas. Our goal was to purchase a piece of property at a great price and sell it. Make a little profit, and repeat the process until we had enough money to purchase a piece of land to build a house.
At the time we were attending tax foreclosure auctions, the TV had infomercials about how to get rich in real estate. They suggested tax foreclosure auctions as a way of acquiring good deals. Something else going on at the time involved the Harris County Appraisal district appraising property very high to tax revenue purposes. The politicians were to afraid to vote a tax hike, so instead they instructed the appraisal district to keep raising the worth of the homes to bring in more tax revenues. Housing was also hot at the time. Taxes were going up at a steady rate of 10% per year.
The infomercial told everyone tax appraisals were always less than the market value. Plenty believed it. You could see the faces of the people bidding on those properties and bidding them up the appraised value. Many of these properties we had taken the time to visit and see. Sometimes a house valued at several thousand dollars was literally a spot cleared of the rumble that crumbled from a dilapidated shack. You could tell the seasoned investors as well. They were prepared and deliberate and didn't fall into those traps. Unfortunately most of the properties were bid up way above a bargain, and it turned out not to be something very valuable for us.
On the other hand, it got us in the habit of looking at property. Looking at the combined real estate listings online, and driving around with a key map comparing properties and prices. My wife was a workhorse at driving around scouting property during her lunch hour. She would then take me to see the more promising. It took months and months of this before we found what we wanted for what we could afford.
At the time we were attending tax foreclosure auctions, the TV had infomercials about how to get rich in real estate. They suggested tax foreclosure auctions as a way of acquiring good deals. Something else going on at the time involved the Harris County Appraisal district appraising property very high to tax revenue purposes. The politicians were to afraid to vote a tax hike, so instead they instructed the appraisal district to keep raising the worth of the homes to bring in more tax revenues. Housing was also hot at the time. Taxes were going up at a steady rate of 10% per year.
The infomercial told everyone tax appraisals were always less than the market value. Plenty believed it. You could see the faces of the people bidding on those properties and bidding them up the appraised value. Many of these properties we had taken the time to visit and see. Sometimes a house valued at several thousand dollars was literally a spot cleared of the rumble that crumbled from a dilapidated shack. You could tell the seasoned investors as well. They were prepared and deliberate and didn't fall into those traps. Unfortunately most of the properties were bid up way above a bargain, and it turned out not to be something very valuable for us.
On the other hand, it got us in the habit of looking at property. Looking at the combined real estate listings online, and driving around with a key map comparing properties and prices. My wife was a workhorse at driving around scouting property during her lunch hour. She would then take me to see the more promising. It took months and months of this before we found what we wanted for what we could afford.
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