Cheap lake home? May or May not happen. (It is a go!)

[hcallaway]

Not sure if there is much interest here on this forum but I have posted several other projects over the years and have enjoyed the praise, suggestions and criticism provided by the forum posters. I will need to give some background. I am what I refer to as a $.25 Millionaire. I make a decent living, we are a single income family and have put 4 kids in higher education, three got 4 year degrees and one got a 2 year PHD from Va Tech in having a good time. Only one had debt in the end as I just could not cover the total tab. He was able to pay it off in about 4 years after hitting it hard on the payments side. The PHD went his own route and is now a railroad man with a beautiful wife and 4 kids so he is is also very successful. If you are familiar with my other threads, my goal is to always stretch my meager assets.

I love being on the water; however, lake front property here in Virginia as well as other areas is off the charts. Purchasing a lot on the water was not really an option. It will take some time to fill in the details of what I have been trying to orchestrate for the last 5 years as best I can remember. So this is what is taking place.

 

[Cub 7274]

Congrats to your son I was a RR man (conductor)for 36yrs and for the most part it was a fine job and the pension is good

 

[hcallaway]

In Virginia we have some great places to boat. Rivers, Chesapeake Bay, Tidewater, Smith Mountain Lake, Lake Anna and what I think for us is the the best of the best, Lake Gaston. With 20-22K acres of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed water the lake varies by about 1 foot year round.

I searched and found a wooded lot with a deeded boat slip for around 22K. It was well under what the owner wanted but timing is everything. As soon as I owned it I asked the County for a new evaluation of 18K as I felt I had paid too much. (At least in my opinion.)

 

[hcallaway]

My lot.
So now I need Water, Power, Sewer and a Septic System.
It is adding up quick and to start I have to clear the trees.

 

[hcallaway]

I was not in a big hurry and the reason I got the lot on the low side was my neighbor to my right. He had a feral cat population and his family was not responsive to my inquiries. He did aid me on my negotiations as to who else would want my lot. Certainly not my wife, who did not see my distorted vision. I have to tie up my loose ends and then I can move along with my build. Thanks for your patience.

 

[japody]

Is that near Bracey?

 

[hcallaway]

Closer to Henrico

 

[old and tired]

The cat population most likely isn't going to be a permanent "thing"... it might take time or you might have to build a fence, or drop a line to the Animal Humane Society.

We got our mountain land since we had an easement through basically a neighbors' junk yard. Several cars and whatever else someone didn't want. I had no problem with it, since it wasn't my land, as long as I can drive the easement, I was fine. My neighbor in the city was a white version of Sanford and Son... again, not my land, they can do as they please. They had all kinds of junk scattered.

I grow deep roots and never planning to sell or move, the junk yard is long gone... replaced by cows. And Sanford and Son's old house is now a $700K McMansion.

 

[hcallaway]

I seem to like properties that have some idiosyncrasies. That is a mouthful. Mountain house and garage had a group home buy next door. ARC were beautiful people and were a joy. Property with large garage with apartment had access issues. In the end I was offered deeded access and had a great relationship with an elderly African American who I truly respected. Buy low and sell high. At least if you buy low the losses can be minimized.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a little confused. Did you just buy a lot on a lake, or close to a lake with access to the lake? Are you going to build on this lot or are you cleaning it up to sell it for a profit?

Either way, I've enjoyed your other threads and look forward to this one.

 

[hcallaway]

I can't say too much at this point as there are some lose ends with my lawyer. I do have a lot that is off the lake. You can catch a glimpse of the water in the fall and winter and that is a stretch. I also have a deeded boat slip that came with my lot. I am pretty much the closest person to the lake in my little subdivision. I go down a pretty trail (3 minute walk) to the slips where 14 of us each own one. I have loaned mine out to a neighbor and they have the pontoon parked in it in the picture. I do want to build on the lot and I am not flipping it, if it works out like I am hoping. In some ways it is the best you can do for what I have spent. Homeowners fee is an optional $25 year. This helps cover some small costs and a boat ramp we have on a cove. We have about 50 lots and maybe 25 owners contribute. The maintenance fee for the Boat Slip Association that is set up is $150 a year and mandatory. There are those that gripe about that cost as we have money in the bank. This year we paid cash and had the bulkhead replaced and it was well over 10K. We had the money in the bank so hopefully they now see the value in having cash on hand, plus anyone that has their own pier has to spend that much on replacing and repairing it every season. Eddie when I was justifying paying $175 a month mortgage to my wife, I said a boat slip rent alone would be at least that about anywhere. And that if we could buy a waterfront lot, a pier after permitting and construction costs would also be $10K plus. So for $22K I have the lot, a private community boat ramp and a deeded boat slip. In my mind I have saved money by spending money!!! That's my math.
PS The last two lots this year went for about $50K that had slips. They are a lot further away from the marina. This is an old subdivision from trailers to nice homes and in between.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you for making it easier for me to understand.

When I moved to Texas in 2002, I was torn between buying a house on one of the lakes, or buying land. I could have gotten a very nice 2,000 sq ft brick house on a half acre, waterfront lot with a dock for $150,000

I thought about it for quite awhile, but eventually I decided that I just don't want to spend as much time in a boat as I do out in the woods. A few times I've looked at buying a pontoon boat, or a nice fishing boat, but I always talk myself out of it by realizing that I really won't ever take the time to enjoy having a boat. The few times that I've been out on the lakes around here since moving here, I enjoyed it, but I enjoy being in the woods where I live even more.

I hope it works out for you, it sounds like you will have the best of both worlds!!!!

 

[hcallaway]

To recap. I have a lot with a deeded boat slip. It has towering pine trees that would need to be removed to make a building site.
There is a lot next door with a mobile home on it. That the owner was in long term care after a stroke in March 2014. I have inquired with the family for years about purchasing it.
I could never even get an acknowledgement from them. After not paying the taxes on it for over 8/10 years and hounding the County Attorney, for 2 years, he agreed to force it into collections. When it was to go to auction, Covid-19 stopped the Courthouse auctions. Last year the owner passed away. Then Medicaid entered the scene and they want to get access to his estate to generate cash. We were back to square one. By luck, I was able to find out the Attorney handling the estate. When I contacted his Paralegal, she put us in contact and I was told to make an offer.

 

[hcallaway]

My best and final was 10K. I sent them a few pictures and explained that the trailer would have to be removed and had little value. The site was over grown and had a feral cat population and the County had been trying to deal with it for years.

 

[hcallaway]

Can you locate the outside AC compressor?

Front Door and Sidewalk

 

[hcallaway]

Within 24 hours my offer was accepted. This was in November. Done Deal.
Not really as the Medicaid Offices could not decide who would agree to process or go on record as agreeing to the sale.
(Waiting on confirmation from the state as to which office will consent to the private sale to you for $10K.)
The last week in December the Attorney contacted me again about going another direction to force the sale.
(Mr. Callaway: The Clerk approved the taking of the property to be sold to create assets for the estate. I filed the Report of Sale to you for $10,000. This “bid” must stay open for ten (10) days for anyone to file an advanced or upset bid. Unless someone just spends hours checking files for papers being filed, there will likely not be any upset bid. The last day to file upset bids is January 8, 2022. Since this is a Saturday, the last day will be January 10, at 5:00 p.m. If no upset bids are filed, I will submit an order to the Clerk of Court to Confirm your bid and authorize me to execute a deed to you.)
I took it as gospel that I was being sold the property in November. I had plenty of vacation time to kill and the weather has been great so I wanted to get going.

 

[hcallaway]

After they accepted my offer, I decided to see if I could gain access to the trailer. I loaded up my tools and figured I could get in. Before unloading anything, I walked up to the outside disconnect and there was a key in the box. I now have access and a key. No lock changes required.

It was an experience. I saw water damage and some mold but it actually seemed like it might be salvaged.

 

[EddieWalker]

Appreciate the update!!!

 

[old and tired]

Good for you!!!

Anything could be salvaged, just takes time and money (...but then again, what doesn't!?!?)

 

[OldPaint]

Looks like you had squatters, or whoever was there before just LEFT. Kinda creepy with the cheese grater just sitting there like it was used 10 minutes ago, and the unmade bed with sheets still on it. If your roof is ever gonna leak, above the bathtub is the best place, I reckon. Might need a little patch on that. Folks around here have blue tarps on their roof for months before they get the roof fixed. Most of it's because they spend about 80% of their total income on a huge house sitting on a postage stamp sized lot, the most expensive smart phone they can find, and a fancy car trying to impress people like me that are just fine with a 50 year old house on a 3 acre lot and 15 year old car. When something breaks, they got nothing left to fix it with. I'll never understand that.

Looks like a good fun tractoring project. Are you going to dismantle the trailer, or just get a burn permit and raze it? I'd consider stripping it down, sort the recyclables and only landfill what you absolutely have to. There are dealers that specialize in used trailer repair parts, such as the sinks, tubs, showers, etc. You might be able to recover some of your investment in scrap and reusables. Cut the wood into firewood and store it until you get your cabin built. There's a lot of scrap iron in that frame, or keep the frame to use for other projects. If it's sitting on a concrete pad, you already have the floor for your next build, or at least part of it.

Getting rid of the overgrowth will help with the cat issue, but they're just gonna move and be someone else's problem. Best to get the humane society out there with traps, and then let them do what they will with the cats. Most will likely be euthanized because feral cats rarely ever can be tamed. You'll avoid the issues with the bunny kissers screaming about you doing something about a cat that no one owns and never will. A captured feral cat has a lot of sharp instruments to back up a bad attitude, so handling them is best done from a distance, if you get my drift. One good thing about 'em being there, though, ain't no rats or mice around. But do beware fleas and ticks out there.

If the cat problem is what you say, there will be an abundance of chiggers, fleas, and 'seed' ticks. Take an old glass 6 oz Coke bottle and fill it about half full with kerosene. Take the end off one of those little pine branches and compress the straw into the mouth of the bottle. Voila, you've got an instant bug repellant dispenser. Just sprinkle your pants legs and shirt sleeves with it any time you're going to be out in that brush, and bingo, no bugs. ESPECIALLY in warmer weather, they'll be bad out there until you get it cleared and the cat population reduced.