Have you ever been so sure of a Deal only to not have it pan out?

[MossRoad]

Thanks Moss... inspirational!

My dad was an architect (among other things) and built quite the home himself. It was about 2700 sq ft' in the shape of a giant Y. Left branch had living room, dining and most of kitchen. Right branch had master bedroom, bath and laundry/sewing room. Down branch had rest of kitchen, family room and "the dormitory" as he called it (2 bedrooms and bath on ground floor and two bedrooms and study in basement). It was his architectural experiment. Lots of floor to ceiling glass, California redwood, doug fir, tile throughout. 17 picture windows, great views, etc.... It was like living in a Frank Lloyd Wright tribute home. There were several architects living on our block and everyone had these wild "modern" houses. Me.... I was fascinated by my friends' "normal" houses! :laughing: Anyhow, my dad always made it clear that this was his dream home and I should make my own dreams and not worry about what to do with the home after he died. I could buy it from my sisters, sell it to one of my sisters, sell it and split the profits with my sisters, etc... but I did not have to keep it because it was his dream. Besides, it was a money pit because it was an ongoing experiment. I helped him re-work many parts of it over the years and knew that thing inside and out. When he passed away, we sold it and I do not regret it. I still go to the lake below it and look up at it while I'm fishing and remember vividly running through the woods, across the hillsides, etc... I now live in a "normal" house with my wife and kids. We are waiting to afford to build on our 20 acres out in the country. It will be a reasonable 1300 - 1400 sq ft ranch with walkout basement of "traditional" style. That's my dream. :thumbsup:

 

[300UGUY]

I was looking at a place with a couple more acres, a nice insulated, heated shop, nice barn, just what I wanted. I missed out on it, we didn't know if we were staying or going to Florida, we decided to stay, but the place was gone.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't have any really good pictures... thought I would give these a try.

The one of the shop is only 50% because it continues on the other side.

 

[KYDan]

Yep. We put in another bid on another 40 acres with a pond. It required a zoning variance for a change from AG to RES. We applied for the variance at the board of zoning appeals. A certain Mr. C. on the board spoke up against our petition saying we were profiteers from the city and would end up subdividing the land for profit. We were denied our petition, so we passed on the purchase. Exactly one year later a Mr. M. applied for the exact same variance on the exact same piece of property and Mr. C. spoke ON HIS BEHALF to grant the variance. Mr. M. got it and purchased the property. Of course, it helped that Mr. C.'s son is the biggest developer in the county and Mr. M.'s son is the state representative for our area.... that one left a bitter taste in my mouth. Shortly thereafter, a letter from the realator that tried to get us that first piece of land I mentioned earlier appeared in our mailbox showing us the land we now own. A nice 20 acre piece with rolling hills, sandy soil, well drained, two fields, a woods down the middle, a creek and an abandoned wooden railroad trustle! Nice! Never looked back with sad eyes again.
:thumbsup:

It appears he has all the necessary credentials to be in Congress!

 

[MoKelly]

Don't take it too hard. I have a suggestion. Listen to the Garth Brooks song "Unanswered Prayers". It may help put everything in perspective.

Good luck.

MoKelly