The Next Phase Just Became Real

[DonTom]

As you saw by my property I can pretty much do anything I want to.

I am kinda surprised there isn't a big movement to get rid of HOAs by now. That it takes 80% of the homeowners and a team of lawyers to dissolve an HOA is ridiculous, IMAO.

HOAs have gotten way too powerful and out of control from the homeowners. Perhaps they now have a lot of money to protect themselves from the homeowner majority that probably doesn't even want them.

-Don- Tom's Place, CA

 

[Ex-Calif]

I am kinda surprised there isn't a big movement to get rid of HOAs by now. That it takes 80% of the homeowners and a team of lawyers to dissolve an HOA is ridiculous, IMAO.

HOAs have gotten way too powerful and out of control from the homeowners. Perhaps they now have a lot of money to protect themselves from the homeowner majority that probably doesn't even want them.

-Don- Tom's Place, CA

That was true in my area. It was an older area with 1950's vintage brick houses. Most of the folks were boomers and almost everyone had toys. The guy behind me laid in an RV pad behind his house. Really nice and then got busted and had to park his RV on the side of his house.

I talked to a few neighbors about changing the RV parking rule which was actually controlled by the township and they were all for it. I wasn't activist enough to follow through with the neighborhood organizing thing. I would have loved to show up to the town council with 50 citizens with 50 pitchforks and torches looking for Frankenstein's monster.

I had a very close buddy in an HOA and he had his driveway widened to a 2 car wide. He got a letter in the mail telling him his driveway was 2 inches too wide and he had to fix it. He had to get the company that laid it to trim it. He also told me there was a list of approved stain colors for his deck.

No frickin' way man.

Another cool thing about the country is that when dealing with the government you are almost always able to deal with the actual elected official. At the building department I met the boss. I looked him up and he had multiple terms and had won the last election with a total of like 319 votes - Not hard to unseat someone in this county - LOL...

There is a county judge seat open this year. I went to the Suwannee County Fair and Demolition Derby (a hoot) and all three candidates had tables on the boardwalk. I don't think I've ever met any elected official candidate in the past much less a "lower" seat like county judge.

 

[ziplock]

Another cool thing about the country

Did your wife ever make it to the USA? Does she like the house you set up?

 

[Ex-Calif]

Did your wife ever make it to the USA? Does she like the house you set up?

We've had a comedy of errors with the power install. The inspection was April 29th. First the building department sent the inspection to the wrong power company. I only realized that 9 days later.

Then the power company came out and said that I had t put the wires up from the meter to the top of the pole - weatherhead. I had discussed this several times with the lower level power company lady but we miscommunicated, apparently.

I installed the wiring to the weatherhead yesterday and will go back to the building department Monday morning as FPL wants a new building release - ho, hum...

I've made 3 mortgage payments and don't live there yet which is frustrating but is what it is...

My wife is gonna come mid June-ish and stay for a month to help do the final decorating. We are hopping to host a 4th of July BBQ as a christening.

We have made some other progress. I built a 25X25 foot dog run and a 4X6 dog house. We've also moved about 80% of the goods over. We are almost at Apollo 13 mode at the rental. 2 beds, a tv a computer desk and my dresser basically.

I am guardedly optimistic for power next week.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Well we've finally done it! Power went on Wednesday. I had planned to get in Wednesday night but after repairing the water leak and a couple of other delays I decided to move the last of the furniture in on Thursday and Thursday was our first night of residency!

I closed on the property around mid-March last year so 14 months to get in the place.

Having sold all my furniture when I retired I am also buying used furniture to fill in the blanks.

Finally Power!

Night Time at Lazy Pines

And to top it all off my mixed breed pointer drop 7 puppies on Wednesday morning - LOL.. Great looking pups and I know there are lots of animal lovers here to here's a quick video of mama and the puppies.

Suddenly... Puppies!

The house is a disaster - when it's a little more showable I will drop another video.

Retirement can officially begin - LOL...

 

[jackiemac]

Congratulations Dan! Cute pups.

 

[UTTransplant]

How sweet are those puppies!

 

[Ex-Calif]

Here's an update on Lazy Pines Ranch and the puppies.

We started moving in like the day after the pups were born so around May 27th. The house hasn't been flawless and there are some gigs the seller is gonna need to fix but I can't complain. Getting organized has been an evolution - still not "house proud" so I won't post any interior stuff yet but other than finishing the master bedroom everything is where it's "supposed" to be and it's all in.

The next thing next has been my creed on this place and the next thing is to erect the canvas garage but I wanted some kind of floor - lot's of folks around here just have dirt floors but as a gear head car nut that isn't gonna cut it. I thought about laying in a cement pad but it's pretty costly and is probably something for another year when I plan to put in a permanent stick and brick garage.

So I went with 12 X 12 pavers 220 of them to be exact. I have a couple of thick vinyl garage mats that will go over the pavers to help things with wheels like floor jacks, toolboxes and engine stands to roll easier but without putting in a dedicated base I am pretty happy with the fit up.

Foundation Prep

Finished Floor

On the puppy front, mama started becoming disinterested a little over a week ago. She'll still come in to see the pups and she's a good mama but I have been weaning them for about a week. BB-girl (Beatrice) hit a grand slam - 7 boys 0 girls - No wonder they are all so aggressive - LOL...

Did first puppy shots today. Here's a couple of videos of them at 4 and 6 weeks. I'll probably start placing them in a week or two.

Weaning at 4 Weeks - Puppy Riot

Weaning at 6 Weeks

Fun at the Ranch...

 

[Octodad]

That was true in my area. It was an older area with 1950's vintage brick houses. Most of the folks were boomers and almost everyone had toys. The guy behind me laid in an RV pad behind his house. Really nice and then got busted and had to park his RV on the side of his house.

I talked to a few neighbors about changing the RV parking rule which was actually controlled by the township and they were all for it. I wasn't activist enough to follow through with the neighborhood organizing thing. I would have loved to show up to the town council with 50 citizens with 50 pitchforks and torches looking for Frankenstein's monster.

I had a very close buddy in an HOA and he had his driveway widened to a 2 car wide. He got a letter in the mail telling him his driveway was 2 inches too wide and he had to fix it. He had to get the company that laid it to trim it. He also told me there was a list of approved stain colors for his deck.

No frickin' way man.

Another cool thing about the country is that when dealing with the government you are almost always able to deal with the actual elected official. At the building department I met the boss. I looked him up and he had multiple terms and had won the last election with a total of like 319 votes - Not hard to unseat someone in this county - LOL...

There is a county judge seat open this year. I went to the Suwannee County Fair and Demolition Derby (a hoot) and all three candidates had tables on the boardwalk. I don't think I've ever met any elected official candidate in the past much less a "lower" seat like county judge.

I realize that I am late to this thread and admitedly haven't read all of the posts, but this one caught my eye. A suburb of Oklahoma City, very high income area, used to have a law that you could not park a pickup truck in your driveway where it could be seen from the street. Garage was OK. Around back of the house was OK (I think). Just not in the front. Not sure if that is still the case or not. Majority ruled.

 

[DonTom]

Garage was OK.

Not in my case. My pickup truck is too long to fit in either of my garages. Unless the furnaces, water heater and other such stuff is removed.

But so far, the HOA here has not bugged me about that-yet. If they do, I will park it at my better house in a better area--which has no HOA! Where I keep both of my RVs. The HOA here in Reno would scream if I left those here where they could be seen.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ex-Calif]

Haven't updated this thread for a while. Kinda forgot about it.

Basically it's 100% livable but there is no shortage of jobs for improvements. Trying to cut back on "house" work and do some more fun retirement type stuff.

Don't have many still photos but here are a couple of update videos. The most satisfying thing lately is burning off all the brush that didn't get chipped up. Probably about 50% done burning brush.

Garage Power

Burn Baby, Burn

Gutters

08/27 Update

 

[Ex-Calif]

Been a while since I bumped this thread. I suppose I missed posting about the workshop shed I bought. It's a 12 X 16 and has worked out fine.

As much as I hate debt I decided to finance the balance after about a 75% down payment.

So last month I paid it off and my kid and I started talking about a bunkhouse. So my kid is back to being a tattoo artist but where I live is not a huge population/market for tattoos. There are a few shops but max like 2 chairs. None were super interested in him renting a chair (like barbers do) and he definitely can't afford a store front. He is still doing part time photo/video work (again limited market) and occasional remote video editing on contract. He could make more editing but he really wants to be a creative and do his own thing.

So let's do the bunkhouse now, outfit the kitchen and bathroom and then use the sitting area as a tattoo parlor for a while. Our budget and min space requirements meant a 12 X 20 shop with a barn roof and lofted areas for sleeping. We really wanted a porch and could have got one but would have traded 4 feet of interior space and it would have been real tight.

Long story short, in discussions with a really cool sales guy we got turned on to repos. Apparently, especially around here, lots of folks are buying sheds to outfit as tiny homes. So this lady bought a 12 X 28 with a porch and lofts at both ends and then had it repoed.

It's plenty big enough and the work she did can be considered a plus. The shower insert is in and plumbed, the toilet plumbing and mount is in. All the 4 inch electrical boxes and power oulets are installed and the romex run. There is a 100 amp fuse box and about 50% of the insulation is done.

Here are a couple of basic snaps. Hope to get the basic finishing done in the next 30 days so he can go to work.

Note the finished interior is a she shed that was repoed that we passed on. I took some snaps for inspiration on how our work would like to come out.

 

[DonTom]

Is this:

Located here?:

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Ex-Calif]

Ha

Is this:



Located here?:



-Don- Auburn, CA

Ha, ha, ha - Soon will be. Supposed to deliver Tuesday.

And your photo started as this photo...

 

[Reinigm]

Been a while since I bumped this thread. I suppose I missed posting about the workshop shed I bought. It's a 12 X 16 and has worked out fine.

As much as I hate debt I decided to finance the balance after about a 75% down payment.

So last month I paid it off and my kid and I started talking about a bunkhouse. So my kid is back to being a tattoo artist but where I live is not a huge population/market for tattoos. There are a few shops but max like 2 chairs. None were super interested in him renting a chair (like barbers do) and he definitely can't afford a store front. He is still doing part time photo/video work (again limited market) and occasional remote video editing on contract. He could make more editing but he really wants to be a creative and do his own thing.

So let's do the bunkhouse now, outfit the kitchen and bathroom and then use the sitting area as a tattoo parlor for a while. Our budget and min space requirements meant a 12 X 20 shop with a barn roof and lofted areas for sleeping. We really wanted a porch and could have got one but would have traded 4 feet of interior space and it would have been real tight.

Long story short, in discussions with a really cool sales guy we got turned on to repos. Apparently, especially around here, lots of folks are buying sheds to outfit as tiny homes. So this lady bought a 12 X 28 with a porch and lofts at both ends and then had it repoed.

It's plenty big enough and the work she did can be considered a plus. The shower insert is in and plumbed, the toilet plumbing and mount is in. All the 4 inch electrical boxes and power oulets are installed and the romex run. There is a 100 amp fuse box and about 50% of the insulation is done.

Here are a couple of basic snaps. Hope to get the basic finishing done in the next 30 days so he can go to work.

Note the finished interior is a she shed that was repoed that we passed on. I took some snaps for inspiration on how our work would like to come out.

Are you installing some kind of AC

 

[Ex-Calif]

Are you installing some kind of AC

Yeah - At this point we are planning just 1 or 2 window units. We'll try 8,000 BTU and get a second one if it can't keep up.

 

[RedForeman]

Yeah - At this point we are planning just 1 or 2 window units. We'll try 8,000 BTU and get a second one if it can't keep up.

Check out mini splits. They're a bit more expensive, but more flexible install options and a LOT quieter.

That said, I have a big honkin window unit you can have for free if you want. Only catch is it's a 240V unit. LG 18k btu with remote. It was a brand new open box unit included in a skid of surplus auction loot. I had to install a new cord and have test run it successfully. PM me if you're interested. It's sitting on a furniture dolly in my garage taking up space because i don't have a use for it.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Check out mini splits. They're a bit more expensive, but more flexible install options and a LOT quieter.

That said, I have a big honkin window unit you can have for free if you want. Only catch is it's a 240V unit. LG 18k btu with remote. It was a brand new open box unit included in a skid of surplus auction loot. I had to install a new cord and have test run it successfully. PM me if you're interested. It's sitting on a furniture dolly in my garage taking up space because i don't have a use for it.

Wow! What a kind offer. PM sent.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I have a boring video of them parking the new bunkhouse but it's a bit boring. Took a little threading of the needle to get it in the spot I wanted but the Eagle Has Landed.

Here is a more interesting video of Tranquility Base. We haven't decided whether to call the bunkhouse Eagle Lodge or Tranquility Base...

Tranquility Base

The tear in the side is from when they repoed the unit. The rep crew cut the wires but didn't thread them out of the hole and the previous owner had run them through the side anyway - bad form - and when they moved it it ripped the wall. Se have a replacement panel on order.

Of course I will run the power from the bottom directly into the wall.