Building and Construction - Re: neighbours' planned renovation

Author

Re: neighbours' planned renovation

butch burton

2006-05-16, 10:21 am

A friend used to live in El Cerrito - and those tiny shotgun style
houses, no basement - gravity furnace in a hole in the ground - are
going for unreal prices - they sold out too soon and moved to Grass
Valley in the foothills of the Sierra. I suspect property values will
plunge when the fed increases the interest rates a few more 1/4 points
- those housing values may never see this level again.

I would take the money and run to another place which has more
realistic values. Those houses in most places would be priced well
under 100K in most markets - reality will strike - sell out before it
does is my advice.

mig

2006-05-16, 5:21 pm

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I appreciate it.

We can't move for a couple years because of a technicality with the
transfer of ownership. The house was built by my wife's father, an
architect, back in the 50's for 35k. If we moved within two years of
taking ownership we'd be responsible for the taxes that he would've
had to pay if he were still living and decided to move himself. So
moving's not an option.

spacetrax is right, in that properties in this area are ridiculously
expensive. Median home prices in what is considered the ghetto on
this side of the bay, Richmond, which is one of the most dangerous
cities in the US, are going for +200.

bitternut - both houses are built on a hill. His house is built
slightly higher on that hill even though the houses are side by side.
So his house is built, by virtue of the land, one story or
thereabouts, above our house. So it would be like a one-story house
alongside a 3-story house after he adds this new level, if you will.

His house faces the west, ours faces the east. They are side by side,
but with addresses on different streets, and our backyard goes all the
way to his street, while his backyard goes all the way to our street.
So neither of us have neighbours behind us, only neighbours in front,
but across the street, which is typical. So both our backyards hit a
street, not another home.

I mean, I don't want to be a prick about it, but all's he's offering
is to put in some bushes for us, but not surpringly, he's already got
the type of bushes and their locations (on our property) picked out.
lol

I sense that we're being pushed around by these people, and have felt
that way since we moved in. In fact, on the very day we were moving
in, at 10am that morning, he came out to introduce himself and
immediately went over some ground rules about noise, yard upkeep, etc.
Right away I thought, "Oh, oh, here we go..."
One day I came home to discover a huge chunk of the limbs of our tree
in our front yard cut down that was entering his properties' airspace,
and he knocked on our door to inform me that to make the tree
symmetrical it would be my responsibility to do the limbs on the other
side of the tree. I mean, wtf? It was a little tree, minding it's
own business... didn't even bother to let me know he would be hacking
off its limbs, just went ahead and did it.

So, no, I really don't care what he thinks of me. But I do believe
the right outcome is always the equitable outcome for everyone, even
if I don't like the guy..

Thanks again.

On 16 May 2006 06:18:34 -0700, "butch burton" <spacetrax@wi.rr.com>
wrote:

:A friend used to live in El Cerrito - and those tiny shotgun style
:houses, no basement - gravity furnace in a hole in the ground - are
:going for unreal prices - they sold out too soon and moved to Grass
:Valley in the foothills of the Sierra. I suspect property values will
:plunge when the fed increases the interest rates a few more 1/4 points
:- those housing values may never see this level again.
:
:I would take the money and run to another place which has more
:realistic values. Those houses in most places would be priced well
:under 100K in most markets - reality will strike - sell out before it
:does is my advice.

Mike Robinson

2006-05-17, 3:21 am

The tree limbs he cut down were legally his to cut in most areas. However he
better have disposed of the limbs, not dump them on your property.

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