No gearhead properties..

[PCMusicGuy]

It's no different even in a market as large as Houston. I look on har.com about once a month, even though I have no intentions of moving right now but I like to look. You can't find anything with a real 2 car garage (search 3 car garages to realistically park 2 cars) in a nice suburb for under $300k. It normally has more house than you would need. If you go out to Magnolia, Conroe or any of the country areas around the city it is doable but that is easily over an hour drive one way to work. At some point, my time is more valuable than a big workshop/nice house/etc. Somethings got to give.

 

[rerod]

Maybe you can find a house and just enough property and build your workshop space the way you want it.

Mike.

I have those criteria on my search radar to Mike.

It very rare to find a small house with 1/3 of a acre around here.. That's a perfect size for me especially if it has alley access because I'm not to good backing my toy-hauler with the Van. A older house is fine as long as the foundation is good. I made a $110K offer on the linked property above.

Any of the country areas around the city is doable, but that is easily over an hour drive one way to work. At some point, my time is more valuable than a big workshop/nice house/etc. Somethings got to give.

Yes one hour is way to far.. I used to drive 1/2 hour from a gravel road. And when we moved to town and the bus was across the street, I thought I was in heaven. I still like the bus, but not being able to do the projects I want really ***** and I'm willing to compromise..

That said.. The owner of this gearhead property is willing to take $150K, only taking the wood burner in the garage along.. Its surrounded by commercial property and zoned M1 commercial he said. He's done allot of work but I think he paid to much back in 09 at $75k. I think $50K would have been more realistic and if we come to a agreement I would be paying for his mistake. But I will say I didn't see anything I didn't like except the header to the garage door needs to be removed and another taller door installed. The header is not load hearing.

 

[Hornman]

My experience is almost the opposite from most listed so far. When I was in the process of retiring the wife wanted to move from Houston to western DFW to be close to our son and his wife. I started surfing the realtor web sites looking for a suitable property. Since we were moving from a four bedroom with a three car garage with a ten foot "shop" shelf, I wanted at least a four car garage for my retirement tinkering. I set my search parameters for 4+car garage. Got a fair number of hits around the Country Club for $500,000 properties. Finally I decided to look at the listing that was obviously a typo: nobody has a nine car garage, right? Looked at the satellite photos, two car attached, three car detached with one sixteen foot door (has a workbench running the full length of the wall of the bay with no door, and a five car detached (shop) with a lift, sixty gallon compressor, and separate 200 amp service. Three bedroom house needing a full interior renovation, all interior surfaces. House was built in 1985 and it looked like nothing had been done to it since the. Owner was a mechanic / car collector that had twelve cars on site including two Vipers. His problem was that he had early onset Parkinson's and his son insisted he move close to him. The house had been empty for over a year, so it did not show well, you could see all the lumps and bumps and warts. The shape of the house and the nine car garage scared away any prospective buyers. Since I was used to rehabbing houses, I saw the diamond in all that rough. We bought it as fast as we could. Before our other house sold I had my son's firemen friends paint the ceiling and do the stained-concrete-floors thing. The Wife has allergy problems so we had a carpet removal party the afternoon of the morning we closed on the house. We filled my twenty gallon shop vac with the dirt that was under the carpet (and my son and his wife and my wife and I all had massive allergy attacks from being exposed to that dust). Then I painted all the walls and trim before we moved in.

Keep looking! There are properties out there. Drive around, look at houses. If you see something you like, knock on the door and talk to the homeowner! If he doesn't want to sell, he may know someone that does. The car guys know lots of other car guys and they use that network to sell stuff all the time.

 

[simpler=better]

Im still looking.

Ironhorse hit the nail on the head. Except for the part about the abundant acreages available within a 20 mile radius..

The closest Iv found to that is this property..

Iv been throwing offers at the owner but she wont back down from $70K I offered $60K.. Even though its not perfect with more acres than I want, and on gravel.

You guys are silly! That lot would be ~$150-$200 in Maryland (Assuming you're 1hr outside the city. Closer to the city it would be 500+)

 

[rerod]

My experience is almost the opposite from most listed so far. Since I was used to rehabbing houses, I saw the diamond in all that rough. We bought it as fast as we could.

There are properties out there.

Well you sir, lucked out.. Or did you? Or did I finding this gearhead property?

Meaning, are we now stuck with a unicorn most people don't want?

OK.. I need a value on the garage from the property linked above.. Then I can value the home and come up with a offer..
The old garage is nice with a 4 post lift, attic space, office space and then a long 2 car garage attached , but to low for my 4x4

You guys are silly! That lot would be ~$150-$200 in Maryland (Assuming you're 1hr outside the city. Closer to the city it would be 500+)

So come dig it up and sell it there

 

[1jjpop]

When I retired[ 15 years ago], I wanted to buy a lot & build a 24x32 garage in it. City told me I couldn't do it.They don't allow garages beening built on a empty lot. So I drove down a street in town & a backhoe was removing a old house & it had a double garage built on the back of the lot. I stopped & talk to owner I ask him what he was going to do with the lot, he said sell it. So I bought it & cleaned it up. I sidded it , put new roof on & new doors. Looks like a new garage. I have my garden there. Store my car trailer & a 2 wheel trailer. also move in a storage building. It is in a area of older well kept homes. City wasn't to happy with me doing it. But I didn't build a new garage .The neighbors don't object it been there.I keep it mowed & trimed , looking nice...

 

[Falcon67]

>Yes one hour is way to far..
Note that in Houston a 20 mile drive can be 1 hour+ during normal go and come times. Going to a big mall 10 miles from your house at Christmas time could be an hour. My drive from Spring-Cypress to Kingwood across the top of Harris County was 22 miles - 0ne hour going, 1.25 coming home. I now drive 20 miles from one city to another and it take me 20~25 minutes.

 

[dsimatt]

Well you sir, lucked out.. Or did you? Or did I finding this gearhead property?

Meaning, are we now stuck with a unicorn most people don't want?

OK.. I need a value on the garage from the property linked above.. Then I can value the home and come up with a offer..
The old garage is nice with a 4 post lift, attic space, office space and then a long 2 car garage attached , but to low for my 4x4



:

The buildings are nice but not really that ideal on the setups of them, the biggest thing that would deter me is the location of the lot and its size or lack there of.....I have a 1/3 acre city lot with just my house which is bigger but land is a big deal breaker to me.

 

[metalhead212121]

My experience is almost the opposite from most listed so far. When I was in the process of retiring the wife wanted to move from Houston to western DFW to be close to our son and his wife. I started surfing the realtor web sites looking for a suitable property. Since we were moving from a four bedroom with a three car garage with a ten foot "shop" shelf, I wanted at least a four car garage for my retirement tinkering. I set my search parameters for 4+car garage. Got a fair number of hits around the Country Club for $500,000 properties. Finally I decided to look at the listing that was obviously a typo: nobody has a nine car garage, right? Looked at the satellite photos, two car attached, three car detached with one sixteen foot door (has a workbench running the full length of the wall of the bay with no door, and a five car detached (shop) with a lift, sixty gallon compressor, and separate 200 amp service. Three bedroom house needing a full interior renovation, all interior surfaces. House was built in 1985 and it looked like nothing had been done to it since the. Owner was a mechanic / car collector that had twelve cars on site including two Vipers. His problem was that he had early onset Parkinson's and his son insisted he move close to him. The house had been empty for over a year, so it did not show well, you could see all the lumps and bumps and warts. The shape of the house and the nine car garage scared away any prospective buyers. Since I was used to rehabbing houses, I saw the diamond in all that rough. We bought it as fast as we could. Before our other house sold I had my son's firemen friends paint the ceiling and do the stained-concrete-floors thing. The Wife has allergy problems so we had a carpet removal party the afternoon of the morning we closed on the house. We filled my twenty gallon shop vac with the dirt that was under the carpet (and my son and his wife and my wife and I all had massive allergy attacks from being exposed to that dust). Then I painted all the walls and trim before we moved in.

Keep looking! There are properties out there. Drive around, look at houses. If you see something you like, knock on the door and talk to the homeowner! If he doesn't want to sell, he may know someone that does. The car guys know lots of other car guys and they use that network to sell stuff all the time.

NEED PICS!!!!!

 

[simpler=better]

So come dig it up and sell it there

I have to laugh at it. My Dad was bitching about having to pay $800/acre for some woods the county was selling(price=back taxes).


You can lift that garage-a couple guys on here have done it. It only takes 500 wooden blocks and lots of running back & forth.

As for a unicorn, it's all about the marketing when you sell. If the house and garage look nice and have a yard, then you will have no trouble selling it to a non gearhead.

 

[rerod]

Still looking..

I did find this but overkill and 1 hour away. Commercial taxes also.

Just figured Id stop by here and lust over the garages you guys have because I'm working on my cummins van money pit again. I aired down my junk set of tires to shoe horn it inside for the bodywork I was told it didn't need. After I rebuilt the engine I was told would haul my toyhauler..

I guess its stupid looking and considering moving just to have a big tall garage. I must have more money than brains.

 

[KDXSR5]

What about this one? Looks like it has an alley, and at .27 acre, could probably build a large sized attached garage assuming no zoning issues:

http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...on-St_Iowa-City_IA_52245_M83429-11534#photo24

 

[rerod]

What about this one? Looks like it has an alley, and at .27 acre, could probably build a large sized attached garage assuming no zoning issues:

http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...on-St_Iowa-City_IA_52245_M83429-11534#photo24

Yeah I saw that thanks KDXSR5.

But the fema flood zone covers half the property, IC wont let me build tall enough, plus taxes are ridiculous rising over 6% a year. I'm not much for cinder block foundations either and have ten years before I retire.

I know I'm picky. It will take the perfect place and would prefer something south of the Johnson and linn county madness.

 

[oldcpecdr]

Here's a story from the East Coast. I live on Cape Cod and have been in this home for twenty plus years, five bedroom huge cape house on an acre in a nice town.

I built a 30 x 30 2 1/2 story shop 15 years ago, insulated, heated, 12 foot first floor, full second floor with real stairs up, and then a third floor in the attic for even more storage with another real staircase. I have a beam and trolley for lifting to the second floor and with steel beams holding it all up I can store lots of weight up there. Second floor is also finished drywall and insulated.

I had an appraisal done a few months ago and the appraiser said quote " No value can be added except as if it were a standard garage" . They added ZERO for 2700 square feet on three floors.

At 70 I still use the shop and have no immediate plans for moving but when the time comes you can be sure I will advertise the SHOP AND the house... even if it adds no value there will be one of us motorheads out there that will get some joy out of owning it, in retrospect it owes me nothing as it has been the source of lots of fun times and great projects,

Good luck in your search... Mike B

 

[KDXSR5]

Yeah I saw that thanks KDXSR5.

But the fema flood zone covers half the property, IC wont let me build tall enough, plus taxes are ridiculous rising over 6% a year. I'm not much for cinder block foundations either and have ten years before I retire.

I know I'm picky. It will take the perfect place and would prefer something south of the Johnson and linn county madness.

Yeah, I definitely do not know the area, haha. I saw that there are a ton of developments going on, some with lots in the .3 acre and larger size. You may want to consider building new. I have two friends that have done this, and both were extremely happy with the outcome. The last few years aroumd here, you could build a new house for what a used one costs, sometimes less. No idea how your market is doing. Plus college towns ha e some friggin weird rules sometimes, haha.

 

[iajonesy]

Do you work in Iowa City? If so, I would at least think about getting out of Johnson County. I'd look at property in Cedar or even Linn. The taxes and valuations are way lower in Cedar for sure.

Mike

 

[rburke65]

When I built my shop my wife says..."your never going to get your money back out of that thing"! Well for starters, I'll be dead....don't care! And second, I'll bet we have NO problem sell our home withe the shop, pole barn, etc.

 

[rerod]

Do you work in Iowa City? If so, I would at least think about getting out of Johnson County. I'd look at property in Cedar or even Linn. The taxes and valuations are way lower in Cedar for sure.

Mike

Yes, Im a blue collar maintenance guy at the U. But I'm not staying here after I retire so I wont buy another home in Iowa City. The money I save riding the bus to work pays for my taxes for the time being though. Linn county isn't much better as far as taxes, and some areas of cedar rapids are a bit rough, kind of like south of highway 6 here in Iowa City. Id consider cedar, but Washington, Iowa and Keokuk are even lower taxes or values.
.

Thanks everyone, and I enjoy the stories and conversation.

 

[rerod]

Well people.

I found a property, looked at it, and bought it the same day..

Plan was to sell it contract to my GF.. But I'm starting to wonder if I should just keep it..

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1861-310th-St-North-English-IA-52316/86973186_zpid/?fullpage=true

 

[kjdhawkhill]

So how’s the new place working out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rerod]

So how’s the new place working out?

I'm real happy with the purchase, but just not rushing into anything major at this time. I wont be moving out there until I retire probably and my GF is covering the costs.

There's a few pictures on this thread..

But more than likely, I will be dumping way more money into the property than it's worth. lol

The only Con to my property is the hill it sits on limiting the driveable/buildable area.. But the hill provides the view my GF and I fell in love with.

 

[Hugemoose]

Congrats on the new place. I also had the same struggle when I was looking for a house. We were looking around the outer suburbs of Philly and prices are just crazy. We kept a low budget of 200k so we had plenty of money for fun/projects/living life etc. Turns out that was extremely difficult and almost nobody had a 2+ car garage unless it was a half million dollar home. A pretty typical colonial mid 2000 sq.ft. home with a 2 car attached is 400k+.

We ended up with a nearly 100 year old 1450 sq.ft. home with a detached 2 car for well under 200k, but it was foreclosed, had the cooper cut out of the basement, and needed some major rehab. Totally worth it, but a real pain in the ***.

Even with that, the township has a limit of 625 sq.ft. for any external building (garage), and a max height of 17'. So I'm limited in expanding my 20x20 garage in both size and height. Pretty annoying to find out after being there for a year.

About once a week I still keep my eye out on Zillow for the unicorn.....just in case.