Sometimes when I'm bored I like to randomly explore homes on Zillow.

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ponyo

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
126
nakedfrog said:
No, I just moved to the PNW, so lots of exploration to do over the coming months.
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Nice! I always had this fantasy of living along PNW coast and catching and eating dungeness crabs, oysters, clams and fishing for salmon.
 
MrSquished

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,397
136
ponyo said:
See, NJ doesn't appeal to me at all. If I was going to live in a city in an apartment, I would live in apartment in Bangkok or Seoul before I live in NJ. Bangkok actually appeals to me because apartments there are so cheap. I could rent or buy a place in Bangkok for fraction of cost of apartment in NJ. And city life is so much better in those two cities than NJ. If this stupid Covid-19 dies down, I'm 100% renting AirBnB place in Bangkok and Seoul for months at a time and living there.

Another nice cheap city is Budapest, Hungary. Cheap apartments and beautiful city.
Click to expand...

You'd have to appreciate the intensity, energy and diversity of NYC, to pay to live this close to it, while still getting access to trails and beaches not too far away. It's a way to be very close to the city, while paying far less than city prices. NYC is not for everyone though.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,892
31,410
146
skyking said:
It's a little under 2 hours to Portland in rush hour traffic. 21 minutes to Longview for groceries, etc. 1: 30 to beaches.
That would be a retirement location for us. I'd get it now, but my wife is not sure about all that.
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does it come with required development times for purchase? (I'm guessing this is somewhat uncommon, but I know in resort areas--like Caribbean countries where you can still purchase property, they do require development as condition of purchase).

If not, then why not go ahead and buy the land if you can afford it? That looks like a really sweet piece of land to start constructing your lair, complete with extensive, highly secure, underground compound.
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
I am game, she is not. There is no hard timeline, and I have a small fleet of excavation equipment and a dump truck at hand. An underground lair would be cake :)
The draw for that lot is the shipping traffic to Portland, it is something cool to watch. My friend lives a half mile down river and at a lower elevation, and the ships look cool ghosting by.
This lot up by Cathlamet really has me going, but the big island blocks the view of the traffic.
I really have always wanted my own waterfall. Imagine doing a hard rock shaft and elevator down to that little beach?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/0-Cougar-Falls-Ln-Cathlamet-WA-98612/2079837234_zpid/
 
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Dr. Detroit

Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
8,561
951
126
zinfamous said:
does it come with required development times for purchase? (I'm guessing this is somewhat uncommon, but I know in resort areas--like Caribbean countries where you can still purchase property, they do require development as condition of purchase).

If not, then why not go ahead and buy the land if you can afford it? That looks like a really sweet piece of land to start constructing your lair, complete with extensive, highly secure, underground compound.
Click to expand...

Required development - Home must be X,xxx sq ft and must appraise for a minimum of $XXX,xxx - you can not dig a septic, punch in a well, have electricity ran and plop down a single wide and ruin the neighborhood- Oh no!

Restrictions on homeownership in this country are absurd.
 
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Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,761
13,863
126
www.anyf.ca
Dr. Detroit said:
Required development - Home must be X,xxx sq ft and must appraise for a minimum of $XXX,xxx - you can not dig a septic, punch in a well, have electricity ran and plop down a single wide and ruin the neighborhood- Oh no!

Restrictions on homeownership in this country are absurd.
Click to expand...

Same here in Canada, I hate that crap. I should be able to do what I want on my own land that I paid my own money for. Who cares what others think, if they don't like it they can pound sand or build a fence, or just not look at it. This whole "but my proprety value!" bs is ridiculous too. A house is to live in and enjoy life, not to just watch go up in value. Just like a car. Who buys a fancy sports car thinking it will go up in value? They buy it because they want a nice car and they want to enjoy it. If all you want is an investment, then get a cheap apartment and use the money you'd buy a house with to buy high end stocks.

But that said it's rare houses even go down in value anyway, normally that is based on larger scale things like a major industry in the city collapsing or something, and not because the neighbour decided to paint their shed pink. And let's not even get started on HOAs those are even worse. But cities these days are starting to catch up with HOAs in terms of absurdity. The types of properties I've been looking at are in areas where they don't have any of these stupid rules, but such areas are getting rarer and rarer. These properties sell quick too.
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
I've got a lot restriction on my Beach property. Minimum 1000 sq ft, just enough to eliminate single wide manufactured homes. I don't find that particularly odious. I wouldn't want to build a beach cabin that was less than a thousand square feet.
 
ponyo

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
126
skyking said:
I am game, she is not. There is no hard timeline, and I have a small fleet of excavation equipment and a dump truck at hand. An underground lair would be cake :)
The draw for that lot is the shipping traffic to Portland, it is something cool to watch. My friend lives a half mile down river and at a lower elevation, and the ships look cool ghosting by.
This lot up by Cathlamet really has me going, but the big island blocks the view of the traffic.
I really have always wanted my own waterfall. Imagine doing a hard rock shaft and elevator down to that little beach?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/0-Cougar-Falls-Ln-Cathlamet-WA-98612/2079837234_zpid/
Click to expand...
That's nice! So what kind of work do you do? Do you build houses? Could you easily build custom house if someone paid you?
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,892
31,410
146
Red Squirrel said:
Same here in Canada, I hate that crap. I should be able to do what I want on my own land that I paid my own money for. Who cares what others think, if they don't like it they can pound sand or build a fence, or just not look at it. This whole "but my proprety value!" bs is ridiculous too. A house is to live in and enjoy life, not to just watch go up in value. Just like a car. Who buys a fancy sports car thinking it will go up in value? They buy it because they want a nice car and they want to enjoy it. If all you want is an investment, then get a cheap apartment and use the money you'd buy a house with to buy high end stocks.

But that said it's rare houses even go down in value anyway, normally that is based on larger scale things like a major industry in the city collapsing or something, and not because the neighbour decided to paint their shed pink. And let's not even get started on HOAs those are even worse. But cities these days are starting to catch up with HOAs in terms of absurdity. The types of properties I've been looking at are in areas where they don't have any of these stupid rules, but such areas are getting rarer and rarer. These properties sell quick too.
Click to expand...

"My own land."

The rocks on the shore and the oak trees in the forest laugh at your silly notions of ownership.
 
brianmanahan

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,638
6,016
136
zinfamous said:
"My own land."

The rocks on the shore and the oak trees in the forest laugh at your silly notions of ownership.
Click to expand...

throw the rocks into the lake and cut down the trees

JkoF5rk.jpg
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,392
1,780
126
shortylickens said:
Hypothetically if I were to buy it I'd plant trees. Actually if I had that kind of money I could pay a guy to do it. And put up a fence around what looks to be a quarter mile of perimeter.
The reason I was daydreaming about THIS house is because it sits in the middle of an "old field" I could play music and movies as loud as I want and its unlikely the neighbors would complain. And I would never hear them. Heck, as long as it is I wonder if I could get a construction team to set up a 25 yard indoor range. Dig down into the earth a few feet, lay out a concrete floor, brick walls and roof. My own personal indoor range. Can shoot whenever I like.
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Indoor Gun ranges tend to be fire hazards if they're used enough. https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig...chure/plcb-shooting-range-fire-prevention.pdf

If you live out in the country, you can shoot in your yard. There are actually a few outdoor ranges here that are cheap/free to use.

My only issue with that house is the cost. You're paying more for the land than you should. That house is overpriced based on the square footage. Offer $330k.
 
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skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
Scarpozzi said:
Indoor Gun ranges tend to be fire hazards if they're used enough. https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig...chure/plcb-shooting-range-fire-prevention.pdf

If you live out in the country, you can shoot in your yard. There are actually a few outdoor ranges here that are cheap/free to use.

My only issue with that house is the cost. You're paying more for the land than you should. That house is overpriced based on the square footage. Offer $330k.
Click to expand...
they're also incredible hazards if you use lead bullets. The nearest gun shop range near my house was the location of a Hazmat cleanup and injury of several workers.
They went into work on it and didn't use precautions, the lead dust ended up back at their homes not only were they injured but their children.
 
Last edited:
rstrohkirch

rstrohkirch

Platinum Member
May 31, 2005
2,434
367
126
It's an infrequent past time for my wife and I. Every few months we'll spend a couple hours together in creeper mode looking at homes on Zillow and checking out the property lines, past sale numbers and interior shots.
 
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skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
ponyo said:
That's nice! So what kind of work do you do? Do you build houses? Could you easily build custom house if someone paid you?
Click to expand...
I am not a contractor. I work for a plumbing specialty contractor, I am a heavy equipment operator. I built my own garage from scratch, and have built several other small buildings and helped on my brother's custom homes.
I designed and built my own custom kitchen cabinets. I subbed out the doors to a cabinet shop.
I have developed our raw properties here at the house and at the beach.
I don't pay for much. The last time I paid for anything was the concrete flatwork in the garage, the handicapped ramp, and my shed that was all $2,200. I had done all the prep and form work, I was very happy for someone else to deal with the finishing.
 
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rstrohkirch

rstrohkirch

Platinum Member
May 31, 2005
2,434
367
126
I'm not sure what that would even go for where I live. Because no one would spend the the money to renovate the inside to the level that they did for such a shitty looking exterior and small lot. 600K here is a mini mansion 4-5K sqft home with 20 acres 15 minutes from town.
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,392
1,780
126
skyking said:
they're also incredible hazards if you use lead bullets. The nearest gun shop range near my house was the location of a Hazmat cleanup and injury of several workers.
They went into work on it and didn't use precautions, the lead dust ended up back at their homes not only were they injured but their children.
Click to expand...
Yeah...not something you want to live near. Fun fact: I bought a handgun without telling my wife. I was in an indoor gun range and she called me...I was the only one in there, so I answered my phone and while we were on the call, I shouted an expletive and unloaded 15 rounds down range. 😛 She hates me.
 
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