Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Ridgetop

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Bruce - I have renovated several houses but I don't remember ever seeing that many layers of anything.
Actually this Yelm house had about 5 layers of carpets and lino in it when we renoed it 5 years ago for MJ. I think people just laid down new lino and carpets over the old. The layers of carpets were just nailed down - no wall to wall tack strips.

My major find!

100 year old cattle stanchions! IMG_6366.jpgIMG_6365.jpg
Taking them home with me. Along with the old wood cook stove and broken bits of my lovely old wood stove :hit. Our neighbor has a metal shop and hopefully he can make new parts to replace the broken ones. Otherwise, maybe I can find another place that can do the job. The person who would have been able to do it here (a friend of my aunt's) is 92, and no longer in good health. :( Not doing that work anymore. I will call and schedule a visit with their current welder to see if the stove can even be fixed, otherwise?

Anyway another day has passed and the electric is now complete. The pump is working and we drained the lines for several hours this afternoon. So we will be moving into the Yelm property tomorrow morning. We will turn on the water to the house when we get there tomorrow am, and will turn on the electric water heater so that we can all take showers by tomorrow night. Frozen food in the fridge and freezer to finally have a decent meal. We will have to eat off plates in our laps since the dining set we planned to use for a week or two was one of the items stolen. :rolleyes: DS1 changed the locks on the pump house and we put a sensor on that door as well with the security system.

Today DS1 and DH took a load to the metal scrap yard. They took the 2 engines. Firt, they had to go buy hoist. They thought maybe a "come along" might do the job, but then they found a hoist at Harbor Freight which they decided would be much better. They hooked the hoist onto a beam in the barn and hoisted the 2 engine blocks into the pick up bed.

IMG_6392.jpg One loaded - one to go! IMG_6391 - Copy.jpg
IMG_6338.jpg Now you see it IMG_6369.jpg Now you don't! One pile of metal that was dumped in the barn loaded and taken to the scrap yard. More still to go including the riding lawn mower, the invalid scooter, and another truck load of metal scrap from the back lawn. :eek:

The barn has now gotten 2 bays cleaned along with 1 1/2 bales of VERY old alfalfa (30 years!) and a rotted pallet it was on. Junk gets into all the old straw ad hay so I had to rake and shovel it into lawn/leaf bags since the junk and trash mixed in it had to be removed. We still have a section of barn that came down (possibly a divider wall?) that we are going to pull apart and take to the dump. DS1 and DH discussed whether they could reattach it, but decided just to scrap the whole thing.

We are not removing any of the very old wire fencing since the couple buying the house are young and why should we prevent them from enjoying the pleasure of renovating this 100 year old farm property?! We are old, :old and there is a farm waiting to be found in TX for which we will need our remaining strength! :lol:

i measured this barn today. The main barn building is 36' x 36' but there is another section along the back that is 12' x 24'.
IMG_6367.jpgYou can see this side is 12' x 48' and open all the way back.

IMG_6400.jpg
The central bay is also 12' x 48', but the rear 12' is partitioned off and goes side to side across the back of the barn. This side faces the house.
IMG_6398.jpg This side faces pasture at the rear of the property.
IMG_6369.jpg This is the last bay of the barn and is 12' x 36'. Already looking better after having hauled off 5 loads of garbage and cabinets. Still another couple loads to go but definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!



 

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Ridgetop

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Lots of work but a big difference. Usually we feel really great doing all this work but now we are just tired. It is depressing having to do this over and over.

I signed the last counter offer on the property. :yesss: :highfive:

The family with the 3 small children are buying the property. 😄 Every time I corresponded with the agents I told them to make sure that the buyers check to see that they can have their horses there. It is in the contract that they need to verify all zoning. Oddly the contract also has a paragraph requiring the buyer to investigate the neighborhood and surrounding area of any property they are purchasing. I have not seen that requirement in any other sales contract. The agent assures us that they did.

DH is happy that a family with young children will enjoy the property. There is a small housing tract next door which should have lots of children for them to play with. I really hope they have a good life there. As we clean the property, we are doing just a little more to make sure it looks good when they arrive. They will have to put in fences and stalls, but that will be "fun" work for them. The house is in move in condition. It is small, but it's 180 sf larger than where they are living now. It should be fine until they decide to add on a master bedroom and bath. The living room and dining area are very large so will be suitable for a family. They are getting a good property with everything really in good shape. The well pump is brand new. Everything else is only about 5 years old - split system HVAC, 5 year old remodeled kitchen and bathroom, sewer line, carpet and flooring, newly overhauled Shrade cast iron stove. In the future they can sub-divide the property or build a larger house and rent the little one for income.

The sale is expected to close March 19 :fl since the family has to be up here at their new jobs then. I hope it goes through and they have a good life here. I am extremely glad that the end is in sight. DH loves this property and is sad to sell but is fed up with the problems we have had over the past year. In addition, what he likes about the property can't be enjoyed with a tenant in residence. We can't keep it vacant and use it as a vacation home since we would arrive to find it burgled and vandalized consistently! And without MJ living there it isn't the same for us anyway.


A few more loads to the dump over the next couple of days and we will be finished! :fl
 

farmerjan

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I am so glad that there looks to be a GOOD end in sight. Both for you and for them. It is sad, but as you said, it won't work for what you want to do with the sheep, and really, the taxes and all there would probably be bad for you down the road. You need to be in a more tax and farm friendly place.
The fact that it was showed and was sold so quick is one more indication that the realtor was not acting in your best interest for all that time. I know you will be glad to be done with the worry, and the aggravations.... but I would still go after that real estate company.
Having the ins cover some of the loss is small compensation for the horrendous condition you found it in and the work you had to do to get it into some sort of decent shape. And to lose the family "heirloom" things you had put away for safe keeping.....
But it is done. I hope that things go smooth and the closing happens......

Time to make a RELAXING trip to look at property in Texas.....
 

Ridgetop

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The sale is off. :( Young couple with 3 children were unable to get variance for their horses. In all the offers I told my agent to tell the other agent to check on the horse keeping. The other agent checked on her own. She told us that our agent never mentioned the possibility of not allowing horses on the property!

I have fired the Remax group! :celebrate

After seeing the garbage (not just mess) but actually bags of household garbage accumulated over the past 12 months, it was obvious that our agent/management company were not even watching the property. While Covid may have been a factor in not evicting the tenants when they refused to pay rent, certainly Remax could have called Department of Sanitation and had the tenant fined over the trash and dumping gray water (illegally) in the yard. :somad Final count - 18 loads to trash dump and 4 to metal yard with 2 engine blocks, a chassis, a car roof, and lots of miscellaneous metal parts.

Yelm Glass came to replace the window glass and astounded us by saying that he had been called out to give an estimate on the SAME WINDOW 4 months earlier!!! He was not given the go ahead to repair. This is the window that the management company claimed was due to the "break in" just 2 weeks before we arrived! LIARS! In addition, when I had them change the locks, they did board up the broken window. Why change the lock and leave a great big hole in the window above the lock?!!! They also did not change the lock on the pump shed which may have contributed to that theft. DH is now convinced that while the house was in the 60 day discovery phase with the agent and broker as buyers that they might have taken the pump figuring they were buying it anyway. Then when they backed out they couldn't admit they had taken it.

Final straw was Remax sending me an email stating that they had pumped the septic and it needed $5,000 or more in repairs and they had a guy coming in March to do the work! They sent me an email in December saying that they would have to pump the septic for the sale and I specifically forbade the pumping. I specifically told them NOT to pump the septic until we were in escrow since it has to be pumped with a certain time period and I have a company I use. They replied that they would let me know first. Then they just send me an email that they had it pumped right after I told them not to do so and the cost was $750! The guy they hired was twice what A+ charges! Then because the septic is cracked, they want their guy to fix it for another $5,000,00!. I cancelled that PDQ! My guy is doing it for $3300.00. In addition their guy is not licensed! My guy is licensed, guarantees the repairs for 3 years, and his price includes the inspection certificate required by the County and State for a sale. The other company would have charged another $400 to have it inspected by a certified licensed guy!

The broker is sending me a cancellation of the contract tomorrow. I will immediately list for only 3 months with another agent. I have one in mind and have talked to him about his strategy. He believes that advertising the house as a "cozy cabin in the woods" will draw people from California or Seattle that want to move from cities, can work from home, and want to be close enough to a town for conveniences. With new well pump, new electric to the pump, and a repaired upgraded septic, along with all the other new stuff - kitchen, bathroom, flooring, it is desirable. Also all the large outbuildings - barns, 2 room bunkhouse, etc. are plusses for people that want to run home businesses, need lots of storage, or for hobbies. He says he will price it at $419,000 and we can come down to $400K. Apparently homes are so hard to come by in the area that it should sell quickly. :fl

DH will be going back up to Yelm almost immediately to watch the property. I installed cordless shades on all the windows. DS1 got timer and a cheap lamp which he programmed to turn on and off in the living room. We have the security system installed so hopefully any unauthorized entry to house or pump shed will be recognized and we can sent the police. But I am so nervous about tweakers or thieves breaking in and vandalizing the house that I have to take a tranquilizer to sleep at night! I won't be able to go back with DH since DD2 is getting very worried about having her first baby. She is due anytime from the 17th to the 25th. I hope to be able to send my grandson with DH. He has been getting in a lot of trouble with his mom and dad :rant for playing games on the internet - even during school time on line. He can do his on line school work with a "hot spot" and there is not internet or cable at the house. Maybe he can help DH keep the house clean, and also empty the small shed that we told them we would not empty. It will give him something to do, and life without internet or cable will be an effective punishment. :gigDH will take the hot spot away after lessons, and DGS1 will be required to email his parents copies of this school work. DD1 is exhausted trying to teach herself and looking after the 13 nd 10 year olds who are acting up on the computers. Sending the older boy with DH would take off some of the stress for her but she does not want to send him. She says he will just watch TV and play on the internet. Not possible since they are not hooked up to the Yelm house and DH and DGS1 will be camping out in the house.

DS1 and I are going to use psychology on DD1 by telling her that DH is old and has been falling down so it is a safety thing to send DGS1 with him until after DD2's baby is born and I can get up there. ;) :old

DDIL2's baby is not due until mid April, but she has her mother here and plans to stay with them when she gets close since DS2 is working in San Diego. He is trying to get transferred up here closer to home for the birth.

DD2 is becoming more and more worried about not being prepared for the baby's arrival. DD1 is also worried about that so I have told DD1 and DD2 that once I am home, we will go shopping for the items DD2 will need for herself, and the newborn, NOT fancy clothes, but diapers, nursing pads, etc. I also need to make the bassinette sheets, and skirt. I have a lot of baby gowns that will do just fine, and just need to wash them, along with the other crib sheets, blankets, etc. There is a terrific private used baby and toddler sale as well called Kids' Consignment. Great stuff in new condition very reasonable. Everything that doesn't sell goes for half price on the final day.

I would rather be in Yelm protecting the property until it sells but my mommy duties call me. This is not because I would rather camp out in a vacant house in an area I hate instead of being with my baby while she produces her baby, but I am so nervous about returning to find major vandalization instead of just major clean up. :th:barnie

Once the baby Is born and DD2 can handle everything on her own, I will fly up to join DH at the house. I will paint the bedroom then too, since it needs it as well as any other little stuff to perk up the house if necessary. Not too much needs to be done so it will be mainly to keep me from going crazy! LOL

I wonder if I could learn to knit?


 

Baymule

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I will pray constantly that no vandals break in while y’all are gone. I’m so glad you fired REMAX. What awful people. I pray for a quick sale so you can move on and close a chapter in your book of life.
 

farmerjan

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Should've fired them when you walked on the property the first day looking at that mess and vandalism. I hope you go after them and ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to pay them any sort of commission or fees or anything. You have pictures and all..... copies of the offer they made to try to buy it cheaper from you with the idea of more units.... they are SOOO FAR out of their authority and ethical practices..... PLEASE DO NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS.
 
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