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Snow in Georgia—Stranded in RobertstownHeaded up to Helen on Saturday during the major snow event of the last past years — most would laugh at the idea - less than 2 inches. But it did not stop anyone from buying milk and bread and not going to work. I braved it and got up about noon or so. It was very cold but nice to see the snow on the square. Met Jim and settled up with the first payment on the demo. We sat in my truck (with the lights on) for about a half an hour or so and went over what he and his crew had done. Then we took a tour and reviewed a few trouble spots on the block that might need some attention. Actually it looked good with no additional damage that I could see. He used a lot of heavy lumber to shore it up — I hope we can find some use for it in the building stage. He has been sending me a few pictures via email and this is one from the cherry picker he is using to pull off the roof.I got ready to go and jumped in the truck —clik, click. Dead battery! I went to three houses around the square and no one was home. Finally caught Mr. Elrod coming in from the store and he gave me a jump and I headed back to the ATL.
Roof Off!
Hey—now that's some progress. Jim sent me some shots of the demo. Looks like they have part of the roof off already after some basic shoring up. It's been in the 30's all this week but this is the kind of work that should keep you warm. I'll be going up Saturday myself to check it out.
Back to reality- Demo in progressIt’s been a long time since I’ve made an entry but really nothing has happened. Everyone is coming out of the year-end coma and I am no exception. Nice to know we are officially in a recession. Business is very sketchy and expenses are out of control. 2008 is not starting off to well. Only interest rates are moving in the right direction. Thursday I got the easement letter back from Mr. Allison, so we are good on the overhang on the right side. My second opinion lawyer Keen will not call me back so I will call Don Furgeson back Monday and see how much he needs to get going on the corner lot. Friday, Jim my contractor started demolition. I already have talked to him twice. His estimates on time are good—a week. His estimates on costs are depressing—10-15gs just to bring it down and cart it off. I’m not sure my nerves can take it- I’m a buyer’s remorse kind a guy. He’s already gotten the one side shored up. I need to call GA Power Monday for him to get a power pole set up for the equipment. He had the engineer over to tell me that the foundation was OK and that—yes, it was a good idea to shore it up before taking off the roof. $500 for something we already knew. Interesting note is that according to him the original building did not have the double door entrance on the right side. Someone added on the lower front of the structure at one time. The White Co. paper recently published old photos of the area. One was of a school from the 1950’s - saying it was the Helen school. Looking at it we thought this was wrong and might be our building, but the front was higher and had a stairs. In fact this most likely was a picture before the addition I’ll see if I can get a copy.I’m heading up end of next week or sooner to see how it al looks without a roof. I'll post a photo then. This is a google earth shot of Roberstown GA.
5Gsalot
I looked up the number for lawyer #2 and called him. They told me that they would get back to me. $5,000 is lot of money, but I'm adding 50% more property. We'll see what happens. Changed the format a bit on the blog lately with some links to Picasa so I can show photos/slide show. This is one of the little green gem.
Budget addition - Budget subtraction
Busy Day. I finally caught up with the lawyer Don Ferguson today. I tried to feel him out with a few questions before springing the serious questions. I mentioned the Shop on the square — Bang!...He hit the bait. This guy was no slouch, and got around to business fast. 4-5Gs to get the paperwork to the right people and six months later and we could own that property. I guess I thought it would be a steal. Consensus is that it’s worth it, but I want to to check a few things before I sign up. I’ll call the lawyer we used to do the buy sell —Keene— and see if their might be a cheeper way. Dan - my son in-law called today with a line on two large 7x3 ft. glass doors being discarded by the business he works for. They are now sitting in my garage—to good to pass up. I think they might work for the shop doors on either side of the overhead or some elsewhere. The frames did not come with them so we might have to track down the manufacturer. Still should save me some money and save some resources too.
Land Grab- breathing room.
My builder Jim called me today very excited - said he had been down to the assessors office in Cleveland to see if he could find out the names and addresses of the owners of the property just adjacent for easements on the overhangs. The small green house directly behind us is owned by Angela Henry who lives here in Atlanta. Harrison Allison is the owner of the other property - he lives near Cleveland. This is all pretty dull, but it gets better. Jim say’s the lady in the assessor’s office is a member up at Center Baptist Church.( across from the shop) Well he finds out first that the square passed ownership as recently as 2004 to the church - Bob Wurl told me they owned it way before that. Then he finds out that the plot just to the left of the property is not owned by Ms. Henry. Well this is news! The Community Evangelical Methodist Church own’s the land—and guess what? They apparently do not exist anymore! Story is that when they (?) carved up Robertstown they gave some land to two churches. This other church never made it. So this property is not ton the tax records - strange. Center Baptist may own it as a default but if they do they do not know it. Unless this assessor lady spills the beans. I need to contact Don Furgeson, some lawyer in Cleveland for more info - maybe we can pick up this small piece cheep and give Wurl Wood some breathing room.
SketchUp - Got to love it!I’ve redone my my SkectchUp model and it came out great. As we go along I’ll try to keep it as close as possible to the real thing. I put in all truss work without having to redo everything. Added cabinets and built-ins, detailed the bathrooms and bedrooms. It’s amazing how much is available online —combine it with some creative changes and you can really do wonders—and spend hours and hours of time!I’ve learned how to peel off the roof and take these overhead shots.
