"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
07/02/2018 at 18:36 • Filed to: TQ HQ, shop quest
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"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
07/02/2018 at 18:36 • Filed to: TQ HQ, shop quest | 1
| 13 |
The shop quest is heating up! I got a new realtor (the one who sold me my house) and went to look at three shop candidates today. Against all odds, I now have not one, but two strong contenders, each with trade-offs. Help me Oppo! You’re my only hope!
For those of you just catching up: I am looking for a 2nd property primarily as a mechanic shop. I’ve been looking at land, shops, and houses with large garages/ lots/ shops. The latter is the easiest to finance, so that has been my latest focus. Criteria is mainly location and either fit to my needs or ability to be a good fit for my needs.
Option A - The Crack House
Not to be confused with the Crack Shack, which sold, this is a 4 bed, 2 bath, 1800 sqft property on 1 acre, 13.7 miles (16 min) from my house.
Cons
It looks like it was rode hard and put away wet. Which is to say the whole house needs to be gutted.
It comes on an unfenced, 1 acre lot. No fence is bad for privacy and pups. The 1 acre to too small to do much on, but big enough it is going to cost a lot to mow. Also a fence would not be cheap.
13.7 miles isn’t terribly far, but it isn’t close either. There are a couple decent driving roads on the way (which would increase drive time) so that is something anyway.
We didn’t get a good look around the inside because it sure did sound like someone was there, just not answering the door. We could hear a TV going in one of the back rooms and there was partially eaten food in the kitchen.
A showing is not worth getting shot over.
Pros
It has a 40x70 shop already built. It needs some work, but it exists and it is magical. 2 roll doors and 2 man doors, electrical was either not present or non-existent, which in either case isn’t a major concern for me.
The ceiling was high enough for as many lifts as I wanted. Super pumped about that possibility.
That is really the only up-side that I can think of.
Apparently is is enough.
I’m not doing a good job selling this....
Uhh in a way I like that it is a crack shack? It removes pressure to do anything with the property (like rent). However unlike option B the shop is far enough away from the house that I could rent it without losing access to anything.
Option B - The Perfect House
Not perfect for me, per say, but what I mean is this house needs nothing. This is a 2 bed, 1 bath, 1000 sqft property on 0.5 acres, 7 miles (14 min) from my house.
Pros (yes, I reversed the order)
The house literally needs nothing. Everything is new. Windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, floors, kitchen, etc etc. New new new.
It also comes with a full 1.5 car deep 2 car garage and a 1.5 car deep 2 car shop. The garage has a slop sink, workbench, and stairs to attic storage. The shop is more limited, but still large and capable. There is plenty of lot room to expand either.
The yard is fully fenced, the deck is cute, and I really can’t find any faults with it.
And yet...
Cons
The house literally needs nothing. Everything is new. This means all it can do is get worse from here. I cannot add value to this house, I can only make it worse.
Also there really isn’t (ceiling) room to put in a lift of any kind.
Renting the house would mean forgoing two of the garage spaces too. Also, unlike Option A, this doesn’t seem like the neighborhood where you can have beaters in your yard. Not that I plan to but... you know how it is.
Also this house was recently under contract and then not... so I wonder what happened there? (I have an inquiry in with my realtor)
Option C
Was terrible and had no redeeming qualities aside from location.
No further discussion needed.
Ponderings
Both are good and the polar opposites of each other.
Option A needs very little work to become the shop I need and a TON of work to get the house habitable.
Option B only gets me about half of what I need shop-wise, but the house needs nothing.
What do you think Oppo?
Chariotoflove
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2018 at 18:46 |
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Well, if you need a shop, then judge based primarily on how good of a shop it is. I think A sounds like a complete disaster as a house, but you’re not buying a house. B is a great house, but you’re not buying it for a house, so don’t get distracted by that, unless you think you might move in some day.
You should calculate how much money on top of the purchase to get it to the kind of shop (and grounds) you will be happy in and if getting it that way is physically possible. When you do that math, I suspect things should become pretty clear.
lone_liberal
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2018 at 18:54 |
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If you’re buying for a shop then I’d say go with the one with a shop. A bulldozer will fix the house situation right up.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2018 at 19:04 |
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Option A, you get the shop, then do a superficial revamp of the house like paint window screens and light fixtures, boom good rental.
MM54
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2018 at 19:04 |
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I would strongly consider option A, get the house to juuust enough it can be rented out, and have awesome shop.
LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
> Chariotoflove
07/02/2018 at 21:30 |
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^ Yup, this.
davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/03/2018 at 09:21 |
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I assume you’ve already strongly considered selling your existing home and finding a place with both home and shop in one location, and decided against it. When you brought up mowing, it just made me think of how much additional work is going to come along with having a second property (unless you rent the home and it’s on them to mow it all, etc.) - how much is that extra maintenance work going to chew into your existing free time that you want to spend wrenching (the real point of getting a shop)?
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
07/03/2018 at 09:46 |
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I did a quick feasibility analysis on what would be available at my combined budget and it was a pretty unhappy list. I really like my house and location, so everything else felt like a sad compromise.
I have considered just renting an RV storage bay instead too, but the cost (~$75/car) is unappealing. I know that is insane, but every time I’ve come close to renting storage for a new project it just makes the project seem insane. Good test, I guess.
But yeah, you make a good point. In a lot of ways this is just another project, and a little bit of an investment. ... ok maybe not the latter for the Crack House but...
I’d likely hire the lawn done because I hate mowing, so that cost is already built into my cost/ benefit analysis, but you’re right that there will be many other pulls, at least initially. Short term the shop will need new doors, light, and some roof repairs. House will need gutted, bombed, and cleaned. Plus I’ll need to look at security for both.
In a lot of ways, that is appealing. In a lot of ways I already have too much on my plate so... yeah.
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/03/2018 at 10:23 |
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Haha - sounds like you’re going in with open eyes, at least . I sacrificed location (we’re not n ear anything - good & bad) and a little extra time each day (~20 minutes total) to be waaay out where we are. I haven’t gotten the shop built yet, but it will happen this fall or by summer next year at the latest. I did entertain the idea of a getaway for some time - mine was going to be somewhere in NW Arkansas - but I think that, for me, having a place like that would’ve eventually felt like a burden, because of the extra work that would come along with it. I’m happy we made the choice we did, that we have our “ getaway” every evening & weekend.
We liked the home we sold, but weren’t in love with it. The location was convenient (especially on Saturdays as a soccer-playing family), but we never thought we’d stay there forever.
Random thought: do you have a neighbor with a suitable lot that you could go in halfway with on building a nice shop? They would own it, but you would be pre-paying for your use of it for the next decade or however long they live there. Clearly, you’d have to have a very good relationship with the neighbor and you’d need to have a contract to protect yourself if they sold before an agreed-upon time frame.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
07/03/2018 at 10:43 |
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Yeah, I don’t blame you for that and I think if I had a family it would be more tempting. That 9 acre lot out in Sand Spr ings is properly pretty and really not that far out. That said... the night I was seriously considering that south Tulsa treehouse, we ended up walking to a couple of bars. That nicely framed why I like where I’m at. We walk to dinner 2-3 times per week and bars around the same. I think having to drive everywhere would be seriously life change as we’ve had walkability for about 7 years now...
As for co-building, w here I’m at all of the lots are similarly small (0.2 acres) and crowded with old trees and/ or garages. Plus I am inherently risk averse so.... no. I did try and swing renting a garage bay or two from a neighbor when I was in desperate need after the garage got squished, but to no avail.
One option I hadn’t considered would be re-doing my existing workshop, raising the roof such that one could actually fit a lift. I think, however, the cost would outweigh the benefit and it still wouldn’t give me anywhere to put parts cars and future projects.
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/03/2018 at 10:49 |
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Yeah, if we’d ever had that kind of walkability during our 15 years in Tulsa , I doubt we ever would have given it up! Sounds seriously great.
Just spitballing... ha!
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
07/03/2018 at 11:27 |
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I appreciate the thoughts!
The longer this drags on the more and more silly it feels, so alternate ways to make this not silly would be... good.
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/03/2018 at 11:46 |
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I wonder if there’s a way to make a small business out of this... Like a work/storage space that you could make available to rent to others with the same situation. Seems like you could set it up in such a way, with cameras & networked-attached door locks, that it could be un-manned - perhaps you would only take clients that friends and other clients could vouch for.
Thinking Airbnb for shop space. =)
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/03/2018 at 11:47 |
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https://jalopnik.com/this-airbnb-for-diy-garage-space-lets-you-wrench-in-ran-1822537066