Thread: Does this qualify as a Hot Rod?

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Home shopping is always a stressful time in a life! Hope yours goes smoothly and you find everything on your list easily!

Wes, we have good friends who were in that situation, and he took a unique approach. They found a corner property in an area that had not yet "popped" with the developers and bought an 80 acre field. Then they built a big metal building on slab, spending a bit extra to give it a better "look" than just a pole barn - some front facade to resemble an old time store front or barn, plumbed it for full bath, fully insulated it and finished a large area as living quarters. They then lived in the "barn" for a year while the house was being built, and the guy "helped" with construction as he wanted to, especially when it came time for special features and finish work. Ended up with a fantastic setup, the house they wanted, plus a very, very nice shop. The big upside, after about eight years the developers started surrounding them with upscale houses, $350 to $600K on 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots, and he sold off the extra land, keeping an acre or so for his back yard. They did very well....

Good luck on your hunt.

Wes good news for sure to get a bigger work space, and nice to have some time to find what is right for you, versus the frenzy market to pop on whatever is listed for fear of losing out. It seems around here people go into a buyers frenzy when something remotely resembling what they want appears on the market. Our new neighbors bought a house for over 100k above asking because of the location and that they had been searching the area for a year. They've had to completely replaster the house, and do tons of other work for over 7 months(former owner was the local cat lady who schemed and always tried to cut corners for 15 years on maintenance issues, thus over grown trashy yard, cat piss stained floors, leaking roof with plaster falling off the lathe..you get the idea), while living in one room, with construction going on 6 days a week. The point is it's worth renting to give yourselves time to get the right place, vs. overpaying for what you aren't really thrilled with. It's funny 5 years ago places around here were sitting for sale for 3-6 months, and selling 100k under asking, now the market frenzy has started again, especially in the 500k range. Good luck and tune back in here when you get the time!

So here's the new digs. Newly constructed on 2.5 acres. It has a 3 car tandem style garage to house the VR until the shop can be built.
21326292_1.jpg21326292_2_1.jpg21326292_24_1.jpg21326292_5_1.jpg21326292_4_1.jpg
The shop will probably go on the hillside, to the left in the first pic, behind the propane tank.

If all goes well, we'll be closing early next week. We're very excited to finally get a taste of country living. We've been talking to a landscape architect about drawing up a plan for the entire property. It's a little bit n the expensive side, but will be worth it in the long run. We don't want to do a piecemeal job and end up with elements that don't match (a common problem whenever I design on the fly).

That's bloody gorgeous!

2.5 acres = about one hectare.

That's a lot of lawn to mow!

Originally Posted by rspears

Wes, we have good friends who were in that situation, and he took a unique approach. They found a corner property in an area that had not yet "popped" with the developers and bought an 80 acre field. Then they built a big metal building on slab, spending a bit extra to give it a better "look" than just a pole barn - some front facade to resemble an old time store front or barn, plumbed it for full bath, fully insulated it and finished a large area as living quarters. They then lived in the "barn" for a year while the house was being built, and the guy "helped" with construction as he wanted to, especially when it came time for special features and finish work. Ended up with a fantastic setup, the house they wanted, plus a very, very nice shop. The big upside, after about eight years the developers started surrounding them with upscale houses, $350 to $600K on 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots, and he sold off the extra land, keeping an acre or so for his back yard. They did very well....

Good luck on your hunt.

That's pretty much what we did.
But we subdivided about 14 acres off our 329 acre block and sold the 315 acres.
Built the shed prior to that, and lived in it for twelve months while the house was being built.
So we now have a set-up that when sold would appeal to any small business, complete with showers, m & f toilets, smoke-oh room, manager's office, secretary's office, front counter area, lots of mezzanine storage, truck access, three phase power throughout, and large ancillary buildings . . .

That is Beautiful ! Trust all goes well at the closing and then the Big Move!

Great looking place Wes! Should be a blast living in the country and away from all the city hassles.....At least it will present new hassles to deal with!!!!! (I think that's good news???)

Looks like a very nice place, Wes! Congratulations on the find, and best of luck as you move to closing! Is that last picture the road leading up to the house? I like that the garage has a pass through door to the back, too! Looks like someone was thinking when they planned the house/garage/property placement. Glad that you found it!

Beautiful place Wes, Are you still in the same area?

Originally Posted by 34_40

And that's what it's all about right there! Good for you!

I second that comment. Its a great project and a great car

Thanks for the moral support guys.

We gotta be out of here by Thursday, but won't close on the new house until sometime next week...hopefully. The underwriter keeps asking for explanations, for things that seem pretty petty, so we don't know when the documents will be drawn up yet. Our loan broker assures us everything is fine and on schedule. In spite of that my wife is convinced something is wrong, and the loan will fall through, and we'll end up homeless. She stresses enough for both of us...so I'm good.

Originally Posted by rspears

... Is that last picture the road leading up to the house? I like that the garage has a pass through door to the back, too! Looks like someone was thinking when they planned the house/garage/property placement. Glad that you found it!

Yes, that's the view from the main road. The asphalt drive up to the house is hidden behind that little berm. It remains to be seen if that rear garage door is going to be of much use. If I set it up as a drive through, it will limit the use of the backyard. I'm hoping the landscape architect will have some good ideas.

Originally Posted by stovens

Beautiful place Wes, Are you still in the same area?

The new place is about 10 miles north of where we are now, in the English Hills area of Vacaville. Still gonna have some blistering summers.

Originally Posted by Fauxre

Thanks for the moral support guys.



Yes, that's the view from the main road. The asphalt drive up to the house is hidden behind that little berm. It remains to be seen if that rear garage door is going to be of much use. If I set it up as a drive through, it will limit the use of the backyard. I'm hoping the landscape architect will have some good ideas.



The new place is about 10 miles north of where we are now, in the English Hills area of Vacaville. Still gonna have some blistering summers.

Ah but thats fruit and veggie country! I bet you'll have a nice veggies patch with some Beefsteak Tomatoes

Ahhh Steve, you couldn't be more wrong.

Number one, I don't have a green thumb... and number two, I hate tomatoes.

But in that vain, my wife is thinking we might put in a small vineyard down the hill toward the road. THAT won't be hard to maintain.... right?

Wes, I wish you luck on a trouble free closing! That is a very, very nice place! Good luck sir!