Originally we had a one acre lot in downtown Lafayette which had long ago had a large brick home which possibly burned. I always liked it because it was steeply sloped and had large trees on it. Other people looked at it and said "tough build". I looked at it and said "interesting possibilities for the home built there" and bought it at a bargain price when the realtor told the seller the lot had bad soil conditions. (Not in my mind).

We built a two story with full basment home with five br and 3.75 baths and the rest of the basement semifinished for kid stuff and a couple large storage rooms.

Then I built a stand apart carriage home with two levels of garage with concrete floor structure in between and a 900 sf living quarter above with its own systems and a nice one bedroom with laundry etc.

When my son was in college we divided off a nice area of the basement for him to live in with a private entrance. Through the years I have finished that so that it has all the amenities so we rent that and the upper part of the carriage house.

The garage/carriage house has two bays on the bottom accessible from the west from fifth street. The main floor level has three bays accessible from the East, sixth street.

I started out to build a basic home but the lay of the site fooled me and the project sort of ballooned (doubled) during construction.

Having the two rental areas makes it like living in a 1500 story and a half with basement cost wise, with the tax benefits of rental property too. It all really helped us through the recession owning a significant amount of commercial real estate.

I've never liked paying rent and always have liked others paying me rent.

A lot of folks turn their nose up at being landlords but to me its an honest living. Not free money but not like doing manual labor either.

I offer quality products in desirable locations and am able to attract quality tenants who almost never give me trouble.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Quite an accomplishment! 👍👍👍

The 1.5 story 3/3 my Dad built in 1960 was built into the side of a hill - as was the 4-plex and 6-plex he and Mom also built in that general timeframe. You can do the garden level apt. or garages into the sides of hills - and in your case, garages above the lower ones!

I have snapshotted the 1960 home here before. I just loved that little home built in a now somewhat eclectic/blue collar neighborhood.

The thread subject home here took me by surprise in July. I would have bought it at the price it closed at - however I had no idea it would sell for (low) what it did. $662K. Experience has taught me patience in real estate, so, I'm not so sure the buyer is all that financially strong, since it's up for rent $3,750 per month. It tells me that the buyer may not have been able to sell their other (primary) residence. I'd buy it in a minute for what they paid, but won't feel a loss if it doesn't come up FS.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

The rent does not seem to justify the purchase price, but the money may well do better there than in any other form of investment. He also may be getting places to park valuable cars while the house renter pays for the majority of the cost.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

That's how the rent figure hit me too, on a $662K single family, two bedroom home! Doesn't add up......it certainly isn't worth making that kind of expenditure, for that return. Unless, the buyer has other plans of some sort??

BTW, it's undergone a reduction in rent asking price since September - a couple hundred bucks less. No takers!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I rent my 2 br. 2 bath apartment for $1,300/ month.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Ugly house. It has no character or soul, Typical McMansion garbage.

Oh, it's far from typical. It's definitely a one of a kind structure. Perhaps not the most flattering photo of it. After nearly half a century in construction, I've seen better too!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Well if critiquing the design is the topic, the two outside sections seem ok for what it is. I like the roof overhang overall.

The center section is really indicative of not knowing quite what to do with it.

Its almost as if the center section was stretched from a previous design which is 20' shorter and had a well worked out center section.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Exactly.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

It strikes me as not being able to make a complete statement on it's frontal view as well. I'm not liking the color of exterior brick used. I was like, wth?? when I saw it's blandness. The absence of exterior landscaping further gives a cold starkness to the front lawn.

The local architectural partnership that designed the place was named in the FS description. Since it was under contract, I declined inspection, however I'd of liked to see it's construct skeleton in person. It was built in '94. Extensive use of Brazilian Cherrywood throughout as indicated in 22 photos. It was dated circa late '80s interior materials. 3 HVAC integrated systems were recently replaced.

You mentioned the overhang of the roof line. I noticed that right away when viewing the side picture of the home, where a massive glass paned commercial garage door where the 45' Prevost motor home was garaged. The view of coach garage door and attractive roof overhang is what greets you as you enter the property. The front of the property has the main thoroughfare East-West through Omaha, - Dodge Street of 6 lanes - home is set way back beyond the feeder road.

The back story on it's owners were living on the property and built this. The Prevost was utilized to make the 100 mile round trip to Lincoln, Nebraska for Univ. Nebraska home football games with guests aboard the bus. I am speculating that the owners became elderly and 1st sold the bus, then moved into smaller quarters in their advanced ages.

The massive living room on your left with massive fireplace and service bar greeted you in the entryway. A winding arcing Cherrywood stairway in the two story entryway. A large library on the right as you enter the main entryway. Certainly a home to entertain large numbers of guests. A half bath and the two garages on the main floor. That's it. Very large, open kitchen, with sitting area, fireplace, formal dining area and living quarters on the 2nd floor - with laundry room, massive master bedroom, bathroom, and closet. 2nd bedroom. 1.5 more baths. Large brass or gold elevator. No basement.

There is a sturdy looking 1940s-ish horse barn on the 1.6 acres, just to the back-side of the home. It certainly doesn't dovetail with the home.

Warren Buffet is rumored to be building across the thoroughfare on the former estate property of the locally famous Leo Daly, since deceased. Founder of a large architectural firm. The Daly home will likely be torn down. Warren's '40s-ish home, 5 miles east has become a small fenced in compound. The security concerns of a man worth over 100 billion dollars, needs some leg room and space to keep PITA curiosity seekers at bay.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Agreed in full. If we wanted to move to a smaller house. Where would we put all the junk? I have also been considering hiring a lady to come in say once a week to take some of the cleaning load from the wife. For all too many years we seemed to have made various components of homes too large.


My pet peeve is the size of master bedrooms. . You just usually get dressed and undressed in them. With the bulk of the time they are in use you are asleep in the bed. Even physical activities usually occur in the dark.


So if enough space is created to take a king size bed and a couple of large dressers and perhaps a chair. As long as you can move freely. What more space is needed? Then there are these oversized entrance halls.


For almost all functional purposes our family room four steps below the kitchen and eating area has replaced the living room almost totally. My guess is the general openness of the whole area makes it more desirable to use. The dinning room is not really being used enough to really justify it's existence either.

Our MBR is basically built around the king bed. Doors open on each side which actually brush the bed. Two built in dressers, two walk in closets, and four doors. No room for a chair.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Some asst. photos:

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A few more:

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Utilities station in coach garage wall.
And the dual single door small garage that holds 4 cars:

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