Well, Warren Buffett won't be my new neighbor after all. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Skid Row Joe · #1 11-24-2016, 03:53 PM

I guess it wasn't meant to be. At least not yet anyway. A home I've had my eye on for quite a number of years in my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, came up for sale earlier this year. It was darn near perfect in meeting my personal criteria: commercial construction, move in condition, reasonable property taxes, elevator, 2 bedroom, 2 story, lots of bathrooms, massive fireplaces, lots of garages (3) / garage space for approx. 10 cars/45' RV, under roof, excellent location, secluded, large lot 1.6 acres, affordable, and - Warren's building across a large thoroughfare, on the same street. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it before a contract was slapped down and accepted on the property. Although it sold, it would appear that the new owner (s) are indecisive with what to do with it, (it's up for rent) or, not ready to move into it, or perhaps cannot afford to. Who knows.....anyway I'm going to keep a closer eye on it for the time being..........

t walgamuth · #2 11-24-2016, 05:03 PM

That'd be quite a jump from your motorhome to that, but you'd have room to park it inside.

Another plus would be you'd have room to take in 10 or 12 homless people too.

Skid Row Joe · #3 11-24-2016, 06:41 PM

Tom, given the wild card nature of this residence and lot, it cannot and did not garner anywhere near what a total home and lot would cost to construct. Although I can afford a 45' coach, I'm perfectly suited for my 24' E450 7.3 Powerstroke diesel unit. I'd have a lot of extra SF in the main coach garage. There's space for four more cars further down the drive at the other end of the home. The garages take up nearly 50% of the 1st floor's square footage. 4,956 total SF in the home.

BTW, I've owned a home over 30 consecutive years now. Home ownership isn't a new thing for me.

JB3 · #4 11-25-2016, 10:23 PM

big place for only 2 bedrooms.

t walgamuth · #5 11-27-2016, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

big place for only 2 bedrooms.

Exactly.

Adriel · #6 11-26-2016, 01:32 AM

American excessiveness.

Why is the average American have 1,000 square feet each? Does little Johnny and baby Suzy each need each that much? No, it is not reasonable or sustainable.

One living room, none of this formal and informal rooms. Who cares about what guests see, as if we keep up on this path, there will be no opportunity for guests to come over.

Only one area to eat also, big enough for the actual needs. Meaning if have 12 people over for for dinner regularly, then sure, have a big dining room. But, the average family is only parents and one or two children.

And speaking of children, if the same sex, why do they need two separate large bedrooms? My brother and I shared, made it work by making a divider down the middle of the room when older (used to have bunk beds).

A bedroom only needs to be big enough for two twins (child's bedroom) or queen bed (parents), a end table, dresser, and have a closet (no excessive walk ins that are large enough for a bedroom). No need having the bathroom be as big as the living room with a shower big enough to be a room itself. Not like the shower is used for anything else.

No need having a spare bedroom either, just put up a screen partition when company comes over. Or the den do also for nursery and/or guest bedroom. I mean, guest bedrooms are rarely used, so therefore excessive.

One and a half bathrooms is plenty for even six people. Has people forgot to share? Forgot how to go to pee outside?

Urban heat island and urban sprawl are true facts and leading to increase of warmer climates. We must be reasonable and take part in the solution: ending sprawl.

JB3 · #7 11-26-2016, 02:57 AM

the wealth procurator will not like reading your comments. the more bathrooms you have, the more pictures of Warren Buffet you can hang instead of mirrors.

Adriel · #8 11-26-2016, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

the wealth procurator will not like reading your comments. the more bathrooms you have, the more pictures of Warren Buffet you can hang instead of mirrors.

Sure...

Many more think like I do, just look at tiny house movement. I am not that extreme, but shows how little one needs to live in.

panZZer · #9 11-27-2016, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

the wealth procurator will not like reading your comments. the more bathrooms you have, the more pictures of Warren Buffet you can hang instead of mirrors.

Nah, more like

Jorn · #10 11-25-2016, 10:31 PM

They don't have architects in Omaha?

t walgamuth · #11 11-26-2016, 10:28 AM

I have about 6000 SF finished but that includes two rental units generating $1200 plus per month, together, income at my house.

The trouble with a big place is you tend to fill it up with lots of stuff you really don't need.

Skid Row Joe · #12 11-26-2016, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I have about 6000 SF finished but that includes two rental units generating $1200 plus per month, together, income at my house.

The trouble with a big place is you tend to fill it up with lots of stuff you really don't need.

That's a lot of SF.
What's your lot dimensions?
What's your garage capacity/SF like?

To be perfectly frank, a 60' X 150' lot with a 2K SF, 1.5 story, 3 bedroom, 3 bath - with garden apt. 1 bedroom, with a private entrance, and a 3 bay garage in the rear of the dwelling is more to my liking. The shotgun lot, with the private drive on the side to the rear has always appealed to me. My father was a GC & builder for our family for many years and he built one such home in Omaha when I was 9 yrs old. Just a super efficient use of space!

barry12345 · #13 11-27-2016, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I have about 6000 SF finished but that includes two rental units generating $1200 plus per month, together, income at my house.

The trouble with a big place is you tend to fill it up with lots of stuff you really don't need.

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.

t walgamuth · #14 11-26-2016, 04:53 PM

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.

Skid Row Joe · #15 11-26-2016, 05:47 PM

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.