Building Update #5

Funds Raised - $1,422,500     Days Remaining - 7

Hey Everyone,

OK.  Much better rested than last night but I've got to run out of here fast because I'm meant to be at Churchill pretty much . . . now.

You're all wondering about the inspections.  First off, they went well.  We had general building and sewer inspections plus a roofer came in to give a bid for replacing the roof (no surprise -- the roof does need to be replaced, but we expected that).

The general building inspector was the best I've ever seen.  His name is James Hicks and he is one of the partners at H.R. Wellington Construction.  He's been a builder for years and he's qualified to do both general and pest inspections.  He's also a medic and does volunteer search and rescue work, so we hit it off like a house-a-fire.

Bottom line is that it's a 1902 building with all that goes with it.  A little bit of dry rot on the siding, old breaker panels (not hard to replace and not urgent), and so forth.  The only two notable things were that the framing in the basement (that I mentioned to you all before) is, in fact, a bit funkier than I thought.  It looks like the job of abating dry-rot that was done is the 1970s wasn't top-notch and probably needs some fixing.  On the other hand, it didn't look like anything had moved much since that job was done, so this isn't one of those situation where a wall is tilting and going to keep tilting 'til it's fixed (or falls over).  But, it is a big enough thing that I think we'll be talking with the seller about a price reduction to make up for it.

The other thing that he called out was that there are some cracks in the retaining walls in the backyard.  There's a big tree that belongs to one of the neighbors that is right up against the wall and may be pushing on it.

Both of those items are something that need to be assessed by a structural engineer.  The one that I had lined up, Diarmuid MacNeil, wasn't able to make it by yesterday (He was at the meeting that went long -- 80+ unit building that the city is doing.  Diarmuid has a very good reputation and I'm very happy to work with him.)

But, that is working out for the best since we don't just want a SE to weigh in on the process, we want to have a contractor give us a bid so that we've got some solid numbers to look at when we talk with the seller.  Knowing that, I was able to get a contractor, Jon Fitzgibbon of Norwood Construction, to meet Diarmuid and me tomorrow.  Jon's done work at my place (on the basement framing and foundation, actually) and he's great to work with.  So, Diarmuid will be able to look at both areas, discuss the proper repairs with Jon, and then we can have both Diarmuid's report and Jon's numbers in hand.

I'm pleased with this outcome.  It's perfectly reasonable for us to ask the seller to reduce the price based on these findings and that reduction will take into consideration the cost to have the work contracted in the current market.  There are several advantages to that situation for us.  First, a price reduction will decrease our property taxes and that savings lasts until the building is sold.  Each $100,000 of building value is worth about $1,100 in property tax annually so we're talking real money over a ten or twenty year term.  Second, there are a number of ways I can reduce the cost of the work to us, from pulling permits and getting materials myself to doing the simple work under the contractor's direction.  Finally, a price reduction means that we have more time to raise the final bit of funds because we don't need to have money that the price reduction represents until we actually do the work (rather than needing the cash in time for close of escrow).

Other than that, the sewer line check was a clean bill of health to the "house trap" (see my other note about what that is).  Beyond the trap, there couldn't get the camera down the line, which might mean it's dirty or might mean it's got problems.  But, there is very, very little sewer past the trap that is our problem.  The city responsibility starts at the curb and the house trap is almost right there.  So, probably a non-issue.  I can clear it up by having the trap cleaned and I might do that later this week.  For now however, my priority is the basement and the retaining wall.

And that's about it for now.  I'll try to write more tomorrow after meeting Diarmuid and Jon but the pace is really picking up as we get closer to our deadline so I'm not sure what tomorrow will be like.  I also the existing business to think about so I need to put a bit of time into that, lest the bills get paid late or the basement-demons get restless.

Warm Regards,
Alan