3 Acre Development Plan

Flickr Tags: New Property, acrage, 3 acres, creek bed, highlighted area, rose bushes, VEC, development

I've taken the satellite view of our property and highlighted the areas I've laid out as our newest phase 3 plan for development. Within the yellow highlighted area is the 3 acre piece of property we're interested in. The red line to the left is a dry creek bed. Water flow in the creek is due to spill-off and drainage of the pond from the adjacent property - the horseshoe shaped dark circle. The blue highlighted area is our initial home site. There is an old road that used to pass through the property before Mission Valley Acres Road was put in. That old road has an in-ground culvert that permits a bridged road over the creek bed in the highlighted area and allows water flow to run under the road. I have walked the entire area and a layer of rock on the ground surface is evidence of where the water has flowed in the past. Our development area is well to the right of that rock cropping so I feel we will not be affected by drainage from the pond. I have had VEC out to engineer the electric service and that is planned within the blue highlighted dot on the front right of the property, well away from the creek bed. The major concern has been that the creek bed will hinder our development of the property. I don't feel that it will. The creek bed is within only the front left 1/4 acre and is limited, as evidenced by a rocky ground surface, to the area of the flow. The remaining acreage is heavily wooded and will require a great deal of work to clear, however a large swath of rose bushes - seen in the light green highlighted area - is the greatest part of the coverage. Those will be taken out using a rose killer and a skid-steer. The front of the property is primarily maples and yaupon tree clumpings. A good bit of hard work, a lot of blood and sweat, and a wood chipper will clear that area. The later building development - our eventual home - will be towards the back of the property, well away from the dry creek bed. I also intend to make use of the creek bed in our landscaping creating a distinctive trail through the woods. I expect the development cost to run well under $10,000. The well should be approximately $4000 as quoted by the well company, the septic system should be around $4000 and the rest is equipment rental. We are purchasing the property for $9000 and it is currently on the tax role for $14,000. After development, I expect the property to be valued at $25,000.

Opportunities...

BuzzNet Tags: Ag credit service, appraisal, cleared area, credit, DOW Credit Union, loss, New Property, Realtor, TEDEC

Okay, now we're trying to rework the loss. We don't like this but our Realtor is working hard to see that we get the property - got to give her credit for trying. She has recommended a local Credit Union and an Ag credit service as possible loan services that might accept our 3 acres. The Credit Union is the DOW Credit Union - TEDEC. We're told they might give consideration. So on Monday we'll take our materials over to the loan officer and try anew. This time I'll take pictures of the cleared area and add them to our loan application. We'll also ask that an appraisal be made before we get too far into this.

Damn!!!

To back track things - this occurred on 11/21, so my update is a little behind. Things were wrapping up for our land closing. We had just one more week - 8 days. The bank proceeded with the next phase of our purchase; the appraisal. We didn't expect any problems. All was already working, the loan was approved, I had been working to clear the property, VEC had been out to plan out the electric service, and I had made contact with the water well company; no problems. Well, the appraiser went out and did a short overlook of the property and came back with "I wouldn't give $500/acre on this property." WHAT???? We were getting our loan for $3000/acre. What do you mean??? The story went that he saw the creek bed running through the property and immediately assumed the creek ran through the entire length of the property. No way, it ran through only the front 1/4 acre. I had already taken that into consideration and planned to use a road with a culvert running over the creek bed in the development. He felt. too, it would require another $20K to clear the property before it was inhabitable. Not so, I believe it will only cost my blood and sweat. He only saw the front of the property and, I believe, made assumptions on the rest. I have walked that entire piece of property and feel confident of our plans. We have been left with a dismal and depressed feeling over the sudden loss. We had been ready to move in 8 days and now this. What to do now?? We contacted another bank and was told that they would require a 25% deposit. We had planned on 10%. So with our outlook bleak we threw up our hands and walked away.

Quotation...

When you get through the ego bullshit, don't we want to stand with the beauty of our bodies, the knowledge of our minds, and the freedom of our spirits.  Okay, so you don't agree.  You want a new car.  Fine, just don't run over me and I won't stand naked in front of you.  "Walking the Trail - One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears," Jerry Ellis, page 169, Delacorte Press, New York, NY.

Quotation...

...in order to understand (the) larger truths, you must first accept the smaller truths about yourself.  This requires sacrifice.  We live our lives hiding from the things that displease and discomfort us.  We reinvent ourselves and our history, constantly placing things in a light most favorable to us.  It is in the nature of mankind to this.   Mostly, our deceptions are small ones.  But they gather weight through numbers, and having them revealed all at once can be crushing.   "Ilse Witch -The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Trilogy," page 376, Terry Brooks, Ballantine Books, New York.

Jara's & Cara's Pics

Flickr Tags: Jara, Cara, photos, pics

Figured it was a good time to bring Cara and I into the picture.  This top one is me, obviously, and as usual having bad pics taken.  Care, below, is grading papers for her 9th grade English class.  Neither of us enjoy having our pictures taken which is why there are so few of us.  

A look at the newest path to our home...

Flickr Tags: 3 acres, property, woods, clearing, Phase 3

Here's a look at the latest path to our home.  More is on Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/jacara/

Clearing continuing...

Now that I've gotten a hold on the newest area - Phase 3 - I'm proceeding to get the area cleared for our RV. After cutting down a lot of small trees, I hauled them out to a clearing where I will burn them with the time comes. We looked into two rental tools that I may be able to make use of. One is a large commercial wood chipper. It rents for $115/4 hrs and, with it, I should be able to grind up most of the piles I've already cut down. This would eliminate the need to burn which, without water, is not altogether safe. The other tool is a skid tractor - I think that's what it's called. This tool is great since I don't have a tractor to do the work I need to get done. It's basically a small plow and I can use it to clear out all the remaining rose bushes that are hindering our move. The best part is it's only $150/day. I'll post pictures when I have it to use.

Tranquil Moon Phase 3

Phase 3 Property Map 11/11/2007,
originally uploaded by Jacara.

We're starting with the Blogger service to posting to our journal on the development of our new property. I wasn't happy with JournalLive's inability to do archiving in a format that I was content with, so after having made posts through Phase 1, Phase 2, and now Phase 3, we shall begin our journal anew. One day Blogger may offer an option to import blog csv files into my Blogger account and I can re-establish my time-line. Until then, we'll just have to be happy with the new system. To bring everyone up to date - everyone primarily meaning my wife, Cara, and I, since that's all I intend to please with this blog - we are purchasing 3 acres along Mission Valley Acres Rd, in Nursery, TX, near Victoria. We should be closing on the property by 11/30, but a lot of the preliminary work has already begun - the work of clearing the woods to make way for our RV. As mentioned above, I am into Phase 3 of this project.

Phase 1, designated by the blue dot, was eliminated since access to the area was extremely prohibited because of the large trees. Clearing a path would have meant taking out a group of large oaks, which I was not pleased with doing.

Phase 2, identified by the red dot, became eliminated recently after I had Victoria Electric Co-op out to give me a quote on installing electric service. The quote was $5000 and involved setting two poles plus the electric service pole and running copper some 300 yards. This would have been a good start except that it had no shade; it would have been hotter than blazes in this neck of the woods.

Phase 3, the light green dot, set us along what used to be the main road through this area before Mission Valley Acres Rd was added. There is a culvert and a road that will get us around the dry creek bed, From there it's a straight shot down the property. The clearing will involve taking out large wild rose bushes and some small trees, but no large oaks. Additionally we should have very good shade in this area since it's got a lot more trees around it. The electric service will go near where the blue dot is at, and I will run service from there to our RV no more than 150' away. With any luck, this will remain our plan until we move onto the property. We'll see.