Skip to main content

A Piece of Coupeville - Am I in Control of my Life or is it Controlling Me ?

Returned from the Peninsular with my mind made up .
It was a close call between Anacortes , Langley and Port Townsend ! And the Winner is......................... Coupeville ! It made me think of the three legs of the Isle of Man . One foot in England , one in Ireland and one in Scotland !
Coupeville is charming in its own right and for my daily needs has everything . For my rarer needs I can reach almost everything in 40 minutes ( even by free bus ) and for everything else I might want ( inc Seatac Airport ) within 2 hours .
Its weather is great , its people friendly , its natural environment magical and it is very affordable and well positioned to appreciate .
I had decided to buy the 2000 square foot four bed rambler @ 239,000 on Otis street that I had viewed last week . Went to see the excellent Janet Burchfield of Front Street Realty for a more detailed view before putting in an offer . On passing saw a Sale pending sign , newly hung outside - was that for me ? A bit quick ? - Oh no ! after 610 days on the market . Janet confirmed the bad news - it was locked into a sale with a good prospective buyer .
Unlike in England whilst this process is underway there is no possibility of gazumping . The property is immediately off the market until the sale goes through or fails .
The good news an unusual opportunity to purchase cheaply the unfinished shell of a 2000 sq Ft two storey plus attic dormer property on a 10,000 sq foot lot a stones throw from the Front Street commercial area . A sale had just failed on buyer finance . I was impressed at first glance . I decided to sleep on it and take another look in the AM. with Darrell and his builder friend Dave . The devil was in the detail . Great views from the dormers but no ceiling height and questionable access . Second Floor ( or first to you English readers ) view obstructed by roof design . Incomprehensible ( to me at least ) floor plan . Lots of snagging easily visible , possibly lots more would turn up later . Someone will probably fall in love with it but not me !
But I had seen the view and was thinking outside the box . I had already rejected all other cheap housing and resigned to renting for a while . I could only justify a purchase I could add value to - correctly as my first choice had been snapped up already . Darrell has some lots just behind the " shell " I had just seen . Found out Coupeville has a 28 foot height restriction - checked the contours - To the south the land rises by 12 feet - enough to give a totally unobstructed view over the town and the bay - probably from both upper floors if a single level house is constructed on the northern side of the street - as I believe is all they can build . The sloping ground also gives the possibility of constructing a full height daylight basement , adding tremendous extra space for little extra cost . I am sure with the present depressed market these plots ( lots ) represent good value at their current price and that an excellent home , if designed well , could be built at a great price . It seems I am following in my grandfathers footsteps ( he was the borough surveyor of Chipping Norton and built his own house . This would also involve no initial additional borrowing - this is quite important as banks are now operating under strict rules for lending involving checks on income as well as assets .
I have taken ( only ) the first step and entered a non binding agreement to purchase a fully serviced building plot within 120 days . If during this time scale I change my mind for any reason I only stand to loose $ 1,000 ( about £650 )
If I go ahead the lot is mine and the fun will really begin ! Time to think - Time to consider !
" Look before you leap " , but remember " Who Dares Wins ! "

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The S.T.EN. Gun

“ We will never surrender !” France fell to the German Blitzkrieg in May 1940 . The retreating British Army ended up being rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk by a flotilla of little ships leaving behind much of their equipment . A German invasion was expected ! Winston Churchill the British prime minister made his famous “ we will fight them on the beaches – we will never surrender ! “ speech and the Battle of Britain was on ! The UK desperately needed submachineguns . The Government ordered well made expensive Thompsons from the still neutral United States but there was never enough available . In order to rapidly equip a sufficient fighting force to counter the threat of invasion , the Royal Small Arms Factory , Enfield ( North London ) was commissioned to produce an alternative quickly and in large numbers . Whats in a name S.T.En. There Major R. V. Shepherd OBE and Mr. Harold John Turpin came up with the Design which became...
14 comments
Read more

Bonny and Clyde and the Browning Automatic Rifle

Bonnie and Clyde and the BAR ! Clyde Barrow, holding a Browning automatic rifle. BAR's could fire a twenty-shot magazine loaded with armor-piercing ammunition in under three seconds. During the depression of the 1930's in the USA criminals were looked at in a different way by many of the people who had been victimized and impoverished by the rich bankers and the emerging powerful corporations. Many people saw them as people driven to the edge that were only taking back what was stolen from them and striking back at a society and Government that let the Depression cause so much harm to so many . Two of the most famous criminals of that time were Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow . They were known to be quite skilled with their weapons, and unlike most criminals, they practiced with them and maintained them . Sadly they are considered to be responsible for the deaths of at least Nine law enforcement officers and five civilians during...
5 comments
Read more

501 NE 4th street - Plumbing

  Drainage     The first thing I have found strange is the constant requirement for testing at every stage but here with the building being largely wooden it does make sort of sense . A  minor fault in the plumbing could lie undetected otherwise within the walls and only surface once damp damage had become extensive and be very costly to repair . Thus it is required that once the drains have been run throughout the building frame they are filled completely with water to ensure their soundness . I took the wise precaution of making up a screw in fitting with a pressure gauge and an inflation valve to test the pipes with air first as once the system was full of water it would be time consuming and difficult to get the water out and to dry where necessary to effect repairs .     First things first - all the drainage flows within the house in a trunk and branch layout . The main 4 inch drain had already been tested and laid  under the b...
16 comments
Read more