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Anyone have experience renovating absolute run down homes?

Ninjakid

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Interesting.

So would the cops or zoning people come knocking on your door to see what you're doing?

Then what?
This is how marijuana grow-ops are busted. The police work with the hydro companies to look for anomalies in home's electricity usage. A grow-op will use substantially more power than a home should.

So yes, you will draw attention to yourself if you're constantly maxing out your home's power capacity.
 
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broswoodwork

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When you say starter home, do you mean 10x8 feet shed with nothing else on plot of land? Or was this an actual house with a 10x8 foot work shed?
Haha. No, I meant figuratively as in my business's starter home. I had an apartment that I was going to lose if I didn't get going on something.

Listen, everything else aside, the entire world is going to tell you what you can't do, and why your ideas suck, FOREVER. If you join forces with them, you'll be chained up at the bottom of whatever ocean society decides to put you in. Life is never going to hand you $500k to buy a home/ incubator space with accompanying breakeven point presales on a product that exists in your mind.

You've got to start taking incremental steps that are uncomfortable and overcome each minor "can't" the world throws at you.
 

reedracer

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If you join forces with them, you'll be chained up at the bottom of whatever ocean society decides to put you in. Life is never going to hand you $500k to buy a home/ incubator space with accompanying breakeven point presales on a product that exists in your mind.
Brilliantly expressed
 
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D

DeletedUser0287

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This is how marijuana grow-ops are busted. The police work with the hydro companies to look for anomalies in home's electricity usage. A grow-op will use substantially more power than a home should.

So yes, you will draw attention to yourself if you're constantly maxing out your home's power capacity.

Cant this be bypassed by solar panels separate from your main electricity? They would never know. And then choose all low wattage bulbs. I saw 8W LEDs for now.

Edit: or the power generator that @broswoodwork posted

Haha. No, I meant figuratively as in my business's starter home. I had an apartment that I was going to lose if I didn't get going on something.

I’m kinda confused, don’t know where you built this.
 

broswoodwork

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I’m kinda confused, don’t know where you built this.
I didn't build the shed. I built the business in the shed. My monthly rent was cutting the lawn and shoveling snow.

I'm going to dip out now. I feel like I've over contributed here relative to my business accomplishments thus far, and I'm uncomfortable with a bunch of attention. :wideyed:

I don't know anything compared to most of the people here, but I know you never get where you want to be if you never start.
 

WJK

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Interesting.

So would the cops or zoning people come knocking on your door to see what you're doing?

Then what?
In my experience, it's the zoning people and the fire people who come first and do an inspection when it concerns power uses. Residential areas do not have the infrastructure to support manufacturing. That includes the power lines. In my mobile home park, we have 2 truck lines that supply the individual meters for my mobile homes. BUT, my Class A well (for my small community water system) has a separate line from the main power pole on the highway since it has a 3 phase pump. Most heavy-duty machines require 3 phase power and that requires different transmission lines and electrical set-ups. And that's just the electrical.

But, I'm telling you that residential versus industrial are different on several levels. For example, I have a Federal Contract. I'm the water master for thousands of square miles of the Federally owned Wildlife Refuge here on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. I take the water samples for the wells in the campgrounds and all of their other facilities located in the Refuge. The different wells and outflows have different standards and rules. Notably, there's a whole bunch of separate rules and laws for their mechanic shop's wastewater disposal -- which is an industrial/commercial use. The differences concern EPA standards, State standards, and local City standards.

My different wells in my mobile home park have totally different standards and testing schedules based upon their intended uses and classifications.

The delivery system requirements for natural gas service is a whole other can of worms. It too is a complicated tangle of rules depending on the intended uses.

Even the utility rates are different for commercial/industrial uses versus residential uses.

I'm probably telling you more than what you wanna know...
 
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Ninjakid

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Cant this be bypassed by solar panels separate from your main electricity? They would never know. And then choose all low wattage bulbs. I saw 8W LEDs for now.

Edit: or the power generator that @broswoodwork posted



I’m kinda confused, don’t know where you built this.
Yes, if your power is off the grid then they won’t know. But it doesn’t change the fact that houses don’t have the necessary power draw. The breakers and sockets in a house aren’t made to run heavy machinery all day. You’re going to burn your house down.
 
D

DeletedUser0287

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I didn't build the shed. I built the business in the shed. My monthly rent was cutting the lawn and shoveling snow.

I'm going to dip out now. I feel like I've over contributed here relative to my business accomplishments thus far, and I'm uncomfortable with a bunch of attention. :wideyed:

I don't know anything compared to most of the people here, but I know you never get where you want to be if you never start.

Fair enough, thanks for your help.

In my experience, it's the zoning people and the fire people who come first and do an inspection when it concerns power uses. Residential areas do not have the infrastructure to support manufacturing. That includes the power lines. In my mobile home park, we have 2 truck lines that supply the individual meters for my mobile homes. BUT, my Class A well (for my small community water system) has a separate line from the main power pole on the highway since it has a 3 phase pump. Most heavy-duty machines require 3 phase power and that requires different transmission lines and electrical set-ups. And that's just the electrical.

But, I'm telling you that residential versus industrial are different on several levels. For example, I have a Federal Contract. I'm the water master for thousands of square miles of the Federally owned Wildlife Refuge here on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. I take the water samples for the wells in the campgrounds and all of their other facilities located in the Refuge. The different wells and outflows have different standards and rules. Notably, there's a whole bunch of separate rules and laws for their mechanic shop's wastewater disposal -- which is an industrial/commercial use. The differences concern EPA standards, State standards, and local City standards.

My different wells in my mobile home park have totally different standards and testing schedules based upon their intended uses and classifications.

The delivery system requirements for natural gas service is a whole other can of worms. It too is a complicated tangle of rules depending on the intended uses.

Even the utility rates are different for commercial/industrial uses versus residential uses.

I'm probably telling you more than what you wanna know...

Damn...that’s a lot. Funny how I thought I could start this business with $200. I need much more capital that I thought.

Yes, if your power is off the grid then they won’t know. But it doesn’t change the fact that houses don’t have the necessary power draw. The breakers and sockets in a house aren’t made to run heavy machinery all day. You’re going to burn your house down.

Dang...I will definitely watch the power consumption on these equipment. I might be able to get by with one machine . This power issue wasn’t something I considered till this thread.
 

Bertram

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Duct tape is like a religion for me!

I got started with those crate tables everyone was into a few years back. :D I came up with a way of putting them out at a retail price lower than the cost competition was paying for materials.
I didn't build the shed. I built the business in the shed. My monthly rent was cutting the lawn and shoveling snow.

I'm going to dip out now. I feel like I've over contributed here relative to my business accomplishments thus far, and I'm uncomfortable with a bunch of attention. :wideyed:

I don't know anything compared to most of the people here, but I know you never get where you want to be if you never start.

Why are you complaining about yourself @broswoodwork?

The discussion is of no use to the OP anymore, now that federally contracted industrialists are weighing in about wastewater disposal policies in Alaska subsistence communities.
Seriously @WJK, powerline zoning in the Alaskan wildlands? :happy:

...Sacred elk herds and the power grid ...

By now @MoreValue will never, ever, ever leave Stamford for any reason.

I think this thread lost power (see what I did there) because OP has decided against the original plan.

I removed the positive comments too @broswoodwork .
 
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Bertram

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Yes, if your power is off the grid then they won’t know. But it doesn’t change the fact that houses don’t have the necessary power draw. The breakers and sockets in a house aren’t made to run heavy machinery all day. You’re going to burn your house down.
Or at the very least you'll distend some electrical sockets ...
 
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biophase

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Dang...I will definitely watch the power consumption on these equipment. I might be able to get by with one machine . This power issue wasn’t something I considered till this thread.

What type of machine is this? I'm just highly doubting that electrical will be an issue here. What type of amp draw are we talking about? There are people who run large wood shops from their garage, people that use all sorts of power tools without any problems at all. Is your machine going to take more power than running an electric dryer and an oven at the same time?
 

Bertram

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What type of machine is this? I'm just highly doubting that electrical will be an issue here. What type of amp draw are we talking about? There are people who run large wood shops from their garage, people that use all sorts of power tools without any problems at all. Is your machine going to take more power than running an electric dryer and an oven at the same time?
I don't think this is the obstacle here. If the wiring were too old he could upgrade the panel or buy a generator.

Good luck @MoreValue.
 
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Bertram

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Ninjakid

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Or at the very least you'll distend some electrical sockets ...
Yup, which leads to fires.

EDIT: With modern breakers though, safety is usually pretty good, so you'll probably just keep flipping the breaker an annoying amount of times.

What type of machine is this? I'm just highly doubting that electrical will be an issue here. What type of amp draw are we talking about? There are people who run large wood shops from their garage, people that use all sorts of power tools without any problems at all. Is your machine going to take more power than running an electric dryer and an oven at the same time?
That's the thing, we don't know what types of machines OP is planning on using, so we can't sure.
Power tools run just fine on a house's sockets. People can do woodwork in their garage without any issues because they typically use power tools that are meant for single use.

People I know that run machine shops from from home have a garage that runs on a separate circuit. A regular home garage isn't enough to have industrial equipment running all day.

My dad and his friend used to customize motorcycles at his friend's wrecking yard business. But even for that building, a he problem was that the garage could barely handle the welder's power draw. You'd use it for an hour and it would flip the breaker. This is just an example of how much power a machine could use.

But once again, I'm no sure what kind of machines OP is using, but if he's planning on running several all day from a house, I could definitely foresee problems.
 

Real Deal Denver

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I'm just bashful and haven't reached all of my goals yet. Sorry about that. :)

WHAT?

I hope you haven't reached your goals yet, because if you had they would probably be easy goals and not worth much.

As for your threads - I find them fascinating and inspirational. You kick my whiney excuses in the butt! I mean who makes a table saw? I would never think to that level. I want to make furniture - and I need a table saw? I'm done. End of the story - but NOT you! That's pretty iron clad determination - and that speaks volumes of how you approach attack obstacles.

Keep up the posts damnit! Yours are some of the best here! Don't MAKE me have MJ talk to you.
 

WJK

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Why are you complaining about yourself @broswoodwork?

The discussion is of no use to the OP anymore, now that federally contracted industrialists are weighing in about wastewater disposal policies in Alaska subsistence communities.
Seriously @WJK, powerline zoning in the Alaskan wildlands? :happy:

...Sacred elk herds and the power grid ...

By now @MoreValue will never, ever, ever leave Stamford for any reason.

I think this thread lost power (see what I did there) because OP has decided against the original plan.

I removed the positive comments too @broswoodwork .
I never said, "powerline zoning in the Alaskan wildlands?"
And then there's:
"The discussion is of no use to the OP anymore, now that federally contracted industrialists are weighing in about wastewater disposal policies in Alaska subsistence communities."

How did I become an "industrialist"? Were you trying to be insulting? I was trying to add information that I've learned over my 43 years of professional experience. What is your experience in infrastructure issues?

And the Wildlife Refuge is NOT in an "Alaskan Subsistence community." It belongs to all of us USA citizens. It's a set-aside portion of a National Forest, and it covers thousands of acres of forests, lakes, and rivers. It's reserved for both the animals that live there and it's a recreational area for people.

Sorry you're unhappy with the thread. We're talking about how to set up a manufacturing business and what it takes to do that -- concerning zoning, infrastructure, and money issues. Your comments don't seem to track with the conversation.
 
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broswoodwork

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I never said, "powerline zoning in the Alaskan wildlands?"
And then there's:
"The discussion is of no use to the OP anymore, now that federally contracted industrialists are weighing in about wastewater disposal policies in Alaska subsistence communities."

How did I become an "industrialist"? Were you trying to be insulting? I was trying to add information that I've learned over my 43 years of professional experience. What is your experience in infrastructure issues?

And the Wildlife Refuge is NOT in an "Alaskan Subsistence community." It belongs to all of us USA citizens. It's a set-aside portion of a National Forest, and it covers thousands of acres of forests, lakes, and rivers. It's reserved for both the animals that live there and it's a recreational area for people.

Sorry you're unhappy with the thread. We're talking about how to set up a manufacturing business and what it takes to do that -- concerning zoning, infrastructure, and money issues. Your comments don't seem to track with the conversation.
I think @Bertram was just joking around. Probably my fault to be honest.

Threads where the op rejects a dozen workable solutions to a simple problem probably have a huge tendency to go off course, and get filled with a bunch of stuff that everyone wishes would just disappear.

I don't know... how's everyone's night going? :)
 

Bertram

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I never said, "powerline zoning in the Alaskan wildlands?"
And then there's:
"The discussion is of no use to the OP anymore, now that federally contracted industrialists are weighing in about wastewater disposal policies in Alaska subsistence communities."

How did I become an "industrialist"? Were you trying to be insulting? I was trying to add information that I've learned over my 43 years of professional experience. What is your experience in infrastructure issues?

And the Wildlife Refuge is NOT in an "Alaskan Subsistence community." It belongs to all of us USA citizens. It's a set-aside portion of a National Forest, and it covers thousands of acres of forests, lakes, and rivers. It's reserved for both the animals that live there and it's a recreational area for people.

Sorry you're unhappy with the thread. We're talking about how to set up a manufacturing business and what it takes to do that -- concerning zoning, infrastructure, and money issues. Your comments don't seem to track with the conversation.
Dear @WJK,
I adore your posts, they're the best. You go deep into your expertise. I was entirely joking!
As someone with a bit of background related to what you do and some of the issues related to economic development in Alaska (which was the reason I dropped a hint with reference to sacred herd migrations) I'm really interested in what you're up to. I bet others could use the info as well. I hope you make a thread about this journey. The Kenai Peninsula is a world apart. I considered working in the Homer region some years ago when I visited a few times, really because of people like you, the briccoleurs, and all that majestic beauty. Alaska is like a completely separate American country. But it would have redirected my young daughter's own plans for her life too much. The long, dark winters were also just too formidable for me. And I had become fed up with so many unexpected bear encounters. Good grief, not another brown bear? Bite me.
You might note that all along I was lighthandedly teasing @MoreValue , with my predictions that he'll never leave Stamford, CT. That won't happen because of us, because of this thread! We've discussed everything from old wires igniting, to consulting with utility companies, to being investigated by the police upon running a high water bill, to wastewater disposal laws, maybe a SWAT team on notice, and so on.
He's taking it all with a barrel of salt.
Really, I'm sorry if my joke misfired and came off as disparagement. It was the furthest thing I intended. You'd never come off as an industrialist!
I'm sincerely sorry for the misunderstanding.
I have a mild chronic disturbance called comic humor.
Please post that journey through the Alaskan wilderness and federal red tape sometime. You do have indigenous and traditional subsistence communities in your region who have hunted and fished over 300 years, and their economic activities are protected throughout federal wildlands. And it's a power struggle (see what I did there).
I really wish you well.
 
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Bertram

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I'm just bashful and haven't reached all of my goals yet. Sorry about that. :)

Thinking it over, I completely relate to this. I'm sorry I focused a spotlight on your origin story.
It's too late to delete my bibbly dibbly little awkward comments, sorry.
Also you're one of the pillars here.
 
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lunga ngcobo

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Since I do not have enough room to run my own business. Essentially a manufacturing business.

I will need my own home.
So either get a home in a bad neighborhood where the home is live-able or buy a home in a good neighborhood that is absolutely run down.

When I mean run down, I pretty much have to replace everything. I believe I can haggle down the home price to about $90k.
Although I can't live in this house right away to build my real business, is it worth it?

This in itself is its own business and already going through the costs and extremely expensive with all the tools/materials again and paying that mortgage. Now I will probably have room for the machines, but no money for them...sigh

How do people deal with these high capital businesses without slaving away at the job and living severely below means?
I think you are putting the cart before the horses here. Meaning you want to start a manufacturing business but you are stressing about renovating a home.

Just buy the dam machinery dude and find cheap space to rent. As for a home... you can just buy a mattress and sleep in the space that you are renting for business until you can afford an apartment.

That's what they mean when they say sacrifice...
 

WJK

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Dear @WJK,
I adore your posts, they're the best. You go deep into your expertise. I was entirely joking!
As someone with a bit of background related to what you do and some of the issues related to economic development in Alaska (which was the reason I dropped a hint with reference to sacred herd animal migrations) I'm really interested in what you're up to. I bet others could use the info as well. I hope you make a thread about this journey. The Kenai Peninsula is a world apart. I considered working up in Homer some years ago when I a visited a few times because of people like you and because it's like a completely separate American country. But it would have redirected my young daughter's own plans for her life too much. The long, dark winters were just too formidable for me. And I had become fed up with so many unexpected bear encounters. Good grief, not another brown bear? Bite me.
You might note that I was lighthandedly teasing @MoreValaue as well with my predictions that he'll never leave Stamford, CT, now that we've discussed everything from old wiring igniting to consulting with utility companies, to being investigated by the police upon running a high water bill, to wastewater disposal laws, and so on.
He's taking it all with a barrel of salt.
Really, I'm sorry if my joke misfired and came off as disparagement. It was the furthest thing I intended. You'd never come off as an industrialist.
I'm sincerely sorry for the misunderstanding.
I have a mild chronic disturbance called comic humor.
Please post that journey through the Alaskan wilderness and bureaucratic red tape sometime.
I really wish you well.
Peace and happiness to you too. I guess I was confused by your reply.

This thread started with a guy who wanted to buy a house and move his manufacturing machines into it to marry his living needs and his business in the same space in order to save money. I started in the real estate business in 1976 -- a day or two ago.

Yes, I can take a joke, but this subject can be pretty serious. I've seen a lot of disasters over the years. Some are funny and some have killed people who didn't know the hows and whys.

Like I knew two young guys who contracted to tear down a little old house for an an elder homeowner. The two guys decided they had signed on for too much work and they bid the job too low. So they decided to burn it down without telling anyone what they were doing. They threw a home-made bomb through the front window. Except they hadn't counted on the sewer gas in the pipes. They not only blew up the house but also blew up the city's sewer system for two blocks around the house. The blast blew through the sewer system shattering pipes. and it went into a bunch of other houses through their sewer pipes. These two hapless guys did millions and millions worth of damages in their quest to tear down one little house and clear a small residential lot. No, no one died except a few pipes and most of the toilets in the neighborhood.

My own father, when he was alive, had two of his wood shops burn down -- which were located in metal buildings -- and a third shop burned down in a mobile home he had converted. All the fires happened with years between them. Dad was manufacturing wooden items for sale with all the woodworking equipment. Dad always cut corners and did things his way. I ended up dealing with one of his houses. Mom was awarded it during their divorce. He had built a large addition on the back. The Building & Safety Department for Los Angeles County made me tear down that addition due to safety concerns. It was so poorly built that I couldn't even do corrections and repairs on it. No one died. It just cost Mom & me thousands of dollars in lost equity and demolition costs. The total costs were more than the property was worth. Thanks, Dad.

But I have seen people die in other fires and building collapses.
I have seen a neighborhood overrun with rats from one homeowner who decided to slaughter animals and butcher them in his backyard.
I have seen a large percentage of a condo project be burned down due to one homeowner using his BBQ under his porch roof.
I have seen industrial complexes blown up and burned down due to the mishandling of hazardous materials.
I was involved in a legal case where I was on a legal team against a furniture manufacturer who polluted the groundwater for thousands of homes. The owner did this by allowing his paint booth to put their waste down into the ground under their factory.
And these are just a few examples...

No, do NOT put heavy equipment in your living room plugged into your residential outlet! Not only will it fall through the floor while it shakes the walls down -- you'll also probably burn your house down!

That's all I was trying to tell the guy who started this thread. Thanks for your post.
 

MrChill

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I advise against buying a dump, as in my experience, you usually spend 20-100% or more than you originally anticipated fixing the place up, as costs can balloon if you have a serious structural problem, mold, lead paint, etc. Not to mention, there's the distraction from pretending to be a contractor when you should be focused on your primary business of manufacturing. As echoed by others in this thread, if you're serious about keeping your costs down, find a cheap warehouse in Omaha, NE or some place similar. You don't have to even buy it if funds are tight. Get a lease in the near-term and get ready to move in and focus on your R&D and delivering your product to your customers.
 
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Real Deal Denver

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Peace and happiness to you too. I guess I was confused by your reply.

This thread started with a guy who wanted to buy a house and move his manufacturing machines into it to marry his living needs and his business in the same space in order to save money. I started in the real estate business in 1976 -- a day or two ago.

Yes, I can take a joke, but this subject can be pretty serious. I've seen a lot of disasters over the years. Some are funny and some have killed people who didn't know the hows and whys.

Like I knew two young guys who contracted to tear down a little old house for an an elder homeowner. The two guys decided they had signed on for too much work and they bid the job too low. So they decided to burn it down without telling anyone what they were doing. They threw a home-made bomb through the front window. Except they hadn't counted on the sewer gas in the pipes. They not only blew up the house but also blew up the city's sewer system for two blocks around the house. The blast blew through the sewer system shattering pipes. and it went into a bunch of other houses through their sewer pipes. These two hapless guys did millions and millions worth of damages in their quest to tear down one little house and clear a small residential lot. No, no one died except a few pipes and most of the toilets in the neighborhood.

My own father, when he was alive, had two of his wood shops burn down -- which were located in metal buildings -- and a third shop burned down in a mobile home he had converted. All the fires happened with years between them. Dad was manufacturing wooden items for sale with all the woodworking equipment. Dad always cut corners and did things his way. I ended up dealing with one of his houses. Mom was awarded it during their divorce. He had built a large addition on the back. The Building & Safety Department for Los Angeles County made me tear down that addition due to safety concerns. It was so poorly built that I couldn't even do corrections and repairs on it. No one died. It just cost Mom & me thousands of dollars in lost equity and demolition costs. The total costs were more than the property was worth. Thanks, Dad.

But I have seen people die in other fires and building collapses.
I have seen a neighborhood overrun with rats from one homeowner who decided to slaughter animals and butcher them in his backyard.
I have seen a large percentage of a condo project be burned down due to one homeowner using his BBQ under his porch roof.
I have seen industrial complexes blown up and burned down due to the mishandling of hazardous materials.
I was involved in a legal case where I was on a legal team against a furniture manufacturer who polluted the groundwater for thousands of homes. The owner did this by allowing his paint booth to put their waste down into the ground under their factory.
And these are just a few examples...

No, do NOT put heavy equipment in your living room plugged into your residential outlet! Not only will it fall through the floor while it shakes the walls down -- you'll also probably burn your house down!

That's all I was trying to tell the guy who started this thread. Thanks for your post.

And, and, and?

Great post. I'm learning a lot here. Sewer gas - that's the kind of stuff they don't put in movies that we need to know about! What if they would have done a "normal" burn? Would that have just burnt the house to the ground without an explosion? How about having the fire dept. burn it down - I heard they do this type of thing.

So what happened as a result of these stories? Did the guys with the bomb go to jail? How could they pay millions for the damage they caused? Same with the condo BBQ story?

I gotta get to Alaska and squeeze some stories out of you! This is movie material!
 

WJK

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And, and, and?

Great post. I'm learning a lot here. Sewer gas - that's the kind of stuff they don't put in movies that we need to know about! What if they would have done a "normal" burn? Would that have just burnt the house to the ground without an explosion? How about having the fire dept. burn it down - I heard they do this type of thing.

So what happened as a result of these stories? Did the guys with the bomb go to jail? How could they pay millions for the damage they caused? Same with the condo BBQ story?

I gotta get to Alaska and squeeze some stories out of you! This is movie material!
Well, the guys that blew up the sewer system had a way out. One of their dads was the mayor of the city. The city didn't prosecute them under a settlement agreement. But, both worked for the city for free for a couple of years in the deal. This happened in California a long time ago.

To answer your question, yes. Sewer gas can be flammable. Yes, if you improperly burn down a house without disconnecting the sewer pipes, it can happen. And natural gas is also a problem. We had a 7.2 earthquake here 2 winters ago. Three houses up the road from us blew up. We assume it was a broken natural gas line, but no one knows for sure. They literally blew up so it's still just "one of those things".

The guy with the BBQ problem was also in California and that was an interesting problem. The homeowners association is responsible for the buildings, but not the personal contents. That made every owner responsible for one dumb guy's behavior for the damage to the buildings and destroying their homes. There was a lot of hard feeling on the neighbor's part. Each owner was responsible for his own contents. The guy with the BBQ had nothing left to go get.

Another interesting story -- I knew an appraiser friend who did a "drive-by report" on a "house". He took a picture from the street as required. Then he found out that the house was fake. It was the front of a movie set that had been placed on the lot after the original house that had been torn down. The movie set looked like a beautiful house. Oops! I never did hear how he came out on that one. He was still litigating the last time we talked.

Another one was with someone else that I knew. He did a VA appraisal on a house. The report had to be turned in within a limited number of hours. He changed the date on the appraisal to a couple of days after he did the inspection to meet the requirements. Except -- during those two days -- the house burned down. Last I talked to him, he was making monthly payments on the loan amount for the following 30 years. The VA cut a deal where he had to pay the full face amount of the mortgage, plus interest, in order not to go to jail for fraud.

I was broker, investor, commercial appraiser, mediator, JD, and expert witness for real estate matters in Federal and State court for years and years. I've seen and been involved in some amazing legal cases and real estate deals. I played with the "big boys" in Los Angeles. Amazing for a small-town girl like me! Sorry to be bragging...

But, you should hear some of the stories concerning my mobile home park tenants. I own most of the mobile homes and I have about 150 people who live on my property year around. Plus I have my summer people who show up through the summer season. And, of course, some other business interests. Here in the park, I'm the owner, the cop, the social worker and the mediator.

I've been thinking about writing a book, but no one would believe me that it's real situations. I just couldn't make up this stuff up. It's way too rich!

I'm full of off-of-the-wall stories of a well-lived life.
 
D

DeletedUser0287

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What type of machine is this? I'm just highly doubting that electrical will be an issue here. What type of amp draw are we talking about? There are people who run large wood shops from their garage, people that use all sorts of power tools without any problems at all. Is your machine going to take more power than running an electric dryer and an oven at the same time?

Possibly...going to take more power and oven + dryer. I am still trying to figure out if there is a way around getting these machines. Industrial metalworking and sewing machines. Residential might work long enough until I can get real industrial place.

I think you are putting the cart before the horses here. Meaning you want to start a manufacturing business but you are stressing about renovating a home.

Just buy the dam machinery dude and find cheap space to rent. As for a home... you can just buy a mattress and sleep in the space that you are renting for business until you can afford an apartment.

That's what they mean when they say sacrifice...

I thought what they meant by sacrifice was living below your means and cutting things away from your life so you have funds for the business. Sacrificing by by getting a cheap home and driving old cars. I haven't gotten "fancy" at all. Everything business.

@WJK I will read through your last fews posts when I get the chance.
 
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WJK

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Possibly...going to take more power and oven + dryer. I am still trying to figure out if there is a way around getting these machines. Industrial metalworking and sewing machines. Residential might work long enough until I can get real industrial place.



I thought what they meant by sacrifice was living below your means and cutting things away from your life so you have funds for the business. Sacrificing by by getting a cheap home and driving old cars. I haven't gotten "fancy" at all. Everything business.

@WJK I will read through your last fews posts when I get the chance.
When my husband welds and/or does metalworking in our metal shop, my electric bill goes up to four times the normal bill for just our other normal uses. Then there's our woodshop, which also spikes the bill -- but not as much as the metal shop. In the winter, when we are running both shops, the electric bill is pretty high. We had to put in a new heavier electrical service line from the meter to run everything. Our power company has already ungraded our meter and they ran us a special service line from their trunk line to support our usages. This coming summer, the natural gas company is upgrading the size of our supply line to our complex. That upgrade is also necessary.
 

21elnegocio

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Since I do not have enough room to run my own business. Essentially a manufacturing business.

I will need my own home.
So either get a home in a bad neighborhood where the home is live-able or buy a home in a good neighborhood that is absolutely run down.

When I mean run down, I pretty much have to replace everything. I believe I can haggle down the home price to about $90k.
Although I can't live in this house right away to build my real business, is it worth it?

This in itself is its own business and already going through the costs and extremely expensive with all the tools/materials again and paying that mortgage. Now I will probably have room for the machines, but no money for them...sigh

How do people deal with these high capital businesses without slaving away at the job and living severely below means?


I have the experience I actually live in a property that was outdated, its a historical home oh man it was a pain. But yes I have experience in renovations.

I house hack my personal homes, I buy the ugliest property in a decent are a with a hard money loan, ask them for renovation loan as well. I put 5% (At the beginning its 20% until you prove them that you know what your doing) of total house price and renovation amount. Fix it up move into it refinance it and buy another one.


Make sure the area is not an HOA area as they will be giving you crap about everything, also make sure that the neighborhood allows you to do what you want to do which you said manufacture. I imagine it will be a bit noisy? I could be wrong but in other words make sure the neighborhood is not strict as you dont want to run into any issues like insurance not insuring you because you have machinery outside or something. I had a client who bought and sold washer and dryers, when I first helped them buy their his home was insured without an issue but after a couple of months insurance canceled on him because it was considered commercial insurance since he was running a business from his hous.


Call the insurance and ask them if what your trying to do would be an issue.

I would say call several insurances to have backups.
 

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