Neighborhood notes
In the last few days, three separate events:

(1) After two months of funereal blue drapes, reconstruction is finally starting on several of the houses squashed by July's gustnado. Presumably the pause involved insurance processing or litigation.

(2) Two nice houses that had been on the market for a full year are suddenly sold and occupied. These two houses don't have any killer trees, so they weren't damaged.

(3) After EIGHT YEARS of inactivity, the Bad Flip on Crown Street is getting some attention. The front door, blocked open by structural failure just before the gustnado, has been sealed, and some trash bins are now arranged near the house indicating an intention to start work.

I wonder if (2) and (3) were indirectly motivated by the gustnado? Did overall valuations drop, leading to sales of those two nice houses? Did a drop cause the owner of Bad Flip to decide there's no point in holding out for future appreciation?

Update: More related events.

= = = = =

April 2015: The 'bad flip' is finally being worked on! The vestibule-like part that had collapsed was removed, the opening was plywooded over, and a porch slab has been poured in the spot where the vestibule was. The slab implies that they intend to remodel, not completely tear down, both the original little house and the awful McMansion part on the back. I don't see how they can do that; the whole thing has been wide open to wind and rain and snow and squirrels for 8 years.

4/26: By god, they're really DOING IT. Now they've replywooded and retyveked the wide-open places, and slapped new windows into the front part. I don't know what's left inside after 8 years of rain, but that's not my problem.

11/6/2016: The previous activity halted, and the new Tyvek ended up loose and flapping like the old Tyvek. Now, after an 18 month hiatus, they've started another burst of futile activity. Pouring new sidewalk, sodding lawn. Still no siding over the re-loosened Tyvek. I'm not going to make any assumptions about their intention to finish the project.

3/2/2017: Will wonders never cease? They may be finishing the mess. Most of the siding is replaced; only a few areas of flapping Tyvek. Previously they had removed a collapsed vestibule and replaced it with a small porch. Now they've replaced the small porch with a more generous 'sittable' porch, and they've removed an ugly trapezoid window (McMansion genre) from the new wing.

5/15/2017: Mark. All of the siding is on. The newly planted and sidewalked yard is precisely mowed. At least on the outside, this 8-year-long flip is COMPLETE. Looks ready to sell, and the flippers certainly chose the right year to finish and sell the project.

Labels: Heimatkunde

  ¶ 7:16 AM