I’m FINALLY in the game. It’s been a LONG time coming, but I’m finally able to say that we are moving forward… FINALLY!!!!
Let’s just get one thing out there in the open… when you buy property from the government you can expect that they don’t move very quickly… it’s pretty much like waiting in line at the DMV!
I believe I mentioned in a post that I had bought 4 lots from the Shelby County Land Bank. Well, there is a process that has to be followed… in triplicate it seems, like all government work. I had to put a sizeable deposit down and pay for the newspaper ads that told the world (well, anyone who reads that paper) that I had made an offer to purchase the 4 lots to a tune of $200 per LOT! OUCH! BUT I kept a cool head knowing that the purchase price was really a great deal.
After waiting 3 weeks I discovered that no one came forward to bid against me for these lots, WHEW! My first hurdle down… 47 more to go!
Then, there was a City Council vote… who knew! That would happen at the end of the month… yet another 3 weeks waiting for that to happen. It was a mere formality, so just time served I suppose was my payment for that bit.
Then, the letter stating that I had 30 days to pay the balance on the lots, or if I failed to purchase them, I’d be barred from buying any more properties for a year. So, I got my attorney on the horn and got him to get HIS stuff going… Lord only knows what all he did, but he did manage to get me Title Insurance and Surveys and things of this nature so that I wouldn’t lose anything else if I went through with this deal.
All that came back good to go, so I went and paid for my lots the last week before I lost them.
Now, there is another waiting period, the Land Bank said that it would take 7 – 8 weeks for me to receive my Deed in the mail. Seven – Eight WEEKS!?!?! My attorney wanted to go down and pick up the paperwork and walk it over to the court and have it registered immediately, but the Land Bank kept not wanting to do that for some odd reason, so now I’m in a holding pattern yet again, but this too shall pass. My attorney also said that I didn’t have to wait to get the mailed Deed before construction, only had to wait until the Deed showed up as Registered through our county Register’s office. So now, I check daily to see if it got registered. Not only am I chomping at the bit to get going, so is my builder. It turned off cold here this week and it has rained a bit over the last few weeks. I really just want to get the foundation in the ground before all the winter rain and nastiness starts. If that can happen, I can keep a few folks employed this winter, which works out well for all of us.
So, above you see the plan. This is the final plan. I do not plan to change it again, but reserve that right as I am a woman after all.
Hopefully this will be a profitable venture and the other 3 lots remaining will have an easier go at this home building venture.
{{{{{{ Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! }}}}}}}
I hate waiting, but better cool my jets down so that I don’t make mistakes… especially those with lots of “zeros” at the end!
Visit again soon to see how things are going. I hope to post photographs as we go. First step already accomplished, we have an address now…. Well, the builder got one, so just holding on until the gate opens!
