Flowing Artesian Well

Ryan and I finally faced facts that the whole well situation is probably pretty scary for someone looking at our land. The "unknown" nature of it all.

We had three different companies come out and take a look. Three different bids ( all a lot). We settled on  Don Pitner Jr.   Actually, settle is totally the wrong word. We LOVE this guy. He is right out of the dark ages and you can tell that drilling wells is his reason for living.

Don Pitner Jr.

We have another picture of him on the drilling rig. He looks like a Norman Rockwell painting and it's just so cool. He drilled down 60 feet and water was already coming out. It was snowing up there the day that he drilled, so we left him to his work. He called us that night and he had drilled down 125 feet and the water flow was at least 30 gallons/minute!! (WOW!!!). The well has positive pressure and the the water was flowing up to a foot to the top of the pipe all by itself.  The Artesian spring on the property has always had really tasty water and this well is no different. Our well guy gave birth to an "Artesian Well"

 By the next day the water had overflowed the pipe and Don was going to have to return and put a valve on the pipe as the water now has some pretty good pressure.This phenomenon is known as a "Flowing Artesian Well".  We are so excited for whoever buys our property because they are going to have awesome water!!

Time to get a realtor again because our Craigslist ad is just not doing much and our property just went up in price. Mainly because we just spent thousands and thousands of dollars on a well... but also because our well is a really good one!!

It's alive

Our dreams were starting to feel like they might not happen. Then I spoke to Heidi today.  Beautiful land... we might have found you a mother.  Stay tuned and enjoy the sunny weather everyone

We have terminated our agreement with John L. Scott

There you are. Sometimes it is not ok to ask questions.

I made a video of our property while we I was up there the other day. Here it is:

Well that was fun... NOT Beware of overly emotional Real Estate Agents

Today is the 15th.  Today, after several unreturned phone calls on Sunday and Monday from our agent (Donna Roberts ) to their real estate agent (Tesha J. Perry).. we magically received a Recission form.  At this point... "whatever" was our reaction.

They rescinded their offer, but only after their agent had to be schooled by ours as to the fact that they had a signed contract with us and couldn't just "pass" on our property over the phone or in an email. Like we asked them to prom or something and they got a better offer so they tried breaking up with us over a text.  Stupid.. Tesha at several points, got personally upset (at least that was what her tone said in her emails that I read) at the negotiations and then she stopped answering her phone and ignored our agents attempts to work through the sticking points.  I haven't been around a lot of agents but the unprofessional attitude of their agent was a real turnoff for us.  Tesha doesn't seem to have a website in which I can post a review, so I decided to put one here on my blog.

This experience has made me rethink selling this property at all and that's too bad because we have to sell it in order to build our house.  Here's what went down from our side:

Our property went on the market for $97,500 with a full disclosure already filled out by us.  These people (The Mitchells) called our agent and were very excited. They went to see the land and were still excited so they found themselves an agent. Our agent spoke to the lady (Mrs. Mitchell) and was told that they understood that there had been no PERC and that we weren't sure about the well. "They budgeted for it" our agent told us.  Then came their offer.  I can't find the form because there was a lot of mail but I believe their initial offer was $85,000.  Almost $13,000 below our listing price of $97,500.  We countered with $93,500. THEN it was revealed that the buyers "forgot" to add in their offer that they had wanted us to pay both sides of the closing costs and their agent wanted to put that in there... too late.  At that point I was kind of over it with these "Mitchells".  Offer $3,000 less than appraised value and for the privilege of getting their offer, we should be thrilled to pay for their closing costs as well??  Nice.

We held firm at $93,500 and figured they would probably say "No Thanks". They accepted and there started 20 days of Due Dilligence.  Our eyes and ears on the ground (Hi Mike) didn't report seeing any activity on the property which we found kind of weird since they seemed to be in this major rush to get started.  12 days into their 20 days of Feasibility, Ryan and I got an email from Donna. The day before (??) she had received a demand from the buyer that we pay for a PERC test to be done on the property. We received this information and literally 15 minutes later we were on the phone with Donna and agreed to do this. We drove to her office and signed the form and met with her. We received some advice about how to protect ourselves.  Since the buyer knew even before they got their agent that there was no PERC test, this was a surprise.  Ryan and I have purchased two land parcels in the last 3 years and neither of them had PERC tests, so we were not aware that this was something that we had to have done. It certainly wasn't omitted just to piss off our buyers or their overly emotional agent. We hadn't gotten around to doing one before we decided to build our house elsewhere. No offense. It's kind of funny how offended their agent got. Tesha, maybe you should start taking tranquilizers if you can't control yourself. seriously gal... not cool.

Why did Tesha get so upset?  Well... the buyer never put down a single cent of earnest $.  Ryan and I, in our two land deals, put down earnest $ when we made the offer. The Mitchells didn't want to risk their money and, at our realtors suggestion, our response to their demand that we have a PERC test done AND to extend the feasibility period to accommodate the PERC results... we asked them to put their earnest money down and to release it when the PERC passed.  Oh boy, Tesha got her panties in a wad over that one.

What we didn't understand is that apparently "The Mitchells" were in over their heads and their realtor wasn't very good at hiding it.  Day one, we would have been happy to pay for the PERC test. Day 12, it seemed like they were looking for ways to delay the process.  Day 14, with Tesha's "emotional" response and then outright avoiding our realtor to negotiate the release of the earnest money it became obvious that for whatever reason they didn't want the property anymore.  Maybe they couldn't borrow enough money. Maybe they didn't like our agent. Maybe they changed their minds. Whatever the reason.. they didn't have to get weird. They had 20 days and there was no reason to start making demands and then become outraged that we had a counter demand.  Too much drama. Too much childish emotion. I put in a call to Mrs. Mitchell today to try and just talk to her without the drama of her agent clouding the waters. Unreturned. At least I tried to treat her like a person. It seems clear that some wires may have gotten crossed this week. Lesson learned... maybe you get the agent that you deserve.

Good luck "Mitchells"  Good riddance Tesha J. Perry.  We did everything that you asked of us and were happy to do so. I am sorry that we expected your "clients" to be serious and whatever that was, it seemed like if it wasn't the PERC test, it would have been something else, something minor,  The fact remains that our property is really nice and we wish that my job hadn't taken us elsewhere but it did. Sorry.  I hope that your unprofessional actions catch up with you Tesha J. Perry. Your profession is largely based on reputation and as far as I saw from your own emails... maybe being a real estate agent isn't your calling.

That said.. the PERC was done today and it's looking like it will approve with no hiccups.  I got a solid answer about our well.  It is a typical well found in the rural areas of Clark County.  Chances are that current codes won't allow it to be used. So our property doesn't have a well. We bought it that way and Ryan is pretty adamant that we aren't drilling a well just to sell it. That could change but that's how it is for now.

SOLD!! (?) We'll know in 18 days

After two weeks listed and a tough, nail biting negotiation... we have accepted an offer for the property.

The money will put us dead even for what we paid and money we spent on the parcel.  We will be able to zero out our line of credit and have enough money to start building Phase I of the house next spring in Kalama.

Cross your fingers that their DD finishes.  We have been very transparent in regards to everything we know about the property. It is as we bought it, with a lot more sunlight and a lot less blackberries.

Have a great day everyone!!

Cleanup

It finally stopped raining!!

The blackberries kind of took over the pond and the willow tree last year, so Ryan and I rented a 20 yard container from H&H ($250 for a week. MUCH CHEAPER than Triangle Resources who acted like we were bothering them when we asked how much [$220 for 2 days] ).

The empty container. Russ the driver was really nice  :)

We spent a total of about 6 hours and filled the whole thing!! It was getting dark when we left but these are the photos that Ryan took when we were done.

The tree to the south of the pond.

View from the west towards the NE. The felled trees are on the left and the power pole is visible next to our car.

We will be going back up this Sunday to buck up the rest of the felled trees and get them out of there. Looking for a Real Estate agent. Excited to hand this land off to someone to build their dream home on.  It really is a nice piece of land and we are sad that we aren't moving here.

TTFN

Paige and Ryan

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!

Ryan and I have been busy at work ( as usual ). Do I ever say that we aren't busy?  This week was a particularly difficult one because I started a job in Kalama a few months ago. It is going really well, so well in fact that we have been trying to figure out what to do.  The commute from Washougal will be over an hour to this job and the job is PT.  We spent this week looking around and not finding another piece of property.  We love the parcel in Washougal. We love the nice, normal neighbors that it has and the solar exposure and the good schools and cell access, etc...

Just not the commute that I will have.  We don't know what the future holds for my job but if the right property presents itself, we might not build in Washougal.  Stay tuned....

Status: November 2012

Another month has gone by and we are currently busy doing support activities for the new house here at home. Today we get our truck back after a tranny rebuild (she was having a hard time getting up the hill to the site) and Ryan just replaced a bearing in his car as well.  We are both working at our jobs and paying the property loan down as quickly as possible.  Still shooting for Spring 2014 ground breaking.

Is it fall yet??

Mid-October and we finally had our first rain.  Really?  I can't recall that ever happening before. Our 1000 water tank was down to the last 50 gallons and we waited patiently for the rain all throughout September and it never came.

My birthday is in late August and there are two constants to that date throughout my life: 1) there is always a horror movie playing in theaters (and I was tempted to drag Ryan to it as I have so many birthday party attendees in the past) and 2) my friend Stacey always calls or texts me a "Happy Birthday". So while those two things remain constant in my life, the weather certainly hasn't.

It was blistery hot every day until my birthday and we needed that time because the new roof took more than 20 minutes to install. In fact, if you ever get a near toothless man recommended to work for you by a supplier. My advice it to take it.  Don looked like he had led an imaginably hard life and I think this was a tremendous growth opportunity for Ryan. On looks alone, it was hard at first to have faith that this man would help us. Soon enough though his honest approach, tirelessness and amazing abilities won us over.  If anyone who reads this needs a man to help them install a roof, please let us know as Don comes with our highest possible recommendation.

Back to the point I was making... The day after my birthday it suddenly became fall. Crazy. From so warm that you can't sleep to crisp and chilly. In one day.  We are truly blessed to live in this part of the country. Now we just needed rain. Although I secretly was hoping for a little more time to get some painting done.

We waited with breathless anticipation for the first rainfall to test our work. As of this writing, 5 days of rain have fallen and every single leak has been addressed. Yea!!

We also proved to ourselves that we can work together on a project and our marriage will survive. I realize that a roof is not quite a house, but our communication and abilities to work as a cohesive team have been steadily improving over the years and were tested mightily on this project. Sometimes having two capable people is a hinderance (sometimes it isn't)  however, it is a tribute to my beautiful husband that he doesn't stop trying.  Thank you Ryan  :)

Isn't she pretty?

Don wrapped the peaks, so she looks like a present.  :)

Update. AUGUST 14. Where we've been

For the last 5 weeks, Ryan and I have been tearing off the roof of our 1939 home. The new roof comes tomorrow and should be on the house by Monday. 

In the meantime, we have met with Chuck Dougherty and gotten started collecting all of the nigglibits that are going to be required in addition to our plans. We might be in this stage for a few months so check back later. Otherwise, full steam ahead paying down the property and getting ready for next year. We feel that we are still on track to break ground next spring and are not panicking.

The ball starts to roll

On Monday morning, Ryan and I have an actual meeting with an actual, live person!!

Chuck Dougherty ( Form Studio,
Creating Innovative Built Environments
360.573.8082 ) is going to give our plans the once over and give his opinion as to how we are doing. With his input we will be able to complete our packet and turn it in for review. Chuck is essential in the counties green program, so we feel lucky to have his attention.

To prepare for the meeting we need to get our list together for the Petals. If I can get through Chapter 4 in my PHP MySQL class today, I should be able to make that happen.

*** Note to anyone who is interested: once you get your WAMP environment set up on your Windows machine, don't mess with the settings ( even if you are trying to learn something). I totally broke mySQL in AAMPP last night. An uninstall, regedit search and several repeats of a fresh install ( even in safe mode) did not fix it . The AMP stacks on the Mac are a lot more forgiving I am finding.

Changing the root password manually on some of this open source is dangerous business. Had to go with another WAMP stack. That's 4 hours I'll never get back, so I'm behind.

Will update again after our meeting for next steps...

Checking In

For those of you who don't live in Washougal, you may not know that they are working on the road. For 15 weeks we will not be able to go the direct route to the property. We might not get there all summer. Ryan is finishing the basement and roof plans now. I have to finish the Petal information. We just had a giant project thrust upon us at work so we are now " officially" behind schedule. 

More later

Checking in... Memorial Day 2012

Well... here it is, Memorial Day weekend. I am going to try and work but am torn between wanting to give my extremely overwhelmed 4x+ a week, brain time to catch up some more VS taking a break so that I don't burn out. I don't know why but every task, no matter how small, seems so daunting. It's hard not to feel like I am disappointing everyone. Maybe I took too big a first step. I've never been a quitter so I am crossing my fingers and hugging Ryan a lot these days.

To take me away from my quandary, Ryan and I decided to gas the truck up ( $3.89 a gallon with our Safeway card), which led us to the property. Here's a photo or two. We are very humbled by the task ahead and excited to start the adventure.

March 2012 Update

Not much to report I am afraid.  My new job has me working almost every waking hour, including the weekends. Ryan is still working on the second floor drawings but in taking up all of my slack, not much going on there.  We are still on track to turn in our drawings to someone by spring. Since spring starts this week, we have at least three months to get our act together.  Good thing is that my new job pays a living wage, so we are on track to have almost half the property paid off by next February. Which gives us a nice chunk of change to get started.  More when I can...

Our House... the template

We have finished the design of the house and are busy (Ryan is busy) re-drawing the sketches so that we can get them to the architect for a once over and some engineering help.  It seemed only appropriate to show everyone what the house is based upon.

Located on the title space is a photograph of a model of the 1995 Life Magazine Dream House created by Dennis Wedlick Architect LLC.  I spoke to him last year and let him know personally of our project. The initial inspiration for our house goes solely to him and his brilliant design.We owe him and the publishers of Life Magazine the credit for giving us something to dream about. I saved the original magazine in my desk for all of these years dreaming that someday, I could live in a house as unique and beautiful as this one. I can't believe that this might actually happen.

Here is the south face of the home in it's original iteration:

Life Magazine's 1995 Dream House

 

 Floor Plan Drawings:

Downstairs

Upstairs

Ryan and I have spent the better part of the last year thinking and troubleshooting and changing these original plans into something that works for this project and the way that we live.

I will post the finished drawings he as I have them. We assume that the counties architect is going to monkey with them, but we a hoping not too much :)

Cheers  :)

February 2012 Status Update

Here it is, almost spring. We are gettiing ready to make our 12th payment on the property. The way it is going, we will have this thing half paid off by the time we start construction in the Spring of 2013!!  We could not be happier about this development.

Ryan is working on the house elevation drawings and re drawing all of the plans so that we can submit them to the county.  That's about it.

Thank you to all of our new neighbors who are keeping an eye on the property and our fallen trees.  I start a new job on the 27th which is going to do several things for us:  more money so that we can pay this off sooner and I will be able to remote in from home on those "snowed in" days that we are sure to have when we finally get out there.

Stay cool and come back soon!!

January 2012 Status Update

I have started to feel a little guilty that I am not out here every week putting something up. I am just not motivated right now.  :(

The felled trees are still not done and we have gone up about once a month for the last two to chop, chop, chop some more wood off of them. We are getting to the bigger stuff that is testing the limit of our chain saw, so it's not motivating. We will continue to work on that in between storms and as our work schedules allow.

The House Plans are almost done!!!!  We are enlisting the services of a friends wife who will render them in 3D so that we can see what we have done before we hand them over to the counties Living Building Architect for a once over.  Our plan is to have submitted the drawings and gotten tentative approval for our design by summer 2012. Our house is going to be so awesome.  In case I haven't mentioned this, it is based off of the 1995 Life Magazine Dream House design by Architect Dennis Wedlick.  He just completed the Hudson Passive house to rave reviews and acclaim.

Here is the summary:  Basement (subterranean but in the heating envelope) housing the water room, electrical and the train room. First floor which has three sections:  a garage with a mud-room leading through double doors to a passageway that is transitional between outside and inside leading through a large door into the heated envelope housing the kitchen, dining room and living room. There is a wide stairway leading to the second floor that houses our bedroom, Shaelyn's bedroom the communal bathroom and the laundry room as well as a Pullman Car room located centered over the garage. All of the second floor is in the heating envelope except a large storage area adjacent to the Pullman Car room.  Both the first and second floor are passively heated with hydronic radiant floor supplement as well as a soapstone wood stove centrally located on the first floor. The chimney affect will be utilized for the first and second floors as well and the house will be zoned so that we can seal off certain areas when not in use. The house is large but there isn't a single place in it that is wasted space.  It really is awesome and we hope that the architect thinks so as well.

Loan:  We have paid off 17% of our loan to date. That's in 10 months and we are pretty happy about that.  By spring 2013, we are on track to be able to break ground and start with the underground cistern, the ICF and maybe even start framing.

The property is starting to look like itself again

October came and went. It finally feels like Fall. Ryan and I completed work stripping off the branches this week. The property is starting to look like it did before we had four huge trees drop upon it.

The house plans are also coming along as we started working on the second floor which will house the Master Bedroom and bath, Shaelyn's room, the Pullman Car and another bathroom. That's going to be a lot of composting toilets for one house!

October 2011 Status Update

Ryan and I are re-evaluating where we stand money-wise at this point. I was up for a job that had a good wage and got pretty far in the recruitment, so far in fact, that we started thinking that I had it in the bag. Alas, it fell through. :(    This sets our timeline back probably a year or so. That's not the worst thing in the world. In fact, it gives us more time to plan the house. We expect to break ground in spring, 2013. 

Currently we are:

• Continuing to process the felled trees. (Expected completion summer 2012)
• Finishing work on the first floor design and starting on the second floor.
• Paying off the property as fast as we can in order to be able to start buying the house systems. The first system will be the water cistern. 

Future posts will continue to focus on the Petal Requirements and details of the systems that we will be using to be in compliance with the Petals.

One last note:  We have decided to get animals (mentioned earlier) to maintain the yard and provide rich compost and fertilizer for the garden and grounds.  As well as provide fiber, companionship and to create a peaceful, farmlike setting full of wonderful chores and experiences that seem to have gone bye-bye in recent times. This will be good for Shaelyn (our city-raised, soon to be 7 year old) and the new neighbors child. None of our neighbors have farm animals and we understand that at least some of them are looking forward to animals in the neighborhood.  A barn has been added to our plans to facilitate these animals.

The animals we are getting are 2 or 3 Pygora Goats from Hawks Mountain Ranch.in Gaston, OR. We were hoping to get a pair of friends that were having a hard time getting adopted but I am proud to report that Chip and Ralphie have found homes.

This is a brand new baby Pygora

This is Brinn. Isn't she gorgeous??

And  one, possibly two, Llamas from Sijama Llamas out of Mulino, OR