Tuesday, June 15, 2021

 It's only getting up to 92 today, lol, I best be getting out of here.

Off to this property that I need to look at to see if there is a way to make a driveway around the gas well pad.  Well, that and hike back in that mess and see what's in there and also if I can somehow build a drive down into that basin.  

Reminds myself to pack pistol into that stuff, I have no idea what's in there and I don't want to go in without something for protection.  

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Long interlude.  I went over there - no kids or dogs - I figured I would be attempting to find a way through all of that underbrush with all of those sticker bushes and vines and didn't need kids getting stuck or dogs either.  I'm glad I didn't take either for it was even worse than I imagined back in there.  It's completely over grown with that nonsense and the entire back portion of the property would need a clearing operating to get all of that out of there. Keep the trees, get rid of all of the undergrowth.  

I was happy to see the stream still flowing even tho it's not raining. There are lots of water ways in this region that only flow during a rainfall. The ground back in there is pretty moist, but that's because it doesn't get much sunlight.  Clear the small trees and the underbrush and that won't be an issue and it will dry up.  

The front portion of the property will be the RV park.  That driveway is all of 3 football fields long and then some. I estimate around 1,000 feet.  The wide of that area I'm guessing around 100 feet.  I can put 20 pads in there. At an angle, they just pull in from one driveway and then drive straight out through to the other driveway I would build, that would circle around the rear of the driveway to the main driveway and out.  

The other option, I'm guessing anyway, is to have maybe 5 fully drive through (pull throughs they call them) and the rest? Back in.  In a staggered formation, I could put alternating pads on each driveway and double the amount of pads I could have from 20 to 40.  

That isn't really an option right off the bat - it will cost too much money to put in 40 pads right off the bat.  My plan is to do as many as I can with the 401k money and not go into any further debt than what the property costs.  If I need a small loan to finish things off, I can do that.  But, I can plan the set up for 40 pads if it appears I can do it that way.  

I can tell you right now that if I could keep the thing even half full half of the month I would be making anywhere from 6 to 12 grand per month off of it, that's a conservative estimate and the variable is how often each individual lot is used and how much it is per night.  Or per week. Or per month - I plan on offering all of it. I'd really rather have full timers in there living there to have "guaranteed" income versus dealing with people coming and going.

The thing about people coming and going is you make more money, a lot more money, but you have to have someone there during the day time.  Again, this proposition isn't out of greed or believing I will become a millionaire off of it. It's simply a way to buffer retirement and get out of the trucking business sooner than later.  

I'm going off on all of this like I was with the Finklea property - until I found out I couldn't actually acquire it even tho I was under contract.  But yes, I put in a bid today for 80 grand.  The asking price is 87 grand.  I only wanted to come down a bit for the fact of the portion of the unusable part of the property that I really don't want to pay for - you consider these folks that own it got their money to sell off the easement to them, usually a good chunk of change or even royalty checks.  

I informed my realtor I would pay the full asking price if they aren't going to budge from it.  It likely is worth every penny, but since it's been sitting on the market for a while, I thought maybe a small reduction from the asking price wouldn't be terribly bad to ask for.  I don't want to insult the owners - people can get pissed about individuals low balling so much that they are basically asking for a handout - I've seen that happen and I really think I can make this property work to the extent that I'm willing to pay full asking price if necessary.  

The lots would be set up in the front and they wouldn't be driving over the gas pad area.  The sign saying no hunting, fishing, dogs, firearms, alcohol and vehicles subject to search? Coming down.  They can keep that crap and burn it . The gate? Coming down. I'll work with them about putting one up at the pad entrance, but I'm not having that nonsense on my property, if it indeed does become mine.  They've gotten away with doing whatever they please with it because the owners have done nothing with the property - they live in Atlanta Georgia. What a hellish place to live, no offense to anyone that lives there but I wouldn't live there if you paid me to do so.  

My plans would include a hiking trail along side the pad and into the rear of the property - there's probably 15 of the acres back there.  Get whatever machinery I need to clear a trail all the way around the perimeter and crisscrossing through it.  An extreme nature hike, I was back there and I know that would be a selling point.  And definitely build a pond. With a live stream running through the property, that is a no brainer. It's nothing more than digging a giant hole.  I wouldn't want to pay anyone to do that, operating trackhoes is fun lol.  I'm a bit rusty but I'm sure it would come back to me quickly.  

This property isn't quite as nice as Finklea granted - I like the massive pine trees shooting up 75 plus feet at the Finklea property, those are really my favorite trees.  This property doesn't have many pines, but I can deal with it. It has trees, that's the end of that story.  The trees aren't massive - but they're big enough to cast shade on everything and give it the nature feel. It's good enough.  I can plant pines if I really feel the need to.  

I came up with plans pretty quick.  I've gone through this several times in my mind at different properties to the point I can envision quickly how I would want a property set up.  This one I might have someone design it for paperwork's sake and get an actual blue print of where the pads go. I'll buy one of those wheel distance measuring devices that you just roll along the ground.  I'll need an accurate measurement of exactly how long that driveway is in order to be able to plan the location of the pads.  

I don't want to get too carried away here.  I've been let down several times now.  The beauty of this property is that it's only like 4 miles away from the house.  It's a rural developed area. Next door neighbors to the west have a massive cattle ranch going - but it's quite beautiful and serene.  To the east it's just another undeveloped piece of property with tall pines on it. Except at the front, there is a house there.  The entire street is a very nice area. Even the old mobile home is well kept and the lawn manicured.  Everyone takes care of their property.  And no, there is no HOA, it's just county land but people obviously take pride in their property.  I would do the same. Clean, meticulous, neat and tidy.  

Okay, sit back and wait for an answer.

Meanwhile, Brandon - one of James friends tho I consider him a friend now too - came over and showed me how to take apart my new AR15, clean it, oil it and put it back together.  He's a good teacher, he's into guns bigtime. It was like going to a classroom the way he was showing me how to do everything.  I have a working knowledge of that firearm now, something I didn't have before today. Don't worry, I haven't bought ammo for it yet, I wanted to learn how to take it apart and put it back together first.  It needed oiled for sure, the thing came from the factory with no visible oil on it.  So that was a nice mental diversion.

I've done nothing else today besides go with Taylor to do some grocery shopping. I'm awaiting word on a run for tomorrow, if there's going to be one I'd like to know soon in case it's a longer run.  Haven't been on one in a while - don't particularly want to go on one but I won't complain.  I need the truck fixed tho, that engine fan staying on constantly is very noisy.  

I think I'll stop this one here.

G'day.  

 Friday late-morning Typical morning when there is no work.  It was, I should say, until the new guy called.  "There's nothing wron...