You're sure getting your share of natural disasters huh? Let us know you haven't gone off the deep end.
 

Nah...I'm still here.

We had a bit of roof damage from the ice and snow. Its gonna cost a couple thousand to fix which isn't too bad. I've got a couple clients I might be able to get to do the repairs in exchange for some sign work (I hope).

How did you fare Down South? Get much snow?
 

Nah. We have two buildings on the lot. The newest one is one of those metal jobs, built in the early 80's. The one with the roof damage was built in the 1940's. It was built out of cinderblock and has a flat roof.

After the flood, we concentrated all of our monies on repairing the metal building and purchasing "the right tools for the job." We just cleaned out the cinderblock building with thoughts of renting it out since we wouldn't be using it any more.

To give a little history....

My father bought both buildings (9000 sq.ft. total) and the lot for $85k back in 1991. At that time, it was appraised for $145k. After the flood, it was appraised for nearly $300k.

The flood was a fluke at worst.

If it weren't for the cost of the flood damage, we would have had the entire property mortgage paid for next year.

This brings up a good point while I'm thinking about it. Right now, we are paying about $1000 per month on the original mortgage. That's the same price my father was paying for rent back in 1982 for 3500 sq.ft. at the previous location. In 1990, the landlord raised the rent to $1300 a month. That is when my father started looking for a new location. Three doors down, the place where we are now had been up for sale for a few years. They were asking for $135k. Dad offered them $85k and they took it.

So, here is my father with more than twice as much space on a larger lot and owning his own place for what he used to pay in rent (before the increase). While he got a great deal, he made a mistake. He forgot about the costs of upkeep.

One of the great things about rent is that if the furnace or AC breaks, the landlord has to pay for the repairs. If the roof leaks, the landlord pays to fix it. The landlord is responsible for keeping the asphalt parking lot in good repair. Well, when something broke down at the new location, it got repaired when "he got around to it." It got repaired if he had the money to fix it.

In short, a lot of things didn't get fixed.

So why do we stay? Simply, we don't have the cash to go anywhere else. We're house rich and cash poor.

After the flood, we were told by the Feds to start looking for a new location and that they would help with low interest loans. Well, we looked and looked. To get what we had or at least needed was going to cost us 3 times as much as what we had been paying. Plus, we would be paying it for at least 20 years.

When it all came down, we had no choice but to stay put.

Make no mistake. We're still looking. But, we are going to take our time and plan ahead. When we do it, we are going to build what we want, the way we want, and where we want. But, we are going to have the money in hand when we do.

Meanwhile, we are going to look at it like a lot of folks look at old cars. They may break down a bit more often, but what we spend in repairs is still cheaper than what we would pay for something else.