Hick was working at the Beauty Shop half of the Double Hovel flip house(s) on Wednesday, when a lady stopped to talk to him. Let the record show that Hick has a generic HOUSE FOR SALE sign in the yard, but without any contact information.
"An old lady stopped today and asked me about the Beauty Shop."
"I really want to buy this little house! Will you sell it to me?"
"I told her I couldn't, that the two houses came together."
"How old was she?"
"I don't know. Maybe in her fifties."
Huh. Such an OLD LADY, stopping to ask about the Beauty Shop efficiency cottage, without having even seen the inside of it!
Anyhoo... Hick met the building inspector, who had already approved the main house when it was finished. He also approved the Beauty Shop efficiency cottage. Hick mentioned the 'old lady' wanting to buy just the Beauty Shop half.
"He said it's because they each ain't on 8000 square feet."
"How much is it?"
"About 10,000 square feet, together."
"I know there are houses on less than that! The yards look plenty big enough to me!"
"I guess it's their new standard."
"Why wouldn't they let you use the Beauty Shop as your business, like you wanted to in the beginning?"
"They said it's not zoned for business!"
"It was a BEAUTY SHOP! My mom went there for years!"
"Yeah. It was a beauty shop for over 50 years. I asked about that, and he said they had a "variance" back then."
Funny how things USED TO BE okay. But now they're not...
Anyhoo... we knew when we bought the property that the houses could not be sold separately. That's not a surprise. We'll see how much interest we get once the listing is up.
There's a lot in this world now thta used to be okay but now isn't. Jokes for instance. You can't tell jokes anymore because some snowflake somewhere is going to get offended even if they only hear it third hand.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the land sizes are supposed to be here. We work in square metres and I think the new minimum is 300 sqm, but don't quote me on that.
Yes, comedy has been ruined. Nobody can take a joke anymore.
DeleteIt's hard to believe, looking at these houses even in my pictures, that the yard area is not big enough to divide for two houses.
It will take just the right person to want two houses. But, someone with a parent or grown child will love the two houses. Or, maybe someone could rent to another person. I am not sure if that is legal.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that the sq footage of the houses is 100 sq ft. or the yard? It certainly looks like there is more yard than that!
Oops! I was supposed to type 8000 and 10,000 square feet, not the 800 and 1000. I need to go back and fix that.
DeleteHick said the inspector told him each house needed to be on at least 8000 square feet of property to be sold individually. And Hick estimated the whole yard, containing both houses, at around 10,000 square feet. Yet I see houses on that street on smaller lots than what ours would have, if a fence was put down the middle between the two.
Hick had several people calling him about the two houses back when he put it on Facebook. That's before the beauty shop was even started. They were families that wanted two houses, for adult children with their own family to live in one, and the parents in the other.
Yes, it's legal to rent one of the houses. There's a duplex across the alley from the main house. Hick checked with the city before we bought the Double Hovel, making sure of what we were allowed to do with the properties. An investor could buy it, and rent both.