Mastiff
Gunfighter
- Messages
- 7,181
- Points
- 30
[RANT]
Yeah, it's been a busy week so far... but I have been beset by one fellow who simply doesn't "get it". You know... the one who needs to have it written on a nail and pounded into his skull to get "it" into his head.
The set-up: It's a county auction, and a parcel here in our UGB, about 2/3 of an acre, goes up for sale for $7,000. That's cheap. No one bids. Into the mind of Mr. Don't Get It... *bing* I can get land cheap!
First encounter: I answer the phone, it's our friend, and he has questions. It doesn't matter that it's in the county, it doesn't matter that, get this, the MOST LEVEL SITE is a 20% slope, he wants to put a mobile home on it. I tell him that before he gets the wheels off, it'll be 400 yards down the hill onto the railroad tracks.
Second encounter: I answer the phone again. Our guy has now seen the land... have I seen the view? Sure I have, I know the parcel, it's a beautiful view. Why? Because it's 200 feet above every house in town! And why did you have trouble driving up to the land? Well... the drive is at a 35% grade! I still don't know any of the county building regs, nor where he could put septic. Can I annex? Sure... it's a couple grand, though.
Just now: I actually took a mylar topo map and overlayed it on the assessor map. Then made him a copy. What are all those lines? They're contours... it shows how steep the slope is... What? What does it mean when the property is all black like that? Well, it means it's so steep you can't get the lines far enough apart... Oh. So I can't... No. And I can't... No. And if... ASK THE COUNTY!
The guy was nice enough, but I finally just said, "Look, if it's cheap you want, this isn't the parcel for you. Putting a house there that won't fall off the hill will be very... VERY expensive. He just took off to go look at it again... he just doesn't "get it". And frankly, I don't have all day to try and give it to him.
[/RANT]
Yeah, it's been a busy week so far... but I have been beset by one fellow who simply doesn't "get it". You know... the one who needs to have it written on a nail and pounded into his skull to get "it" into his head.
The set-up: It's a county auction, and a parcel here in our UGB, about 2/3 of an acre, goes up for sale for $7,000. That's cheap. No one bids. Into the mind of Mr. Don't Get It... *bing* I can get land cheap!
First encounter: I answer the phone, it's our friend, and he has questions. It doesn't matter that it's in the county, it doesn't matter that, get this, the MOST LEVEL SITE is a 20% slope, he wants to put a mobile home on it. I tell him that before he gets the wheels off, it'll be 400 yards down the hill onto the railroad tracks.
Second encounter: I answer the phone again. Our guy has now seen the land... have I seen the view? Sure I have, I know the parcel, it's a beautiful view. Why? Because it's 200 feet above every house in town! And why did you have trouble driving up to the land? Well... the drive is at a 35% grade! I still don't know any of the county building regs, nor where he could put septic. Can I annex? Sure... it's a couple grand, though.
Just now: I actually took a mylar topo map and overlayed it on the assessor map. Then made him a copy. What are all those lines? They're contours... it shows how steep the slope is... What? What does it mean when the property is all black like that? Well, it means it's so steep you can't get the lines far enough apart... Oh. So I can't... No. And I can't... No. And if... ASK THE COUNTY!
The guy was nice enough, but I finally just said, "Look, if it's cheap you want, this isn't the parcel for you. Putting a house there that won't fall off the hill will be very... VERY expensive. He just took off to go look at it again... he just doesn't "get it". And frankly, I don't have all day to try and give it to him.
[/RANT]