Evolve or die

[94touring]

If you can wait just a few years, all those submerged houses will be priced at much more reasonable levels...

We'll be waiting awhile.

[MiniDave]

Oh come on, one pic could have been taken at high tide, the other at low tide.....

It may not happen in our lifetimes,, but unless the temp change moderates it will happen. There's a reason there were inland seas in the US......most of the country from Missouri to Colorado was under water.

I'm not trying to stir up a debate about man's impact on the climate change, but only to point out that over the millennia climate change has happened.

[94touring]

Yes once upon a time everything was underwater because it's a natural cycle of the earth. It won't happen in our lifetime.

[Jims5543]

It's been a while gents.  (I have been trying to type this for over an hour now, I keep getting interrupted)

I have been slammed busy with the business. I decided to make a lot of changes. I am no longer in the field, which is a bummer and I already feel it effecting me physically, in a bad way. All this sitting every day is killing me, I hope to be back in the field 2 days a week very soon. I also need to start adding cardio into my exercise routine.

I hired back on an ex-employee from before the 2008 crash, he is extremely reliable and very honest. The tech has changed a lot the basic principles have not, I spent nearly a month training him on the tablet and software. He is not tech savvy so it took a while.  LOL!

I also did something crazy, I purchased a small stand alone commercial building. I also had an education as to how predatory commercial lending is.  From the loan broker who claimed he mentioned in passing he collects a 1% fee at closing, but never submitted his fee for the HUD. The day of the closing he started blowing up my phone and email demanding payment. I was livid!

The bank that wrote my loan demanded I move all my business banking to them.  I opened accounts with them to satisfy part of their list of demands, I am not 100% banking with them. Their nearest branch is 30 miles from me, my current bank is across the street from me.  I am not changing banks.
The Insurance company (Farmers) for my building insurance also demanded I move all my other insurance to them. That actually worked out for the better, he is saving me a lot of money.

Here is a picture of the office with my wife and I hogging up the front parking with our Mini's. 1,400 square feet. Concrete Block construction (1970's) with a concrete roof. I just had the roof covering/waterproofing replaced.  I also have a window company coming to replace all the large windows with impact windows (Hurricane in Florida thing) and I am shopping for Bahama Shutters for the small windows. I am pumping a lot of money into it. One of my biggest problems when renting was hurricanes, I am making this building a bunker so I never have to worry about a bad storm.

[Jims5543]

Yes once upon a time everything was underwater because it's a natural cycle of the earth. It won't happen in our lifetime.

I have been measuring Mean High Water Lines (MHWL) in the same area of Florida for over 30 years. There is no change in elevation, zero. I have data in my office going back 60 years, no change.

I can go online https://www.labins.org/  and pull old data from 100 years ago, no change.

If we were in such a perilous situation with water rise, no insurance company would insure all these waterfront properties, furthermore, the elite that push this entire theory on us all own waterfront somewhere in the world.  Their actions say there is no threat.

I have not seen in my lifetime of measuring to millimeter accuracy any change in water elevations. Some neighborhoods I work in the roads are 3 feet elevation, MHWL in this part of Florida is -0.43'  a MHWL is a legal line that is mapped out and has to be able to stand up to scrutiny from Courts, and Municipalities.  When we locate that line on waterfront properties, it has to be concise. Building setbacks are established via this line, in other words, it is not something we pull out of thin air.

[94touring]

Yes once upon a time everything was underwater because it's a natural cycle of the earth. It won't happen in our lifetime.

I have been measuring Mean High Water Lines (MHWL) in the same area of Florida for over 30 years. There is no change in elevation, zero. I have data in my office going back 60 years, no change.

I can go online https://www.labins.org/  and pull old data from 100 years ago, no change.

If we were in such a perilous situation with water rise, no insurance company would insure all these waterfront properties, furthermore, the elite that push this entire theory on us all own waterfront somewhere in the world.  Their actions say there is no threat.

I have not seen in my lifetime of measuring to millimeter accuracy any change in water elevations. Some neighborhoods I work in the roads are 3 feet elevation, MHWL in this part of Florida is -0.43'  a MHWL is a legal line that is mapped out and has to be able to stand up to scrutiny from Courts, and Municipalities.  When we locate that line on waterfront properties, it has to be concise. Building setbacks are established via this line, in other words, it is not something we pull out of thin air.

I think beach erosion gets confused with the planet is doomed we're all dead in 6 years if we don't eat kale and use paper straws. I'm probably one of the few people  who have ever swam the entire coast line of NC and SC in the late 90s doing beach erosion surveys for the state. I swam for 2 years straight taking measurements, summer AND winter.  Those were the days lol. Houses falling into the ocean doesn't really correlate to rising sea waters. The water level stays the same but the coast line changes, particularly during big weather events. 

[Jims5543]

Agree 100% I also did a lot of coastline studies in Florida for erosion control, my most memorable project was Patrick AFB in The Cocoa Area of Florida.  We performed cross sections of the beach from the east edge of A-1-A to 500 feet into the ocean, it took us 6 months to complete that study, which I laughed at because the data we collected was almost immediately useless as the sand is always shifting.

Erosion is not sea level rise.  One funny thing that I noticed, I go back to the property corner I set at the surface of the ground 20+ years ago, its 6-12" below the surface, there are rare moments when a homeowner witnesses this, I joke with them that the land is rising faster than the sea levels.

[Jims5543]

I just received a phone call from a local pizza chain that has been blowing up in popularity. They have 4 locations and are adding more, they also blew up on SM nationally have have had people come to this area from all over the county to interview their pizza girl who has gone viral.

They want to know if I want to sell the building I just purchased in December.

After my first 1 week vacation in 3 years a few weeks ago and the subsequent nightmare of trying to catch back up to everyone, not having a day off in 3 weeks after. I have been questioning what I am doing lately. I am probably financially OK to retire right now. This past week has been rough for me and today has been the worst, I did not sleep all weekend due to stress from this business.


Some good friends of ours (the same ones we were on vacation with) purchased a $4 Million building last year.  They just got offered 9 Million to sell it to a burger chain. They are seriously considering selling the building and moving their 3 businesses to another location.

I am in the same boat, if I can double my money on this building now (that was my 5-10 year plan) I might go for it. I doubt they will go for it, it cannot hurt to try.  If they do, I will downsize this company to 1 crew and 1 drafter and lose a few problematic clients to just stay busy but not slammed like I am now.

[Jims5543]

"This is the smartest financial decision you have made in years" - My wife when talking about this today.

She is right, I need to stick with the plan, we have a 5 year restructure on the Commercial Loan, then in another 5 years there is a balloon payment.

The rent I am paying on the building to the LLC I formed to take ownership is over double the mortgage payment.  The goal was to pay down the mortgage at the restructure, then pay off the building at the balloon. Then decide what to do with the building after that. I will be 70 and I will not be working full time anymore. I could either keep it as a rental property or cash out of it.

That said, I was debt free before this, having this loan bothers me, I was supposed to be winding down a little when I turned 60, I was going to start working 4 days a week and taking every Friday off, that was killed when I purchased the building.

I am not sure what I want to do right now, If this cat offered me 2X what I paid for the building it was be very tempting to sell now and skip the 5-10 year wait. I guess lets see what he has in mind, it is easy to say no.