So...my home is basically ruined.

Insurance company has fully covered their butts with paperwork and contracts... This would be a waste of my time.


Anyways... Part of what happened above and something the OP or others that may run into similar situations should know. When you get that first check which likely for most people needs to be deposited "right now" to cover contractors fees, materials, whatever. By endorsing that check and depositing it into your bank account you agree to all terms in the settlement, some of which may not be vividly clear in the wording of the cover letter attached to said check. This is how they can get away with not covering certain damages, stipulations for cheaper materials, which contractors would be acceptable to them, time frame for work completion, etc.

Not that anybody I know keeps a lawyer on retainer but you may need to have legal advice before signing that check. Many can't afford lawyer's fees and that's how they get stuck.


As I said, Watch your back!

 

Hmm...thanks for posting that. That's a good thing to keep in mind. I have a lawyer. I better make a phone call on Monday. One of my best friends is an insurance adjuster so I've also been keeping him informed of everything as it's been happening.

And so far....no available housing in my area. There are houses but none that are willing to rent without a year lease.

 

No family in the area with enough room. We have some friends who could (and probably would) let us stay with them. We talked about that and coincidentally, we're going out with them tonight but we are pretty good friends with them and we'd be concerned that we would be an imposition on them for that long and we'd hate for it to affect our friendship. We may have to get an apartment. We could easily find one but can we have our dogs there?

 

I wonder if you could get an rv or a trailer and put it right on your own property

 

Yeah, that sounds good, e.....

How many dogs do you have, Wizard?

Most rented places do not want any animals in this state anyway. I don't even know what state you are in.

I would be concerned, too, at staying at a friend's for so long and being imposing......or something like that......unless they are really close friends almost like famly....that is tough. You may have to board the dogs if you cannot find a place to rent with them....but e has a good idea there.....

 

That's a good idea. We thought of that this afternoon. It would be perfect but the rental place here in town only has one and it's $225 a day. Maybe something else is available in a different city. I better make a few calls.

 

$225.00 a day? OUCH!

Weren't you talking about moving here the other day, anyway? What happened with that?

 

Add to that you have to find a lawyer that a) gives a shit b) knows what he is doing

 

^^^ That too

 

one storm here a few years ago, took off 1/2 my back roof with a micro-burst. the rains also killed 4 people on the road in flash flood. Ive yet to remodel the kitchen it totaled, it about took out the other kitchen too since there was no roof ..... and asshole roofers with drug habits didnt help matter either..
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-dead-in-pittsburgh-flash-flooding/
here is the roofer that ripped me off and then killed himself in jail.. once a good friend.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/w...y-jail-death-was-suicide/stories/201204160216

 

Still planning on moving at some point. Interestingly enough, there is a blessing in disguise with all of this. I was talking to a realtor earlier today about finding a house and during our conversation she looked my house up on the computer. After telling her everything that is supposed to get done she did some calculations and figured our house would at least double in value after the repairs...maybe even go up more than that. So that may make it easier to move where we want to go in the future. She wants to come look at it once it's all finished. She also gave us a few tips to make it more desirable. For instance, the current ceilings have been lowered. The insurance company said we can have them put back this way or have them raised to the original height. The realtor said to raise them for sure.

 

Yes, of course, you would want to get best dollar price for your house before you sold it and moved....so this damage just occurred?

 

Damn!! I'm pretty sure we're going to use the restoration specialists that came out with the adjuster. They went through the whole place together and are on the same page. They specialize in exactly this sort of thing. And I think the insurance co. is going to pay them directly (hopefully) so I bet they won't get all of their money until the city inspector says everything passes city code.

 

Part of my policy was that they found suitable housing and that included my remaining two animals. Some of the places they wanted to put me were a joke... But I wasn't laughing. I ended up in a dump across the street from the burned out house. Still not laughing... But anyways it was on their plate to find a place for me, my cat and bird.


No dog. He didn't make it out alive, along with the other kitties.


Anyways, did this happen while you were out of town or since you've been back?

 

Yup. Earlier this month when I was in California. But we didn't realize exactly how bad it was until later.

 

you can probably buy a mobile home sale-by-owner used for pretty cheap. i'm guessing that's still at least $5000-$9000 though. you might have to take out a loan if you don't have the money in the bank for it.

if you can get the interest rate on a loan low enough, and buy a mobile home with good resale value at a good price, you can sell it when you're done.

the money you get from resale could off-set most of your costs

you might want to see if there is anyone with an rv that they can loan to you for a few weeks while you work on buying a trailer

sometimes people even have spare trailers too, someone you know might loan you one for a few months

 

I think the Wizard was talking about buying some property somewhere with no home yet, so wouldn't you need one of these trailer homes anyway, if you are still considering the property?

 

buy a used one

then sell it when youre done

all you need is a garden hose for water..an extension cord for power...

you could probably still use the house bathroom


city bylaws are weird though...each city is different..i know here i could do that until a neighbour complains then theyd say get rid of the trailer you cant live in it in a residential area

 

I don't think I would be allowed to pull a mobile home on to the property. I honestly don't even know for sure if living out back in an rv would be against some city rule. At our old house, we had my father-in-law staying in his rv in our driveway for a few weeks long visit. But that was on a gravel road at the edge of city limits. This house is in the heart of the historical part of the city with era-restored houses all over the place. I don't know how it would fly here.