Bidding on a City-Owned building

Hey John! Some news: Just put a bid in on an awsome building the city is selling off. It's huge and currently going for cheap. (well as cheap as a 4 story building can go for.) I'm waiting for my lawyer to obtain some further info on it (like does it come with some sort of attached conditions like environmental clean-up etc) Anyhow. I haven't got all the details of dimentions yet, but outside it measures around 120' X 60' and has 4 floors with 15' cielings. It's zoned as Comercial/Industrial/Residential. So I'm thinking of using the main floor as the studio, the second floor as the offices / control room(s). The third floor (later on) as a production video/photo/art studio and the top floor as my home! hehehe. As soon as I can get my scanner working again I'll send up a pic of it along with some of the proposed floor plans I've been thinking of (I'm designing based on much of what I've seen here and on your site with a "unique" idea of having the control room in the center on the second floor.) I sure hope I can pick your brain for some ideas... - Tanlith -

gee..good onya mate...you really sound like a king :) ...four story building in the city...for studios...thats awesome man...happy bidding, and I hope you build a nice studio in there

hehehe... only reason I'm going this rout is the zoneing. I can live there so it'll double as my home (top floor). As for the studio it self, that will be a slow process... I talked to a buddy of mine (plays guitar for me) and I'm thinking of letting him move into the third floor till I decide to make it into the Video Studio (I figure about 2yrs from now) He'll be paying half the mortgage. And When I say the city's dumping it cheap I mean 250k cheap. I got 120k stashed away in my "home buyer's" RRSP Account - I figure I use that and get a regular mortgage my payments should be around $1200/mo + Utilities + Property Taxes (which last year were $5600) So it'll be a little expensive, but within my budget. And with lance paying me $900.00/mo + his utilities for the whole third floor which is around 8500sq feet. (like almost 7 times the size of his current appartment) I paced the building off and guesstimated it at 120' X 60' but it's actually 130' X 65' and has a working freight elevator that would be perfect for moving pretty much ANY equipment between floors :) We looked at the inside Yesterday and Rick (Another friend who's also going to be my contractor - really knows his stuff) said that we could gut the whole place if we wanted, as the outer walls don't rely on any of the inner structure for support. So with a little bit of work, my idea for the central "floating" control room may work out (of course I'll need support beams under the room, but it will be 15' off the floor with an arial view of all the studios. Rick's got me considering a glass floor :P Might be a wee bit too expensive, but we'll see. I gotta go... I'm getting a chubby just thinking about this! *runs off to find his girlfriend* - Tanlith -

Awesome find on a commercial building. Please, please, please, make sure you have a proper title search done by a company that is insured. Trust me :)

Please, please, please, make sure you have a proper title search done by a company that is insured.

he he he :):)

See... that's exactly why I like comming to these forums... people always seem to think of the little details that I tend to overlook! Thanks for the advice!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D Hey John! My contractor's been looking at some of the floor plans you've been comming up with here... now he's trying to talk me into hiring you outright so he can work with you. :D :D We gunna have to talk estimates here by the looks of it. :wink: - Tanlith -

Sounds great BUT :) Please, please, please, make sure you have a proper title search done by a company that is insured. isn't that so true frederic ;) cheers john

Hey John! My contractor's been looking at some of the floor plans you've been comming up with here... now he's trying to talk me into hiring you outright so he can work with you. :D :D

I would highly recommend that option.

thanks mate :)

Yeah... I just found out I was outbid by about 30k... I can afford to go 20k over the current bid then that's it for me. Although I'm totally in love with this building, I don't want to spend a whole 50k more than I had originally bid... I was planning on using that money on some of the renovations. My girlfriend's been doing a lot of foot work looking at other prospects for me, she's got a list of 5 other places I might like... I'm gunna go look at those and not let my hopes get too high on this one. (Heard a rumor from a friend that it's one of the "Big 3" that I'm bidding against... they're probably interested in tearing it down and putting something else up or using it as storage. ) - Tanlith -

who are the Big 3?? cheers john

The Big 3 are Ford, general Motors or now Daimler Chrysler. They do a lot of biz in Windsor and a few other places in Ontario, canada Winder is 15 minutes from me buy bridge or Tunnel Bryan Giles john, I am working on better pics, I have a friend brining his camera buy so I can shoot where I am at now with the construction. Of Course my New studio is Very Tidy and not in total Disarray. :P Thanks Guy

Hey! Lemme know when ya put em up! I'd love to see! So you're in the Detroit area eh? Sup, my american cousin? :D :D - Tanlith -

OK I decided on a different building. My GF took me around to look at some other prospects and I fell in love with a much smaller building, but it had more potential and is WAY cheaper. No one else is even interested in it, and we figure we should close the deal within 30-40 days at the most. It's an old 2 room school house in the county. About 10 min drive south of Windsor. I was able to get a copy of the floor plans, and redrew them in SmartDraw. (sort of... I'm still getting the hang of the program. I'm going to need to resurface the roof, and I'm considering changing it to a peaked roof. (It's flat). The building is on a 2.5 acre lot closer to the road, leaving a huge back lot. It's zoned Commercial/residential (The previous owner used it as a lot for his towing co.) I figure with a little landscaping, and TLC it'll be a sweet place! And I can build a small cosy house at the back of the lot. Over all it'll probably cost me about 60K less than the other building. I attached a JPG of the floor plan... the rooms (all of them) are a real decent size. The Boiler room / teacher's washroom has already had the wall removed between and would serve nicely as a lounge / reception area if I can open it up a bit more. I'll leave the washrooms as is (One was used as storage, but the basic plumbing is more or less intact) The office is a nice size, and considering I need to rebuild the roof, (Rick says it's not worth fixing) I should be able ro remove some / most of the center wall between the classrooms allowing me to centralize the control room there... This is definitely the one I'm going for! As soon as I get an idea for the floor plan I'll send it up! Oh yeah... the whole back wall is mostly window as you can see, and Rick said she could probably extend the building back another 30' for around 30-40K (Depending on what materials we decide on) if I want... what do you think? Instead of removing the center wall, should I add 30" to the back (that would be the window'd wall on the drawing) and put the control room there? I kinda like her idea, cause I'd like to have another room for doing media replication. - Tanlith -

wow - that looks cool - being on 2.5 ac you won't need to soundproof to hell :):) cheers john

Hehehe Yeah, the building is about 200' from the road with a 12' deep ditch between. I'm thinking of building a berm on my side of the ditch to deflect any noise from road traffic to above the cieling level... And I can always landscape the berm with shubs and a flower garden that has the studio name/logo. As soon as I decide on one :P And my closest neighbor accross the road is about 1.5 "city" blocks down the road... the rest of my lot is surrounded by farmland with a nice tree line all the way around the lot. :) Privacy. I'll have room to put my house near the back and maybe even put in a pool!!! - Tanlith -

A word of caution.... get an environmental analysis done on the property just to make sure the towing company didn't do oil changes, etc. straight into the ground water. I have seen this come back and bite buyers where they don't want to be bit many years after the purchase. Sounds like a great site otherwise.

Hey Tanlith... Word of Caution.. SHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Quite spilling too many details. Some of us Americans are relocating to Windsor soon. :) Seriously, though. My Wife and I have been considering the move for tax reasons. Plus property is sooooo much cheaper over there than here. Then there is the US Dollar vs. CAD Bryan Giles

LOL... It's not all it's cracked up to be... keep this in mind if you do move here: On your paycheck, expect to have about 35% removed for taxes / Unemployment Insurance / Canada Pention Plan (All mandetory) Example: On one of my paychecks, My Gross pay was around $1180.00 After all my deductions I took home around $795.00 The government took $385.00 off my check -- and I don't get medical coverage where I work. :P And everything you buy you have to add 8% for Provincial Sales Tax + 7% Goods & Service Tax so if you buy something for $100.00 you actually pay $115.00 Buy a car for $20,000.00? You pay another $3000.00 in taxes alone. Buy a house? You don't pay PST, but you do pay GST: House: $120,000 + 7% ($8400,00) And since you finance those, you pay your intrest rate on TOP of that :P If you're over 40yrs old? Forget about getting a 25yr mortgage... not too many banks will do it. 15yr mortgage maybe... 20 if you're lucky... - Tanlith -

and I don't get medical coverage where I work.

I thought you guys had government paid health insurance for everything.

Hey Tanlith, let's compare that to Michigan Prices. I Own a business, so there isn't any Payroll tax to take. My Business shall remain in America. I use everytax break I can find and I usually reduce my taxable income by up to 80% in any given year. So My paycheck is a tad different. I have no plans to change that type of arrangement, but I do plan to Purchase a residence in CA and retain my current residence as a mailing address. This is owned free and clear and is what I am slowly converting to a studio till I am ready for my final one. (There is a 200x160 plot of land around the corner I am trying to get so I can build my Final Studio.) Buy a car in MI for 20K and you pay $1200 in tax, so you buy from the US and drive in Canada Buy a house here and you pay no tax till you sell. So We are better off there. So yes you have some advantages, but check this. A House listed in Windosr for 349K is 250K for me so even with tax I make out, 2ndly, a house worth 349K in your neck of the woods sells for about 700K in mine. SO although taxes are a little higher, I still make out becaus eproperty is cheaper. And Canada is not as Racial as The Metro Detroit area. Bryan Giles

Rking401 wrote:

and I don't get medical coverage where I work.

I thought you guys had government paid health insurance for everything.

Doesn't cover prescriptions; glasses or certain things in the hospital... It just garentees you a bed and the major stuff... heh a prescription for antibiotics for my throat infection last summer cost me $117.00 - Tanlith -

So we are going over today to start looking at some houses. Bryan

Cool... here's some neighborhood you want to avoid: Anyplace West of Ouellette Everything between Walker Rd and Pillette & Tecumseh Rd and Riverside ie: W --- Tecumseh Rd---P a i l (BAD AREA) l k (CRACK ALLEY) l e e r ---Riverside Dr----- t t R e d Nice places to look: Aything East of the Casino (Further east you go, the nicer it gets... except for that area between Walker & Pillette) Anything East of Jefferson Ave Anything in "South Windsor" Large subdivision area on Dougall Ave (Follow Ouellette away from the river -- after the overpass you'll go around an "S" curve... at that point you'll actually be on Dougall... aything in the vicinity of Norfolk is real nice.) - Tanlith -

$1180.00 After all my deductions I took home around $795.00 The government took $385.00 off my check -- and I don't get medical coverage where I work. :P And everything you buy you have to add 8% for Provincial Sales Tax + 7% Goods & Service Tax so if you buy something for $100.00 you actually pay $115.00 Buy a car for $20,000.00? You pay another $3000.00 in taxes alone. Buy a house? You don't pay PST, but you do pay GST: House: $120,000 + 7% ($8400,00) And since you finance those, you pay your intrest rate on TOP of that :P If you're over 40yrs old? Forget about getting a 25yr mortgage... not too many banks will do it. 15yr mortgage maybe... 20 if you're lucky...

Its no worse, no better here in the states. Last year, I paid $9800 in property taxes to the town I live in. I paid about $90K in federal, state and local income taxes, even after deducting all the interest I pay on my mortgage, and deducted house repairs, deducted my wife as a dependant, etc. Sales tax in NJ is 6% I believe, and I could go on. I have believed for a long time that I personally support the federal government. With what I pay, I should at least have a senator take me out to lunch twice a year as a thank you. *sigh*