New Floating Home Listing

This is a ‘pocket’ listing, and won’t be on RMLS for a couple of months. If you want to know more about it, email or call me. I can arrange showings and have additional photos. This is a real opportunity to own a premiere slip in Tomahawk Moorage along with a cool floating home. Great for vacation or full time livng.

 

Getting mentally ready to sell your home

Phillip Phillips talks about making this place your home…..so how do you accomplish that on a budget?  Selling your home is one of the biggest financial moves you will make in your life so be prepared to give it some time and energy.
In my floating home world, we say POWER WASH!  But in my land market place I say, wash your windows, steam clean your carpets, box up everything and put it someplace else in neat stacks, Do a clean sweep of all your floors, wax and shine, paint your wood work, buy a box of magic erasers and use them on walls, door jambs, cupboard doors. Clean your bathrooms, hide the plunger…..did I say HIDE THE PLUNGER??? Well, hide the plunger.
Oh, you have a dog? I love dogs! But…..vacuum every single day. Wash the dog bed, clean out the dog bowls, and for Heaven’s sake, pick up the dog poop in your yard….every day!
Do small repairs. I know they are small items, but buyer’s don’t want to take them on. Tighten the hinges, oil the squeaks, regrout or caulk the bathrooms, fix the running toilet.
Look at the front door of your house! Paint it (black is good, or red…) wash the porch, sweep the cob webs, remember…you are inviting in an investor who wants to see themselves living in your home. They are bringing you the money. Make them feel welcome!

Pictures are important listing tools

We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words……just feel your heartstrings when you watch this Budweiser ad……can’t you just feel the connection between that pony and his trainer? Does it raise a lump in your throat? And do you feel joy when they get reunited?

Think photos when you list your house. And what makes a good photo? Getting ready! Put on that old driver’s license smile, turn to your best side (is it looking over your shoulder?), and get dressed up. Show all the best parts about yourself, er… I mean, your house.

Here are some tips:

• Have your agent take LOTS of pictures. RMLS offers 16 pictures, but other sites offer a way your agent can upload additional photos. The more the merrier.
• Review the pictures for quality. The biggest complaint I hear is poor lighting…..don’t use dark photos. If your agent is not able to enhance the pictures, spring for a professional. And make those photos WIDE angle! Think content….no back side of the recliner, no half of the refrigerator, no boxes in a dark garage.
• OK, you know that Bathrooms and Kitchens are the biggest area of interest. Take lots of pictures of these rooms and highlight the best qualities. Store your stuff!!! No one wants to see the plaster pig on your kitchen counter….they want to see a clean, light, work area with lots of storage and work space.
• No one will want to see your listing if there are zero pictures…….see item #1.

But, your Realtor can’t fix everything. You make the biggest difference. Getting ready to list and sell? Make a committment! Pack up, get rid of all clutter!  More on this topic to come!

 

How does a Loan Lock work when financing a home?

More on Houseboat Floats

 This is a picture of a major float repair during construction. This house is quite large, and even though it is older and somewhat dated it is a premium floating home considering the locaton, size and style of the home. Once under contract for sale, the float inspection revealed that some major work needed to be done to the float. Two logs were missing and needed to be installed beneath the side decking (which you can see here). Animals had intruded into the duct work and insulation beneath the home, causing a lot of damage including opening up the heat ducts so that heating the house became difficult. Of course the racoons were toasty in their little cave beneath the floor. Although the stringers were not in bad shape, opening up the entire first floor of the home to do the other repairs made replacing the stringers with steep beams a costly but natural decision for a home of this size and cost.

The contractor opened the first floor inside the building, removing all flooring and kitchen appliances. He was able to leave the kitchen cabinets in place to work around them. While the floor was open, he installed all new steel stringer. This work is able to be done without opening the floor, but working on the ducts for the heating and AC system, plus adding 4 inches of solid insulation board, made opening the floor necessary. This work is very dangerous if done from the water. But, it can be done. As with all other floating home work, the floating home communities have their own set of companies who do the repairs and construction.

Once the floor was open, the contractor added the insulation. He inserted the steep stringers, and then removed the old wooden stringers. He ’pinned’ the stringers to the logs and the house using large steel pins or screws that are made for that purpose. Pinning stablizes the float and the home.  He added the two new logs, one of each side of the house. As you can see from the picture, the logs have been planed off on the top side to make a flat place for the stringers to rest and be pinned to. If you recall, these old logs only rot where they are exposed to air and that takes years. These logs should be good for at least 20 years before requiring any further work.  If there is evidence of deterioration, the logs themselves can be repaired by removing the rot area and resurfacing that portion of the log with other materials.

Floating Foundations Basic

Tango

Most people wonder what makes a floating home stay afloat? And believe me, the float of a floating home is the one thing that makes buyers….and sellers….nervous! Why? Buyers are fearful about buying a home that will require expensive and mysterious repairs to the foundation, and they can’t even see it because it is under water. Sellers fear that they will have to spend a fortune on repairing deferred maintenance on the float when they sell it.

The ‘float’ of a floating home refers to the home’s foundation. Typically the float is constructed of large logs that are bound together with stringer, large cuts of lumber that run across the logs and which are pinned to the both the logs and the house beneath the floor. This float actually sits in the water. Did you know that old growth logs, submerged in water, don’t rot? Only the part that is exposed to air is subject to rot.

The sub floor of the home is built right on top of the float…..and yes, insulation is important. Thick, hard sheets of foam insulation are best. The hard core type holds its shape, and is not friendly to river critters who like to find their home beneath your home. Just like on land, the foundation of a floating home is really important. It needs to be balanced, sturdy and able to support the home that is sitting on top. More to come!

Floating Home Log Floats

 One type of floating home foundation would be a log and stringer float. These floats support and stabilize the floating home. They have a life of about 40 years, but they can be repaired and updated throughout the life of your home to extend their life. The repairs can include replacing or adding new logs, replacing one or all of the stringers, adding boyancy floatation in the form of bails of foam.

When you buy a floating home, with all the hopes and possibilities attached to your purchase, you will want to have your float inspected by a floating home inspector who can rate the float of your new home and give you an evaluation that will allow the home and float to be used as collateral for a mortgage. On pitfall that buyers and sellers are experiencing today is that the building codes have changed since 2008. A float that may have gotten a positive rating in 2008 may no longer be constructed in a way that is ‘financable’. This means that the float will require some updating to pass the current codes. The updating can include adding floor insulation, increasing the number of stringers, adding a log or two and other expensive but important repairs.

The message here is clear. The purchase of your new floating home needs to be subject to a float inspection, and the buyer’s approval of that inspection. If you are paying cash, you still need to know what it is you are buying. If you ever want to sell, you will be responsible for assuring the next buyer that they have a solid float. When it comes to doing the repairs, get two or three bids from contractors who understand floating home construction and know how to bring a servicable float up to current code expectations. Depending on the extent of the refurbishment, the cost can be up to $70,000……Yes! more than a new float! The work is dangerous and requires the use of several different contractors who specialize in the various aspects of the repair.

Floating Homes | euromaxx – YouTube

Floating Homes | euromaxx – YouTube.  Great Video about floating homes in Europe. Very different from our Portland Floating Home Community!

2012 Floating Home Outlook

Sailing for the Cure

Sailing

Time for a “Cool Change”….today we Sail for the Cure. And who do I remember as we set those sails? Marjorie Jorgensen (my Mom), Carmen Jorgensen,  Linda Michels, Mimi Alkire, Liz Diehl and so many others.  Make a difference today.