Aargh.

[learnteach]

Day 43: Beard Stubble Manly, Still Not King.

Not that I'm trying, mind you. But the castle of this knight needs help; got the ticket this morning, made it to the door in a robe before the inspector left, convinced him I had a permit so I didn't need to stop work on the tree removal. Tree removal without permit, weeds, junk, damaged fence, all must be fixed/replaced/repaired by Nov. 8th.

Shoulda known it, with 3 houses for sale on the street.

STUMP!

Comments

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

Amusing anecdote:

A few days after replacing my roof, one of my neighbors handed me a card froma City of Oakland Building Inspector, and told me I needed to call him. So I did; the building inspector asked about the roof work I had done, which I characterized as "repairs". He said that because it was a repair job, I didn't need a permit. He also told me that I had to get the pile of debris disposed of, and that the complaint was called in because of the pile of debris. The guy two houses down, who enclosed a porch and did much other work without a permit, got nailed with a $1000-fine stop-work order.

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

Day 43: Beard Stubble Manly, Still Not King.

So does that make you still the prettiest? (g,d&r!)

Never.

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

Not enough Strawberry Bubblebath. Nor any iPods. I'm convinced that you can characterize the 9 Walkers by their music devices and choices:
Hobbits: White iPod shuffles: Frodo: Lamenting Irish Aires
Sam: British Army Songs
Pippin: Boy Bands/Girl Bands
Merry: Samantha Fox

Aragorn, son of Arathorn: Solar powered granola colored army surplus burner MP3 player, that is actually a tape player--that he rebuilds himself. Plays 30's swing, classical mood builders, and ....

(*you get the idea*)

[greatsword.livejournal.com]

Are you at the point where you need - or could use - other hands helping?

We've got Kat's family in town for the weekend, but I could probably cut free for a couple of hours at least.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it's time for a barn-raising...er, house-fixing party. I, as usual when my friends need me, will be out of town for six days right when you need help.

[vew.livejournal.com]

Do you want help ?

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Wow. Actual enforcement of that sort of thing? Good luck with the projects.

Enforcement of issues

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

Sure. You have to remember, in the current market, the houses here are very expensive. A real estate agent or developer is looking at a very big commission. So, in order to improve the selling price and speed, they will call the City and ask that the statues be inforced. Sunnyvale has a division with inspectors (as well as arborists, permit department, etc.) that goes around and checks, and issues little "Please fix this or we'll have to cite you" notices.

It's cynical to believe that driving factor is the real estate agents, but I've noted that I get these notices only during spurts of large real estate activity. At $400K, the commission is $20K, and the houses are selling in less than a month. As a corner house, I set the tone for the entire neighborhood. Last year I had two realtors come and ask me to fix my house up (neither offered any money, one tried to browbeat me, then sent a landscaping company.)

The notices and enforcement are the response of Sunnyvale to pressure from the realtors, I believe.

Off to continue stumping,
Mudboy

Re: Enforcement of issues

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Of course, Sunnyvale itself is motivated for houses to sell, particularly those inhabited by people who have been there a good long time, since the tax rates don't go up due to ... which prop was it? 15? A house that sells at a high level means a big increase in property taxes for the city. As you know. Sigh.

stumped

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

The wife told me that stumps aren't difficult, "just do a little bit every day and it will be gone". I asked her if she ever played with a stump before...no. After the six week, chainsaw, cable-chain come-a-long, two truckloads to the dump--- festival, she hasn't choosen to be involved in the last twenty-two stump removals (four to go!). I have all the tools now if you need any.