Select Models wrote:
Oh WOW... read your title... thought that house was on a sink whole and was goin DOWN!  But you're not in Florida... guess you're safe there...

I had the same thought.   

Hunter  GWPB wrote:
I think that the lot next door will not be empty for long.

Mr HOGs Poetry wrote:
The activity with jacking the house up and moving it would be fun to watch. What would scare me is what could be happening next in the lot. 6-8 feet from a construction zone isn't my dream lifestyle.

Well, the lot the house is on is tiny -- not wide enough to put anything on it.  But the building on the far side of the house is on the same tax lot as the house -- that building is an old & somewhat ugly brick building, probably built sometime between 1935 & 1955.  It's really outdated.  I suspect that the owner will eventually knock it down & erect a new 6-10 story building on the expanded lot.

Construction downtown is everywhere.  The lot behind me used to be a one story office building -- I could sit on my 2nd story deck & watch the Fourth of July fireworks.  But they knocked that building down & put up a 6 story apartment building.  That new building was built right up to the property line with zero clearance -- this was done with my permission.  For ~18 months, I had some scaffolding in my back yard, which allowed them to create the last 6 feet of building.  (Don't worry -- I was compensated -- my satellite dish is on their roof).

I'm a little worried about any construction on the lot of the moving house -- I'm not sure where the property line is, and I have only an 18" alley on the other side of my house.  I need some kind of alley between me & the new building in order to be able to get to my backyard and to wheel my trashcans out.  I hope there won't be a legal battle over that alleyway in the future.

There is a lot of construction in the area, and it's a mixed blessing.  Sure, construction is annoying, but it doesn't last forever.  Meanwhile, there are tons of restaurants, shopping, offices, etc. in a short walking distance -- the streetcar stops at the corner, and emergency vehicles can be here in 3 minutes or less.  Also, it kinda makes my house stand out more.

Robb Mann wrote:
That house must've been well built to be in good enough shape to be moved after all those years of neglect.

Don't know about that -- the house is kinda funky (in a good way) with obvious additions here & there.  But these guys have been here for a few weeks, and I can see that they are putting up bracing inside the house -- as if they were putting up 2x4 walls in the middle of each room, going from floor to ceiling.  And it's nice to see them pulling all the ivy off the building -- the thing was covered in ivy, so much so that you couldn't see where the windows were.

A few years ago, these same guys moved a much bigger Victorian a few blocks & left it in the back of a parking lot while a new high rise was built next door.  After the high rise as completed, they moved the Victorian back & rehabbed it.  They did a good job.  I have a picture of that house rolling down the street somewhere.

Hunter  GWPB wrote:
It is wise for people that are planning on doing construction, to get a land survey first.  If they don't, then you should before they start construction.  I know that you don't want to pay for a survey because it is they that are doing the work.  However, It is a major headache to deal with when they build something on your property. 

Some states have laws the permit acquired rights to be codified.  Adverse possession type things.  Not only can you acquire land by adverse possession (check with a surveyor in your state- or a lawyer) but you can also (in Pennsylvania anyway) acquire (prescriptive) easements from continued use.  This can get tricky.  In PA , if you have permission to use a passage way, you cannot gain permanent rights.  Only if you do not have permission.  There is also a time frame that comes into play.  Certain things can be established in a year.  Others may take seven to twenty one years.  In PA, it is 21 for a sure thing.

In the course of them moving this house, they made need access to your property.  Extract an easement from them.  In exchange for the temporary use of your property, negotiate a permanent access easement for 36 inches along the lot line on their property.  Or eight to ten feet to get a truck in there.

Yeah, I'm sadly aware about these things, especially adverse possession.  I bought a lot on Lake Oswego, and two different neighbors attempted to sue us for adverse possession of different chunks.  Both lawsuits failed.  In Oregon, the property needed to be adversely possessed for 10 years, and we were able to prove that neither neighbor met that (and other) criteria. 

I have no problem in obtaining a survey, but as soon as I do, I'd have to file an adverse possession lawsuit.  Right now, I can honestly say that I don't know where the property line lies and that I've had use of that side alleyway since I moved in in 2001.  I figure I'd have a good chance at winning an adverse possession lawsuit, but such a suit would permanently sour my relationship with the neighbor, and that's not a good thing, because we have looked out for each other in the past.

In the downtown area, all construction goes through a design review process, where neighbors get to review the building's plans & make comments before building permits are issued.  I figure I'll wait until the neighbors file for the design review & see what's what.  For all I know, they might design a suitable alleyway between our two buildings, so I may not need to file a lawsuit anyway.  We'll see.  And who knows -- this neighbor hasn't moved quickly in the past.

But you've put your finger on my biggest worry.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
But the owner got some money together, and at the end of the month, they are going to pick the house up & move it to a new lot about a mile south of here.  Once there, I'm told it'll get fixed up.  I'm glad about that.

But I'm not sure I'm happy about being next to an empty lot downtown.  I'm told that the chain link fence will be put back in place.  I'm also scared a bit -- that house is only 6-8 feet away from mine.

We'll see...

Better be there that day... just to make sure they take the right house

Lightcraft Studio wrote:
Better be there that day... just to make sure they take the right house

I'll be here.  There aren't too many outfits that can do this sort of project, and a few years ago, I saw them move a much bigger house over to a nearby parking lot, where it sat for over a year while a high rise was built next door to the original lot.  When the high rise was finished, they moved the old house back to its original location (and fixed it up).  I thought I created a thread here on it, titled something like "Here's something you don't see everyday", but I can't find it.  In it, I posted a picture of the house in transit, in the middle of the road, coming up to that parking lot at a blazing 3 miles per hour.

Those guys have been working on the old house for a few weeks already.  In theory, the impact to my property should be minimal.  There is a gate across our shared alleyway -- that'll have to be removed, and I'm told it'll be replaced immediately after the house leaves.  I also have a tree that hangs over the sidewalk -- they are going to have to trim it back to get the house around it, but that shouldn't be a big deal either.  But that's not to say that I'm not nervous.

Me & my camera will snap some pictures on The Moving Day.  I already have several "before" pictures, in case a lawsuit is possible.  I also have an e-mail from the owner reassuring me that he'll continue to maintain security for the lot & access for my backyard.  Still, we'll see.

Lightcraft Studio wrote:
Very cool. Its quite amazing that they can do something like that... and do it without the house falling apart during the process.

Yeah -- that house had been neglected for a dozen years, and the 3 porches were all rotting.  I would have guessed that the house would have crumbled before it moved a foot.

Hats off to the guys who were brave enough to dig under the house, put in some timber platforms, and lift the house above their heads.  I would have been extremely nervous about that.

I remember a while ago, some folks moved a huge Victorian carriage house that was maybe 3 times bigger than this one.  It was interesting because the move was temporary -- they were moving it out of the way of the construction of a new high rise in a neighboring lot.  They moved the carriage house up near here, stowed it in the back of a parking lot, and when the high rise was finished, they moved it back.  The difference -- the carriage house really didn't have to turn a corner to get to their parking spot, and my neighbor had to turn several corners (and cross over a freeway) -- hence, they cut my neighboring house in half.

rxz wrote:
I use to have a 100' lot with a small house to my north.  A couple years ago it was torn down and this 70' wide 3 story monster house was built.  It sucks.  Then last year a medium size house on my south was razed and a larger house replaced it.  I now free like I'm in a canyon.  At least my new neighbors are decent people.

Yeah -- the population is pretty dense around here.  It is, after all, downtown.  The advantages are that we are close to everything and that we can walk everywhere.  The disadvantage is that it's crowded.  I might have to build a dream house on a lake somewhere.