Real estate General topic

[Muhammad]

I saw a video of a guy with a pump and a fire hose fed from his pool. Probably figured he could just jump in the pool if things got too hot.

He was non renewed and applied to Fair Plan which said ok but the oak trees have to go.

Yeah if it's a native oak, it's protected over 8" diameter I believe. So the irony there is "we won't issue your policy unless you make your property less like California" ... next thing will be telling those Malibu lots to get rid of the water if they want a renewal.

 

[Muhammad]

But back on topic, in my neighborhood prices are at an all time high but time on the market is much longer than it was when interest rates were low. I was expecting a drop in prices but nobody wants to sell when they have low interest mortgages and low tax basis.

Many of the properties I see coming on the market were long term rentals or were owned by people who passed (every house my family members have bought has met this criteria). Most families who own around here are stuck in a good way.

 

[2manyrocks]

Haven't followed all of Nashville's sub real estate markets, but the one I still continue to follow has the same house listings still sitting for at least 60 days. But it's not comparable to the LA situation.


edit: just watched yet another interview involving Makas Dasigenius who saved his house pumping water from a pool using what looked to be this 1" clear water gas pump from Harbor Freight. https://www.harborfreight.com/1-in-79cc-gasoline-engine-clear-water-pump-35-gpm-63404.html

 

[BackRoad]

Mr. Muhammad, are you anyway in jeopardy with the fires?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I saw a video of a guy who had hoses and cheap lawn sprinklers set aside just for this reason. He hooked them up, placed them on his roof, and evacuated. House is fine.

Some people just know how to survive... Others wait for someone to save them.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

But back on topic, in my neighborhood prices are at an all time high but time on the market is much longer than it was when interest rates were low. I was expecting a drop in prices but nobody wants to sell when they have low interest mortgages and low tax basis.

Many of the properties I see coming on the market were long term rentals or were owned by people who passed (every house my family members have bought has met this criteria). Most families who own around here are stuck in a good way.

Inventory is low, new home builds have lagged for a decade, and yep, all those folks who bought with 2-3% rates a decade ago, aren't going to budge to take on 7%. Also, a large portion of sales, are to investors... Who are willing to rent you a home.

We are in a different situation. Our place is paid for, and we are paying cash for our next property... But there isn't much out there, and some people are asking much too much for what they have. We don't have to move, so we will wait.

 

[WinterDeere]

I saw a video of a guy who had hoses and cheap lawn sprinklers set aside just for this reason. He hooked them up, placed them on his roof, and evacuated. House is fine.

Some people just know how to survive... Others wait for someone to save them.

Agreed in principle, but I'm not sure how applicable that statement is to this case.

I'd be surprised if water and electric service remained functional long enough for this to be a viable solution, in this disaster. If on a private well, I'd guess your best bet is a portable generator back fed to the well pump circuit, but that only lasts as long as the generator fuel, and is also susceptible to heat and smoke interfering with operation.

If you're on borough water, you'd at the mercy of that system, which appeared to be severely over-taxed and nearly non-functional during the disaster.

 

[2manyrocks]

I suspect the ones that were able to pump water to save their homes had pools as a water source independent of the city.

Now wondering which ones will get prosecuted for sticking around to save their homes in spite of the mandatory evacuation orders issued because the people who were supposed to protect the community from a mass fire event failed to do so.

Or they get fined for using gas powered equipment to pump water.

Or California finds some other novel way of punishing the innocent.

 

[paulsharvey]

Was just looking at some traffic studies, and the county east of me, has an average annual traffic growth of 3.9%. Now, is traffic strictly 1 to 1 linked to population, no, but they are pretty dang closely linked. That's pretty high growth.

 

[WinterDeere]

I suspect the ones that were able to pump water to save their homes had pools as a water source independent of the city.

That could work if you're sticking around to manage water usage and keep the thing fueled.

I had envisioned the case of someone setting up the rig and then evacuating, in which case they'd empty a 15,000 gallon pool in just 25 hours with five 2 GPM sprinklers. Of course, a gasoline or diesel powered generator is still going to be fuel capacity-limited.

The devil is in the details.

 

[2manyrocks]

The guy whose video I watched appeared to only be using a hose with a fire nozzle and no sprinklers. He also appeared to be using the 1" HF clear water pump that has a very fuel efficient 79cc engine and a 35 gallons per minute rate of flow rating.

If someone lives in a rural area that doesn't have much fire protection service, but they have a source of water, to me this suggests that having one of the gas water pumps and hoses needed could potentially save someone's house that might otherwise be lost.

 

[kenmbz]

That could work if you're sticking around to manage water usage and keep the thing fueled.

I had envisioned the case of someone setting up the rig and then evacuating, in which case they'd empty a 15,000 gallon pool in just 25 hours with five 2 GPM sprinklers. Of course, a gasoline or diesel powered generator is still going to be fuel capacity-limited.

The devil is in the details.

Those I know that had planned roof sprinklers used gravity feed.
Slow but steady, with large tanks up a hill or on a frame.

In a tight neighborhood, I guess an engine powered system, but yeah, logistics to keep it wet at the right time would be interesting.

 

[2manyrocks]

The fact that some were able to save their homes by pumping water from their home pools with $400-500 of inexpensive equipment IMO disproves the excuse that nothing could have been done to save all the homes that were lost.

 

[ning]

I'm just glad we're all experts here and can pass judgement on the professionals!

 

[2manyrocks]

Expert testimony not required for matters of common knowledge.

 

[WinterDeere]

The fact that some were able to save their homes by pumping water from their home pools with $400-500 of inexpensive equipment IMO disproves the excuse that nothing could have been done to save all the homes that were lost.

You can't really make that statement. Conditions varied by neighborhood, one having access to power and water while another did not. Others found the line of fire approaching their home at a time of day or week when winds were at their worst, versus another facing that condition at a more favorable time with lower winds or those blowing in a favorable direction.

Weren't the winds blowing something like 40 - 60 mph one day? No one is fighting a wildfire back with DIY equipment, under those conditions.

There's also the simple fact that some are more mechanically capable than others. An engineer, plumber, or mechanic is going to have a better chance at saving their house than the average chiropractor, psychologist, or illustrator.

Surely some could have been saved that were lost. But "all the homes that were lost"? C'mon...

 

[kenmbz]

If they only had lot size and building rules to limit fire spread. But hey, developers win.

Many people in the less affluent neighborhoods don't have a pool, or money.
The LA area catches fire all the time, poor brush mgmt, houses too close together, houses built to be extremely good at burning, an area where fresh water is scarce, expensive and politically controlled.

The Santa Annas, for anyone who has not been in one, are like standing in front of a huge fan , except the air is hot. Add the wind turbulence caused by fire and you have one of the best ways to make a fire superhot and move fast. Using water is just pi$$ing in the wind.

Only way to stop a fire like this is by removing fuel, which is just not done in most of LA.
And your neighbors will rat you out if you try and remove brush and trees without a permit.

 

[paulsharvey]

Ok, going off topic, but for many of these things, we end up back at Infrastructure. So many threads kinda go there. It's expensive, inconvenient, and takes years, and it's always easier to build new than rehab old...

 

[paulsharvey]

I also want to point out a couple things;
1) we have fires, but they are different, so i don't want to comment too much on something I don't understand.
2) True scale of things is often Not what the news shows. Don't remember the Hurricane, but I was watching news showing a very identifiable house, and a very specific place, with wave tops appearing to hit the 3rd story window. Wow... must be awful. We'll, 45 minutes later, I'm at the same house, checking for erosion on the bank and shore boulders, 50 ft from that Samw house, and waves are spraying over seawall, but thats it. News had placed the camera low, to look up at the waves, and posse the pictures. Also, even some Really bad hurricanes, it seems to show Massive destruction, and reality is it's bad in a 5 mile swath, and beyond that maybe 10 miles, 1 in 3 homes have "damage", and go out 25 or 50 miles and it's 1 in 10, and 1 in 50. So, 10,000 structures is what I've heard about the fires. That Sucks for those people, but that's likely less than 0.6% of homes in LA.

 

[paulsharvey]

Even numbers of "damaged" is often inflated. I donr consider gutter down spouts being blow off to be "damage". That doesn't relate completely to the Cali fires, but 10,000 structures doesn't mean 10,000 homes and or businesses. That might be 5,000 homes, 2,000 barns/aux buildings, and 3,000 phone booths. At the same time, 10,000 structures could include condo buildings, and potentially be more than 10,000 single family homes.