I'm wondering if my life is ever going to go the way I need it too as long as I'm living in Marion.
This town is the poorest city in the state, and I kinda feel cheated into living here and like I was stranded here.
I stay now because my rent is cheap, my space is large, and it gives me a place to set up shop for Skyline Sound Studios. Now that I'm technically unemployed, having a large place to park the studio on the cheap, and also rest my head, is a valuable asset. But here's the problem.
I'm 50 miles north of my target market for the studio, which is the Greater Columbus Metropolitan Area. People in Columbus act like driving from Groveport to Dublin is some monumental trek that you must be insane to wanna make. Needless to say, getting people interested in coming to Marion from Columbus has been a challenge.
I've lucked out on a few occasions. There have been artists willing to make the drive. But on the whole, I hear people ask where I'm located, then act appalled and say they are going to the facility that costs twice as much as I do instead. Do they not realize that the gas money they are spending to get to Marion would be far less than doubling their studio bill?
The obvious answer would be to cater to the Marion area. There are bands here, and a couple of competing studios. But the problem for me is the fact that I was raised in a small town very similar to Marion, and I'm terrified of this town. Let me elaborate.
To say that Marion is economically depressed is an understatement. It was declared last year as the poorest city in the state of Ohio. This causes unemployment to increase, which means that in order for me to cater to the Marion bands, I'm going to have to lower my prices to match this market. That will do nothing to get me out of Marion.
The other issue is the fact that economically depressed areas, such as this, typically have high use of hardcore drugs. In Scioto County, it's hillbilly heroin (a.k.a. Oxycontin). I was raised there, and saw some horrific things. If I lived in Scioto County, I'd put my studio gear in storage 3 counties away and tell no one I was a recording engineer for fear of a home invasion by a crack head looking for things to sell so they could get their fix.
Apparently, Marion's big problem is black tar heroin. So you take an economically depressed area with a well known substance abuse problem, and you have a recipe for a robbery. In fact, my car was broken into last spring, and I lost about $120 that I foolishly left in the car. This was right after Sarah moved out, and rent was very difficult to make that month as a result of the robbery. Now my neighbors bitch that I park on the street instead of in my lengthy dark driveway, but on the street under the street light, my car is in full view of my next door neighbors security camera. My asshole neighbor across the street can go fuck himself with something hard and sandpapery.
So not only was I stranded an hour from my target market, but now that I have a limited income (relying on unemployment), it's hard to justify making trips to Columbus to look for clients. And even if I find them, they may scoff at the idea of driving an hour north to work with me, or I'll hear "my friend has an 8 track. We'll just use that". I'm too scared of being robbed to look for clients in Marion. So the solution is to get the hell out of Marion. This would also increase my day job prospects exponentially.
I was still holding on to hope that I could make my Colorado stress relief vacation this summer happen. It may have to be shelved, and me remain angry, for another year, because I can't continue living up here. I mean, I can, but if my unemployment runs dry and I have no studio business or label income, I doubt I could handle working with those sexist racists on the assembly line at Whirlpool again. My stress level was already to the point of causing me physical ills before I got laid off two weeks ago. With news of Olive's tragic accident, I'm still just as stressed. There's no way I could bring myself to take that road again unless there were no other option……..which is often the case in a town like Marion.
It seems like as long as I live here, it's infinitely more difficult to move foreword.
The shitty thing is that in order to make this move and better my situation, I may have to hold off on some other financial commitments, which makes me hesitate yet again. These would be joint bills to my ex. Part of me wants to scream that she put me through hell, and that despite the fact that I showed her it would be easier to pay off certain bills if she were to stay even 6 more months, she moved anyway and made everything harder for both of us. I offered her a compromise, and she left regardless, which I get on some levels. She had to do what she needed to do to better herself, and in order to do that, she had to tighten the financial strings on both of us. Well, she won't be happy if it comes to that (notice I said "if"), but it may come down to me needing to tighten my financial strings in order to get ahead, and resume payments on those debts when I'm again able. I'm not sure if this will be necessary yet, we'll see. But if it's needed, it's needed. That's not a call to action, just a realistic analysis of what may be needed. We'll see if I can avoid that, because obviously I wanna keep my commitments. But I can't let my commitments drive me into the ground either.
So we'll see. It's clear that I need to get out of this town to better myself and my prospects. A week ago I'd have been heartbroken over losing my Colorado trip, but now after facing Olive's passing, I'm just focused on rebuilding my life as quickly as humanly possible. If I live to see my 5 year goal, barring unforeseen circumstances, the Rockies will still be there.
So now let's figure out how to make it happen.
Showing posts with label Scioto County Ohio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scioto County Ohio. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
In due time.
We all start somewhere. Me, I started poor as shit with the odds stacked against me unless I could get out of Scioto County. Luckily, I got out without a pill problem. I made some awesome moves, saw much of this awesome country, but I managed my money really poorly because I didn't know any better.
So now I'm focused on what I want and where I want to go, and I see examples of what I want in my colleagues. I'm proud that these people have what I'm striving for, so this isn't a jealous stab at them. But this blog is a place for me to get my thoughts out, and right now my thoughts are that I'm starting humble and building my way up to mega awesomeness with my studio.
This is gonna take a lot of effort on my part, and a LOT of major money management changes. I've been implementing those changes, and I have made some minor accomplishments so far to reduce my debt and increase my net worth. If I'm gonna get there, I gotta get outta the hole a.s.a.p. So this new lazer-like focus is a very big help with that.
But again, we all start somewhere. Right now, I feel that my skills have outgrown my meager gear, and I'm pretty good with the meager equipment I own. But my client base isn't there yet to justify any major gear upgrades. So I have to focus on the most important upgrades first, while continuing the necessary steps to increase my net worth and get myself out of insolvency. This way, when the time comes to make the switch from a full time day job to my own self employment, this insolvency won't be hanging over my head giving me a reason to say no to making the jump into uncertain income earnings. There's freedom in working for yourself completely, but there's also major risk, and right now I can't afford that risk until this insolvency is reversed. So that is a major factor that I'm attacking with full strength.
But here's a snapshot of where I've been. This was my studio in October 2009 in Conifer Colorado.
A few months later, I met Bob Swanson. This was the real game changer for me. Bob had talked one of my recording clients into having his studio mix the project instead of me, and yeah this did sting because I was trying to fight and scrape for clients where I could. To lose one was painful in those days.
But I took it like a professional. I went to Bob's studio and delivered the files. I walked into Bob's Pro Tools studio in Conifer, and was admittedly jealous of what I was seeing. This was light years beyond anything I could afford. But I was there for a professional purpose, so I had to be a pro and talk about what was intended for the mixes for the client.
Bob started probing me asking about the version of Pro Tools I was using. I told him I was tracking on a BOSS BR-1600, and mixing in Adobe Audition 1.5 on a shitty old PC in a spare bedroom…..
…..and you could see his demeanor change.
He said what struck him the most was that I was going out there with what most in the business would call toys, and calling myself a studio. And the thing that dumbfounded him was that it was working, because I was getting clients. He said he knew 30 people who wanted to "play the game" but didn't feel they had enough gear, when they had 10 times what I had, yet here I was doing it.
I think he felt somewhat guilty about snagging a client from someone who was just starting out, and felt compelled to help me out. So the next thing you know, he started handing me pop filters and headphones! He began placing bids on ebay for pieces that I could use, and got me a nice headphone amp. Then he started raiding his mic closet, and gave me a $700 mic! To top it all off, he asked his friends who were also audio engineers to pass him along some of their spare pieces that they were no longer using. I got two flat panel PC monitors, new Tannoy Active monitors, a bunch of new mics, and more! This was all given free of charge in an effort to help give me the jumpstart he felt I needed.
First of all, I did not deserve ANY of this generosity, but as if that wasn't enough Bob started having me come over to help him with studio tasks and began gaving me tips to improve my skills. I'm still flattered and somewhat confused by the generosity of someone like Bob, but here he was helping me left and right to build myself up. He'd say "With someone like you going at it with the meager amount of gear you have, if someone really pushed you………you'd be dangerous." And here he was pushing me.
So next thing you know, my gear list jumped by leaps and bounds. I went from this….
…..to this……
Then Bob ordered a new console for his studio, straight out of Nashville. This console is a Raindirk Symphony console, and there aren't many in the US. There's one in Columbus, Ohio, at John Schwab's studio, but Bob's is bigger (that's what she said…..) The fun thing is that I got to help install this behemoth! This console was as long as my Bonneville, I kid you not Here's a video I shot after helping him load it in off the truck from Nashville.
……and here's a pic of the console all set up in Bob's studio.
Here's the cool thing. Bob's new toy was bought from Nashville, where it was featured in this Casey Ashley video. The console in this video is the EXACT SAME ONE I helped install in Conifer, Colorado at Swanpro Studios.
Things were going well knowing Bob. Bob was the best thing that happened to me professionally, because it was the first time that someone not only showed faith in me, but it was also the first time someone put their money where their mouth is. The generosity he bestowed will never be forgotten.
While I lived in Conifer, I also met Brad Smalling, who owns Evergroove. This happened when one day I called up Evergroove after just having moved to Colorado to ask about their freelance rates. I never got any freelance clients to go to Evergroove, but one day I'm using the local Freecycle service and I spot a pro audio rack! I thought this was an odd find, but too good to pass up. So I snagged it up, which started a conversation with Jenny Chaput Smalling. Jenny informed me that they were the owners of Evergroove, which reminded me that I'd been in touch with them before. I got back in touch with Brad, and we started talking. I toured his studio, which is a very nice place in the mountains and is just down the road from Bob's studio! The environmentalist in me was stoked about Evergroove because it's solar powered, and I still think that's REALLY cool. Here's a photo of Evergroove.
So here I was with some meager equipment, but meeting some really cool Colorado contacts. Things were looking up, and even though I had a long way to go before I could match what these guys had, I was glad to be considered a player in the game of the Colorado music scene.
But then I moved back to Ohio when Sarah got a job in Richwood. I came here with a dedication to make Skyline Sound Studios something grand in the Buckeye state, and I'm still trying to make that happen. But when I landed here, the flow of clients I had obviously ground to a halt. The first session I had in Ohio was a blues band called Breadwagon, who were really cool to hang with. We spent 7 hours recording and mixing a really cool demo. Here's a video I shot that day.
But Skyline was still limited to just a spare bedroom of the house Sarah and I rented. We rented a house an hour north of my target market, which made getting clients a bit challenging. And then my ensuing personal financial crisis that occurred after Sarah left meant that I was stranded in Marion until my finances improved. So I decided to make the best of it. I spread the studio around the house, and now I had more space than Bob Swanson or Brad Smalling. The difference is it's in a house, not a professionally treated studio environment. But at least now I had a place finally all to myself to put my studio full time.
You see, before Sarah moved out my recording sessions would happen remotely. I'd pack up my gear and take it to the clients rehearsal space to do the recording, then bring the tracks back to "home base" to do the mixing. My current client Enemy By Mourning got this treatment in Ohio, as their first demo was rush-tracked in the band's rehearsal space. Here's a video of that session.
Again, this was just a demo, but it helped the band gain a footing in the central Ohio scene, which did help bring me a couple of clients. I know that Liquid Ghandi came in after hearing what I did for EBM on their demo.
When The Blitz wouldn't play EBM's demo on local stuff, I wasn't surprised. It was a rush job, and they wanted it that way. It was just a good sounding quick and dirty demo from the start. So we started planning out a way to get them something that did sound radio quality for airplay on The Blitz. We decided to use Electronic Drums I had acquired as a midi recorder and run the midi through Steven Slate Drums to get the drum sounds without the room playing a factor. I also upgraded my gear from Adobe Audition 1.5 to Pro Tools 9 on a brand new 27" iMac!
Now it was time to play the game. We buckled down and pumped out a mix that was successful in getting them airplay, and quite frankly it was one of the best things I'd recorded. I was uber proud of myself.
And now not only had my gear selection grown, but my abilities had grown thanks to the amount of space I had in the house to dedicate to the studio. Here's a pic of the live room in the current studio.
Not much has changed since then, as I've decided to focus any money coming in from Skyline toward my debts to reduce my insolvency. But more upgrades are in the works very soon. I'm going to switch back to using studio revenues for the betterment of the studio very soon. But the current set-up works very well for me and is proof that it's not the gear, it's the engineer. I've spent a lot of time over the last year honing my skills. Here's some of the fruits of those labors.
So I've come a good way in a couple of years considering the limited amount of time I have to put into things, and the amount of resources I have. It's been a ghettophoenic experience from the ground up. But I have places I wanna take it, and I'm working every day to make that happen. For example, let's look at Swanpro Studios and Evergroove Studios, then compare that with where I am gear wise…..
It's NOT the gear, it's the engineer. But being a quality engineer with the high end shit = living the dream. So I'm working toward it. Meanwhile, I just hope that people will judge my product, and not my gear. Because, again, it's NOT THE GEAR. It's the engineer. But I can honestly say that without podcasts (IHR, PSN, HRO, HRS, Sessions With Slau, Ronan's Recording Show…..to name a few), or the help of the engineers I've met guiding me through and giving me advice (Bob Swanson, Brad Smalling, Dave Piatek, to name a few…..), I'd not be where I am now. Two years ago, I'd have KILLED for what I have now, so it's all in perspective. But this isn't the end of the line. I wanna move Skyline out of the house and into it's own facility. I wanna make it a major player in the Columbus music scene, because my mixing skills have been proven to be competitive (Nuber on The Blitz is a tough cookie). So hopefully within the 5 years I have allocated for my 5 year goal, I'll be able to transition from where I am now to something more like one of these.
……and my blog will come along for the ride. Stay tuned.
So now I'm focused on what I want and where I want to go, and I see examples of what I want in my colleagues. I'm proud that these people have what I'm striving for, so this isn't a jealous stab at them. But this blog is a place for me to get my thoughts out, and right now my thoughts are that I'm starting humble and building my way up to mega awesomeness with my studio.
This is gonna take a lot of effort on my part, and a LOT of major money management changes. I've been implementing those changes, and I have made some minor accomplishments so far to reduce my debt and increase my net worth. If I'm gonna get there, I gotta get outta the hole a.s.a.p. So this new lazer-like focus is a very big help with that.
But again, we all start somewhere. Right now, I feel that my skills have outgrown my meager gear, and I'm pretty good with the meager equipment I own. But my client base isn't there yet to justify any major gear upgrades. So I have to focus on the most important upgrades first, while continuing the necessary steps to increase my net worth and get myself out of insolvency. This way, when the time comes to make the switch from a full time day job to my own self employment, this insolvency won't be hanging over my head giving me a reason to say no to making the jump into uncertain income earnings. There's freedom in working for yourself completely, but there's also major risk, and right now I can't afford that risk until this insolvency is reversed. So that is a major factor that I'm attacking with full strength.
But here's a snapshot of where I've been. This was my studio in October 2009 in Conifer Colorado.
A few months later, I met Bob Swanson. This was the real game changer for me. Bob had talked one of my recording clients into having his studio mix the project instead of me, and yeah this did sting because I was trying to fight and scrape for clients where I could. To lose one was painful in those days.
But I took it like a professional. I went to Bob's studio and delivered the files. I walked into Bob's Pro Tools studio in Conifer, and was admittedly jealous of what I was seeing. This was light years beyond anything I could afford. But I was there for a professional purpose, so I had to be a pro and talk about what was intended for the mixes for the client.
Bob started probing me asking about the version of Pro Tools I was using. I told him I was tracking on a BOSS BR-1600, and mixing in Adobe Audition 1.5 on a shitty old PC in a spare bedroom…..
…..and you could see his demeanor change.
He said what struck him the most was that I was going out there with what most in the business would call toys, and calling myself a studio. And the thing that dumbfounded him was that it was working, because I was getting clients. He said he knew 30 people who wanted to "play the game" but didn't feel they had enough gear, when they had 10 times what I had, yet here I was doing it.
I think he felt somewhat guilty about snagging a client from someone who was just starting out, and felt compelled to help me out. So the next thing you know, he started handing me pop filters and headphones! He began placing bids on ebay for pieces that I could use, and got me a nice headphone amp. Then he started raiding his mic closet, and gave me a $700 mic! To top it all off, he asked his friends who were also audio engineers to pass him along some of their spare pieces that they were no longer using. I got two flat panel PC monitors, new Tannoy Active monitors, a bunch of new mics, and more! This was all given free of charge in an effort to help give me the jumpstart he felt I needed.
First of all, I did not deserve ANY of this generosity, but as if that wasn't enough Bob started having me come over to help him with studio tasks and began gaving me tips to improve my skills. I'm still flattered and somewhat confused by the generosity of someone like Bob, but here he was helping me left and right to build myself up. He'd say "With someone like you going at it with the meager amount of gear you have, if someone really pushed you………you'd be dangerous." And here he was pushing me.
So next thing you know, my gear list jumped by leaps and bounds. I went from this….
…..to this……
Then Bob ordered a new console for his studio, straight out of Nashville. This console is a Raindirk Symphony console, and there aren't many in the US. There's one in Columbus, Ohio, at John Schwab's studio, but Bob's is bigger (that's what she said…..) The fun thing is that I got to help install this behemoth! This console was as long as my Bonneville, I kid you not Here's a video I shot after helping him load it in off the truck from Nashville.
……and here's a pic of the console all set up in Bob's studio.
Here's the cool thing. Bob's new toy was bought from Nashville, where it was featured in this Casey Ashley video. The console in this video is the EXACT SAME ONE I helped install in Conifer, Colorado at Swanpro Studios.
Things were going well knowing Bob. Bob was the best thing that happened to me professionally, because it was the first time that someone not only showed faith in me, but it was also the first time someone put their money where their mouth is. The generosity he bestowed will never be forgotten.
While I lived in Conifer, I also met Brad Smalling, who owns Evergroove. This happened when one day I called up Evergroove after just having moved to Colorado to ask about their freelance rates. I never got any freelance clients to go to Evergroove, but one day I'm using the local Freecycle service and I spot a pro audio rack! I thought this was an odd find, but too good to pass up. So I snagged it up, which started a conversation with Jenny Chaput Smalling. Jenny informed me that they were the owners of Evergroove, which reminded me that I'd been in touch with them before. I got back in touch with Brad, and we started talking. I toured his studio, which is a very nice place in the mountains and is just down the road from Bob's studio! The environmentalist in me was stoked about Evergroove because it's solar powered, and I still think that's REALLY cool. Here's a photo of Evergroove.
So here I was with some meager equipment, but meeting some really cool Colorado contacts. Things were looking up, and even though I had a long way to go before I could match what these guys had, I was glad to be considered a player in the game of the Colorado music scene.
But then I moved back to Ohio when Sarah got a job in Richwood. I came here with a dedication to make Skyline Sound Studios something grand in the Buckeye state, and I'm still trying to make that happen. But when I landed here, the flow of clients I had obviously ground to a halt. The first session I had in Ohio was a blues band called Breadwagon, who were really cool to hang with. We spent 7 hours recording and mixing a really cool demo. Here's a video I shot that day.
But Skyline was still limited to just a spare bedroom of the house Sarah and I rented. We rented a house an hour north of my target market, which made getting clients a bit challenging. And then my ensuing personal financial crisis that occurred after Sarah left meant that I was stranded in Marion until my finances improved. So I decided to make the best of it. I spread the studio around the house, and now I had more space than Bob Swanson or Brad Smalling. The difference is it's in a house, not a professionally treated studio environment. But at least now I had a place finally all to myself to put my studio full time.
You see, before Sarah moved out my recording sessions would happen remotely. I'd pack up my gear and take it to the clients rehearsal space to do the recording, then bring the tracks back to "home base" to do the mixing. My current client Enemy By Mourning got this treatment in Ohio, as their first demo was rush-tracked in the band's rehearsal space. Here's a video of that session.
Again, this was just a demo, but it helped the band gain a footing in the central Ohio scene, which did help bring me a couple of clients. I know that Liquid Ghandi came in after hearing what I did for EBM on their demo.
When The Blitz wouldn't play EBM's demo on local stuff, I wasn't surprised. It was a rush job, and they wanted it that way. It was just a good sounding quick and dirty demo from the start. So we started planning out a way to get them something that did sound radio quality for airplay on The Blitz. We decided to use Electronic Drums I had acquired as a midi recorder and run the midi through Steven Slate Drums to get the drum sounds without the room playing a factor. I also upgraded my gear from Adobe Audition 1.5 to Pro Tools 9 on a brand new 27" iMac!
Now it was time to play the game. We buckled down and pumped out a mix that was successful in getting them airplay, and quite frankly it was one of the best things I'd recorded. I was uber proud of myself.
And now not only had my gear selection grown, but my abilities had grown thanks to the amount of space I had in the house to dedicate to the studio. Here's a pic of the live room in the current studio.
Not much has changed since then, as I've decided to focus any money coming in from Skyline toward my debts to reduce my insolvency. But more upgrades are in the works very soon. I'm going to switch back to using studio revenues for the betterment of the studio very soon. But the current set-up works very well for me and is proof that it's not the gear, it's the engineer. I've spent a lot of time over the last year honing my skills. Here's some of the fruits of those labors.
So I've come a good way in a couple of years considering the limited amount of time I have to put into things, and the amount of resources I have. It's been a ghettophoenic experience from the ground up. But I have places I wanna take it, and I'm working every day to make that happen. For example, let's look at Swanpro Studios and Evergroove Studios, then compare that with where I am gear wise…..
It's NOT the gear, it's the engineer. But being a quality engineer with the high end shit = living the dream. So I'm working toward it. Meanwhile, I just hope that people will judge my product, and not my gear. Because, again, it's NOT THE GEAR. It's the engineer. But I can honestly say that without podcasts (IHR, PSN, HRO, HRS, Sessions With Slau, Ronan's Recording Show…..to name a few), or the help of the engineers I've met guiding me through and giving me advice (Bob Swanson, Brad Smalling, Dave Piatek, to name a few…..), I'd not be where I am now. Two years ago, I'd have KILLED for what I have now, so it's all in perspective. But this isn't the end of the line. I wanna move Skyline out of the house and into it's own facility. I wanna make it a major player in the Columbus music scene, because my mixing skills have been proven to be competitive (Nuber on The Blitz is a tough cookie). So hopefully within the 5 years I have allocated for my 5 year goal, I'll be able to transition from where I am now to something more like one of these.
……and my blog will come along for the ride. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What I wanna do with my property.
I rent at my current dwelling in Marion Ohio, but I do own 1/3 of a property in Sciotoville Ohio. The property was left to me and my two sisters Tracy and Kristina as a part of mom's estate after she passed away. Currently parked there is a trailer, which is where I was born and grew up. I lived there til I was around 4, then moved in with my grandparents as moms ALS became worse and I became more difficult to discipline. I moved back in at age 5, accompanied by my grandmother, who moved in to help care for mom during the last 4 years of her life (the ages when I moved away and moved back are approximate.)
When mom died, I was 9 years old. We moved out of that trailer into a house my grandfather had built accross the street. That trailer sat there not doing anything, so my grandparents rented it out to generate an additional revenue stream. However, the tenants were undesirable, and trashed the place. At one point garbage was boarded up into the closet of the bedroom that I grew up in.
I moved back into that trailer at age 19, and lived there til I was 21. I lived with my sister Kristina, and watched as she brought drugs into the house. We were living rent free, and she also owned 1/3 of the property, so I couldn't kick her out. However, after my musical equipment started getting stolen (a few guitar pedals, and then my Jackson PS-4), I decided that I'd had enough of her shit and moved out of the trailer. I moved to Columbus, and she hasn't been a part of my life since.
Unfortunatley, the drug part of that story is very typical of Scioto County right now, but that's a different blog.
Now, the trailer sits there, delapidated and looking like it's about to cave in.
I recieved pressure from my dad at one point to sell the property and get rid of the asset, but I guess I'm old fashioned. I saw no point in getting rid of the asset since it was only costing us property tax every year. I don't want to lose the asset just because it's an eyesore. It's still land, and even though the trailer is currently dilapidated and unkept, it doesn't always have to be that way.
Here's what I have in mind.
I may not plan to live there in my life as I currently evaluate it, but you never know when that may change. If I unload the asset now, I lose that forever. What I'd like to do is hold on to it and try to make it worth something again. It's in shambles now, and the trailer that sits there should be torched and sold for scrap metal, but the land can be a blank canvas.
I picture cleaning up the land and removing the trailer from it, then several possibilities could happen. One could be that the property is rented out by someone who wants a place to park a trailer. I'd take the lot rent they pay each month and apply that to the land taxes each year, then put the remainder into a high yield savings account. The land is paid for, so there's no mortgage. This high interest savings account could be an asset to my two sisters and I who are currently equal owners.
Another possible use would be for my sister Tracy to live on. She bought a mobile home in the area, and is currently paying lot rent (i think). This would be up to her obviously, but it's her property too, and I could see the financial benefit of moving her home to this property and living without having a lot rent bill.
Finally, there's the long term. I've got a vision in my head of putting a permanent home there one day. Nothing elaborate, just a cozy dwelling. This would be a great place for my family top gather at holidays, to live in if we needed to, or to pass on to future generations of the family. And if I ever decided to live there one day, in the far reaches of the future, I'd have it available to move into.
I'm still undecided on all of this, but that's where my train of thought is. I may decide eventually to sell, and maybe that'll help provide some money to go toward retirement or savings or the studio. At this time though, I've decided that I want that trailer gone this year. The land, I'm keeping, but the trailer is a delpidated eyesore that needs gone a.s.a.p. Once it's gone, we can figure out the land situation then.
I'll update when action is taken, whatever it may be.
When mom died, I was 9 years old. We moved out of that trailer into a house my grandfather had built accross the street. That trailer sat there not doing anything, so my grandparents rented it out to generate an additional revenue stream. However, the tenants were undesirable, and trashed the place. At one point garbage was boarded up into the closet of the bedroom that I grew up in.
I moved back into that trailer at age 19, and lived there til I was 21. I lived with my sister Kristina, and watched as she brought drugs into the house. We were living rent free, and she also owned 1/3 of the property, so I couldn't kick her out. However, after my musical equipment started getting stolen (a few guitar pedals, and then my Jackson PS-4), I decided that I'd had enough of her shit and moved out of the trailer. I moved to Columbus, and she hasn't been a part of my life since.
Unfortunatley, the drug part of that story is very typical of Scioto County right now, but that's a different blog.
Now, the trailer sits there, delapidated and looking like it's about to cave in.
I recieved pressure from my dad at one point to sell the property and get rid of the asset, but I guess I'm old fashioned. I saw no point in getting rid of the asset since it was only costing us property tax every year. I don't want to lose the asset just because it's an eyesore. It's still land, and even though the trailer is currently dilapidated and unkept, it doesn't always have to be that way.
Here's what I have in mind.
I may not plan to live there in my life as I currently evaluate it, but you never know when that may change. If I unload the asset now, I lose that forever. What I'd like to do is hold on to it and try to make it worth something again. It's in shambles now, and the trailer that sits there should be torched and sold for scrap metal, but the land can be a blank canvas.
I picture cleaning up the land and removing the trailer from it, then several possibilities could happen. One could be that the property is rented out by someone who wants a place to park a trailer. I'd take the lot rent they pay each month and apply that to the land taxes each year, then put the remainder into a high yield savings account. The land is paid for, so there's no mortgage. This high interest savings account could be an asset to my two sisters and I who are currently equal owners.
Another possible use would be for my sister Tracy to live on. She bought a mobile home in the area, and is currently paying lot rent (i think). This would be up to her obviously, but it's her property too, and I could see the financial benefit of moving her home to this property and living without having a lot rent bill.
Finally, there's the long term. I've got a vision in my head of putting a permanent home there one day. Nothing elaborate, just a cozy dwelling. This would be a great place for my family top gather at holidays, to live in if we needed to, or to pass on to future generations of the family. And if I ever decided to live there one day, in the far reaches of the future, I'd have it available to move into.
I'm still undecided on all of this, but that's where my train of thought is. I may decide eventually to sell, and maybe that'll help provide some money to go toward retirement or savings or the studio. At this time though, I've decided that I want that trailer gone this year. The land, I'm keeping, but the trailer is a delpidated eyesore that needs gone a.s.a.p. Once it's gone, we can figure out the land situation then.
I'll update when action is taken, whatever it may be.
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