So after many years of talking about opening our own car shop, I told my brother the other day, "Let's stop talking about it and just fucking do it already." He agreed, so yesterday after I got off work we went and looked at four different properties.
The first one sat on .6 acres. I'm not sure what it used to be used for, but it had an upstairs apartment, and downstairs it had an entrance and exit garage on the right side, and on the back half of it running east and west was another long garage with a door. It was the perfect set up really but it was completely run down and would need a overhauled from top to bottom. Not only that, but the were asking $250k for the place and weren't really willing to negotiate for it. Granted, this was a zoned commercial property which means it's going to be more expensive, that's just ridiculous.
The two other places we checked out were big lots, one was 3.5 acres with a brand new house and the rest was open land. It's bank owned and they're asking $300k for it. Having all of that land would have been sweet, but that's way too high for me and it's going to take a shit load of work to set that place up how I wanted it. The other one was another house with a massive two car garage attached to it. This place was a complete dump and was out in the sticks which is not what I wanted. They were asking $82 for that place on an acre and a half. It was a decent buy, but not exactly what I was looking for.
And then last but most certainly not least, I pretty much found the place I want. It sits on exactly one acre, it's right off a state road, probably a mile or so down the road next to a couple corn fields. It's a nice open lot, with just a house next to it. If you're looking directly at it from the road, it's a long rectangular lot, and the building, which is pretty much a 32x50 two car garage/workshop, sits in the back left corner. It has already been plumbed and wired and all that jazz, and it's already been approved by the city for the addition of a four bedroom house. The building is nearly brand new as well. They're asking $50k, firm.
My plan would be to build onto the existing building, extending the bottom level around so that the building is in the shape of an L following the property line in the back. In the center of the L build a customer lounge type area, walled in so that the shop noises wouldn't be too annoying. And on top of the entire workshop, in the shape of the L as well, would be the living area for my brother and I. I'm thinking another $50k ontop of the other $50k would be enough to do what I want. We would literally be working at home, doing shit we like, and making $$$$$$$$$. No bosses, no shitty wages (at first maybe, but not later on), all kinds of perks.
