by INFORUM
Briarwood won’t allow buyout homes to be moved
June 15, 2010 at 5:00 pm in INFORUM
BRIARWOOD, N.D. Donavon Mau paid $7,000 for a flood buyout home in this secluded city just south of Fargo, hoping to move it to Hillsboro to give his wife and four children more living space.Continue Reading
I don’t think that Mr. Adams needs to worry about what people think of Briarwood: His profane (“expletive deleted”,)response to someone he knew was a newspaper reporter, shows that he doesn’t care what people think. Even if that means that now people will think that everyone in Briarwood has only 2 teeth and wears hand torn, sleeveless sweatshirts.
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WHy were the homes offered at auction at all if they couldn’t be moved after sale? Wasn’t that the POINT of the auction in te first place?
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If you look at the prices they sold at, I’m guessing they sold them for salvage.
Not sure why anybody would think they could buy those houses at those prices if they could be moved, but regardless, if the County didn’t disclose this at the auction the buyers should be entitled to get their money back.
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good question, i’m not sure why they were offered up for sale. Maybe the county is just trying to make some quick money by selling the homes.
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Wow!!! If the city won’t let them move the houses, the county should give them ALL their money back, not just 90 percent! These are nice homes and it’s stupid to let them go to waste, when there are families that can use them. It’s too bad about the trees, but there has to be a way. It is reasonable to make an exception to this ordinance, since these are not ordinary circumstances!
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What are they supposed to do; move the house “one piece at a time?”
Hot debate. What do you think?
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My fiance is a house mover and we looked at all of these homes when they had the open houses. We were told by an official that ALL the houses on the auction could be moved out. He and I were actually wanting to buy the home that Donovan Mau ended up purchasing. If I were one of the people who bought these homes, I would be furious! This is absolutely ridiculous. We were told that originally, certain houses could not come out of the developments, but there had been a change and now all of them can be moved out. These houses are beautiful and it would be such a shame to tear them down.
As far as the questions on the prices of the homes, the reason they went for so little money was simply because they did get flooded and much of the inside would have to be redone. Also, when a person plans on moving a house, they have to consider the price it will cost to move it, as well. If you end up spending a large amount on the house itself, after you move it and remodel it, you could have just built a brand new house for the same cost.
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It’s my understanding that not all buyout homes were flood-damaged.
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I believe they all were damaged, but for most of them, the damage sustained was only in the basements. The floors above ground (which is the only part that gets moved) for most of the houses were fine. There were a few homes that did get water on the main levels, but as Brucealmighty said, as soon as the water receded the carpet and sheet rock were torn out.
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Were they flood damaged or just in the way of permanent dikes? The story does not say. If Briarwood
did not tell the buyers of these homes,that they could not be moved, I believe that would be fraud. This could easily be settled in a court of law and if this is so, the buyers should get all of their money back plus court costs. Even if the homes were flood damaged, once the sheet rock and carpet and flooring were torn out; they could be rebuilt into a very nice home, especially for what they paid for them. They still got a good deal I think…One more point. If they can move a house, they certainly can move a tree and replace it. I have see this done with trees from near the Red River being sold and placed in various locations around Fargo. If there is only one road leading to Briarwood, one would also think that would be a safety problem. And if it is in such poor condition, would heavy firetruck be able to drive on the road or even get into Briarwood in case of a fire? Maybe they should just join the city of Fargo and have their road rebuilt and maybe another road for emergencies.
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It’s possible if the trees in the way of moving these homes are too big to move. But even if they are, why not let the home buyers remove the trees as long as they agree to replace them with another tree. You could even stipulate the size the replacement tree needed to be. It could be moved in from another location if you wanted them to replace the removed tree with a more mature tree than just a seedling. As far as the road, whoever damages the road needs to put it back into the condition it was before the damaged it. Most things are not impossible but just need some creative thinking to figure out how to make it work. One would think there could be some way to make this work for everyone involved.
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Roads are expensive to repair. If the new homeowners had to resurface the road it would cost more than the houses could ever be worth.
I think the economics simply don’t work no matter how you look at it. But if somebody with detailed knowledge of the situation can dispute that please do.
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Justme: The reason why these homes should not be moved is road damage. The other reason they were sold was for salvage. This means all the expensive windows, doors, Plumbing appliances ect.. anthing that can be taken out of the house and used to build or finish another home. If they wanted to sell the homes at current market price, minus the cost of moving and a base for the house, they would have gone for allot more. People got greedy and there are no shortages of new homes in Fargo.
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Unless the roads are gravel in already poor condition I don’t see how moving a house would cause roads to be destoyed.
In our area, in the last ten years I have seen many houses moved and not one problem with the paved or graveled roads.
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I think I know why these houses were actioned (knowing the houses could not be moved) is that they made 10% of what the houses sold for. As some others said 100% should be returned, not just 90%.
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But now they are saying they will refund 90%, allow the buyers to salvage them, and then pay for the demolition. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal for the buyers, who only paid salvage price to begin with.
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Bill, I am with you in that if you do not get what you pay for you should get your full refund. I am angry at these people though for taking advantage and having the money to buy out homes for almost nothing. Salvageable, they all are, bull if they have any damage by the red river, my house gets flooded every 10 years in the Philippines and it is repairable and so nothing is wrong with these houses. The issue is ruining the roads and big tree’s, these homes have already been paid for to the original owners. And the city should have made it known they are not for sale. I feel no one has the right to sell these buildings or pieces of these building other than the the city to recoup funds. Parts such as doors, windows, you name it can be salvaged the rest of the building then can be torn down. The city of Fargo needs to sell parts of these building to recoup money lost from the buy out. The people who feel they need to get back their 10% can fight it in courts if it’s worth it.
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