[Steve Hoog]

Mike

No advise but I am sorry for your lose.

Best of luck with your situation.

Steve

[68 Firebird Brian]

Mike,

I had to deal with 3 siblings after my father died (mother predeceased). It was not a very good experience. Find the items that remind you of good experiences you had as a family. I find memories are forever attached to objects. It can be expensive items or inexpensive. I have my Dad's tool box he last used 20 years ago. Most of the tools are in the same place they were when he passed. I still have the station wagon we had when I was a kid (restoring). I took my parent's bedroom furniture for our own bedroom.

There are lots of memories tied to land as well but those can be damaged fairly quickly should problems or hassles arise. It sounds like your not too keen on renters already, don't expect it to get better. Also, Insurance companies don't like insuring property that is left unattended to. Does your wife have the same "love for the old homestead? If the land goes up in value the siblings will be pissed off. Change that to "IF .... the siblings will be pissed off! lol

My advice, keep what you can, sell the rest and buy the place in the mountains today. Start living today because you never know when God will throw you a curve ball!

Good luck!
Brian

[poncho-mike]

Well, my decision was made somewhat easier.

Last week, my brother went by to check the house and found the door broken. Someone had broken into mom's home and ransacked it. All of the valuables had already been removed by family members, but that didn't stop them from dumping everything out of the drawers and closets.

They also broke into my dad's garage, apparently looking for tools and metal they could sell. They took an air compressor, a tire balancer, a band saw, some stainless steel, and some of my car parts. My brother didn't know what car parts had taken, just that there were fewer parts in the garage than what had been there earlier.

He called the police, who came out and took a report.

My brother came back the next day, and they had already been back. This time they stole mom's large Craftsman riding mower (27HP Garden tractor if my memory is correct) and probably some additional metal.

I went down the next day with my oldest son to see what had been taken and to move stuff back to Raleigh. As best I can tell, at a minimum I lost a nice 72 GTO fender, a nice 71 Trans Am fender, a pair of 77 Firebird doors, and a 70-72 A-body rear bumper. There were about six or seven fenders left, all with the inner fender wells attached. I suspect the thieves didn't take these because they took up too much room. I may have lost a few additional fenders, but I'm not sure.

It could have been worse. I had a "coffin" in the garage, which is what we call long thin wood crates I got from my former employer. They used these crates to ship telecom electronics from Sweden to the US. These boxes use a special tool to remove the lid, although they can be opened with a good pair of pliers. The large box contained parts off a low mileage but rusty 70 T/A. The bright blue seats and door panels were in the box, as well as engine brackets and pulleys, the carb,shaker, and exhaust manifolds, and the original Rally II wheels.

My son and I moved everything of value to my house and his house where I'll go through it and get rid of some and put the rest away. If anything, this showed me that it's probably not safe to store my valuable car parts in a rural location. After this, I have no interest at all in buying mom's property from my siblings.

[400 4spd.]

Mike,
I hope the POS thieves are caught one day and you get justice.

[jcruz]

Originally Posted by Bob Dillon

Liquidate the entire estate and buy the place you want. That way, it's over and done with.
No worries, no future hassles, done. It's the best way. I promise.

/\ This

[Kurt Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by The Champ

This paragraph speaks volumes to me.

If this is what you REALLY want in retirement, I'd let the old homestead go. Selling it and using your share to aid in obtaining your dream seems to make more sense to me.

You haven't "enjoyed" being a landlord for one property - so why take on a second? If you need some storage - to me it makes more sense to have it closer than 3 hours away.

JMHO

Ditto this... ASAP. You don't need the headache-

Kurt

[The Boss]

So sorry Mike - TV keeps saying the economy is back to normal but every flip house I go to look at has been stripped of it's copper!

Set up a game camera - they'll be back.

[poncho-mike]

There were game cameras installed. One was on the power pole beside the house, the second was on the T2 light beside the garage. They apparently used a ladder from the garage to steal those as well.

[pontiacs-r-us]

Mike,was just reading thru post,as my parents are getting older.Trying to gain a little insite in these matters.Sure are tuff choices... I live in Va mountains approx 20miles from NC line( my family is from parkway area of Ashe/Wilks Co) Im sure crime rate is nowhere near that of Raleigh(not sure where your home place was),but these meth heads here will steal every bit of scrap metal laying around here!!! Wiring and even iron pipe from old empty houses as well Mtn vacation homes.I think it's same all over?But it sure is a beautiful place to live...I think if you relocate,your will be happy in the long run...Maybe it's because it's home to me,but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else...Hope this all works out well for you...Kenny


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[69goatboy]

"You can never go home again." ~ Thomas Wolf
Your memories of your parents are of them, not their stuff.

Sell and get your mountain home. You and your siblings will be happier.

[poncho-mike]

My mom lived outside of Monroe, about 20 miles east of Charlotte.

I've found an old farm house with a large pole barn in Ashe county. The trouble is that I'm not sure it would be any safer than my parent's home if nobody is living there. A meth head doesn't know the difference between high dollar sheet metal like an early T/A fender and any other hunk of metal, it's all scrap to him.

Mike

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

There were game cameras installed. One was on the power pole beside the house, the second was on the T2 light beside the garage. They apparently used a ladder from the garage to steal those as well.

****! Sorry Mike!

Are the police actively doing anything about this? Probably not.

Check with scrap yards, pawn shops, body shops, watch craigslist, it's out there.

[poncho-mike]

The police took a report and told us to file for insurance. Police usually don't do a lot of investigation into what they consider low value thefts. The GTO and early T/A fenders were pretty valuable to hobbyists, but a couple of fenders are not that important to the police.

I live 150 miles away, so my brother is handling it. I really don't know when they hit or how many times. Since mom passed away, my brother only goes by to check on the place every few days. When he arrived, he found the door to the house had been forced open, and then checked the garage and found tools and my sheet metal missing. Had they only hit the garage, I'm not sure how long before he would have discovered it.

I think my brother probably discovered the break-in the day after it happened, since the lawn mower disappeared the next day.

I'm sure the fenders were taken to the scrap yard. Since they didn't take the fenders with inner fenders, I'm guessing they were trying to get as much on there as they could. Somebody stated they probably tried to flatten the fenders out to make more room, so even if I found them they would be ruined.

[pontiacs-r-us]

You exactly correct Mike,metal is metal,it's just money for ingredients to them.Its not even groc money for kids to eat tomarrow... They will take old signs, gas pumps or any antique and sell for scrap.A friend of mine had to forfeit a 6ft Gulf sign recently,because dope head stole it & sold it to him.I would be afraid to store anything of value in a home that wasn't a full time residence around here.There are a lot of week end cabins near me,& a lot of them have been hit...They even catch them sometimes & the crooks will beat you back home from police station....


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[poncho-mike]

You said you were originally from around Ashe County. How bad is the theft there? I've been looking at an older farm house that has a pole barn with it. The house is about 15 miles NE of Jefferson. Do you think cars would be safe in the pole barn if the house was only occupied only on weekends?

I've been storing stuff at mom's for close to 30 years now, and only a few things have gotten gone and I know who took them. I thought it was safe, but I sure was wrong.

[pontiacs-r-us]

My Grand parents were originally from Ashe.I still have some family there I'm about 30 miles from Jefferson in Va.Have a few car buddies from Jefferson area.Ill ask if getting like here.My community has been bad lately.Still it's not terrible,I'm probably making sound worse than is.Seams like the meth use is getting bad again? And jobs are hard to find.Theirs a lot of good ol country folk around here too...Id say it depends on how close any neibors are, & what kind people they are?Is this place on hwy 16?I'll ask tomarrow what they think.


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