Hot Rods Considering living in an old service station....

That's crossed my mind a lot, but that can be over come, I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. Thanks for the input.

 

Seems like you already made up your mind! As others said. Do it. I'd do it if I was young and single

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That's awesome, love it.

 

Every old service station I drive by is a "diamond in the rough". They deserve at least preservation from being bulldozed. I'd love to see as many as possible restored, at least maintained, roofline & standing buildings. I think they are as appealing as a 200 yr old barn.
Unfortunately, when "historic Sites, codes, & Agencies" get involved, most just fall over into a slow death.

. . .

 

Oh shit. I didn't think of that, it has showers, a kitchen , sleeping quarters and a big bay area. Thanks, your my new hero.

 

Tha

That's life in today's world, find the right place first then fight for it.

 

Haha, I'm old an single, hopefully I'll feel young again.

 

Exactly, and i guess I'm just trying to keep from falling over in a slow death too. Thanks.

 

Thanks guys, I now have more to consider, you guys are great.

 

Ok okay ! I'd do it if I was old and single too!! Ha ha. Good deal man.

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Be sure you can get out in case of a fire. Both for your safety and to meet building code. If they find you in there and it doesn't meet fire code they will probably evict you. Is it zoned for living?

Charlie Stephens

 

Haven't found a place yet, looking for info like this before I get the right place lined up. Thanks for pointing that out, that's exactly why I asked for pros and cons, I'm in the jewelry industry not real estate or commercial property so this is helping me a lot. Thanks

 

It's all good, but the ding ding bell will drive you nuts...

 

Neat ...you have to see this video...some great ideas

 

It was good enough for Goober Pyle.

 

I always wanted to live and build one of these barn type houses.

 

Another thing to check on is property taxes. Living in a commercially zoned area is normally allowed most places in NC, but the tax rate is much higher on commercial property than on residential and its not usually possible to get it rezoned residential to lower the taxes because spot zoning is illegal in NC.

Another thing to watch out for is local storm water taxes on commercial. Basically, those taxes take the total square footage of hard surface, including the building itself, and tax you on that square footage. Some towns have that tax and some don't. For the most part, the ones that don't have it just haven't thought of it yet.

For example, the city, county, and storm water tax on my shop where I make a living is about $7500/yr. Residential property with the same valuation would have tax totaling about $3500/yr. Obviously, the difference ain't something to ignore.

And, as others have said, don't buy any former gas station that doesn't have a legal clean bill of health from the environmental authorities. Modern tanks and monitoring wells didn't come into common use until the early 90's. Prior to that, tanks at gas stations got replaced when they leaked and the proprietor started losing enough gas that it was cheaper to replace the tanks than to keep on buying the lost gas. As a result, just about every one of the old and really neat looking stations had leaking tanks at one time or another, and there's still thousands of places where the ground hasn't been cleaned up for one reason or another so just make sure you don't buy yourself one of those problems.

 

I would do it myself, but only on Rte 66 in the Southwest. You would meet people from all over the world.
Call it a residence and hobby shop. But., if the right person comes along with simple stuff, cash in hand...well you know

 

You couldn't do it here where I live. You can't have a living quarters in anything other then a residential zoned property (the only exceptions are things that were in existence before the zoning laws changed and are grandfathered in, my place falls under the category), and anything that has been zoned as business can not be converted back to residential. They also do not allow a "security agent" to sleep on a non residential zoned property. The problem occurs if someone complains, and they do fire inspection (all business property has to be available for a fire inspection) and find "evidence" of someone living there (more then a change of cloths is enough evidence). They can issue a cease & desist along with a daily fine until the living quarters are removed. That was the story when I was actually considering buying such a building.

You may also want to check into how expensive it would be to make an old gas station comfortable to live in, most were not very well built.

You may be way ahead of the game to buy a piece of property and build a pole building style building with a garage on one end and living quarters on the other end. I've seen some pretty nice places set up like that. A lot less hassles. Gene

 

How about buying a vacant lot and have a house built that LOOKS like an old gas station. After everything was brought up to code in the real gas station, a new house might be the way to go.


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Not quite the same thing, but just after my wife & I were married we bought an old country church (circa 1890) to live in. We lived there for about 5 years before my job forced us to move. It was complete with cemetery in the backyard!
That was over 30 years ago and I still miss that place.

I say go for it.

 

This sounds good. Gas stations are out near the road (no privacy) and are usually on very small lots. My fantasy is a 40x110 with 30x40 living quarters and the rest shop. I already have gas pumps and signs to make it look like an old gas station

 

Yes, unless you have a guest bedroom for us!

Hey, just a couple quick signatures and could be single...again...

..um...er...I heard the food was "greasy"?

Hey, you forgot that pole the firemen slide down!!! You can get stripper girlfriends if you have a practice pole!! You can watch them during supper, instead of a TV! Think of the money saved on cable!

 

Its do-able. Wished I would have had the chance the old gas station down here my grandfather used to fill up his now my '56 was bulldozed down like 8 to 10 years ago even though it had a historical marker on it.

 

One bit of advice: Disconnect the driveway bell, or you'll go nuts in a hurry.

Oops, I see that ezi said it first, and I concur.

 

All the neat old gas stations, I see, usually only have one stall, a small office, a smaller store room, and a bathroom or two; nowhere enough room for a hot rodder. Better look for an old dealership!

 

If it has a car lift I'd go for it. Us old have a hard time crawling under a car.

 

I don't remember who it was but I recall a hamber buying a gas station and converting it into a living space,someone else bought a bank to live in. HRP

 

I know a old dealership became a big stamp then a walgreens then it was remodeled and now its split up three ways between a yoga center, fitness center, and a over priced dinner. At least the artdeco exterior was kept.

 

Just make sure you remember where you hung the bathroom key and maybe remove the rubber machine in there but keep the goofy joke machine and that towel machine that mysteriously keeps going in a circle and is always clean.