Back to the boat. I got a couple of quotes from a different insurance company. One for about what a similar boat would cost me, and one for what I estimate replacement cost would be.

I called again to get some more details about the policies and it turns out they will only pay the "actual cash value" which they determine at the time of the loss. However, they won't tell me what that is ahead of time. My guess is that their way of determining that number results in a significantly less dollar amount than either of the quotes I was given. Seems pretty scummy to me.

thats right. you get basically what they would find it at the cheapest price in some book value. you rarely find one that will give replacement cost or will insure for a specific value. but some will or at least used to.
however if someone else wreaks your boat or car than their insurance has to make you completely whole. because you are not under their policy.

thats another reason insurance is such a bad bet. and it is really just a bet with them that you will get a claim and they bet you dont.
if you can afford the loss than its better to invest that money on your own and take the risk.
insuring for a catastrophe that can break you or liability that may . are really the only type of policies worth considering in my mind at least.

otherwise its like insuring your toaster at walmart but just for a higher amount.

There is a house on the corner, maybe 3 houses down and across the street, that has been for sale since we moved here. Just found out it sold and the buyer is turning it into an airbnb. Sigh.

Sounds to me that you're missing a business opportunity.

when you have neighbors they do what they want. you have little control. only way is to live in a spot where they are far enough away. or suffer thru the problems. thats life.

your just lucky you dont live next to zeno.

I was thinking of decaptain's run-ins with his neighbor. At least you don't have that.

Yeah, I've been weighing the pros and cons of all of this. Not really many pros.

pro - no yapping dogs next to me (owner is very allergic and won't rent to anyone with pets)
pro - if someone bad comes in, it is temporary. permanent bad neighbors are bad.
pro - might be empty half the time

con - everything else

This is so unsettling right now. I absolutely cannot imagine living out the rest of my life next to a hotel

Might be time for you to get a sailboat and circumnavigate. Turn your house into an airbnb.

hehe, I thought about doing this years ago but never did. I'm guessing the romanticism disappears about day 3, though.

I've really obsessed about this too much. This is kinda good because generally the more I obsess about something, the less I think about it later.

Neighbors are a complete crapshoot in general and our houses are REALLY close together so maybe this won't be the worst thing. Every tenant has been fine so far. Plus, I have some noise mitigation ideas.

In other news..... I think the last thing I mentioned about my wife's brother was a SWAT standoff? He spent about a week in jail and was released. Mom shoveled him about $2000 to get his car out of impoundment. I think she's up to about $5000 on this car she gave him, which is worth maybe $500. Mom is on a very small fixed income and has no business feeding the mania, but she continues to do so. She is upset because nobody in her family, who have been adamant that she should not send him a penny, is chipping in.

Anyway, he got his car and somehow got his dog back. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, went directly to the house he had the standoff in, spray painted it, trashed it some more, threatened his sons again, violated two (maybe three) restraining orders, and got thrown back in jail.

needs mental help. and can only get it if he is committed or decides for himself.

sooner or later if the family doesnt cut him off, completely, he is going to do something all will regret .

Yeah, we know this.

The family has cut him off............except mom. She is a disaster. Everyone has told her not to keep doing what she is doing but she's completely and utterly clueless.

Mom's the enabler here. The last thing he needs is a car.

You might as well tell him to stop doing what he is doing. Mom is the biggest problem. He is just collateral damage.

Edit. BTW she is not clueless. She knows exactly what she is doing. It is what she wants.

Yeah I dunno. She is actually pretty clueless. But she's paying dearly for it now. She has an almost unusable shoulder due to recent surgery. Almost 80 years old. Back to cleaning houses because she's broke.

I mounted a couple of signs saying protected by 24/7 cameras. One faces their pool. They can't sit out there without seeing it. I also purchased one of those "protected by smith and wesson" type signs but my wife winced at that one. To be honest I'm not really comfortable with that either. I probably won't put it up unless things get out of hand.

What I decided to do was mount a security camera with a motion sensor light that points at their pool area. The light is ridiculously bright. I'm not sure if they will be triggering it by walking around their pool or not, but when it does go off it will probably be fairly irritating.

Sweet Jesus

Pretty much a party every day next door.

From what I can tell, a homeowner must get a special license in order to had short term rentals. I looked my "neighbor" up and I can't find one. I will be calling to verify and complain.

In the meantime, I found some signs I might put up. These are specific to some particular political campaign but we have a sign maker up the street than can make me some generic ones.

Also looking into raising the wall between us but I'm not sure who owns it.

Apparently my searching skills aren't great. I filed a complaint and got a reply (with screenshot) that he does indeed have a license.

Even though you're HOA-less, does your city have any ordinances around sound/disturbances? Sorry for your hassle.

They certainly do. So far there hasn't been enough noise to warrant that. However, my house is literally 10 feet away from their pool area and noise really travels. If there were neighbors that used the pool occasionally like most do, it would be fine. However, there is a large group of people there every single day. You can't not hear them.

The second part of this is not having a clue who these people are. It's a lot less annoying to hear my neighbors, who are friends, on the other side of me.

well as you found out it isnt your property and you have no control over what they do there within reason.
about all you can do is either move or find a way to stop it from being a rental. since you ruled out buying it.

also can appeal to the renters that you want some semblance of quiet or they will get what they give at 5 in the morning.

also a large and high as much as allowed concrete fence totally along the property line might be what is the only help.

or just get used to it. at present that is your future.

Yeah, this is all true.

Our neighborhood (basically all of the canal houses - there's a LOT) has a facebook page. I made a post asking for people's thoughts on these. Some hated them, some took the stand that they can do anything they want - free country and all that. But most were in the middle. Sort of grin and bear it. Many knew the owner's and had their contact info in case anything went south. Many had pretty good experiences but some not. And, a few said - at least they aren't permanent neighbors - you should see what I have to deal with.

But I think once I get the signs up and my security camera facing their pool, I'll settle down somewhat. Again, it hasn't been horrible yet but I still am not comfortable with it.

can't believe we have people advocating for hoa itt

yeah, replacing one evil for another, eh?

Not going to happen here anyway.

Today's (and yesterday's and possibly tomorrow's) project is wiring a security camera with floodlights.

Fortunately, I do have an outdoor plug wired where I need it. However, I would like to have it wired so there is a plug (gfci) and a switch for the camera so I can turn it off if necessary. So, I'm having to put a new box in as well.

So far it's been pretty easy The hardest part is drilling into the cinderblock wall. Fortunately this is loud and the people at the pool next door undoubtedly are irritated.

It's taken 3 trips to home depot but I'm on the home stretch. Just taking a break. Will post pics when done.