Eminent Domain?

[nighttrain66]

I live in Red Oak (Ellis county).

TXDOT is widening Ovilla rd from 287 to 35 and 35 to 45. It will be 6 lanes wide and the plans show that it will be coming thru my house and shop.

We looked at a map and our house is scheduled to be removed at some point when they widen the road.

They will start at 287/Ovilla rd and work there way to 35 then 45. I live about halfway between 35 and 45.

It will take a few years but at what point will they take the house?

Do they give fair market value?

Do you have a choice of rejecting offer and holding out for more at all or is it like "this is what you are getting"?

Anyone gone thru this before?

Can anyone tell me what to expect?

thanks,

Lloyd

[jw33]

expect to get fucked.

[sc281]

Feel bad for ya. Is it a nice house? If it's old, throw a fresh coat of paint on it and make it look pretty from the outside. Might help with negotiations.

[talisman]

Stay in the house as long as possible and keep rejecting offers.

[ELVIS]

man, good luck with that. i had a cousin that had that same kind of deal in houston but it was a hospital being built instead of a highway. they got quite a bit of miney which he promptly invested in crystal meth. he is since divorced and is currently lodging @ 1200 baker street with 3000 of his closest friends.

god bless.

[SEB]

Im curious to see how this pans out. Keep us updated on this, Goodluck!

[Trip McNeely]

Tell them that a new species of insect lives underneath the grounds of your house. They will postpone the construction, send out scientists and probably even shut the project for good or reroute.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/08/little-spider-halts-15-million-texas-construction-project/

[brandon01rt]

Time to lawyer up. They cannot be trusted to give you fair value. The lawyer will fight for things such as sentimental value, and review the documents of surrounding areas to make sure you get the correct price per acre. My lawyer works for free. He is just getting a 30% cut of any additional money he can bring in.

[ZYouL8R]

You can only reject so many offers before they say "fuck you, we're taking it anyways". That's the whole premise behind eminent domain. Take the advice above and talk to a lawyer who specializes in this and he will be able to put you in the best possible position before they take all your shit, because it's going to happen either way.

[bcoop]

man, good luck with that. i had a cousin that had that same kind of deal in houston but it was a hospital being built instead of a highway. they got quite a bit of miney which he promptly invested in crystal meth. he is since divorced and is currently lodging @ 1200 baker street with 3000 of his closest friends.

god bless.

That escalated quickly...

[JP135]

They'll dicker with you some, but eventually they'll show up with a check and a bulldozer.

I kinda like the endangered species idea. Look online, find a photo of the Florida Borrowing Owl then dig some little holes that mimmick its nest.

[brandon01rt]

Another thought, have a friend go online and buy some rare Indian arrowheads. Bury them underneath a tree for an inspector to find.

[racrguy]

They'll dicker with you some, but eventually they'll show up with a check and a bulldozer.

I kinda like the endangered species idea. Look online, find a photo of the Florida Borrowing Owl then dig some little holes that mimmick its nest.

Another thought, have a friend go online and buy some rare Indian arrowheads. Bury them underneath a tree for an inspector to find.

The problem with that idea is, once they find those things, YOU won't be able to do anything with the property either, and you'll still be stuck holding the bill for the property.

[nighttrain66]

Probably worth 150K or so.

Appraised for 132K in 2000 when we moved here and before we built 24x24 shop.

Built in 1989, 1915 sq feet, brick house, 3 bed rooms, 2 fireplaces.

I consider it nice but "nice" is a relative term. Some would consider it REAL NICE and to others it might not be.

I have no problem moving and had talked about moving a lil farther south.

No prob losing the house, just curious what to expect since this will be our first time for such a thing.

Anyone familiar with the area knows there are a few hundred houses that will need to be taken out when widening the road from 287 to 35 and 35 to 45.

As some havbe mentioned, I hope its not a FUCKING

.

[nighttrain66]

Just paid off the house last week so whenever it does sale, we will get that amount (no pay off on house).