Lake Gerar Island is my new Rehoboth Beach retreat

Rehoboth Beach commissioners recently voted against the sale of park land along Lake Gerar, near the dead end of Virginia Avenue. It’s roughly the size of a tennis court, and the commissioners’ main argument against selling the land was concern about setting a precedent. Makes sense. If the city had moved forward with the sale, there definitely would have been property owners all over town looking to do the same thing.

My question is, what would commissioners do about new land? I don’t know, but that’s why I’m here to claim ownership of a small island that has formed in the western prong of Lake Gerar. I recognize the city owns the lake, but the island isn’t on any existing tax maps, so as of this column and before the city makes a claim, Lake Gerar Island is now my Rehoboth Beach getaway. It doesn’t look like much, but after I mow the lawn and prune the trees, it will be a great spot to relax in between assignments.

However, if city officials are interested, they can buy it from me for the right price.

As part of the due-diligence process related to the possible sale of the land near Virginia Avenue, the city had the land appraised. The consultant came back with a price of $530,000 for 1,463 square feet. That’s about $362 per square foot. To sweeten the deal, the property owner offered $540,000. That’s about $369 per square foot.

I haven’t had it surveyed yet, but from the shoreline, Lake Gerar Island appears to have a circumference the size of normal inflatable inner tube. It might be 6 feet square. I figure the island is worth about $3,000, but in the interest of fairness, I’ll cut the city a deal: if it wants its island back, I’m willing to accept half of that.

‘Police accident’ is a bit of an understatement

A little more than two months ago, in a residential community west of Angola, there was an overnight standoff that involved the state police and a man who had led them on a high-speed chase into the community. Before he entered the home, gunshots were exchanged. Ultimately, police reported the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot after they entered the house using an armored battering ram.

I was talking to a resident of the neighborhood recently who said the whole incident was pretty scary, and now the property is a source of frustration among homeowners because it’s sitting boarded up and not being maintained. Basically, it’s become an HOA nightmare.

The bright side, this person said, is that the house is up for sale. They chuckled a bit because they found the “about this house” section of the listing a little amusing.

I had to look it up. This is what it says: “Property being sold as-is. Damage estimates approximately $30K. Home has many positive features but was unfortunately damaged in a police accident. The damage is straight forward, not catastrophic. Please use caution. No utilities are on at the property.”

The 1,620-square-foot house was described as having no bedrooms, one bathroom and having been built in 2015. It was listed mid-July for $268,900, then reduced soon after to $242,000. As of press deadline, it also had an offer that was pending.

Hopefully the pending owner did their due diligence and got more information on the details of the police accident. Or, more importantly, I hope the person who buys the house after the pending owner renovates and then puts the house back on the market does their due diligence.

Joke of the Week

Cape Henlopen School District students returned to school this week. Not everyone in my family was excited. Someone was. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: Why did the math book look so sad on back-to-school night?

A: Because it had too many problems.