Is Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-McDowell out of his mind?

The cost of building a home on a mountain slope in WNC could cost you anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to however many million you might be prepared to spend. In any case you will spend thousands for site prep and sewer and water. A few hundred thousand to whatever you budget for in actual construction and many more thousands for flooring,cabinets and appliances for the kitchen and bath fixtures and furnishings and probably thousands more for landscaping.

Just for the sake of argument let's say the overall cost is going to be $350,000 to build your dream home, probably a slightly low figure for the average cost of construction in these mountains. How important would an additional $3000 expense play in your budgeting if that $3000, less than 1% of the total cost, could assure you that the $350,000 you were planning to spend would not be at risk either physically or financially?

Why don't we ask Mitch Gillespie? Mr.Gillespie, since you are on record as being opposed to any steep slope regulation because having to hire an engineer or presumably a geologist to evaluate slope stability and appropriate design would be too costly for developers and home buyers, can we assume that you would also counsel against buying insurance because it too adds thousands of dollars to the expense of home ownership?

Actually there is no insurance available to cover any loss caused by earth movement, man made or otherwise. Really the only protection you can buy is the initial site specific survey by a professional that tells you if construction is safe and your investment is likely secure. This one time cost of a few thousand dollars is arguably the most important money that you could spend and yet we have some lame-brain elected official from McDowell County telling us otherwise. All I can suggest is that it is a very good thing that Mr. Gillespie is in politics and not financial planning.

To argue against site specific surveys as protection for the home buyer is dumb and worse potentially dangerous for the eventual occupant of the home. To argue against a 1% or less expenditure for what is in effect the only insurance you will ever get for protection against landslide damage to your home or property is shortsighted and perhaps the worst advise ever uttered by an elected official in this state.