Day 47: Suffering from multiple personalities
My house-hunter persona split its personality again today. This particular one’s been slowly chipping away at the others, trying to push herself into the limelight ever since I started thinking about adding cabinets to the Brooklyn Street house.
She broke free a bit more once I walked through the Ottawa Hills house. There’s work that needs to be done cosmetically and maybe down the road I’d convert the attic into living space. In the past week or so I’ve looked at a couple houses with a nice layout and a great exterior in a great location, but the interior is a dump. Yesterday I mentioned that great interior decorating or home staging suckers people like me into falling in love with a home, despite major drawbacks (Big Yellow!). If I was impulsive, an offer would be on the table right now. Thank God I’m not (at least in this case).
Well, Ms. Renovation came out in full-force today, joining Miss Perfect, Miss Condo, Miss Neighborhood and Ms. Investment in the ring to duke it out for the first McNabb home.
Miss Condo got knocked out a long time ago, but every once in a while she emerges for a fleeting moment.
Miss Perfect has been dominant, insistent on finding a home in a great neighborhood that is not in need of any cosmetic updates or major maintenance costs (like a new furnace or roof).
Ms. Investment is willing to trade off some major desired features, like a back yard, for a great deal in my dream neighborhood.
Miss Neighborhood took me on a tour of nearly ever house for sale in nearly every desirable neighborhood in Grand Rapids. After the hunt started for condos in Forest Hills, of course. The house hunt took me from Fulton Heights to Eastown to Creston to East Grand Rapids to Alger Heights to Ottawa Hills and now to a handful a few nice streets in unnamed neighborhoods.
And now there’s Ms. Renovation. She and Ms. Investment get along really well. And it all started with another conversation I had with a friend about buying a fixer upper. I don’t have that kind of time, I said. But paired with a few flipped houses that I’ve seen lately and a brewing enthusiasm for adding my own touch to a home, he raised a few great points. If I find something structurally sound, $10k would go a long way cosmetically and maybe a bit structurally, as well. This way I get exactly what I’m looking for and definitely increase the home’s value. He threw in a bit about having contractors do the work for me and never having to lift a finger.
I have absolutely no idea what that would cost, but it struck a chord with me – or Ms. Renovation, that is. Which is shocking. If you know me, you know I’m a bit frugal. 🙂 But this stuff, among much more, started to make a lot of sense…
If I pursue this, it’ll be my fifth launch of a house hunt. But the thought of another round of looking at dozens of houses plus researching the cost of renovations is exhausting.
Anyone else experience conflicting personalities while searching for your home?
Day 46: When it rains, it pours
And lately my life is one big monsoon! In a sunshiny, non depressing sort of way. One of those storm clouds just happens to be pouring out houses. While I wait on the Ottawa Hills home, I can’t help but take a look at the recent listings popping up. Just in case.
Tuesday night’s hunt left me slightly in lust with one my realtor picked out. It was a home he’d previously listed that was taken off the market. If the price was right, I’d seriously consider it.
Tonight I immediately fell in love with the big, yellow home I walked into just outside Ottawa Hills. It’s on another undiscovered block of Grand Rapids that’s oozing with charm! The kitchen was perfect. There was even a mud room! The upstairs landing space had built-in cabinets and drawers. But it had wood siding, there was no garage (though room to build) …and it was a flip.
House 1 - Big Yellow - She's so pretty!
See what I mean about staging (Day 45)... Oh, how I love this!
The backsplash was aluminum. Loved it! And a five-burner range... sweet!
Had I gone into the brick house first, I would have loved it more. I still loved it. It was a bungalow with a really great bedroom and half bath upstairs. The basement was finished and roomy. The three-season porch was great. The kitchen was a little cramped, but the counter space was sufficient. The shared driveway and seeing the hairy contents of the bathtub drain exploded all over the bathroom…well not quite appealing.
She's adorable, too!
I still absolutely love that one I saw last week on Colorado. But, like I said, I’m wary about buying a flip.
Loved this kitchen, too. And the upstairs bed/bath was amazing.
After my successful house hunt tonight, I drove through the winding streets of East GR and Ottawa Hills again to check out “my” house. As I described each room to my friend, I grew more and more excited. The age of the roof and price estimate on replacing will be a huge deciding factor. My neighbor told me her tear-off cost about $17,ooo. My mom’s – $4,000. The former – scary. So here I sit twiddling my thumbs, waiting to get an estimate…
I hope my car will be parked right inside that attached garage soon!
You know that rant about interior decor yesterday? I’m such a sucker! A nicely decorated home usually has a much higher price tag on it, but I can’t seem to envision the same thing when the place is dull, dingy or dumpy. And, well, perhaps I’m a little lazy. Though you know how I said when it rains, it pours? The last thing I have time to do is fix up a house, especially when I know lawn care is looming over my free time. Life is wonderfully busy.
In the past week, I also found a couple people willing to do guest posts, too, which I think is quite exciting. One is a new homeowner learning about painting. The other has a homeowner horror story. Stay tuned!
Day 45: Good looks go a long way
Abby Albers is a busy girl. At one time, we were super pals. But now she works for J&H Oil. She makes jewelry. And she recently opened her second store, Found, a repurposed furniture and vintage clothing store on Cherry Street. Thank goodness for Facebook; it doesn’t feel like it’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen her. It was great to finally catch up with my friend over curry soup today.
Turns out Found also stages empty homes. Home decor is not my forté; neither is imagining myself in an empty home. For people like me, seeing furniture really goes a long way. In fact, I’ve even been through a bunch of homes that are decorated so blandly that it’s hard for me to imagine living there. Same goes for the places that hold mounds of clutter. Dirty walls, floors and cupboards are a real turn off, too. It’s hard to imagine myself living here when I’m surrounded by someone else’s filth.
My realtor posted a few words of advice for selling your home last month. If you’re thinking about putting your house up for sale, it’s definitely worth it to whip your house into shape, as he put it. In a buyer’s market, people are picky. And after looking at nearly 80, I can definitely agree with what he has to say. A messy home makes me question what else isn’t being taken care. And for every unkempt home, there’s another one that looks loved, which helps me to fall in love. Had I known I’d be nearing 100 homes, I may have tried to look beyond the junk a bit earlier. But I didn’t. And I don’t think my thought process is too unique.
If you’re selling your home, do yourself a favor. Box up the junk. Scrub your home so it shines like the top of the Chrysler building. Light a few candles. Take Dan’s advice. And if you’re interior-design inept, like me, find a friend or hire someone like Found to give your home a mini face lift. (I know you guys stage empty homes, Abby, but I’d totally pay someone like you to work with what I have to make my house sale-cute.)
And if you still don’t trust me…. well, I was a week away from closing on a well-decorated home. In hindsight, there wasn’t an ounce of structural charm, which is what I’ve been on the prowl for. Looks don’t mean everything, but they sure do help.
Day 44: Don’t forget your gun.
That’s the review I read last night on a supermarket nearby the Ottawa Hills home. Don’t forget your gun? Lovely.
During my lunch break today I drove through the neighborhood to scan the walkability. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. But it was cold, icy and I was wearing heels. I found a library (!), but no supermarkets. Bummer.
This evening, I met my realtor to look through a couple homes in Alger Heights. A couple around my age jogged by and said hi. A guy dressed in his business-casual duds pulled into the driveway across the street. He nodded, too. Another younger couple walked their dog down the sidewalk. Nice. Young people. There’s something very appealing about that. And after Dan and I parted ways, I drove right up the street to Ken’s Fruit Market to grab a few things for dinner. To think, I was so repulsed by Alger Heights from the get go. I refused to even gave it a chance. Now, I’ve fallen in love.
But really, it’s this damn supermarket notion. I am ridiculously obsessed.
I drove down Franklin Street on my way back to Eastown and passed a place just down from Ottawa Hills that advertised beer and groceries. People were loitering outside; it looked like a prime spot for fights and drug deals. Better bring your gun here, too.
Thank heavens for my supermarket obsession, otherwise I would still be walking the line between my two very different loves. I’m really quite sick of the indecisive feeling, to tell you the truth. Anyway, I called my friend Laura who lives in Ottawa Hills to inquire about the store. Good call. With each word out of Laura’s mouth describing the neighborhood, I grew more and more excited about the big, beautiful, brick home in fairytale land.
She said people hang out on the school lawn during the summer. Kids are all over. Sounds just like Wilcox Park! The neighborhood association has monthly happy hours. Eastown is only half a mile away, closer than Gaslight Village. And Calin is only getting older, which means he’ll soon be able to ride his bike with me (why didn’t I think of this?!), making a gunless grocery store only half the distance. And she told me about walkscore.com. I’ve been dreaming of something like this.
I could just hug you right now, Laura!
Day 43: Home sweet home
A few years ago returning home from a trip was dreadful. Coming home meant back to school and work and chores.
Now it’s a much different story. You know what they say… home is where the heart is! I have a three-year old waiting for me. Anticipation of hearing his sweet little voice and holding his little hand has replaced the dread.
Goodbye for now, New York. I missed you, Grand Rapids!
Day 42: What New York taught me about living in Grand Rapids
As I rummaged through the kitchen of my friend’s New York apartment, it dawned on me how crazy different my life is today than what I ever imagined it would be just five years ago. Here I am standing in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the city I thought I was destined for at 22. Just the other day, I wrote something about how the house I looked at is a bit smaller than what I would actually like.
I sliced cheese on the two square feet of counter space marveling at the lack of clutter, particularly because two adults lived here. Well, lack of clutter if you take away what I brought (my presence is tornado-like ;-). Could I have been this compact? I wondered. Had I not become a mom after college, I’d be in New York City or Chicago or Europe. Who knows. But I sure as heck wouldn’t be living large or thinking about mortgages, leaky roofs or the walkability of my neighborhood.
People often pestered me about throwing my money away in rent. I questioned myself, too. But maybe it made me feel somewhat free still… as if I’d be able to up and move across the country should the opportunity present itself. In reality, I was clinging to a fantasy, not ready to officially grow up. I would never do it because my family and Calin’s family are here. We need each other. And at some point in 2011, I finally came to terms with calling Grand Rapids home. In fact, I realized I was head-over-heels in love with this city. I can’t pinpoint the moment, though I feel it was revelational, an aha moment, if you will. Whatever it was, it was what I needed to launch the house hunt. (I could really get into another dating analogy here… settling down, fear of commitment, taking the plunge…)
As I wandered the Upper West Side of Manhattan with Kristen this weekend, a few more things dawned on me.
For one, my necessity for a Grand Rapids neighborhood is seeded in my big-city dreams left unfulfilled. But at 26, I realized that the me today wouldn’t be cut out for big-city living. Maybe my frequent trips to the Big Apple are what gave me the peace to finally settle into Grand Rapids.
Second, I’ve got this crazy thing with being able to walk to the grocery store in my new home. I can’t figure out whether it’s simply having a an excuse to take walks, or if I really do want a grocery store. Well, we woke up New Year’s Day and needed cream for coffee. Within ten minutes we had our creamer, fruit and munchies and were back inside her apartment. I love it. And I loathe driving.
Third, I need to find a friend who lives in the Hillmount on Cherry Street or somewhere with an equally amazing city view. I make good company and will bring wine. 🙂
My, how the years have quickly changed. Happy New Year!! May 2012 be filled with happy life-changing surprises, meaningful moments, aha moments and a life well-lived. Cheers!
Day 41: Cheating on Grand Rapids
Or just taking a break. I intended to achieve a couple things this year. One was my yearly goal of an international trip. It’s the last day of 2011 and it appears I failed. But for good reason. Dropping a couple grand into a down payment seemed more sensible than fulfilling an expensive hobby.
But I did make it to parts of the United States I’ve never seen before. That’s got to count for something right? I spent a day discovering Providence and Newport in Rhode Island. I wandered the cobblestone streets of Boston learning about the city’s history. I fell in love with the artistic charm of seaside Portsmouth in New Hampshire. In fact, fleeting thoughts of that town still cross my mind from time to time. And how about a second trip to NYC in 2011? Sure, it’s by no means a new part of the world to me, but with each trip, a new adventure awaits.
The thought of new, different and foreign tempts me in ways a drug might taunt an addict. I’ve had to develop quite a strength to resist the overpowering temptation – avoiding travel shows, for one. They’re deadly. Apparently, text messages are, too.
I talked to my New Yorker friend yesterday. I sure did miss her. And I’ve never spent New Year’s Eve anywhere but in Grand Rapids. The all-too-common thrill of leaving home surged through me. Shoot. I was a goner. An hour or so later my flight was booked for 7 a.m. today.
So here I am. The last day of 2011 and I’m arriving in New York, my secret love. Although I may not have reached my goal of crossing foreign lines this year, I did spend a fair amount of time outside my hometown. Sorry, Grand Rapids. I love you, but I need a few breaks from you from time to time.
Day 40: A fairytale kind of day
I turned into Ottawa Hills, a tiny Grand Rapids neighborhood bordering East Grand Rapids. My heartbeat sped up. Excitement pumped through my veins as I succumbed to the enchantment of the miniature castles surrounding me. I can’t believe this could be my neighborhood, I thought as a wide grin spread across my face.
I was finally on my way to check out the home of my uncle’s mother in-law. I knocked on the door and was coolly greeted by the home’s tenant. I scanned my surroundings. A spacious living room with a brick fireplace was connected to a four-season sunroom. Built-in cabinets connected the rooms. Daylight spilled into a beautiful beautiful dining room. It was love at first sight.
And that’s where my thrill ended.
Not by choice, but as a result of that annoying little man who answered the door.
He followed us through the home, quick to point out every flaw. The fireplace doesn’t work well. I hate the closets in this place. The kitchen needs work. The bathrooms are tiny. The windows are drafty. I rolled my eyes over and over. It was when he pointed out the leaks, mentioned the old roof, that I started appreciating the chatterbox a teensy bit.
The roof was older and, according to him, nearly due for replacement. It has three layers, too. That means come replacement time it’s going to be costly. Codes prohibit more than three layers of shingles so a complete tear off will be required. Something I’ve been adamant to avoid, as it will cost thousands of dollars.
The three-season porch had a leak, so did the garage and the canning room in the basement. Work. Money. Money. Work. I wished he would just put a cork in it.
The home isn’t perfect. It’s a corner lot. Not much of a yard. Despite it’s large exterior, it’s a bit smaller than I’d like. But it has an attached garage, which, I don’t think I’ve encountered in a single house in my search yet. (One of those initial requirements that quickly fell off the list.)
The biggest pro? She’s willing to sell it at a price I can afford. And in Ottawa Hills, that’s an investment. But for my budget, it’s the max I want to spend.
I’m torn.
So I called my mortgage guy. He quoted me some estimates for monthly payments, but the leaks lingered in my mind. I’d hate to spend another $350 in inspection fees only to realize the problems are more than I want to handle.
He suggested I bring a contractor in to take and look and estimate repair costs. Brilliant!!
And guess who I met an hour later? A contractor who lives a few streets over from Ottawa Hills. We exchanged numbers; my bout of anxiety subsided.
Now you’re probably wondering about the Negative Nancy I referenced earlier. I don’t know the whole story, but his plan was rent to own. Only it’s been five years and he still hasn’t bought the place. How bad can the problems really be if he’s willing to still live there?
For now, I’m refraining from getting too excited about a fairytale home come true.
Day 39: A home away from home
Right here, right across from this hard-working young fellow – this is my home away from home. I spend 40-plus hours a week in a cubicle and couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. Today, as I hashed out details of my personal life (yup, he knows how to act just like one of the girls) and later found him searching for and printing directions to a gift store that held a very specific candle I was looking for, I became a bit saddened to think about what I’m on the verge of losing. I don’t know what we’re going to do without each other once I move to HR in a few weeks.
The royal treatment
At least our Christmas/parting gifts to each other took care of the little things. My very own package of Kiwi shoe polish will keep my boots looking good even though he’s not around. His crisp new Associated Press Stylebook will help fill the void of the absence of my grammar-rule filled brain. Yep, we definitely picked out perfect gifts for each other.
But it’s the big things that matter. I won’t get to see my wonderful friend every single Monday through Friday morning anymore. And we both know all too well what the other end of the building can do to work friendships. You start off with good intentions of keeping in touch, and then, well, we’re not even going to go there yet.
So, in order to make sure we don’t sever ties, I’m going to pick up a new hobby. In 2011, Greg’s goal was to run 100 miles per month. And today he made it for the last month of the year! Every day at lunch time, he turned down offers to grab lunch with me and go run a bunch of miles instead. I guess it wouldn’t kill me to exercise on my lunch hour, too. So I invited myself along. I assume if he preferred a peaceful, quiet run, he would have told me so. But he didn’t, so it looks like I’ve found myself a New Year’s resolution: run.
In a few weeks, I’ll move away from the people who’ve grown to be great friends over the past couple years and into a new neighborhood with hopes that they’ll be just as amazing to work with as Greg and many of my other coworkers. It’s bittersweet. But now that I’m going to be a runner, we have a chance at survival. 🙂
Long story short – friends are what make a home away from home – not the dreary confines of a cubicle.
Day 38: Skip day
Nothing exciting happened on the home front today, but my brain is just too tired to creatively find a way to write about home. 🙂 Health is taking precedence over writing tonight. Four hours of sleep last night and feeling like a bad cold awaits around the corner is sending me straight to bed. Cross your fingers it’s just exhaustion. Buenas noches!
Unfolding the Story of My Life 