I was expecting to feel happy, or relieved. But somehow, I feel like I’m grieving.
This was our first home. It sat vacant for 6 years and needed lots of TLC. I’d like to think we served it pretty well, as it did us. It was a lot of work — seemingly endless. It was nearly uninhabitable when we bought it. And yet, it was simple and largely reliable as we chugged along. I had a beautiful raspberry patch in the back, and a gigantic rhododendron canopy.
It was an interesting block. One neighbor sold drugs, the other was my insurance agent and friend, and of course... there was the guy who took offense to me owning four cars. Oh, and another neighbor wrote zombie romance novels and was kind of a household name in the, uhh, romantic zombie community.
I was two doors down from about 300 units of low-income housing. Other than a minor nuisance at times, and some abandoned shopping carts, they were all largely great. The neighborhood has improved significantly. Many homes were remodeled and sold to cash in on the market. Now only one home on the entire block is a rental (also noe remodeled) — which I had previously rented myself.
Over six years on the same block... Now I’m starting all over again, with higher stakes.
My “before” photos are buried in some laptop somewhere that I’m sure doesn’t turn on anymore, but here’s some photos of from last night. A family of four bought this house. That’s a tight squeeze, but they’re excited about getting out of their apartment.
Anyway... see you around, house.
