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My last house had family history before I ever bought it. My mother had purchased the house while I was in Junior High School & moved our family of 5. It was a 2 bedroom home whereas our former house was a 4 bedroom. The best we could understand was that the new place had a commercial greenhouse on the back of the double corner lot, satisfying my (then) step-father’s goal of starting a business.
The family that moved out had at least 3 kids, too, with one of them sleeping on the unheated, uninsulated porch. I never got the whole story, so I made up my own.
Regardless, by the time I took ownership, my mother had divorced, the greenhouse had been razed, the chain-smoking former step-father had left the interior coated with a layer of nicotine film & the plaster ceilings were falling in. We had to move him out to move in.
Real estate lesson #1: Placing a Contract for Deed on a home with a “due on sale” clause WILL lead to trouble.
Within months of taking over payments, we found ourselves looking at Foreclosure, not by default but because we had not gotten permission from the bank to assume responsibility for the property. With little credit history & only a couple months employment back in the state, we felt lucky to redeem the property by acquiring an adjustable rate mortgage with an 11.5% interest rate.
Real Estate lesson #2: When you gut a house in Minneapolis & invite inspections to participate, all bets are off – you are not “grandfathered” in – Everything must meet current code, including the framing.
Remember that falling plaster? Rather than piece it together with sheetrock here & there, we decided to open the walls, correct awkward closets, insulate, rewire, replumb & even replace the 70 year old boiler. Due to this unforeseen obligation, we also had to sister rafters & joists, put new footings under support posts and reframe all the exterior windows & both doors (one of them twice). Nine months later, (no there was no child) we were just a weary couple ready to relieve the in-laws of our home-invasion & move back to our “good enough” house.
In the meantime, we had found treasures in the walls, including fishing tackle, boxes from cough drops, photographs, letters (addressed to “the City”) & newspaper insulation. We realized that the windows were originally oddly placed, as though a short & tall carpenter had worked together. We surmised they might have said “Put that about waist high.” And each of them did.
Real Estate Lesson #3: Your floor refinisher probably won’t do the risers on your stairs as part of the bargain price.
Yeah, I stripped them by hand the night before he arrived
Real Estate lesson #4: Your floor refinisher will remove the glue from where you pulled up the linoleum, if it’s not all gummy.
Wish I’d known that before I scrubbed & scrubbed & scrubbed….
Real Estate Lesson #5: It will never be done, until you move out.
Fifteen years later, when we outgrew the 1,000 square feet, the Kitchen trim was finally installed. Yes, it did look good.
Bonus lesson: When you raze an old fashioned greenhouse, there is literally a ton of glass. Even when you bulldoze it under, it resurfaces. I spent 3 years of summers walking the yard, picking up glass by the bucket full. It ended up looking pretty good, too, eventually.
