Reality Check

In my opinion, just for location and potential, the purchase of our new home was a considerable value. But others may not have seen it that way. One of those others being my wife. A primary reason there may have not been more competition on the house was the clear stipulation: “As is.” No inspections. No testing. No conditional contracts.

For the seller, this made great sense. The owner was out of the country and there was enough work for the caretaker already in having to prepare, sell and empty the property. But for a buyer — risk.

I did have a contractor friend join me for the initial walk through and give an assessment. His answer: “Without getting behind the walls, it seems solid and well-built.” Well, that was something. The rest was a combination of reading accurately the character of the owner and caretaker — both of which I appraised fairly high.

But even with the house being solidly constructed, and assuming we’d have no surprises with the well, septic, plumbing, etc., the interior was 1980s camp decor. Let’s say, not my wife’s style. My response: “That’s all cosmetic. We can change that in three weeks.” I have not yet lived down those words.

The owner did come back from Bulgaria and asked for a month’s rent back, which we were glad to do. He is as wonderful a man as you’d want to meet. As a second generation Pollack, I hold a close affinity with Eastern Europeans. Many have lived through much adversity, and still do.

That month was spent deciding on paint, styles of flooring, tile, countertops, and appliances. Essentially, everything needed an upgrade. A much cherished contractor friend sacrificially came alongside to invest in the house. The “three weeks” dragged into months of full-time work, often six days a week. Yvonne and I said to each other at times: “We’ve never worked this hard in our lives.”

We became educated in everything from ripping out walls to installing flooring, patching drywall, spray-painting, wiring, duct work, power washing and more. Family and friends came alongside in both labor and counsel. We had never designed the interior of a house from scratch. This was not our wheelhouse.

It would be six months before the house was ‘together’ — still work to do, but looking like a home. Come April, the work shifted to the outdoors. I’ve come to learn what invasive species are. Trees of Heaven, Princess Trees, Asian Honeysuckle Trees — all spread roots and come back like a multi-headed hydra when you sever the trunk. Eradicating them requires a long-term approach. I’m learned other skills, like working with a chain saw and pickax. This is a rocky and forested ridge after all.

All of this to say, we are coming on the one-year anniversary of our transition, and we have been progressively shifting to the activities for which we made this move: investing in our family and writing. Part of my writing will be restarting my blog: “Inspiration for Living Well”.

Life is spectacular. It is also dark and troubling. Death and life exist side by side. So do glory and grimness. I thought a New York Times pic of the Aurora Borealis over Kyiv, Ukraine last week captured that well. But since there are multiple media outlets covering the very real troubles around us, I seek to frame the hope and beauty present in a world that is groaning.

May these posts grant you a measure of hope and inspiration in the midst of your living. Oh, and by the way… Yvonne loves the house.