Sunday's entry on a Monday. And Monday gets its own.
You don't have to read unless you are interested in us looking at houses. Which really isn't that exciting.
We took a leisurely slide into the day, breakfast and goofing off on the phones. Doug got in the shower and said "if we're doing this, we're doing this..." and we headed off to the Hagerstown MD / Martinsburg WVA houses to look at.
Toffee is so good in the car. She sits in the back seat and rests her chin on our armrest. It's nice when she's there, breathing softly, even snoring, with her exhalations against the back of my left arm. I love her. I wanted to take her picture sleeping, but her superpower is knowing when I'm aiming the phone at her, and she opens her eyes.
Hagerstown, MD. The first house we went to was a drive-by. It is vacant, and it is from the outside perfect. Needs a fresh coat of paint and I would say replace the aluminum windows (many are missing screens) at some point, screen in the back porch, and yes.
It reminded me so much of some of the houses that kids I knew growing up lived in, down in Huntington Bay. It has that vibe. In the livingroom at my friend Jenny's house growing up, they had a grand piano. And I looked at the historical photos of this house and there's one with a grand piano. Such a vibe.
The neighborhood itself is also gorgeous. Mostly single family homes, some bungalow style, cottagey feel, old trees, no new construction. Right around the corner from the house is a little neighborhood market that has been there since 1923.
We went into the back yard once we figured out the gate in the driveway. The neighbor lady was hanging out her sheets on the line. So we said hello when she spotted us. We asked about the house, she's been on the market for over a month. The family lived there for about 8 years maybe and moved to Alabama to be closer to her mom as she's not doing well. They've been in their house over 20. The neighbors on the other side about 10.
She said the neighborhood is aging and she's happy to see families moving in, instead of contractors buying the houses and turning them into two or three condos (evidenced a block away, beautiful single family homes converted into duplexes, a couple of strange apartment buildings generated off of the old single family bodies).
They have grown children and a beagle named Lucy. She loved Toffee. We told her how we have a Geoff, no little kids, but a big one.
Doug and I stood in the back of the house for a while, looked at some mystery wiring coming off the house and going to the alley behind. I noticed the garden needs some love with the hot summer heat. There isn't much grass to actually mow. A very large tree out front has a lot of sap coming off of it, so street parking is probably not the best idea right in front of the house.
We're very interested. She's a little more expensive than I want, but I think inside there is nothing I need to do to make it livable, and the windows, screened in porch, paint job, those can come with time. I'm wondering when they may come down on their price, or what kind of offer they'd entertain.
Then, to an open house. The house was listed at what we thought was a way too low price point and we wanted to know what was wrong with it. We found out.
Incredibly busy road for one. No light at the end of the street so left hand turns are incredibly difficult, so your girl already hated that.
It is an estate sale of sorts, mom and dad have moved into assisted living and the kids are selling the house to pay for their care. They owned the house since 1969, raised four boys in it, and it is ready for the next family. The realtor told us that they had an estate auction and sold the furniture and bookshelves, and everything. It was very successful. They were in the process of doing some work, like tearing up the crummy old carpet to expose the gorgeous hardwood floors under. The front room/livingroom wouldn't need to have the floors refinished but the dining room would.
There are four good sized bedrooms upstairs, with wallpaper that I really should have taken photos of. Flowers, so many flowers. Four rooms of flowers. It felt like the 70s.
The woodwork was absolutely stunning and beautiful, thankfully no one had painted over any of it. The kitchen needed the most work, no dishwasher and actually nowhere to put one. A challenge. They had a portable dishwasher with its own hookup, and in theory I think you could probably put one in the pantry but where you'd stick it felt really shallow so I don't know what would fit in there. The pantry was a really good size, and it could be where you put the dishes, glasses and cups, like a butler's pantry instead of just for food.
There was a gorgeous sun porch off the kitchen, and I suppose you could close that door off, put the dishwasher there, and then a door to the porch through the dining room.
It felt like a lot of work. A lot. For the right person.
The kitchen also made me think of old church kitchens, like the fellowship hall at the church we used to do a coffeehouse in. It made me smile but I don't see myself living there.
The 2 car garage was huge, with enough room for a ride on mower, and a double door out the back to ride it on out to mow the absolutely giant yard. You would not want to mow this yard by push mower. Not doable.
The basement was "finished" with a lot of wood paneling, and is too short for Geoff to live in. I'm 5' 7" and I had to duck going through the rooms.
Doug talked to the realtor who said they priced the house aggressively low, and already had two people entering into a bidding war on it above asking. He asked if that was her intention and she said yes.
I thought about the family, what they're going through right now with getting this all in order and the care the parents would need. I wondered about the personalities of the four boys. Do they all get along? Are they on the same page with the process and plan?
As far as the town goes, Hagerstown is waiting for a revival, to become the next Frederick or the next Winchester VA. It has the bones for it. It just needs some help. There are a ton of rescue missions and churches. I've never seen more in one place, well, maybe Lynn, MA.
We left and drove over to Martinsburg, West Virginia, which is super close to Hagerstown. This is an area we drive through on the highway when heading to Pittsburgh, but have never gotten off the interstate.
The house pictures on Zillow don't really tell the story. The road is a 4 lane busy downtown central drag, close walk into town, but a horribly run down neighborhood. They put so much effort into the interior, it's outstandingly beautiful, but outside it is a mess. We parked outside and looked at it, and left. I know I spend a lot of time inside my house, and inside this house someone is going to be very happy, but it ain't me.
Next, it was time to get some food. We had planned on a brewery in Hagerstown but Doug said there was one near where we were and we should hit that.
It's always fun to find a We Rate Dogs sticker on a car when I'm out in the world. And yes, always tell your dog I said hi.
Amani Brewing is out in the middle of nowhere, and I'm not even exaggerating. We almost blasted by it because there was no sign. The GPS told us to turn right, so we obeyed and boom, there it was. We wondered if it was a beer farm, but couldn't see any actual hops or farming going on, just a lot of land. According to their website they're just getting the farming going. And they do bees, which is super cool, for their own honey for the cocktails and beers.
The place was gorgeous, the beer was great, and we got their pizza which was honestly some of the best pizza we've had in this area. Hats off to the kitchen project.
Time to head home, even though the temptation was real to sit and have more beers. We knew we'd hit traffic. And boy did we ever. Holiday Sunday, accidents, road work, and what a mess. It took well over 2 hours to get home, and we were happy to get here.
On the way, I texted our buyers' broker and asked if she was licensed in Maryland or West Virginia. She is not but said that she knows folks she can refer us to. I sent her the house in Hagerstown, and she wrote back "okay that's a super cute property and it is so your jam." She ran the comps on it, and said the price is outstanding. She's shocked that it is still available after a month on the market.
She also recommended another town/area to look at and sent a few listings over. I didn't feel like looking at them last night. My brain hurt. Here's some pizza. Digits below. Monday gets its own entry. This was a lot.
Sunday digits
exercise: 10/12 hours. lost 2 hours in the car (noon/5pm). very short walk around a neighborhood. 6500+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9:45am: 169
6pm: 134
10:45pm: 171
food & meds:
9:45am: phentermine+jardiance
11am: english muffin w/pb & low sugar jelly
2:15pm: met+glip
3:45pm: 2 beers, nice pizza
6:30pm: cheeseburger on a potato roll w/ a couple potato chips
8pm: ramekin mixed nuts
9:30pm: met+glip
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