Don't Let Me Down

The American Dream. Get married, buy a little house, fix it up, have a baby. Outgrow your house, sell it, buy a little bigger house. Fix it up, have another kid. Outgrow your house, sell it, buy a little bigger house, ad nauseum.

The American Dream has changed in the last few years. Seldom do young couples want to buy a fixer-upper. I really don't know why unless it is that instant gratification syndrome. See it, want it, buy it.

Urban blight is not just in the hands of landlords and tenants. It is in the hands of the homebuyer. Why is it, she says in her best Andy Rooney voice, why is it that nobody wants a fixer-up or believes in sweat equity. Why can't people look at a house and say, yeah, I can see just what I want to do. Why don't people want to put their own stamp on a home. Why doesn't anyone want to actually restore a home.

Ummmmmm....being an "old house" person myself as well as having an interior design degree, this is all a mystery to me. Are there no "House and Garden" magazines; are there no "This Old House" tv shows?

With that said, last week I tried to get my fixer-upper then rent'em client to step out of the box and buy this cute little house on N. Walnut Street. It is a nice older neighborhood with most of the homes being built between 1915 and 1930, not that old says I. My idea was for him to buy the house, fix it up over the winter and then sell it in the spring (with me listing it, of course.)

Oddly enough, he didn't like the north end of town. Having grown up in the north end of town, I think it is nice. But he would not be moved. I pointed out to him that this home was listed at $59K and that one just like it down the street just sold for $95K. No go.

So a couple days later, I woke up with a nagging little thought in my head. Nice house, needs work, nice older neighborhood, $59K plus $20K to fix up equals $79K, sell it for $95K. I've got good credit, I know houses, markets, contractors, painters...........Eureka! Who am I waiting for! I shall buy it, says I.

Too late. Someone else's light bulb went off a day before mine did. Rats.

So now I look around town and notice little pockets of "restoration" going on. Someone is getting on the bandwagon. And if I keep my eyes peeled, then I can join my own one person campaign to re-beautify Wilmington.