As many of you know, Steve and I bought a duplex in Menomonie that’s three blocks from our local co-op and two blocks from Culvers—dreamy proximity when paired with self-control.
We closed on Friday, October 18, 2019.
The house was built in 1875, making it 145 years old. Both units have one bathroom and two bedrooms, and the property includes a large, detached garage, and a raised garden. The yard, with a wide variety of trees, is basically an arboretum.
It’s a 2200 square foot up/down duplex (not a side-by-side), on a corner lot in town. Prior to buying a used snowblower for $150 from a guy in Menomonie—who graciously delivered it—we hired a company to handle snow removal. It cost $225 for the month of December. Predictably, snowblowing is Steve’s newest hobby.
To give you a feel for our house-hunting timeline, we casually viewed properties using Zillow and Realtor.com before we moved to Menomonie, but for this house specifically, we scheduled a showing for Monday, September 17, submitted an offer on Tuesday, September 18—10K below asking, and blew through a breezy 30-day closing. We’ve now owned the property for a little more than four months.
On closing day, after signing loads of paperwork, receiving the keys to the property, and installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Steve abandoned me for the weekend, heading to my Grandparents’ for woodcutting weekend.
A month after buying the house, I told Steve, “Let’s play a game. Describe your home ownership experience in one sentence.”
Steve: Slow-developing curveballs.
Laura: Calculated risk-taking and frugal creativity.
Maybe you expected something more along the lines of “rewarding, exciting, #adulting,” but our house-buying experience has been unique for a few reasons.
The previous owner passed away in an accident at the age of 40, prompting an unexpected sale by his family. Due to the nature of the sale, we know less-than-usual about the history of the property and we also inherited a tenant who currently lives in the lower unit. It’s been an interesting experience simultaneously becoming homeowners and landlords. (I’ll share more at lease-end.)
Prior to purchasing the house, Steve and I had detailed discussions about purchasing investment property; It was always our intention to buy multi-family. Before this deal, we only submitted one other offer, in December 2018, on an old triplex in Menomonie. We offered just shy of asking and it was rejected. We didn’t even receive a counter-offer.
In the summer of 2019, we restarted our property search, connecting with Eau Claire-based realtor, Megan Adams, who I met soon after moving to Menomonie at a local business event. Megan and I met on October 17, 2018 and we closed on our house one year later, on October 18, 2019. Special.
When Steve and I first purchased the property, the upper unit was vacant. That’s our unit for the time being.
Prior to furnishing the upper unit, we freshened it up with new paint. “Freshening it up with new paint” makes painting sound quick and easy; it was neither quick nor easy. We spent weeks prepping the space and fixing the most notable imperfections—caulking, spackling, sanding, taping—all while arguing about what music we should listen to. I opted for Kacey Musgraves, Ben Rector, and John Mayer. He chose Lucy Dacus and in general, Indie Girl Bands.
Before we started painting, we actually told people, “We’re going to paint the apartment this weekend.”
Comically naive.
It took us months.
We started painting on November 1 and finished in mid-January.
I just asked Steve, “Do you remember when we finished painting?” And he said, “Not soon enough.”
To be fair, there were several weeks when we didn’t paint at all, for objectively-deserved vacations to California and Texas, plus time home for the holidays.
That said, the painting is done! Even the dangerously steep stairwell. In the absence of scaffolding, I MacGyvered a paint brush onto the end of a roller extension pole, allowing me to cut in while precariously balanced on a ladder.
Fortunately, for everyone involved (i.e. me) and not involved (worried folks), Steve’s dad is going to paint the downstairs unit. He’s conveniently a professional painter.
The lower unit—occupied until June 1—needs more intensive renovations. We want to overhaul the bathroom and kitchen, and refinish the floors in what’s currently an ‘empty middle room,’ soon-to-be library. There’s also a small, enclosed front porch that’s just big enough to become a 3-in-one space: a cute li’l nook, mini greenhouse, and solid place for our cat to people-watch.
Steve’s excited to have a garage to work on his motorcycle (his actual new hobby). I’m excited about the garden and mini porch; If you know my mom, that comes as no surprise.
Though our home ownership experience has been abnormal so far, I can unequivocally say one thing, we did a bangin’ job on the paint. And we’re proud of it. That said, I’m less proud that Steve found paint in my hair last week—and announced his discovery while we were out to dinner with friends.
Cheers.
a beautiful world. 