Next week marks the five-year anniversary of our moving into our 1927 Craftsman two-story house.
I love my house. The original part contains just enough hardwood and architectural nuances to please without being fussy. The rear addition came in the mid-1990s and features a huge kitchen, family room, and master suite. Every night I lay in bed and look out over a bank of windows to a tangle of oak branches decorated with the intermittent flash of fireflies and think, “God, I love this bedroom! God, I love this house!”
The last thing we wanted was to buy a house at the time we bought this one. Think riding the crest of the real estate wave in 2004 just before the bubble burst, and I am ashamed to say we paid far more for the house than what we can sell it for in today’s depressed market.
I happened upon it during a brokers’ open house and dispatched my dispassionate husband to have a look-see. We had a perfectly serviceable house just a mile away and were in the process of remodeling the kitchen. I figured he wouldn’t even look, and even if he did would put the kibosh on it in no time.
I was wrong. He was more enchanted with the house than I was.
Before a sign was planted on the lawn, before it hit the MLS, before evening, we put in an offer. Even though both of us vowed to never move again.
One can accumulate a lot of junk in six years with two kids, two birds, two cats and the accoutrements of a four-bedroom house. Even with the close proximity and a Tahoe in the driveway, we were going to need some serious help getting all of our belongings from Point A to Point B. When moving into the old house, the van line we used dispatched a full semi and an additional large truck. Moving out was definitely going exceed those vehicles.
Being the savvy consumer I like to think I am, I called around to various moving companies. Phone estimates were approximately the same. I’m a small business person, so I like to use local small businesses whenever I can. I chose a local company, franchise of a larger one based in Lansing, Michigan. The fact that they are Michigan-based swayed me away from the Big Dogs, plus their company motto of “Movers Who Care.”
Article comments
1 - Friend Mouse
I'm getting ready to move across the country ... your article just gave me icky chills.
2 - Joanne Huspek
Buyer beware, Friendly. Make sure you investigate your insurance policy and be diligent. (Of course, I thought I was and look what happened to me...)