The Update...

Miss Bess requested that I get on the ball and post something with regards to the Van Buren house, so here you go:

Well, the saga of the Van Buren house continues. Suzy managed to get the property assessment documents so that she could find the legal property lines. As it turns out almost half of the gravel parking lot in front of the house actually belongs to the house property. So, I could conceivably get a permit from the city to put in my own driveway, and then grass-in the rest of "my" gravel to make it part of the yard. So, practically speaking, that solves one of the biggest problems with the house! I would probably still need to put up some sort of privacy fence, too, because Suzy was also able to confirm that there are indeed 5 apartments next door to the house, and they are all currently occupied by college students. Ever since I hit 30, I've come to have an aversion to finding passed-out drunk kids face down in my flower boxes on Saturday morning, so the neighbors at the Van Buren house are still a bit of an issue. The other new issue is that the owner of the house says he would be willing to accept my offer of somewhat under his asking price, but only without including the $12,000 of fix-up money he was originally offering to the buyer. I understand that, but its still kind of a bummer - especially since the house does need work, and that $12,000 would have been a HUGE help - I don't know how much a driveway costs, but I'm guessing its more than $50. On the bright side, my local historic preservation/renovation expert and good friend Phil has offered to help me build a fence, if I need it - I just have to pay for materials and beer.

So, basically, the update is that I'm still thinking about it! I still really like the house, but I'm not sure its "the one". Suzy says its not going anywhere anytime soon, so I have some more time to consider it.