Well, settling for the next few years at least. For the past few months we have been intently watching the real estate listings for a 2-3 unit home in Somerville. Requirements were:
- existing two car garage, or space to build a garage
- near Davis Square or Porter Square
- one of the units needed to be 1 or 2 bedrooms and the other ideally 3 or 4 bedrooms
- in an affordable price range (of course)
- "unique character" and sunny rooms
After being out-offered on the first house we liked (with a garage) we expanded our search to more seriously consider houses without a garage, but that met our other requirements. We immediately found the above house, located at 3 Morrison Ave, Somerville, MA. David went to see the house armed with a new camera, a measuring tape, and pen and paper. He took many pictures (see link below) and most importantly (to the car nut) took measurements of the back yard space. We drew up various rough sketches of garage possibilities and David made many phone calls to the city to learn about permit requirements and building rules. After confirming that we could indeed build a garage for this house, we made an offer. The next few days were quite nerve wracking as we negotiated back and forth with the seller, until at the end of the week we settled on a price and both parties signed the offer. That Friday (Jan 28) we planned a home inspection for 8:30 am. As I was traveling back to Boston Thursday night I learned that David's plane was to be delayed until Friday - putting me solely in charge of the inspection. I brought my mom and Tommy along for moral support and expertise, and we braved the cold (and traffic jams) to see the house.
Throughout the inspection David was messaging me "how is it how is it how is it" and I'm trying to swype away and getting words totally off the map that make no sense because I'm sliding my finger across the screen so fast. I finally gave up in frustration and just took notes on what the inspector said. Having not seen the house yet, David was quite nervous about what I'd think and whether the pictures had been a good enough representation. Luckily, I thought the house was awesome - in need of some work for sure, but a really nice lay out with lots of "character and sun". I scribbled away at all the comments from the home inspector, and in my fervor forgot to take any pictures of the "problem areas". Luckily the house seemed pretty sound over all. Initial work will include removing the nasty carpets, fixing a duct in the basement, and supporting the main girter with new lolly columns as it is sagging with age.
With the home inspection in the clear, we set to work on designing the garage. Per city rules we had to hire an architect or engineer to make the plans, and so far it has seemed to be a good idea because they can check all city codes and have friends in the city offices to run plans by in advance. The picture below shows our final plan, though the car pictured doesn't have to be at that funny angle, it can turn in more to the right and be parallel with the edges of the garage. The garage will be made of concrete (must be fireproof), will be 15 feet tall and have a slanted metal roof. It will be large enough to accommodate one car, a two post lift, a shifter kart, a work bench, and a few other odds and ends. It takes up quite a bit of the backyard, but leaves enough space to meet city laws on landscaping and for us to have a grill and a small garden (the area along the right side of the house is all grass as well).
Currently we are waiting on the finished design from the architects, which will then be submitted by the sellers to the city for a permit. Assuming all goes well then the P&S will go forward, and we will be well on our way to owning a house! There is a tenant in the 1 bedroom unit for awhile longer, so we would work on updating the 4 bedroom unit first. David would then hopefully live there with 3 other roommates until I move back in a couple of years and we can take over the 1 bedroom.
