Waltham To Watertown
In just about a month, three years to the weekend from when I first moved up here, I'm moving. I'm only moving about four miles from where I live now, but it'll be to another town here in eastern Mass. I think it'll be a good thing: New year; new place, new space.
I'm moving from a one bedroom apartment in a building built in 1930 that houses sixteen other apartments, with stores on the street level, to the second floor of a two-family single. It's a two-bedroom unit, completely renovated with all new appliances and (ta da) a washer/dryer included. It also has two porches, one off the eat-in kitchen and the other off the living room. I even have my own parking space. How about that, huh?
Up here many houses were originally built as two-families. The owner lives in one half, generally the bottom half, and rents out the other half. It was what made the house affordable. So, in reality, everybody lives in apartments. You also split the basement and the yard.
The trend now is for two-families to be turned into condos. Each half becomes its own house. An escrow account is set up for exterior repairs (roof, siding, etc.). However, as the owner of both halfs, if you don't like the tenant, you can always get another; as the owner of the condo, it's anyone's guess who you'll get as the other owner, and, if you don't get along, you're stuck. As you can imagine, it can, and does, get ugly.
I have been collecting boxes and this past weekend cleaned, in anticipation of packing, until my arms fell off. At the suggestion of my sister, I wiped everything down now instead of doing it while packing.
As I write this, it's snowing like crazy outside, a real nor'easter. The snow accumulation, from Waltham into Boston, is supposed to be from 4 to 8 inches. West of Walthman into western and northern MA, there's supposed to be well over ten inches. But, up here, people just shrug it off and continue on. So, I have to get ready to go to work.
Dixie was not interested in going for a walk this morning. She relieved herself and then walked right back to the door, wanting to go in. Boy, I wish I had that choice this morning. It's a dog's life, I guess.
I'm moving from a one bedroom apartment in a building built in 1930 that houses sixteen other apartments, with stores on the street level, to the second floor of a two-family single. It's a two-bedroom unit, completely renovated with all new appliances and (ta da) a washer/dryer included. It also has two porches, one off the eat-in kitchen and the other off the living room. I even have my own parking space. How about that, huh?
Up here many houses were originally built as two-families. The owner lives in one half, generally the bottom half, and rents out the other half. It was what made the house affordable. So, in reality, everybody lives in apartments. You also split the basement and the yard.
The trend now is for two-families to be turned into condos. Each half becomes its own house. An escrow account is set up for exterior repairs (roof, siding, etc.). However, as the owner of both halfs, if you don't like the tenant, you can always get another; as the owner of the condo, it's anyone's guess who you'll get as the other owner, and, if you don't get along, you're stuck. As you can imagine, it can, and does, get ugly.
I have been collecting boxes and this past weekend cleaned, in anticipation of packing, until my arms fell off. At the suggestion of my sister, I wiped everything down now instead of doing it while packing.
As I write this, it's snowing like crazy outside, a real nor'easter. The snow accumulation, from Waltham into Boston, is supposed to be from 4 to 8 inches. West of Walthman into western and northern MA, there's supposed to be well over ten inches. But, up here, people just shrug it off and continue on. So, I have to get ready to go to work.
Dixie was not interested in going for a walk this morning. She relieved herself and then walked right back to the door, wanting to go in. Boy, I wish I had that choice this morning. It's a dog's life, I guess.
posted by Frank at 7:03 AM
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