Happy Anniversary, Matilda: The Year in Numbers
Karl and I bought Matilda one year ago. It’s been a wild ride, both more expensive and more fulfilling than we could have expected. (That’s Karl on home-buying day last year!)
We’ve met some amazing people and moved into a house that will be our forever home. We’ve also gone from starry-eyed dreamers excited about the low cost of living in Detroit to being broke, just like everyone else.
We hadn’t updated everyone on the finances lately, so I thought we’d give everyone a glimpse into some of the more interesting numbers:
When thinking about a rehab of historic homes, here’s an interesting number our contractors use to quick-guess what it will take to do a gut renovation: !100/square foot. That’s not fancy high-end finishes, but it’s not linoleum-level either.
We’re sitting right at about $120/square foot — but that includes taxes, insurance, purchase price, everything.
So if you’re thinking about bidding on a property in the mayor’s Neighbors Wanted auctions, keep that figure in mind.
Amy Haimerl 
2 Responses to “Happy Anniversary, Matilda: The Year in Numbers”
Congrats! Thanks for sharing your expenses. Able to see concrete example of costs.
iIenjoyed your book on many levels, my son’s and i renovated and built homes,not in Detroit though, and I use to love staying with an aunt and uncle in Detroit, when I was little in the 40″s , and I think it might have been West Village. I am in my 90’s and still remember how Ioved the houses and neighborhoods.
Another level that I though was so important and that every white politician should read , but I still do not think they would understand, was what your said about your father losing his business , equipment and livelihood, pages 70-73. the paragraph that hit me was, “I need to understand … ignored at the worst.” Every time I read that paragraph I get upset because it says so much about how we treat too many today.