I may have found a decent house for Grant. While I was out jogging this morning, I turned down Sixth Street and discovered a “For Sale Or Rent” sign on a little house at the corner of Sixth and Waldmire. It looked sort of promising, so I called the owner, a middle-aged woman from San Jon who inherited it from her parents.
It’s little bitty — maybe all of 800 square feet, judging from the outside — and comes with appliances, which the owner assures me are ancient but serviceable. It looks structurally sound, although it could use a new roof, and it’s covered in some seriously f’ugly pink-and-gray asphalt siding in a ghastly faux-brick pattern. I like the fact that there’s a garage in the back, which would give the Volvo a little protection from disgruntled students.
There are two big prickly pear beds next to the front walkway, and up near the street, a huge cactus (some kind of ornamental cholla, maybe?) is absolutely covered in screaming fuchsia blossoms. The rest of the yard is just dirt and low scrub grass.
It’s not the prettiest house on the block, but for $20,000, I think it’s a good buy, and the location is certainly handy: Coldwater High School is at Fourth and Hamons, which is just three blocks away.
If Grant likes it, he can move in immediately and just rent it from the owner until they can set up a closing date, which would definitely simplify the move for him. He’s planning to go over and look at it Friday morning. We’ll see what happens.
— Sierra
Greetings from Coldwater 