Rapture goes condo

There's a pentecostal church on the corner of 14th and T. Ben and I noticed it was being sold a while back, and I asked a man leaving the building what it was going to turn into. "I don't know, luxury condominiums, probably." Yesterday when we were walking around town (it was gorgeous out), we wondered how much it sold for when we saw the banner across the building "The Lofts at 14th and T!" Apparently, the church sold for $10M!

We were supposed to go out with our realtor yesterday morning, but he, like all other realtors we've had experience with, neither called to confirm nor sent listings for candidate homes. He called and left a message yesterday morning after we had already slept later than our meeting time, and I just didn't want to call back. We did walk into a couple of open houses (of many!) in the neighborhood on our walk. I had seen a place online that looked good, but we realized it was a house-turned-condo where all four units were being sold, and the ones with parking were 1400 sq. ft. and $850,000 and 1100 sq. ft and $650,000. The basement apartment was the "affordable" one that came up in my search. That one doesn't have parking.

Again, wanting to move to Michigan yet wanting to stay in our apartment for a while. BUT, every time I look at the Traverse area realtor's site, I find houses like this that make me really not want to buy the same thing for 5x the price here. Not that I could, but the point is a good one.

I was reading my editors' listserv emails and there was a thread of conversation about the best places to freelance. The best places, so the freelancers say, are in small suburban areas or, essentially, not in big cities, so your pricing can be competitive and you can still live on your earnings. I think I'd have an OK time of getting into freelancing. We can't really think about moving until we know what the situation would be with Ben's work. Crazy grown-up married life junk!