After enjoying breakfast with my mom and my aunt in old town Roseville last weekend, Allison and I took a slightly different way home than usual. Going a different way home was something we seemed to do when we had some time to kill on the weekends. We like to drive around simply to check out areas we've never seen, something that isn't always easy for me since I've lived in this town for almost 30 years. I guess it's more of a city than a town, but whatever. This day, it felt more like a town. Maybe that's because we were in "old Roseville", driving through neighborhoods that have been around for over half a century. Roseville was a railroad town in the old days, the biggest railroad junction west of the Mississippi way back when.
While exploring, we came across a beautiful brick house we had noticed before. It was on sale and was having an open house. Curious about what it would look like on the inside as well as wondering what the price would be for a an old gem like this, we docked the MDX to get a closer look. We were immediately greeted at the door by the "real estate lady". She gave us a little tour and then left us to look around. The inside of this house did not disappoint. Hardwood floors, big windows, and lots of charm. I don't usually use the word "charm", by the way. A previous owner had obviously added some serious square footage by converting the original garage into a family room. A separate garage was then built off a nearby street. We loved it and talked through what we would do with it if we were going to buy it, which just seems like something everybody does when they look at a house that's for sale.
After thanking the real estate lady for her time, we headed out the front door. An old lady that looked to be the neighbor was wandering around out front between the two properties. She greeted us, verified that she was neighbor and politely queried about the price of the house.
"How much are they asking for the house?" she asked in an old persons voice.
"$450,000" we replied in our talking to an old person voice.
"Whoa...Four-hundred fifty...thousand. Ahhh...are you sure?" she questions with an utterly shocked look on her face.
She moved closer to us to look at the price sheet we were holding. She pointed at it, staring at it as though the numbers that appeared where somehow wrong. She read the numbers again and again, out load, looking at us for confirmation, as though she had completely lost her mind.
"Four hundred and fifty THOUSAND...DOLLARS?" "Oh Jesus Christ...Jessssuuuus Christ.", she repeated several times, doing the sign of the cross on her forehead and chest.
This nice old lady (we never caught her name) talked with us for probably 20 minutes or so. She told us numerous times how she had moved into her house in 1940 when she was 30 or so years old. She bought the house for $4,500 or something very close to that, I can't remember, even though she told us 15 times. She also mentioned that the house we were just looking at, now for sale for $450,000 was only a thousand or so more expensive than hers was when she bought it. The value appreciated about 100 times! If that trend remained, a house purchased now for $500,000 would be worth 50 million dollars in the year 2070. Damn, that's crazy to think about. She also mentioned that her husband at the time worked for Southern Pacific railroad for ten cents an hour.
"How much do you think I can get for my little old house here?" she asked, still stunned by the news we'd delivered.
"I'd say at least 375,000" I answered, now an expert in real estate.
"DOLLARS?" she gasped, still not getting the idea that stuff costs more now days.
"Uh, hu" I answered again
"Oh Jesus Christ. Oh...Jesus. What would I do with all that money. I'm just waiting to go over the hill to the other side. Are you sure? $375,000? Makes me want to throw up"
Classic buddy - my parent's story isn't all that different. They settled in Roseville back when I was in 6th grade and their house was cheap by today's standard. My Dad wants a smaller place, but my Mom doesn't want to leave since it's a good place for the family to gather at the holidays and she likes the space. I keep trying to convince them to switch houses since ours is so much smaller. Here's to hoping!
Posted by: matt | September 19, 2005 at 01:36 PM