said.
"You really don't care about any of this."
"Yes, Michaela, I do. Please keep going."
"I told her no more trailers, but if she had any other cheap houses to show me, I wanted to see them. She said, 'I have one, but it is in really bad shape, and you wouldn't want it.' But I asked her to show it to me anyway. She was right. It was in really bad shape. The garage was falling apart, and I was afraid to even go in or lean against it. The yard was filled with weeds, there were boarded-over windows, and there were vermin in the attic; I could hear them scampering around."
"Yuck," she said.
"Yeah. The roof leaked, the basement leaked, the plumbing leaked. Well, you get the idea."
"So you bought it."
"Yeah. It had been on the market a long time. The previous owner had died and it now belonged to some distant relative from Minneapolis. They'd never even seen it and certainly hadn't put any effort into making it presentable. So I asked Julie, my agent, 'Do you just pay the asking price?' And she said, 'Oh no, you can make an offer.' So I told her, 'I bet this property is on the verge of being condemned. The house isn't worth a dime, and the proper selling price is whatever the value of the lot is minus what it would take to tear down both structures and haul everything away.' Julie smiled and told me that was about right."
Vivian was smiling. "I've seen your house, Michaela. The description you just offer ed doesn't remotely describe your house now."
"I know. But I didn't have enough money to buy even the lot the house was on. So I invited myself to dinner at Robert and Virginia's and ask ed them if they were serious about helping me. They went to see the house with me the next afternoon. Virginia took one look and didn't want to go inside. Robert went in with Julie and me, and he examined the entire house very carefully. Then he said, 'Let's go to dinner and talk about it.' And I was sure he was going to tell me I was being very foolish, and that I had disappointed him by even suggesting this house."
"But that's not what happened," Vivian said.
"No. He outlined everything that was wrong with the house. He had taken notes. And he told me what was right about it, too. The basic structure was still sound. The foundation seemed sound. And he said, 'Everything can be fixed. It would be a lot of work, and some of it might be expensive.' He told me what I would have to do first -- the various forms of water leaks. I asked him if I had to hire someone or, if I learned how, could I do it myself. He said I could do it myself, but I would need building permits for some of it and some of the supplies would be expensive."
"It's hard to get a loan for a house in that condition," Vivian said. "Even with an excellent credit rating."
"That's what he said next. Then he told me to go to the bathroom."
"He wanted to talk to Virginia."
"Yes. I came back and they told me they were strongly encouraging me to look for another house. That the only way I could buy this house was if I were willing to do an awful lot of work, and I'd have to do it myself. 'Darling,' Virginia told me. 'This is a good house for someone who works in construction and knows how to fix it.' I told them I was willing to learn, that I could do anything I set my mind to, but I understood they wouldn't recommend such a risk. Then they looked at each other and Virginia said, 'You won't be able to get a bank loan, Darling. We'll have to loan you the money.' I couldn't believe they were willing to do that."
"You saved their daughter, though. They would have done anything for you."
"Yes, but they weren't going to let me be foolish. Robert told me there would be strings. The first string was I had to fix the roof immediately, and that I would have to either hire a professional to do it or accept help. And there were other things I had to do immediately, and he didn't think I could learn to do all of them at once."
I started to cry. "They loaned me the money. And they
"You really don't care about any of this."
"Yes, Michaela, I do. Please keep going."
"I told her no more trailers, but if she had any other cheap houses to show me, I wanted to see them. She said, 'I have one, but it is in really bad shape, and you wouldn't want it.' But I asked her to show it to me anyway. She was right. It was in really bad shape. The garage was falling apart, and I was afraid to even go in or lean against it. The yard was filled with weeds, there were boarded-over windows, and there were vermin in the attic; I could hear them scampering around."
"Yuck," she said.
"Yeah. The roof leaked, the basement leaked, the plumbing leaked. Well, you get the idea."
"So you bought it."
"Yeah. It had been on the market a long time. The previous owner had died and it now belonged to some distant relative from Minneapolis. They'd never even seen it and certainly hadn't put any effort into making it presentable. So I asked Julie, my agent, 'Do you just pay the asking price?' And she said, 'Oh no, you can make an offer.' So I told her, 'I bet this property is on the verge of being condemned. The house isn't worth a dime, and the proper selling price is whatever the value of the lot is minus what it would take to tear down both structures and haul everything away.' Julie smiled and told me that was about right."
Vivian was smiling. "I've seen your house, Michaela. The description you just offer ed doesn't remotely describe your house now."
"I know. But I didn't have enough money to buy even the lot the house was on. So I invited myself to dinner at Robert and Virginia's and ask ed them if they were serious about helping me. They went to see the house with me the next afternoon. Virginia took one look and didn't want to go inside. Robert went in with Julie and me, and he examined the entire house very carefully. Then he said, 'Let's go to dinner and talk about it.' And I was sure he was going to tell me I was being very foolish, and that I had disappointed him by even suggesting this house."
"But that's not what happened," Vivian said.
"No. He outlined everything that was wrong with the house. He had taken notes. And he told me what was right about it, too. The basic structure was still sound. The foundation seemed sound. And he said, 'Everything can be fixed. It would be a lot of work, and some of it might be expensive.' He told me what I would have to do first -- the various forms of water leaks. I asked him if I had to hire someone or, if I learned how, could I do it myself. He said I could do it myself, but I would need building permits for some of it and some of the supplies would be expensive."
"It's hard to get a loan for a house in that condition," Vivian said. "Even with an excellent credit rating."
"That's what he said next. Then he told me to go to the bathroom."
"He wanted to talk to Virginia."
"Yes. I came back and they told me they were strongly encouraging me to look for another house. That the only way I could buy this house was if I were willing to do an awful lot of work, and I'd have to do it myself. 'Darling,' Virginia told me. 'This is a good house for someone who works in construction and knows how to fix it.' I told them I was willing to learn, that I could do anything I set my mind to, but I understood they wouldn't recommend such a risk. Then they looked at each other and Virginia said, 'You won't be able to get a bank loan, Darling. We'll have to loan you the money.' I couldn't believe they were willing to do that."
"You saved their daughter, though. They would have done anything for you."
"Yes, but they weren't going to let me be foolish. Robert told me there would be strings. The first string was I had to fix the roof immediately, and that I would have to either hire a professional to do it or accept help. And there were other things I had to do immediately, and he didn't think I could learn to do all of them at once."
I started to cry. "They loaned me the money. And they
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