Wabaningo, Michigan
This started out as my wedding post, but I wrote too much and oopsie there goes a tangent.
I was explaining why we chose our wedding venue and it’s very easy to get long winded about that sort of thing. There were so many occurrences in the summer of 2016. Everything connected itself to something else. So this is the story of one such occurrence- the day we found our house.
We love exploring little lakeshore towns around Michigan. Dustin zooms in on maps to find random roads that lead to the beach and surprises me with new places to visit. Some work, some fall short with a dead end. But we always enjoy the drive. SO on July 5, 2016, our extra Independence Day, Dustin took us to Wabaningo- a teeny tiny “unincorporated community” as Wikipedia describes it. I was feeling a little guilty taking an additional day off work after an already four-day weekend. But it ended up being the best day!
Wabaningo is basically a road, peppered with beach rentals, that turns into the entrance of a light house museum that leads to a small beach and pier. It is where White Lake flows into Lake Michigan. This day was a perfect summer day in Michigan. PERFECT. There were only a few other people in the area which surprised me being the day after a holiday. We weren't there long, but the walk along the pier was stunning. Heart eyes for days. I MEAN...
Pure Michigan indeed.
We had emailed our realtor earlier that morning about a new listing that popped up in our system. We didn’t think much about it and went on with our day of exploration. On the drive home, we had received an email back that they were showing the house to a handful of people tonight. So we decided to go. The low profile roofline, floor to ceiling windows, and ginormous garage were features we immediately liked. It was definitely a fixer upper. We ended up meeting family out for pizza on a patio and talked about the house’s potential, realizing how many things it checked off our list.
Fast forward through a couple VERY serious and emotional conversations, we decided to place an offer on the house. HASHTAG ADULTING The process moved pretty quickly, the buyers wanted to sell it within days of listing it. That has been pretty standard for the local market lately. We offered to pay closing costs and $10,000 over asking price. Our realtor reminded us that, while houses may appraise and be financially worth a certain amount, homes are valued differently for different people. You might like McMansions or be drawn to a bungalow style and be willing to shell out a bit more moolah, because that house is worth it to you. Might not be worth extra for someone else, but for you- yes.
This house fit us. Finding an enclosed four car garage for Dustin within the city would have been near impossible. It was the midcentury style I so wanted. This house was meant to be ours. I know people say that sometimes, and you never believe them, until it happens to you. We included a short and sweet, not cheesy, note to the sellers. It was honest and heartfelt. The next day, our realtor called me at work and asked if I was ready to be a homeowner? ☺ The shock was real. I imagine they love making those calls. Then I got to make the rest of the calls- so exciting!
That one morning we ate bagels in our car in front of our soon to be house- dreaming about the potential. (No one was living there during the closing process.) Not total creeps.
The closing process had just started, but luckily for us, everything went pretty smoothly. Our realtor and mortgage agent were great. The sellers were the sweetest. And about a month and a half later, the house was ours.
So that day, in Waganingo, down the road from Michillinda Lodge will always be a favorite in my book. It marked such an exciting time for us. And that was a big factor, among other reasons, in choosing to get married in Whitehall, at the lodge. More on allllllllllll that to come.
