The Way the Dominoes Will Fall

The sellers said yes, and agreed to leave most of the furnishings I asked for -- the bookcases in the hallways, the pot racks in the kitchen -- and even volunteered to leave the white antique hutch in the dining room.  At that moment, all my anxiety washed away and I remembered exactly why I wanted to live there -- it's a glorious home with a sense of warmth and place that Kanha and I would love.  

Unfortunately, my anxiety had only disappeared briefly.  My biggest concern isn't about all the work that needs to be done but about having enough money to make the necessary fixes, in the necessary amount of time.  As I've said a million times, the numbers work well once the commercial space is converted and that new, third, apartment is rented, but so many hoops to clear before then.  Will the city allow that space to morph from a quaint old retail shop into a shiny new living space?  Can I convert the owner financing quickly into conventional financing, perhaps even before the apartment has been created?  Will I be able to get enough out of the conventional mortgage to finance enough improvements to keep the place from falling over?  Is there a real risk of it falling over or can I do the repairs sequentially as I find the money to fund them?  To mix a metaphor, it's more like a series of dominoes -- will they all (mostly?) fall neatly into place?  

The good news is if they fall askew, I can exit with very little financial pain -- the fees for the appraisal and inspections -- although substantial emotional hurt I expect.  But one can always get over a broken heart, even if it's such a huge gorgeous house that breaks it.

I am in fact in Detroit, staying right downtown in the Omni Hotel that sits on the Detroit River, with Windsor, Ontario directly across the watery divide I see out my hotel window.  I went out to walk for a few minutes along their Riverwalk when I got in;   the city may be beat up and abused -- broken windows, broken buildings on every block on the drive here -- but what a glorious spot tonight to clear my head.  Breeze blowing, smell of bread baking from a factory across the border, people biking, dogs barking.  My load feels a little lighter.