I left Detroit at 4:45 a.m. and arrived in my driveway at 8:30 p.m. I hit the usual Boston traffic jam at the tolls on the Mass Pike, that extended my trip an extra hour. So the actual drive time was about 15 hours.
I managed to get everything that I wanted to done or started the process. I met Keith and Michael who are construction contractors in the neighborhood. Michael is going to secure the building better so that it will not be broken into again. He is also going to replace the pipe that the city water meter attaches to. The list goes on and on. He and his brother Keith know a lot about the neighborhood and they were very helpful to me in deciding my plan of action in getting the house livable again.
They are going to repair the roof, some of the shingles had been pulled off by kids in the neighborhood. This was allowing some water in, but it's not too bad. Keith is going to mow the lawn and plow the sidewalks in the winter to make the place looked lived in.
Once the house is boarded up properly I should be able to get some kind of insurance on it. They said this was a good idea as these houses empty houses are frequently broken into and even set on fire.
Realistically, I am probably not going to be able to start on the major projects in the house until next spring. But if I can afford it I will try to get the electricity restored so that I can have an alarm system put in place. This will also make insuring the place easier.
When I spoke to the Detroit Water & Sewer District I found out that the final water meter reading should have taken place 30 days *before* the house closed not 30 days after the closing. However, since the water had been turned off for quite some time, there probably is no outstanding water bill. They also gave me the contact information to get the meter replaced. However, Michael has to replace the pipe that was stolen along with the water meter by the scrappers. He is going to try and do this by 9/29.
