Three Girls - One House - $19,900

Thanks for visiting this blog!

Take a look at this house on Baxter Street - a four bedroom/two bath historic home, only a bike ride away from Grand Valley State University, downtown shopping and the health sciences district -

and it's going for $19,900!

There are two main two reasons: firstly, the economy in West Michigan is, to quote a friend, 'in the toilet'. Unemployment rates are high, wages are low and people just don't buy real estate in that market. Secondly, this house is what you would call a 'handyman special' - which is a nice way of saying that it needs a lot of renovations, but also means that it's a blank canvas for design!

My name is Melanie. I'm a student working toward a pharmacy technician certificate in Tucson, AZ, where the sun always shines (except during a monsoon!) and there are plenty of jobs for everyone. Now that I've seen another part of the country, I'm definitely ready to come home. Enter Kelli and Annie, my two best friends. I've known Kelli since kindergarten and Annie since fourth grade - we went to the same high school and always planned to live together one day. So the three of us are moving to Grand Rapids for the Fall 2008 semester so Kelli and Annie can finish their degrees at GVSU.

Well, we were talking one day about where we wanted to live. Initially we just planned to rent an apartment, but that turned into renting a house, and too many episodes of "Flip This House" convinced me that if we bought a really cheap, run-down house, we could renovate it into a college dream pad to rival a Real World Mansion! Kelli and Annie basically got swept along with by enthusiasm.

But we're students who work part-time, and while we're saving as hard as we can, it would take years to raise enough money for the down payments on the house and renovation loans.

So welcome to this blog!

With a firm belief in the generosity of strangers, our ultimate goal is to raise $19,000 in donations to cover the purchase price of the house, and draw a little attention to West Michigan in the process. We especially hope to continue the blog after we've bought the house, so you can watch the Kelli, Annie and Melanie version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (It's also a secret hope that we can get on a TLC or HGTV 'before-and-after' show).

In the meantime, we'll be posting lots of interesting entries - little bios for each of us, spotlights on the cool new trends in interior design, answers to interesting emails and FAQs, plans for the house, helpful information about home loan applications and building equity, and an update every Friday on our progress toward the $19,900 goal. So stop by when you get a chance! If you like what you see, paypal us a couple of dollars - if you don't like what we're doing, or can't afford to donate, or you're in a bad mood because the barrista at Starbucks gave you a bitter latte this morning, or WHATEVER, we'd love to hear about it! The official HandyGIRL Special email address is handygirlmelanie@yahoo.com. And thanks again!