I never imagined myself as a homeowner. Like a lot of people in my generation, I saw

having a house on my own as an impossible pipe dream. And besides, I didn't want to

get tied down or taken even more debt. But the house on 2-4-2 more relayed, changed

all that. I bought the cringey, cliché things I did after my last breakup. The only one

that doesn't hurt to think about was applying for a job in a town on the other side of the

country. It was a Hail Mary. But all I wanted was to get out of the toxic mess I was in

and into a place where I didn't know anyone, and nobody else knew me. A fresh start.

The video connection must have been bad enough that the interviewer couldn't make out my

hunger for eyes or hear the quaver in my voice, because I got the job. Although I was

intimidated by the high pay and responsibility, I took to it better than I'd hoped. My

new co-workers were kind, quirky people, who helped me to meet people, and come out of

my shell. And soon I'd fallen in love with the town we all called home. I was so sure

about my new life that I started looking for a house to buy after only one year. I soon

discovered that rent is astronomical in this idyllic little Pacific Northwestern town,

and real estate prices are sky high. Even with my high salary, I doubted I'd ever be able

to save enough for a down payment while also paying rent bills and my student loans.

Every place I found was either so expensive or so shoddy that it became a sort of dark

game among my co-workers to see you could find the worst house for sale. When I first saw the

out for the Morbri Lane House, my first thought was, okay, what's wrong with it?

The split-level ranch house with a white siding and a hardwood deck was located in its

semi-forgotten neighborhood, sandwiched between the more developed parts of downtown.

Nothing suggested that crime was a problem, and the price was so low that I was sure someone

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