In 2007, the city of East Lansing celebrated its 100th birthday. Now 109 years old, there are still parts of the city that hold onto its rustic roots through various homes.
Not far from the updated Grand River Avenue, Grove Street still sits in a time warp.
One colonial-style home, built in 1920, saw the university when it was known as Michigan Agricultural College, Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and now MSU. The home has been standing for 13 MSU presidents, the Game of the Century and the cutting of the nets by Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Through the course of 96 years, normal wear and tear can take a bite out of these homes. Experiencing thousands of storms through their time, upkeep is needed for homes like these to keep them in livable conditions.
This can be a heavy burden for students who rent older homes. Without the knowledge of home repairs, trying to ensure the house is maintained can be difficult. Fortunately, some students are lucky enough to have their realtors take care of many house-related issues.
Psychology and political science pre-law junior Danielle Kus and her roommate, business management sophomore Ashley Kibzey, admitted that while their home had its issues, they felt that their realty agency, Hagan Realty, offered a helping hand with the problems.
“The house is pretty old, but our realty agency does a good job of keeping it up to date,” Kus said. “We just got our roof fixed last week.”
Kus and Kibzey agreed that although the structure holds its past, the appliances and general condition has been kept up throughout the years.
“It’s very important, (keeping houses updated) you want to stay competitive, obviously if somebody is renting a house from you, you don’t want them to walk in and see a 1920’ or even a 50’s updated type house, you want them to see newer cabinets, newer bathrooms,” Matt Hagan from Hagan Realty said. “From our perspective, it’s not just the cosmetic aspect, it’s important for us to try and update the plumbing and electrical because that’s the type of stuff we would have to deal with if you had problems.”
Hagan Realty also has older properties on Charles Street. The oldest property on this street, built in 1922, is the place interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Sara Hudgens.
“We’ve loved it, this will be our second time (signing), it’s an awesome location, we love the house,” Hudgens said.
Hudgens said she hasn’t run into any problems with the house and she feels the age of the home really adds character.
“Considering it’s an older home, the kitchen’s smaller, but I think it’s fun because it kind of has some character and quirks to it,” she said.
