A Mother and Daughter Planned Their Lives Together in Minnesota. What Would $300,000 Buy?
Kari Musil and her daughter, Angela Martin, spent a solid decade browsing home listings around Duluth, Minn., sometimes for hours on end. It was one way to pass the time during sleepless nights at the hospital.
Ms. Musil, 65, a former schoolteacher, retired early in 2015 to help care for Angela, 33, who has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes noncancerous tumors to form on nerve tissue. The two rented apartments together for years, never thinking they’d be able to buy anything. But they kept scouring those listings. “We would have a ball looking at houses,” Ms. Musil said.
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That went on for about 10 years, until Ms. Musil’s father died in 2024 and, to her surprise, left her an inheritance of about $325,000. At first she thought about using the cash to buy property, but it wasn’t quite enough for her ideal home in Duluth, a port city on the shores of Lake Superior. Instead, she paid off all of her bills, student loans and car payments.
“Suddenly I had really good credit for the first time in my adult life,” she said.
So began the house hunt in earnest. Equal parts overwhelmed and overjoyed by the possibilities, Ms. Musil was connected with Jennifer LaMaster, a real estate agent with Remax Results, who helped keep her spirits up as they surveyed the market in and around Duluth.
“We looked at a lot of ugly ducklings before we found the one that was going to work for her,” Ms. LaMaster said.
The two women wanted to stay in the area. With a budget of around $300,000, they began looking in Duluth and the surrounding area, including satellites like the small town of Cloquet, Minn. Ms. Musil wanted something with at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms, preferably on a single level. Angela uses a wheelchair, and navigating more than one floor would come with extra logistics. That being said, Ms. Musil learned about county funds that could be used to help her purchase a chairlift or build more accessible home features. That opened some new doors.
Ms. Musil plays the saxophone, flute and clarinet, and wanted room to store her instruments. And Angela’s father, Bill, another musician, comes to visit weekly, so it would be nice to have some extra space for visitors.
Ms. Musil liked this three-bedroom, two-bath home, which appeared to “be untouched since the 1950s,” she said. The single-story, 902-square-foot house (actually built in 1965) stood on a 0.2-acre corner lot in Cloquet, a small town just outside of Duluth, and it came with a big, sunny backyard and detached garage. All of the bedrooms were on the main floor, with the second bathroom downstairs in the unfinished basement. She was charmed by the midcentury light fixtures and wall hangings, though some of the carpeting and hardware needed updating. Priced at $240,000, the home was well under budget, so she’d have enough for a refresh, and to fix things like basement cracks. Annual taxes were about $2,400.
This four-bedroom, 1.5-bath brick house on a busy street in Duluth had a little more space, with 1,092 square feet, and a bigger lot of 0.34 acres. Built in 1957, it was well-maintained and had new kitchen appliances. The living room had hardwood floors and big windows, while the bedrooms were carpeted. Glass doors in the kitchen opened to a small deck and a big backyard. Ms. Musil appreciated the attached garage — a luxury for any Midwesternerner — and liked that the house was directly across the street from a shopping center with a grocery store, restaurants, a coffee shop, and a bus line. The price was $315,000, with annual taxes of about $3,330.
This updated three-bedroom, two-bath house from 1936 covered 1,791 square feet, spread over three levels. There was a nice-sized bedroom and bathroom on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor, and a second living space and bathroom in the basement. The main floor had hardwood floors and arched doorways, with an open living-dining room. There was a small patio and big yard out back, with a shed and a detached two-car garage. Ms. Musil was hesitant about the multi-floor layout, but was immediately taken by the outdoor space, and loved imagining how she could really spread out. The price was $289,000, with annual taxes of about $3,880.
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