In October 2019, Jessica Nabongo added a major accomplishment to her resume: She became the first documented Black woman to travel to every country in the world.
Then the pandemic hit, and her globetrotting lifestyle came to a screeching halt. For the first time in a decade, the travel photographer and influencer behind the site Catch Me If You Can spent two months uninterrupted at home in Detroit, Michigan.
Nabongo, 37, had no intention to move out of her sixth-floor condo, but when a one-bedroom unit on the 14th floor in her co-op building with a better view of the Detroit River went on the market for $65,000, she thought, why not buy another? The day after the unit was listed, she made a $44,000 cash offer and got the place.
“I like to think of myself as a really amazing negotiator,” Nabongo tells CNBC Make It. “Given the incredibly short period of time and my cash offer, I was able to get the price down and I sweetened the deal by telling them that I could do a cash offer within ten days.”
When Nabongo bought her first condo in 2017, she says, she only spent 80 days in it out of the year.
When Nabongo bought her first condo in 2017, she says, she only spent 80 days in it out of the year.Photo: Demetrio Nasol.
The new unit, a 625-square-foot one-bed one-bath, was also a steal; a one-bedroom in Detroit is typically worth $182,000, according to recent data from real estate company Zillow. “This was definitely a pandemic purchase,” Nabongo says.
In pre-pandemic times, Nabongo says, she wouldn’t have bought the second unit, let alone have the time to complete a home renovation. When she bought her original condo in 2017, she notes, she only spent 80 days per year there.
Now, she views her home as her “anchor” that keeps her grounded. “It’s just nice to know I can go home, and I can feel comfortable in a place that’s very familiar,” she says.
The living room is full of souvenirs from Nabongo’s travels.
The living room is full of souvenirs from Nabongo’s travels.Photo: Demetrio Nasol.
Nabongo splits her time between her two units. She lives and entertains in the newly-renovated unit on the 14th floor, and uses her sixth-floor condo as an office and storage space for everything from her Peloton bike to the artwork that she collects.
“Travel makes me so happy,” Nabongo says. “But coming home into this space just brings me joy like no other.”
Gut-renovating the living space
Nabongo bought the new unit in September 2020 and started renovating a few days later with a budget of $25,000, including money for furniture and décor. She did “a complete gut renovation” that involved tearing out the bathroom and rebuilding it from scratch, taking down a wall separating the kitchen and living room and turning a closet into a cocktail bar.
Part of the gut renovation included taking down a wall between the kitchen and living room.
Part of the gut renovation included taking down a wall between the kitchen and living room.Photo: Demetrio Nasol.
She went “slightly over budget,” she now says, instead spending $52,000 total on the gut renovation. “The renovations definitely were more expensive than I thought they would be,” Nabongo says. “But luckily I had the money in savings, so I was able to afford to get the home that I wanted.
