I Bought a New Condo!

Hello!! Long time no talk!! I've been extremely busy BUYING A CONDO!! I am not going to be sharing photos of it today because the listing is still up and I don't need a bunch of internet people knowing where I sleep at night. But terrible iphone photos will come next week hopefully!

I promised to share all the funness of my condo-hunting journey but it all went so fast so I will quickly fill you in. The sale of my current place was made "official" (all the conditions on the offer met) on Tuesday so we started hunting after work on Wednesday. I went through tons of listings and narrowed it down to 27 units, of which 9 or 10 had already been sold conditionally or were not built yet. So that night we saw three awesome condos, which were top of my list. All three units were 1+1s, which means they had a separate bedroom and den area, though I would argue some builders have a very loose definition of "den". The first three units were all pretty spacious, but 2 of them needed some work.

On Thursday I left work early and we went and saw about 9 more units. Some were decent sizes, but I didn't like the building (I like a concierge and security). Some were hilarious, like the one with 2 toilets in the bathroom (!!!!!), and the one with the 5ft wide hallway as the living room. Oh, and the one with 2 toilets was pitch black inside, despite being the middle of the day! Near the end of the day I was stuck between two condos, a large one that I had seen Wednesday and a 2 story unit out in the west end.

And then the last unit we saw was a cute 1 bedroom up by College Station subway station that really threw me for a loop- suddenly I was torn between the large one from Wednesday and this small, but well laid out unit by the subway (I eliminated the 2 story one, which worked out since it sold the following day).

Both units were awesome in their own way. The large one was close by the lake where I like to run, but the small one was by the subway, which is a prime spot. The small one had a teeny tiny kitchen, which needed to be gutted, but otherwise the rooms were a good size. Large unit by the lake had an amazing kitchen, but the living room was awkwardly shaped and it was on a lower floor. I could go on and on but trust me that each unit appealed to me for different reasons. My Realtor said it was like comparing apples and oranges.

I hemmed and hawed all Friday and on Saturday I brought my friend Sarah and my boyfriend Cam to see both and they gave me their opinions, but I still was torn. Finally after some long talks with my parents, my Realtor, and my friend Ginny I decided to go with the large one. As attracted as I was to living by the subway, I knew that a big unit (it is almost DOUBLE the size of my current space), would give me lots of room to grow into and living by the lake for running and having a large kitchen for baking really appealed to me and my lifestyle. I worried about whether I was making the right choice as an investment, but there is no telling what the market will do and the big unit has lots of spots where I can add value (it is a pretty blank space).

I submitted an offer on Saturday and on Sunday they countered and after a bunch of verbal back and forths between the realtors we came to a price that both of us are happy with (well, I think I am more happy hahaha). The place had been on the market for a long time, but wasn't staged at all and needed some updates so I think I got a great price and I can make it some place amazing. It also helped that the same floor plan, but upgraded and staged, was also for sale so I could go check that out.

The only downside is I do not have enough furniture to fill it! Fingers crossed for a bonus at work this Christmas :). I have so much to do! The condo is really cool with tons of windows and I am really enjoying flipping through magazines and Pinterest and finding some inspiration!! I still have 6 weeks until I move so I need to learn some patience :)