A GREAT MANY THINGS HAVE OCCURRED

[jazzfish]

... actually not all that many: the end of the VP reunion, [REDACTED] ("it feels like I said 'That mountain over there looks like it's got a nice view' and next thing I know I'm hanging off the back of a motorcycle, whipping along twisty cliffside roads at 150 kph"), and housing. It just seems that way. Sleep will help.

Followup note: the townhouse with the too-small nonfixable kitchen listed at $599,000, which is towards the top end of what we'd be comfortable with, particularly for the amount of interior renovations we'd be doing. It ended up selling for $680,000, well outside our price range. This f'n town.

We briefly kicked around the idea of a place with a separate suite that we could then rent to someone who we didn't object to. That got scuttled when we remembered that we'd need substantially more downpayment money, and also that having other people, even cool ones, in our space all the time would stress us out.

Sometime early last week I said "Hey uilos, you should go look at this one condo, it's probably too small and only has one bathroom but it might work, the location's good and the price is right." And she did, and reported that not only was it on the smallish side and a bit further from Commercial Drive than she was happy with, it had no in-suite laundry and the strata [Canadian for "condo owner's association"] didn't allow laundry machines to be installed. Other than that she was not unhappy with it. And, you know, maybe laundry's not a dealbreaker.

I got back from Martha's Vineyard Satyrday night and we went out to take a look at the place on Sunday afternoon, in the rain. The lack of laundry bugged me as well, speaking as the guy who does most of the laundry. The single bathroom bugged me more. This surprised me; I don't know what actual use we have for two bathrooms, except for when we come home from a long trip out and both need to pee, but it feels weird not to have a second. Too, there was no gas fireplace, and no prospect for same. We'd be relying on electric baseboard heat.

On the other hand... the price was right, and the location was good. It's in an older neighborhood, with lots of trees (this is not /just/ Erin-the-forester's influence, I miss having trees around), and it's got a great back patio.

We went back and forth trying to talk each other either into or out of it, and finally decided, what the hey. We told Rhonda we liked it but didn't love it and were interested in putting a bid in for Monday afternoon, and could we possibly do an inspection on Monday morning? Rhonda came through admirably with an inspection and we all tromped back out in the middle of the workday. And ... it turns out the building is in great shape, particularly for being 35 years old. The strata has a good-sized contingency fund, they're keeping up well with basic maintenance, and they just redid all the pipes so we're not on the hook for that. The roof will need to be replaced in a few years; the roof deck with the great view is currently unusable and they're wrangling over how much to replace of it now since it'll all need to be redone when they do the roof. The inspection made the prospect marginally more attractive. Also less attractive: we found out where the laundry machines are, and they're down a substantial hallway and then a flight of stairs. Grr.

But, what the hey. Neither of us want to stay in the building we're in, with its drafty windows and stupid elevator shenanigans and long transit times to anywhere that's not James, Holly, or Re-Up. Particularly not since they've finally gotten around to raising the rent starting in January.

So we put in our offer for slightly over asking, subject-free. (In normal places, offers to purchase are "subject to" various restrictions: financing and inspection are common ones. The market in Vancouver is nuts enough that people usually go in "subject-free," without any of those restrictions. We've already done the inspection so we didn't need that; "financing" would be safer to keep in but there's basically no chance we won't get financing.) And, after some minor wrangling (the porch furniture we wanted actually belonged to the listing agent and was only there for staging, for instance) ... we got it. This morning I went down to the bank, got a bank draft for more money than I have ever seen in one place for the 5% deposit, and handed that to Rhonda.

It is not perfect but it is certainly good enough, and maybe it'll turn out to be better than good enough.

Link to listing (likely to expire soonish).

Comments

[thanate]

...I like how the tiny third room is called a den rather than a 3rd bedroom... are you expecting bears?

Good luck! They are nice trees. :)

[jazzfish]

The "den" nonsense is a Vancouver thing. "Oh, we've got an extra random storage room. Call it a den!" I remember being horrified at one of the first apartments we saw, where they'd put down a twin mattress in the "den" and it took up most of the den.

Thanks! They are seriously excellent maples, most of them.

[wohali]

Not bad, not bad! Shows very well and aside from the laundry annoyance I think you'll both be happy there.

I am still terrified from everything I read from you on this topic. Increasingly unlikely that I'll accept a job out there even if it's offered based on this info. Yeesh.

[jazzfish]

Thanks! It's the laundry plus whether we (well, Emily) can set up the living room well enough.

The thing is... we're super-picky and cheap, and we still managed to find a place in under two months that we'll be happy with. The market isn't good but it's not getting any worse, and if you've time to put in then something will come up.

[green_knight]

Congratulations!

I like how airy the whole thing feels, and having your own private outside space is a great bonus. The laundry situation is a bit awkward, but then again, it might have kept other people from wanting it, so...

It definitely sounds better than the place you're in right now!

[jazzfish]

Thank you! I am really looking forward to the outside-space.

[lurkingcat]

Congratulations!

I think I'd be annoyed by the laundry situation too but the rest of looks very nice and outdoor space is always good :)

[jazzfish]

Thanks! I hold out some hope that the laundry will be less irritating than I think.

And, if next year I can actually drop back to four-days-a-week at current job, at least availability of machines at laundry-time will be less of a concern. :)

[novel_machinist]

This seems like a good idea! It's kinda wild that 35 years is older in your market. My house was built in 1928 XD

[jazzfish]

I certainly hope so!

Thirty-five is only older for condos/apartments. Houses (and more often duplexes) tend back towards the first half of the century.

Then again, Vancouver's only been around since the very late 1800s, so there's not really "old" construction. uilos pointed out once that one of the neatest things about Vancouver is that the city's entire white-people history has been photographically documented.

[reedrover]

Congratulations on ending the house hunting. I hope that the lovely patio gets plenty of use.

[jazzfish]

Thanks! I suspect it will. Worst case, it still looks really pretty from inside the apartment.

[davidgoldfarb.livejournal.com]

Hope the move goes smoothly and that the place works out for you.

[jazzfish]

Thank you! A smooth transition would be nice.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Mazel tov! And according to the pictures, it even comes with a dog!!

[jazzfish]

Sadly the fluffy dog was also Not Included in the contract.

[carbonel]

Congratulations on finding a place you can live with.

[jazzfish]

Thanks! Here's hoping, at least.

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice!! I'm so glad you've found something, and in a truly lovely neighborhood.

[jazzfish]

The neighborhood is seriously great. :) Thanks!