condo GET

[jazzfish]

So, I bought a condo.

When I went down over Halloween I mentioned that I'd seen one that might work out. It wasn't on the market yet: Rhonda, my realtor, had sold Eden the seller into the unit five years ago, and now Eden was looking to move in with her boyfriend and sell her place. So Rhonda got me a sneak-peek before it went 'officially' on the market.

My main impression from that visit was that it's rather nice on the inside, with a full-sized bedroom that you can fit both a queen bed and a dresser in (this is not a given in Vancouver apartments), but it's small and the kichen is minuscule. No in-unit laundry but the laundry room is two doors down. Worst, it's in New Westminster, half an hour by Skytrain from people and things I know. So I filed it as a "maybe," and figured it would go on the market and sell for the same $350k as other comparable units in the building were going for.

Rhonda called me a week or so later. "She wants three-twenty-five, and she wants to close before the end of December so she won't have to pay for her refinancing." [For reasons that escape me, mortgages in Canada require refinancing every five years.]

This is literally cheaper than anything else I've seen in ... ever, really, though I wasn't looking in New West for most of that time.

So we went through the whole process, strata documents and inspection and all that. Turns out that the facade of the building is going to need some serious work in the next few years. The strata is aware of that and is planning for it. I'm not entirely sure what their plans will entail but it's unlikely to involve me spending a lot of money; the residents seem to be allergic to large or even medium-sized special levies. So that will be Interesting.

And so I hemmed and hawed and finally put in an offer, and closing is in mid-December. I'm not actually moving until spring for various reasons including "I like it here in the winter" and "maybe there will be roads again by then". Gives me time to do any upgrades or renovations I might decide to take care of.

It's not permanent. (Nothing ever is.) It's ... it's not even a start, really. It's a pause. A place to land and catch my breath, and remember or find out who I am, and re-evaluate in a year or three.

We'll see.

Comments

[reedrover]

Congratulations with all of the weighty emotional reverence required.

[jazzfish]

Thanks. It's... it's a thing. I think a good thing on balance but definitely a thing.

[kailing]

yes, so many congratulations and good luck and well wishes!

[jazzfish]

:) thank you!

[sartorias]

Fingers crossed all goes well!

[jazzfish]

Likewise, and thank you!

[snippy]

I hope it's what you want it to be.

[jazzfish]

Thanks. I think it will be, at least for awhile.

[shanaqui]

Good luck with this step!

[jazzfish]

Thank you!

[magedragonfire]

Dang. That's definitely cheap for New West, too - I've been living back and forth between there and 100 Mile for the past two years. We looked at prices of condos before we finally decided to just rent there, and that would've been a good price even then.

Welcome to the neighbourhood, eventually. :P

[jazzfish]

Oh, I didn't realise you were splitting your time! (Also, oof, I'm glad you were okay after this summer.)

When I say "tiny" I'm not kidding: 500sqft, and I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me about the inadequacy of the kitchen. But, yeah. I'm certainly not unhappy with the price point.

And thanks. :)

[magedragonfire]

As I'm sure you've also experienced, living out the pandemic in a place that's more isolated and has more room to move has been a little easier than being cramped in a larger city, hah. We're still back and forth a lot, but we went from 'mostly New West, sometimes Cariboo' to the other way around back when things started getting bad. We could've given up the apartment, but I figured - and was proven correct - that occupancy rates would make finding another reasonable place difficult when WFH started to ebb out and we needed to move back.

The fires were definitely something. They weren't quite as bad as the summer of 2017 - we could only see smoke this time, not the actual flames across the valley - but we were on evac alert for about a month. Hopefully that was all you had going on in PG, too?

Oof, that is small! Or I guess 'economical', depending on outlook. :P Is the oven at least able to handle a baking sheet?

[jazzfish]

This has only made me more curious. :) If you don't mind, would you tell me a bit about your situation?

I /think/ it's a full-sized oven. Which ... you know, if there were ever a space for a tiny oven, this would be the one! With any luck I'll be going in to measure things in a couple of weeks when I take possession.

[mrissa]

Best with it!

[jazzfish]

Thank you!

[silmaril]

There's a lot to be said for having a haven to re-evaluate the paths from. Hope this one works for you.

[jazzfish]

Thank you. I think it will, or at least will work no worse than other options.

[carbonel]

Good luck with the new place!

[jazzfish]

Thanks!

I like this..

[darkfyre_muse]

"It's not permanent. (Nothing ever is.) It's ... it's not even a start, really. It's a pause."
No I Love this. I want some change without permanence.

And I need some adventuring that doesn't include a relational obligation.

Re: I like this..

[jazzfish]

I mean, the last place I thought was only temporary is on track to be the residence I've used for the longest stretch of time in my adult life, and third longest overall. So we'll see how this works out.

Maybe the desert will be an option again next year? /: one can hope.

Re: I like this..

[darkfyre_muse]

Yes the desert is on deck for 2022. But currently we are planning to take the whole damn crew. Also TTiTD has a lot of stress and baggage that makes it less vacation-y. (Weird I know. TTiTD isn't a vacation its a masochist's spiritual tribute)

Free spirited adventuring would be solo trips to Vancouver, France or some such.