Like I’ve said before, looking for a condo now is very different from what it was like when I have been looking in the past. While I don’t have an exact timeline of when things are happening with my current place, I do have a better idea now of some of the changes that are coming up.
Just last week, the realtor for my landlord was here to show our places to a potential buyer. Or at least, I thought it was a potential buyer. The realtor was talking to someone on the phone right outside my door and I found out the people who came to look at my place already have a contract and they are in escrow. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to be kicked out soon. The buyer might keep us as tenants until they are ready to tear down the building. It can take time to organize major construction, and having the money coming in from us might be a good thing for them. So I’m staying hopeful that I still will have some time here and I won’t be under a crazy time crunch soon.
But even though I have that hope, I’m still making sure I take the condo hunt seriously and that does mean taking initiative at looking at places on my own too. When I find a place that has potential and it has an open house scheduled, I’m finding a way to make sure I see it. If I can’t get to an open house, then I can ask my realtor to help set up an appointment. But because so many have open houses, I can go on my own and then let my realtor know if I like a place.
So as I’ve been trying to organize my condo hunt so I make sure I see all the places I want to see, I’ve been planning on how to get to a bunch of open houses on Sundays (they aren’t often on Saturdays, but I can only do Sundays anyway). And this past Sunday, I was able to plan it out so I could get to 4 different places.
I did try to plan this out to be the most efficient way possible, so I mapped out each open house and figured out the best path to go on. Fortunately, 3 of the 4 places I went to were very close together. So I went to the one that was furthest away first.
That place wasn’t my ideal location, but it didn’t seem back on a map. What I didn’t know until I got there was that it was across the street from a school and that street was the drop-off/pick-up street. So that means on school days, it can be very hard to go places in the mornings and afternoon. Also, I found out when I got there that they already had accepted an offer and were open to additional backup offers (which made me think they already had a backup). So that was an easy no for me.
The next place was another easy no for me. It was a very odd situation where it was almost like a condo building in the backyard of a house and a shared driveway. Not like how I have a shared driveway, more like the house is the owner and there was a guesthouse in the back. But the guesthouse was condo units. It also had windows that only looked into the windows of others.
I’m skipping the third place for now, but the last place I went to was another easy no. The location was not the best street and it was a bit too noisy. I didn’t like the layout and there was a lot of wasted space in the unit. But also, the realtor wasn’t that nice to me and tried to make a joke about how I better have someone who wants to give me a lot of money so I can buy a place. It’s not really her business how I’m getting a condo and it really made me feel unwanted. So I left and just felt really negative about the place.
But the third place was the first place I’ve looked at in a while where I really felt like it might be the right place for me. It wasn’t perfect and it does need a bunch of cosmetic work, but the space felt really good. I liked the layout, it had a lot of windows and skylights, and I could imagine how to make it feel like mine. Because of the cosmetic work it needs, I was hesitant about things, but I also know that a lot of those things can be done well without spending a lot of money. Redoing cabinets can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Same with new counters. The location wasn’t exactly where I want to be, but it’s not that far from my ideal neighborhood. And there was something that just felt good about the space.
I did let my realtor know about that place so he can come with me to look at it, and I’m hoping that there isn’t an offer on it yet so I have a real chance to see if it’s meant to be my new home. But even if it’s not, I’ve realized this past Sunday that I have learned a lot in the brief amount of time I’ve been looking again. I can feel better about my decisions now than I was feeling when I was looking with my parents. I don’t hesitate as much if a place doesn’t really feel right. I know that my parents are helping me a lot with this, but I also have a right to be a bit picky and I’m learning to be ok with that. And I’m getting better at seeing past bad design and cosmetic stuff and seeing the real potential of what I can turn a place into.
If this place doesn’t end up being the one for me for whatever reason, I do feel better about going to look at more places moving forward. I would still prefer not to go alone, but going alone isn’t the worst thing. I feel more sure about what I really want and what I would just like to have. And I have more hope now that I will find the right place for me eventually!
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