Tag Archives: condo

After attending the meeting with my HOA, I knew that the renovation was going to be able to start soon. We had a few things that needed to be done, but they were much faster than the initial preparation we did for getting the approval. And because we only had to submit the last forms and not wait for anything else, once we got it all sent in over the weekend, we knew we’d be able to start this week.

My contractor wanted to start on Monday, and I’m so glad we were able to stick to that. Because the hours the HOA has set that you are allowed to work on condos are almost the same as my work hours, I won’t be able to watch the work happening. But we are very lucky that we hired a contractor who has been great at keeping us informed about things during each step. Even as we were preparing things, we were getting frequent emails and texts letting us know what they were doing and with options that we needed to approve. Since this is the first time I’ve been involved in a remodel, I appreciate this. I still don’t know a lot about the process, but I feel less lost than I did before.

With the official start being on Monday, I knew things would be happening but I didn’t know how much would be done on day 1. So while I worked, I was getting emails to confirm things but I was curious to see what work would be done at the end of the day. So once I was done with work, I headed over to the condo to take a look.

I figured the demolition would have pulled up the floors and maybe some of the kitchen cabinets. I’m really glad I took some photos over the weekend because now I have some good before and during renovation pictures.

We had been told demolition would be done within a few days, but they got it all done in a single day! I think it looks like a lot more work than we are doing. We are putting in new floors, painting all the walls, and redoing the kitchen and one bathroom. This is more work than we originally planned, but this is getting everything on our list done before I move in instead of doing some of them later while I live there. It is much easier to redo a kitchen when I don’t have to live in the same space.

The entire process of finding and buying a condo has had different moments when it has felt real. And I have been trying to not get my hopes up about things until they are done and approved. So there were some things in the renovation that I was worried we would be told we couldn’t do (even though it looks like all the work I am doing has been done in other units). And I was trying to not be too hopeful about when we would start or what we could do. But when I walked into the condo on Monday evening and saw everything in progress, it really sunk in. This was happening. We are turning this condo into something that is really going to feel like it’s mine.

I still don’t know exactly when it will be done and when I can move in, but it’s going to be soon. Because we have been preparing for this renovation for a few months, everything we need is already ordered and waiting to be picked up. And while it looks like a ton of work, it’s considered a small job. I know there can still be random delays and setbacks, but the contractor feels good that things were prepared and it shouldn’t be too long of a process.

I guess now that things have started, I really need to start looking into moving. I haven’t looked at moving companies yet and I really haven’t packed up much. But I also have the luxury of taking my time when I move in. I should have at least 2 weeks where I can move in while I’m still paying rent. It might be closer to a month depending on the timing of when things are done. And because I can move a lot of my stuff in my car and it’s a quick trip back and forth, I should be able to do a lot on my own. I just need a moving company for the big and heavy stuff, but fortunately, I don’t have a lot that fits into that category.

I don’t know what will be the next moment this feels real to me. Maybe when I move in and am finally sleeping in there. And I have a feeling that will be happening before I know it!

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I was really hoping that the renovation on my condo would be starting this week. When I wrote my last post about it, I had gotten some updates about the process and thought that we were almost done with the approval process. But I think there has been some confusion between me and the HOA and things have gotten delayed a bit more. And while it is frustrating, I also know we need to do everything properly. I don’t want to move in on a bad note with everyone.

But it is tough when I feel like everything is on hold now. There was a lot of momentum during the condo hunt and while we were in escrow. And after the purchase was done, we took a lot of steps toward hiring a contractor and picking out materials. Of course, we had to do a lot of that before submitting everything to the HOA, but it feels like we have everything ready and waiting to go and we are just waiting for this last step.

I guess it’s a bit ironic that my word for last year was patience and now I have to work on practicing that idea a lot. When things are on hold or there is a long wait, I tend to start to think of the negative. This is something else I have been working on adjusting, but it’s tough to not wonder if things will be delayed even more. There is nothing in the renovation plan that seems that extreme. And I think everything we have in the plan are things that we can see in other condos in the building when we looked at the ones that sold in the past. So there is no reason why I should think the HOA won’t approve my plan. But because we are coming up on 6 weeks of waiting for approval, it does make my mind wander a bit.

But I am trying to focus on the good. This is the last big hurdle before the renovation starts which also means it’s the last big hurdle before I really can start planning my move. I am very lucky that I am able to remodel the place we bought. While nothing was unusable, my parents and I agreed that since we wanted to do work it would be easier to do it before I moved in. So instead of waiting a while before making these changes, I will get to move into a place that I helped to design and is what I’ve been dreaming of. It’s not the ultimate dream home I have in my mind, but we are making a lot of changes that bring it close to that idea. And that’s going to be amazing.

This is also probably one of the only times I will have to do a waiting game like this. If we were splitting things up into different projects, we’d have to go through this each time. But now, we are getting it done at one time and I won’t have to worry about the next waiting period.

I also keep reminding myself that the process I’m going through now is different from when I’ve had landlords come and fix things. All the repairs I’ve had done in the past are for situations that usually are emergencies (like getting a new garbage disposal because it was flooding my kitchen). I’m not submitting a repair request that would be answered within a day. I’m doing something to make myself happy with my new place and not just to make it livable. Remembering that this is a different and new process has helped me be a bit more patient.

I’m supposed to get another update this week and this update could be the approval. If that happens, then hopefully it’s only another week before things get started and I can have a better plan for what my timeline is. But until I get that approval, I’m working on being patient and waiting this out.

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I haven’t done a lot of work at my new place yet. I have done some cleaning and I have done some testing of different paint colors. But that’s really about it so far. I have done a lot of planning and thought of ideas, but since this is going to be a bigger project than what I have done in my rental places in the past, I won’t be doing a majority of the work.

I’m very grateful my parents helped me by interviewing different contractors and finding a good one who will be able to manage the project since I won’t be there every day. The remodel has grown from the original list a bit since now the plan is to do most things before I move in, but it’s still cosmetic changes. Right now, we are waiting for the HOA to approve the plans, but hopefully, that is done soon so the work can get started, and then I can start planning more for my move next year!

But before the big work gets started, I wanted to get whatever I could do ahead of time. But this is really limited since most of the work is either too big or it needs to be done after other work is done. Even with those limitations, I did find a few different little projects I was able to get done when I go over there after work this past week.

The first thing I did was in the second closet. In my current place, I have a utility room that I use as storage and a pantry. But there isn’t something like that in the condo. So I decided to turn half of a closet into a storage area. I will be getting something from The Container Store or somewhere similar to build in a storage system with shelves and possibly drawers. But in that closet, there was one closet rod that went from side to side across the top and another that was just a half rod with a shelf. I decided to remove the half rod so I could turn that half into the storage area. I was doing this after work when it was dark and there aren’t any lights in that room yet, so I had to do it with the flashlight on my phone. Some of the screws were really stuck in there, but I managed to get it down.

My dad is going to help me fix the holes that were left behind, but you might not even notice them once we build the shelves in there.

And the other project I did recently was for what will be my closet. In my future room, there are 3 doors in the room. The door from the hallway to the room, the door to the bathroom, and the door to the closet. Because of where things are, the doors to the hallway and closet hit each other and it wasn’t easy to open either of them. So I decided to try to take the closet door off since I don’t necessarily need one. My dad said he would help me, but I’m stubborn and figured I’d see if I could do it alone.

I did have to brace myself against the door so it didn’t fall on me and the door is now laying in the middle of the room, but I was able to do it!

We may have to put the closet door up for when they are painting things so the door is painted too, but I’m glad I did this because I know for sure now that I will be keeping the door off when I move in. It just opens up the space a lot more and I won’t have to worry about the doors bumping into each other and scuffing things. And I’m used to having to keep my closet clean with how the setup is at my place now, so having it open in the condo will be fine.

If I can find other fun little things I can do, I’ll totally do them. But I think I might have hit a roadblock with the projects I can do and I’ll just have to wait until I’m doing things to get my new place ready to move in.

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Even though I technically started looking at condos about 5 years ago, things didn’t really get serious until the beginning of September this year. I wasn’t in a rush to find a new place, but circumstances changed things from how I was doing lazy searching before. Because my parents were helping me with this, we had to have a serious conversation about what the budget would be and what things we saw as requirements. For the most part, we were on the same page with everything. There were a few things my parents saw as requirements that I didn’t think I needed to have. But they were things that were on my list of things that would be nice to have, so I didn’t mind adding them to the requirement list.

And once we were seriously looking, there were a lot of places we went to. When my parents were here, we looked at a bunch of places. I was spending my Sundays going around to different open houses to see what was out there. And I would occasionally go after work for a showing with my realtor for places that were fitting what we wanted. And I saw a lot of places that weren’t bad, but they just weren’t right. Sometimes, you can’t explain why a place isn’t right. It just didn’t feel like it could be my home.

I got ideas of what I wanted and my parents and I talked about ideas of what sort of remodeling work we’d consider. Of course, finding a place that is perfect and move-in ready would have been the top choice, but I knew that wouldn’t be likely with our budget and the style that I like. So finding a place that only needed cosmetic changes was the idea we were thinking of.

I know that there are people who spend months looking for a place, so the time I was looking really wasn’t that long. I was seriously looking for about a month before I found a place that seemed perfect. I wanted to stay in my current neighborhood and this place was only 3 blocks away. It was in the budget. It needed cosmetic work, but nothing major. It had a little outdoor space. The only thing I was hesitant about was that it was not on the top floor, which is something I really wanted. But I also realized I would have to deal with noise from neighbors no matter what floor I’m on when you compare it to my current place.

I had my parents on FaceTime when I was at that place and I arranged to go back for a private showing with my realtor the next day. And he agreed that it was a great place for me and it fit what I was looking for. Then there was a lot of back and forth stuff. We were a part of multiple offers and had to do two different offers before they accepted ours. In the inspection, there were a few things we found that we either wanted credit for or wanted to have repaired. The repairs took a bit longer than expected, but since I am not in a rush to move, I preferred it would be done properly than to be rushed. But exactly a month after the first time I saw the condo at an open house, it was officially ours!

We are still looking at contractors for doing some work, and the timing worked out perfectly because my parents will be in LA next week. So they will be able to help me find a contractor and look for materials that I want to use. And I have no clue how long the work will take to do, but I’m hoping not too long since it’s not a lot of work. I won’t be moving in until it’s done, so I’ll be paying rent plus paying for the condo for a few months. So the shorter time that needs to happen, the better.

So far, I’ve gone over to the condo a few times since getting the keys. I have done a little bit of cleaning with things that I can do myself. And I went around taking measurements so I can plan how my furniture will work in the new place. I’m not worried about things not fitting, the condo is much bigger than my current house. But I still want to plan out how things will fit and what new things I might want to get.

While this place felt like it could potentially be my home from the first time I saw it, it feels more and more like it’s mine each time I go over there. It does help to not see the furniture from the staging company, but there is just something there that feels like it fits me.

I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about the condo as we hire a contractor and once I move in, but for now there might not be a lot of updates as we get things planned and ready to start. But I’m very excited that I will have a new home very soon. I’m a bit sad to leave my current place (I will have been here about 12 years by the time I’m guessing I will be moving out), but I’m excited for the adventure a new place will bring!

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