Tag Archives: condo

Another Condo Hunting Update (or I’m Learning A Lot)

Posted on October 21, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Condo Hunting Update (or I’m Learning A Lot)

I haven’t written about my condo hunt for a bit and there are a few different reasons for that. I’ve been insanely busy with things for the convention and some work-related things. Even though there are always new places on the market, I had gotten very specific about what I was looking for and I didn’t want to settle on certain things when I wasn’t in a huge rush to find a new place (I still have no clue when the new owners of my place take over and when or if they will tell us we have to move).

But the better reason why I haven’t written about the condo hunt for a bit is because the last time I wrote about going to open houses was the last time I went to an open house! I still do not own a condo yet (or partially own since my parents are helping me), but things are in the works. I know nothing is for sure until the papers are all signed and I have the keys, but this has the potential to be for sure very soon.

As I said when I went to the last open house, I had no clue what was next. And I still really don’t. But I’m learning and trying to make sure I understand what’s coming up. I’m very lucky that my parents are a part of this process since they have been through it before and that my realtor is someone that I can really trust. Especially this past weekend when I couldn’t do anything, I had to rely on them to make sure we were making progress on all the things we had to get done. My mom even organized the paperwork I had to sign and emailed me a list with everything organized so I just had to print them out and sign. It was so helpful to be able to do that.

And there is so much we are doing and checking. I knew there would be an inspection, but I didn’t even think about what happened after an inspection with asking for things to be fixed. Also, looking at different paperwork for the building and condo as well as signing a lot of forms about how it will be listed for my mom and I to both be owners. Again, I’m so glad my parents are helping me since they have figured out a lot of things for me that I didn’t know we needed to plan. And my realtor has been so on top of things I should know and what he thinks we need to ask about (like a history of past repairs that were made).

And as much as I like to think I’m educated about things like this and I’m very good about tracking things for my current place, it’s very different comparing a place you rent to a place you own. There are a lot of different things I have to look up so I know what we are talking about. Fortunately, almost everything is digital these days so I have the emails save and I can save PDFs in different places. I don’t have to worry about keeping them organized after printing them out and putting them in a folder.

I’m much more hopeful that this might be my place now than I was the last time I wrote about it. We’ve already gone through so many steps and things are getting much closer to being done. And a lot of what is left is our decision and not the current owner, so that is reassuring. But I also know that things can still change and I’m prepared to start over if that’s what happens. But I’m really hoping that soon I will be writing about moving and not that I’m back to the condo hunt. And maybe I will have that update soon!

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Cleaning And Socializing (or Making Getting Ready To Move A Double Win)

Posted on October 15, 2021 | Comments Off on Cleaning And Socializing (or Making Getting Ready To Move A Double Win)

As I’ve been getting ready to move (even though I don’t have a date yet that I will be moving out), I’ve been working on really organizing what I have in my house. I’ve said it before, but after being here for over 11 years, I have accumulated a lot of stuff. And some of it is stuff that I don’t need, but just kept because I never thought about getting rid of it. But now that I’m focused on what I do and don’t want to move with me, I’ve been working on clearing out what I don’t need.

A lot of what I’m not taking with me is paperwork that I don’t need. I try to keep paperwork in my house to a minimum, but it still seems to build up. Fortunately, that’s easy enough to get rid of. I shred things that need to be shredded and they go into the recycling bin. And I’ve also found a few beauty products that expired and other items like that which just go into the trash. Those are easy decisions to make with what I want to keep and what gets tossed.

But then there are some things that I have and use (or used to use) and they aren’t just things to throw away. I have a garage that I use for storage that doesn’t have a lot in it, but most things in there are things I haven’t used in years. So I have been making a list of what is in my garage and in my house that I don’t plan on moving to my next place. It’s not that big of a list, but there is a list.

Eventually, I’ll probably make a list on Facebook Marketplace or another site like that and try to sell some of these things. None of them are worth that much, so I will probably list things for only about $20. I have things like an old bookcase that I won’t be using, a side table, an old chair, and other things that are perfectly good, just not for me anymore. But before I post them for sale to people I don’t know, I’ve been trying to find friends who might need them. And this has been a great thing so far. It gives me a chance to see friends I haven’t seen in a long time and make sure that the things I’m not keeping go to people who I know can use them.

I’ve only given 2 things to friends so far. First is a step and repeat frame that technically wasn’t mine, but I was holding onto it for a friend. So I messaged him if he still wanted it, and he said he’d come over to take it. I hadn’t seen him in about 2 years, so it was great to get to see him and catch up for a bit while he was picking up the frame. He had other things he had to do and I had to get back to work, so we weren’t able to hang out that long. But still, getting to see a friend I haven’t seen in forever was so nice and made my day!

And the other thing I’ve given to a friend was my bike. I was so happy when I got my bike and I went for some nice bike rides, but I just don’t go anymore. I would love to say that I’ll pick it up again and use the bike in the future, but I honestly don’t know if that’s true. So since I don’t know if or when I’ll use my bike again, it didn’t seem smart to move it to another place. Because bikes are sized by height, I had to think who it would be the right height for. So I reached out to my friend Erin to see if she or her daughter would want it. And she said it would be perfect so she came over the other day!

I hadn’t seen Erin in almost 2 years as well, which is crazy to me since I’m used to seeing her multiple times a year every year! It was so great to get to see her and her daughter and catch up a bit as well. And I’m so glad they were able to come pick up the bike because I wasn’t sure how well it would fit in my car. I wish I could have spent more time hanging out with them, but I had to get back to work. But hopefully when things calm down a bit for me, we can plan a real hangout.

Knowing that some of the stuff I’m getting rid of is going to friends is making it easier for me to let things go. And if I do end up selling some of the things online, I think I’ll be ok with it. I’m now really starting to get excited about moving and not feeling as anxious. It’s still overwhelming and there is a lot for me to do, but I’m getting closer to the fun stuff. And because there will be an overlap between my current place and my next place, I don’t have to worry or stress too much about the moving process. I will be able to take my time and move a lot of my stuff on my own in my car. When it comes to some of the big stuff, I will hire movers. And when it is time to think about that, I’ll worry about it then. But for now, I’m trying to just stay excited about moving and having a new adventure ahead!

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Another Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step)

Posted on October 6, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step)

Just like I’ve done the past few Sundays, I spent this past Sunday driving around the westside of LA going to condo open houses. I’m getting better at planning them out and making sure I make a good list of places I want to go to and figure out the best route on a map. But this past Sunday, I was also dealing with a lot of pain and nausea so I had to figure out which condos were the priorities for me because there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to make it to all of the ones I wanted to see.

I originally had a list of 7 that I could look at and I got it down to 4 that I really wanted to see. I got off to a bit of a later start than I wanted to, but I still was ready to go check out all the places. And for 3 of the places on the list, they all had a particular reason why I wanted to see them. For one of them, it was above my budget, but it had a lot of features that looked good and my mom wanted me to see it because it looked really nice and we might be able to negotiate it down. Another was on my list a month ago, but then they had an accepted offer before I could see it. But the offer fell through, so it was on the market again and I wanted to take a look. And another was in the same building as another condo I’ve already seen, but this one was on a different floor and fully fixed up so I might feel differently about it. And then there was one more that didn’t have anything super special except that it was in my current neighborhood.

The first place I saw was the over budget one, and the moment I walked in I knew it was wrong for me. I still toured the entire unit, but there was just a lot of weird stuff that made no sense to me. And even though it was the biggest condo I had seen so far, it felt like one of the smallest because of the layout and low ceilings. The second one was the one that was back on the market. And I’m really glad I looked at it because it had been on my list for a long time. But just like with the first one, I knew quickly it wasn’t for me. There were some things that were amazing, like having a huge back patio that was almost like a backyard. But there were other things that weren’t really seen from photos and made it not a great deal. Plus, with both the first and second place I saw, they weren’t in locations I really wanted to be. They weren’t back locations, but not my ideal location.

The last 2 on my list were pretty close to each other and both in my current neighborhood. I decided to see the one that wasn’t in the building I had seen before, and I was pleasantly surprised. The main negative thing about this condo was that it was not on the top floor. I really wanted to be on the top floor because I haven’t had to deal with shared walls for a long time. But this one had so many other things right with it. It needs some work, but mainly cosmetic stuff. And this was the first condo that I looked at without my parents where I wanted to get my parents on FaceTime to see it too. Something felt right after the space and as soon as I left I emailed my realtor to tell him because I wanted this opinion on the place too. And from how I felt about this condo, I didn’t even go to the last one. I already wasn’t a huge fan of that building, and I knew that seeing a different condo wasn’t going to change my mind enough compared to this third one.

My realtor and I went back the next day for an appointment with the seller’s realtor and he looked over things. He pointed out a few issues I didn’t see, but they were almost all cosmetic things that I would want to fix anyway. There were no major red flags although he did ask me if I was sure I would be ok on the first floor. But I figure that I’m going to have noise from the side no matter what, so maybe I have to just get over some of the noise concerns.

So after going to see it again and talking it over with my parents, we are now working on putting in an offer! It was funny after I found a place I liked because I had to ask my parents and my realtor what to do next because I honestly had no idea. I’ve never made it past the open house or appointment phase. Fortunately, my realtor is awesome and gets that I’m clueless about it all. So he’s helping me out a lot and making sure I know what we need to do.

I have no clue if I will get this condo. I really hope that I do because I can see how to turn it into a place I really like. It’s not my dream place, but I also know that I won’t be finding my dream place right away. But I can see how I can make this an amazing home for me and I hope that I get to do that! I guess I’ll find out soon enough!

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Another Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential)

Posted on September 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential)

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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Making Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social)

Posted on September 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Making Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social)

Condo or house hunting can be a really fun thing. I used to go to open houses from time to time just to see what is out there, especially in my neighborhood. I never asked my realtor to show me places I wasn’t serious about, but if there was an open house I felt ok taking a look. And if the seller’s realtor asked me, I was always honest and said I wasn’t seriously looking at the moment but looking at things for the future.

But serious condo hunting is a very different feeling. I think I am feeling a bit more stress than I need to because I feel like there is more of a time crunch than actually exists. But I am seriously looking and it has been a lot so far. In about 2 weeks, I’ve gone to over 10 properties. Some of these were when my parents were in town and we looked at a lot of condos in a single afternoon. Some are condos that my realtor has taken me to on my own. And some have been open houses for places I’m interested in. I have to say, going to open houses alone hasn’t really been that fun for me. It feels like the seller’s realtor is always asking me questions when I just want to look and think about what I feel about the place. And I don’t want to ask to be left alone because that’s rude. But because of my availability and when I can see places, going to open houses seems to be more common for me lately.

But because I’m not really enjoying going to open houses alone and I want to make condo hunting more fun, I decided to reach out to a few of my friends to see if anyone wanted to come with me this past weekend. And my friend Pamela said she’d love to so she joined me for condo hunting on Sunday! Originally I was going to look at 3 places, but I changed my mind on one and the other didn’t have an open house so we only looked at one place together.

And I’m so glad she was with me to look at the condo. It was one of the oddest ones I’ve seen so far. The main entrance opened into the main bedroom and there were no doors on either bedroom. It also had a lot of weird quicks that I think the seller thought were cool. But it just didn’t work and it was not at all what I was looking for. But because of the photos on the listing, I had no clue it was like that. I guess some photos can really hide the less flattering features of a place.

And because I wasn’t alone, I had someone to talk to as we were walking through the place and to give looks to when the seller’s realtor was trying to sell us on features that I didn’t love. It made the experience so much better. Plus, it gave me time to hang out with a friend which is a luxury I don’t do enough these days! And we did luck out when we went to the condo because it was crowded before we got there, but it seemed like everyone was leaving when we arrived. So we didn’t have to be around too many people. Even with wearing masks and having so many people in LA vaccinated, I still try to avoid crowded places as much as possible.

After we looked around the condo, Pamela and I got to hang out outside and catch up. We’ve only seen each other once in person since the pandemic, and that was a really brief moment. This time, we really got to talk and it was so great. I needed some social time and it really let me decompress from stressful things going on in my life.

And now, I have someone willing to come with me to future open houses! I’m so glad that I don’t have to keep going alone now and I have someone else to bounce ideas and thoughts off of as I look at more and more potential places!

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More Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want)

Posted on September 16, 2021 | Comments Off on More Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want)

I’ve been casually looking at condos around LA for several years now. A friend of mine from Orangetheory is a realtor and I’ve been working with him since I started looking. But most of the time, that just involved me looking to see what’s available and occasionally going to open houses. Several years ago when my parents were in town, we did so a slightly more serious look at what is out there, but we didn’t find anything that was right and there wasn’t a need to really look harder at that time.

But now, things are a little different. I’m not being kicked out of my current place just yet (it hasn’t sold, but I don’t know when it will sell), but I know that I will need a new place in the near future and now I’m really looking. Before it was more about seeing what was out there and if there was something good then my parents and I would discuss it. Now, it is more about finding the right place for me and looking until we find it. I’ve never felt this type of pressure to make sure we find a place, but I am grateful that there isn’t a serious time crunch so I don’t have to feel rushed into anything.

When my parents were here recently, we looked at 6 places in person. Since then, I’ve looked at 3 more on my own. And I don’t want to complain because I know how lucky I am to be in this situation and that I know I will find something that is right, but it has been tough seeing so many places that might be 80% right but something is off. And if I was looking for just a new apartment, I might let some of those things slide. But because this will be something purchased, I don’t want to buy a place (or have my parents and I buy a place) that I’m not sure about.

Ever since I started looking at condos, I’ve had a list of things that were must-haves and nice-to-haves. I’ve kept my must-haves to a pretty small list. Besides the obvious one of being within budget, the only other things on my list were having a washer/dryer (or ability to have my own washer/dryer) and off-street parking. That’s it. On the list of things that would be nice, I had other things like an outdoor space (like a balcony), a gas stove, a dishwasher, and other things that I didn’t feel like I needed but would be cool if a new place had.

Not a lot has changed on my personal list now that we are looking more seriously, but my parents did add things to the list that are on the must-have list. All of them are things that I think are great, but I didn’t put them on my list when I wasn’t looking as much as I am now. Now that this feels a bit more real and happening soon, I think we all had to figure out some real things we needed to make sure my realtor knew about so we could find the right place.

And as I’ve been looking more and more, I’m also learning more about what I really want to find. When I first found out my current place was for sale, I talked to my parents about getting more serious about a condo hunt and mentioned that I might be ok letting go of having a washer/dryer so we could find a place. So when we looked at 6 places together, not all of them had laundry in the condo. But as we looked at more of them, I had to admit that the washer/dryer was more important to me than I thought. I think part of this was also due to seeing the lack of price difference between places that had the laundry and the places that didn’t. So why not get something I want if the price is almost the same. And I’m also realizing that location is more important to me than I thought. When you are looking online, things that might be a bit further away aren’t a big deal. But when you start thinking about driving to things you go to now, it’s made me think more about where I would want to live. I have always said I wanted to stay in my neighborhood, but I was willing to look outside of my neighborhood in other parts of West LA. But now, I really feel more strongly about staying where I am. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of inventory where I live, but as they come on the market my realtor lets me know about them and I can decide if I want to see them.

I’ve been a bit overwhelmed and anxious about all of this because for so long the idea of getting a condo seemed so far from me and something that would happen in the future one day. But now, that day is going to be soon and it’s real. But I know I will be more excited about it when I find the right place. I know that I won’t find the perfect place, but I want to find a place that feels right. And once that part is figured out, then I can probably enjoy the idea of moving and celebrating everything that comes with that.

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