Tag Archives: home

A Few More Projects At My New Place (or These Might Be The Last Little Projects I Do For A While)

Posted on December 10, 2021 | Comments Off on A Few More Projects At My New Place (or These Might Be The Last Little Projects I Do For A While)

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.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailA New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now) Default ThumbnailStill Doing More House Projects (or Just Trying To Find Busy Work) Default ThumbnailCleaning Up And Giving Things Away (or Finding More Space In My House) Default ThumbnailEven More Organizing (or This Was An Overdue Project) Default ThumbnailLetting Go Of The Old Me (or This Was Very Overdue) Default ThumbnailForgetting To Take A Moment To Take It In (or Lots Of Back To Back Projects)

Comments Off on A Few More Projects At My New Place (or These Might Be The Last Little Projects I Do For A While)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

A Busy Family Visit (or Making Some Choices For My New Home)

Posted on November 19, 2021 | Comments Off on A Busy Family Visit (or Making Some Choices For My New Home)

When I started looking at condos again in September, we had no idea how quickly I would find a place I liked. It would have been amazing if I had found a place when my parents were in town, but I also knew that was going to be very unlikely. Then, I started to hope that maybe the timing of finding a place would be when my parents were going to be in Santa Barbara for our early Thanksgiving. What ended up happening was finding a place before my parents were here this month, but I think it worked out better. Because the condo is officially ours now, my parents were able to visit me after the early Thanksgiving so we could focus on the work we want to do before I move in.

Technically, I could move into the condo in the condition it is in now. Not everything is working perfectly, but I could do quick fixes to make them work. And some work could have waited until after I was living in there. But it’s easier to do the work before I move in, so that’s what we decided to do. There aren’t really any structural changes we want to make, but we want to fix up things that are outdated or broken and make the condo really my style. Fortunately, the ideas my mom and I had were not too different, so deciding what projects we wanted to do wasn’t too hard. But that was the easy part.

So for the past few days, my parents have been in LA helping me plan out fixing up the condo. They have been doing most of the work because I have had to be working while they were here. So they interviewed contractors and discussed bids, which was better for them to do since I’ve never done this before. They also took a look at a few things that we might be able to fix ourselves and what little projects we might want to add or remove from the plan.

They also made some decisions on a few things like if we should try to fix up something already in the condo or if we should remove the broken thing and put something new in. We are mindful of a budget, but it would be easier to do this all at one time and not have to wait until later and do another big project. And we don’t want to do something that might break in a few years so we want to find a good balance of low price but good quality. Again, I’m glad my parents are helping me with this because I don’t know what to look for or even what prices seem reasonable.

Since I was working most of the time they were visiting, I only saw them in the evening after work. But I did take one day off work so we could do a lot of design planning. We went to multiple stores to try to see what styles I was interested in and to pick out a lot of materials we would be using. The main materials we needed to find were for the kitchen for the counter and backsplash. I had an idea of what I wanted, but I also hadn’t looked at counters and tile together and I knew that would be important. I originally picked out a tile I loved for the backsplash, but it was 4 times the price of almost any other tile. So that had to be replaced. But I think I found the perfect combination of counter and tile for my kitchen.

I also had to find tile for the bathroom and there were so many ideas of what we could do. I think my mom and I decided on something a bit more unique with a textured tile for the walls so it has a bit of character. But for a lot of what we are looking at, we are just trying to keep things clean and somewhat neutral. I can add a lot when I move in with art and my furniture. To me, moving somewhere that is fresh and new will feel amazing, so I don’t think I am too worried about things like what style handles are on a cabinet. Most of the things I ended up liking as we went from store to store were the most basic and generic models. Fortunately, that meant they also tended to be on the lower price side. But we are still shopping around since I do have time before I need to have everything figured out.

My parents might not be back in LA until after the condo is done. That depends on how long things take to finish and if I need more help. But we did make a lot of progress on this project and I’m excited to start getting things moving! The point of my parents visiting me this time was to get work done and not to have as much social time, and I think we accomplished just that!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAn Unexpected Family Visit (or Making Plans, Canceling Them, And Making Plans Again) Default ThumbnailI’ll Have A New Home Soon (or The End Of The Condo Hunt) Default ThumbnailWork Time Family Visit (or Already Preparing To Renew My Disneyland Pass) Default Thumbnail24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family) Default ThumbnailQuick Family Visit (or My Extra Long Lunch From Work) Default ThumbnailPart 1 Of A Family Visit (or Letting My Parents Relax A Bit)

Comments Off on A Busy Family Visit (or Making Some Choices For My New Home)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping

Tagged , , ,

I’ll Have A New Home Soon (or The End Of The Condo Hunt)

Posted on November 10, 2021 | Comments Off on I’ll Have A New Home Soon (or The End Of The Condo Hunt)

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnother Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step) Default ThumbnailMore Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want) Default ThumbnailMaking Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother Condo Hunting Update (or I’m Learning A Lot) Default ThumbnailAnother Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential) Default ThumbnailJob Hunt Time Again (or I Guess I Was Slacking On This)

Comments Off on I’ll Have A New Home Soon (or The End Of The Condo Hunt)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnother Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential) Default ThumbnailMaking Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step) Default ThumbnailMore Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want) Default ThumbnailA Job Hunting Update (or Making Sure I Don’t Repeat My Financial Year Again) Default ThumbnailMom Update (or Two Steps Done, Two More To Go)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Empty Space In My House (The Cleaning And Organizing Continues) Default ThumbnailA New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now) Default ThumbnailIt Sucks To Say Goodbye (I Don’t Like It When My Friends Move Away) Default ThumbnailGetting Rid Of Extras (or Cleaning House) Default ThumbnailWorking On Cleaning (or Time To Declutter) Default ThumbnailIs It Too Early To Be Spring Cleaning? (or Out With The Unused)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want) Default ThumbnailAnother Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential) Default ThumbnailMaking Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social) Default ThumbnailEnjoying A Family Weekend (or Adventuring Around LA) Default ThumbnailA Sunday At Disneyland (or Pin-ups And Food and Wine) Default ThumbnailA Quarantine Birthday (or Just A Normal Sunday)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMaking Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social) Default ThumbnailMore Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want) Default ThumbnailCleaning Up And Giving Things Away (or Finding More Space In My House) Default ThumbnailBeing Hurt And Finding Closure (or Still Finding Out More About Myself Through Dating) Default ThumbnailAdding A Little Control In My Life (or Finding Little Ways To Be Helpful) Default ThumbnailFull Thanksgiving Week (or Lots Of Family Time)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

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!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Serious Condo Hunting (or Being Real About What I Want) Default ThumbnailHiking And Off-Roading (or Taking Advantage Of Every Moment Of My Vacation) Default ThumbnailNot My Typically 4th Of July (or Taking Advantage Of A Day Off) Default ThumbnailBeing Social and Nauseous (or Taking Some Inspiration From My Workouts) Default ThumbnailA Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother OTF Hangout (or Having Fun Being Social In Normal Clothes)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

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.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailA Pure Moment Of Happiness (or Loving Life) Default ThumbnailA House Anniversary (or A Decade In One Place) Default ThumbnailEnjoying A Family Weekend (or Adventuring Around LA) Default ThumbnailDog DNA Test (or Tucker Is A Real Mix!) Default ThumbnailMy First “Real” Run (or Testing Out My Birthday Present) Default ThumbnailMaking Time For Real Life (or Trying To Not Just Live Virtually)

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

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

A New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now)

Posted on September 2, 2021 | Comments Off on A New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now)

Over the past year and a half, I feel like I’ve done a lot of projects around my house. Sometimes I was doing them because I was getting bored while I was out of work and sometimes I was doing them because they were things I was bothered by in my house and I knew that with a small project I could fix it. And my project list seemed like it never ended because there were always little improvements I’d like to make. But because of budget, I often have to just keep them on the list and not actually do them.

But there have been a few projects lately that I was starting to get ready to do and I was doing some comparison shopping online to figure out the best thing for me. But as soon as I found out that my place was being sold, I put a stop to all the projects on my list. I know that I’m not moving out right now or even in the next month or two, but I don’t want to do improvements around my place if I’m going to be moving soon. A lot of these things would be removing something that I would have to put back when I eventually move out, such as finding a new curved shower curtain rod so things didn’t feel as cramped in my shower or bathroom. I don’t want to do things that I might have put back again soon when they aren’t urgent projects to do. And other things on the list were about buying things to fit into a specific space, mainly to provide more storage for me. But because this might not be my space that much longer, I don’t want to spend money on something that might not fit into whatever place I move into next.

All the projects I had planned were taken off my list and one big one was added on. I need to do a big clean of my stuff in my house. I used to joke about how annoying it will be when I eventually move out because I have collected so much stuff and I know that I don’t need to move it all with me. Well, that time is upon me, and now is the time to start working on seeing what I really have and what I really need. And a lot of this is stuff that I know I’ve needed to do and have just put off. For example, my filing cabinets have things that I really don’t need anymore but it’s easy enough to keep since they are in a folder. But when I will have to take that folder into a new place, I don’t know if I’ll want everything in there. Same with stuff in my closet. I know I have shoes and bags that I don’t use and there is no point in me eventually moving stuff that I don’t have a use for.

I’m glad that I will probably have a while before I’m moving because I know cleaning out a lot of stuff will take more than an afternoon or a weekend. I really need to evaluate what I have and what I use and make sure that when I move I only move things that I want to have with me, not stuff that I feel like I should keep for one reason or another.

I have made cleaning different parts of my house monthly challenges from time to time. And while I haven’t always succeeded at those challenges, I have always made at least a dent in what I was hoping to do. But now, I have a new motivation to get this done because I know when I start packing up my place it will be easier if I’m not sorting and cleaning then. Getting it out of the way now when I’m not stressing about a lot of other things will be best for me. And allowing myself lots of time to go through things will be good too. And maybe this will stress me out a bit, but I know I have to do it. And I know I will feel much better about things once I know I’ve removed things I’ve been holding on to just because it was easy to do that.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailStill Doing More House Projects (or Just Trying To Find Busy Work) Default ThumbnailSlowly Spring Cleaning (or Tidying Up My Way) Default ThumbnailA Big Cleaning Week (or An Excuse to Organize) Default ThumbnailWorking On Cleaning (or Time To Declutter) Default ThumbnailDoing A Lot Of Spring Cleaning (or Trying To Fill My Day) Default ThumbnailAlways Cleaning (or At Least The Pandemic Helped Create This Habit)

Comments Off on A New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged ,