Bought!

It was a long weekend, waiting for negotiations to wrap up on the condo we chose to buy, but it all came to a happy conclusion last night.

As I mentioned in my last post, we decided to take a road trip on Thursday so Skip could get inside our top two options and see them for herself. We first went to the loft in Worcester. She was able to get around as well as I expected. Those schoolroom hallways are WIDE. She was concerned about the lack of a private deck, the need for me to take stairs to take out the dogs (I found on this visit that it's only 6 stairs out, no need to take an elevator) and the lack of storage in the place. On the way into the building, we met a tenant who clearly loves the place and talked about how the patio out in front of the building gets a lot of use on warm and sunny weekend days.

On the way out, I asked the developer, who had let us in, if we'd be able to park pods in the parking lot when we moved in, if we bought there. I explained we'd be moving out of our home a few days before moving in so would have to briefly store our belongings in pods. He said if the tenants move out (he's been renting to tenants at will for a while) by June 30, we could move in before actually buying the place. This would save us a ton of dough for a hotel, for pod rentals and for extra moving effort!

Then we went on to the exurb where we were looking at the 55+ condo. Skip really liked the private deck, though didn't like that it was one story off the ground and thought that'd be an issue when Addy was out there with us ... she'd be trying to find a way off of it. She liked the size of the main living area, which is a bit bigger than in Worcester, and the amount of storage, especially since it has a full basement. She really didn't like the counters or appliances in the kitchen, though they don't bother me much ... just quite dull.

We chatted for a bit in the master bedroom about the two options. How should we proceed? Skip was clearly torn. She liked both places for different reasons. Then, I had a flash of inspiration. 55+ condos have sprung up all over the place, they're a dime a dozen. This loft is unique and we won't have many opportunities to get a place like it if we let it pass us by. That decided it. We chose the loft. If, as we age, we feel a suburban setting at a 55+ place makes more sense, we can always find something suitable and move into one then.

We are very excited! Now, if I could just get a home inspector to call me back so I can set up the inspection ...