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Showing posts from March, 2014

Buying a Fixer-upper

For the last few days, my agent and I have been looking at apartments in need of renovations. In other words, fixer-uppers. As mention before my budget is small and therefore I'm willing to make some concessions on my wish list items, such as updated kitchen and updated bathroom. I am not willing to compromise however on closet space, that is an absolute deal breaker to me.  Needless to say we were hoping to get a bargain. Neither apartment were in my ideal neighborhood and I decided that I would compromise on the location because they were not too far away from where I wanted to be. Apartment # 2 best fit my location wish list as it was close to a subway station and lots of buses. It also has a business district which includes shopping, restaurants, etc. Apartment #1 was in a more quiet area and is less than 10 minutes away by driving and maybe about 15 by bus. I like that Apartment # 1 had a balcony, as I really wanted an apartment with some outdoor space.   I actually like

Another Setback

As if I needed any more convincing that there is an entity or higher being that doesn't want me to purchase my first apartment. Last week while at work, I got two missed calls from my real estate agent, each a minute apart. On the second call she left a voice-mail message asking me to get in touch. I didn't immediately think that there were any concerns as the day prior we were talking about me signing the contract and completing my coop board application. I was super excited about the process now and my previous anxiety were beginning to fade away. I called the real estate agent back but I was not at all prepared for what she had to say.   “Are you at work?” she asked.  “Yes”, I responded.  “I wanted to talk to you when you're home,” “What's going on?” I asked finally coming to the realization that all was not well.  “I don't think you're going to be able to move forward on the property.” “What? Why?” “Well, the Sellers’s attorney informed me th