Skip to main content

Apartment Stalking

I have a confession.

I’m a stalker.
http://shrink4men.com/2011/02/16/female-stalkers-part-2-checklist-of-stalking-and-harassment-behaviors/

For the past two months, I have been stalking this perfect two-bedroom cooperative apartment online. Almost daily I view pictures on Streeteasy.com and Zillow.com and breathe a sigh of relief when I see that someone has not yet snapped it up. It’s not a huge place. It’s a two-bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and living/dining area. I have imagined hosting Christmas and dinner parties here. And boy do I let my imagination run wild with design ideas. I have painted the living room a nice grey and hung flowy white curtains to the windows where currently there are blinds. In the kitchen, I have stained the cabinets, modernized the hardware and changed the backsplash to glass tiles that I found at home depot. Despite the imaginary home decor ideas, the apartment is otherwise perfect and in move in ready condition. Except of course that I am not ready.

I am not ready to get off the fence.

I’m not ready to make an offer as yet.

Perhaps it’s a case of once bitten twice shy. But having gone through the process of purchasing a home four years ago only to be disappointed and rejected by the cooperative board, I’m hesitant. The cooperative board wanted a cash buyer and I’m keenly aware that I don’t have the hard cash that they might be looking for. I will need to apply for a mortgage.

Despite my being careful with money and consistently paying down student loans and putting away money with every paycheck to a high yielding savings account, I’m not comfortable with where I am financially as yet. I want to be able to put down a substantial amount of money for a down payment. I want to have completely paid off my smallest student loan debt before I take on even more debt.
From my budgeting and calculation, I will be financially ready to purchase a home by June 2018!
I know it seems like a long time away. 12 months away actually. 


In the meantime, I continue to apartment stalk and hope and pray. No contract today.  I continue to decorate and make minor improvements in my mind.  If only the perfect apartment will wait.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guest Bedroom Reveal!

I have a long to do list for my home. The problem is trying to priorities that to do list. Every item in my home was purchase, from the farmhouse chandeliers in the upstairs bedrooms to the doorknobs. All the door knobs. Furnishing a new home is quite expensive. Even though I am giddy and excited to get this home completely furniture and renovated, I have had to take a step back. I have had to just learn to live in a minimally furniture home.   I love it. I love the bare walls. I love the space.   I love the feel of not having clutter. On my last blog post, I showed some pictures of my kitchen and dining room, Today I want to share a few pictures from some of the other parts of the home. It's not perfect. I still need a dresser and a mirror but those will come in time.  In the meantime, this is what it looks like.
Post a Comment
Read more

House Renovations

Despite closing on my home last month, I haven't yet moved in. When I first made an offer on the house, I did not think that I would begin renovations immediately. I knew the house needed some updates.  But I could live with an outdated, functional kitchen for a while. once the sellers vacated the property, I was finally able to assess the property without their furniture blocking and cover any damages.  I hired a painter who was also a licensed contractor who noticed that all the walls in the house were bulging. The second bedroom where the children slept had a leak which caused the baseboard to rot and the wall to swell. The house was inspected twice and at no time did the inspector report rotting baseboard and leaking in the walls. I was not happy. Would knowing all these things deter me from purchasing this house? probably not.  However, the last thing I expected to do so soon after spending almost ten years of savings on closing cost and a down payment, w...
Post a Comment
Read more

I found another house

At the end of July, I thought that I had found my dream home. I made an offer. The seller countered. Then I accepted the seller’s counter offer.   I was already trying to schedule the home inspection when my realtor, Robert, texted me that the seller wanted to hold off. Well, according to Robert, the seller decided to sell the home to his neighbor’s friend. I was disappointed but then oddly felt relief. As much as I like the home and the area, I was a little worried that the location was a little too isolated. It was close to buses but far away from the train. I was concerned about how I would get to and from work. Robert would still make his commission as he was acting as both the buyer and seller’s agent. Everyone was happy except for me. I then called another former realtor, Louis, and we began looking at properties.   We went to an open house on a quiet street, a few blocks away from a subway station and a block from a bus, that was listed below market value. There w...
Post a Comment
Read more