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Last season, on Single in the City…
A lot of things happened last season. You learned all about my travels around the world last winter, about my experiences about doing things on my own (going to a wedding, eating at a restaurant, rowing at Stow Lake), and 25+1 neat facts about myself. And for the record, I'm still single, and NOT ENGAGED. I still had people come up to me congratulating me for being engaged.
For a play-by-play, feel free to read my earlier entries in this blog.
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What a summer indeed. In an otherwise work-dominated summer, one major life event happened to me. No, I didn't get married, unlike what some people who thought I was still engaged to the Italian hottie would think. I'm in escrow for a condo in the city!
And it almost never happened. In total, I must've had submitted over 10 offers to different properties before my offer was accepted. Sufficed to say, it was a very frustrating process. All but two flat out rejected my offer, due to other significantly higher bids from other buyers. I was the backup offer for the other offer I submitted that didn't get rejected, but that didn't work out either.
I had set myself a deadline. If there was nothing in the works by the end of August, I told myself that it wasn't meant to be. At the same time, I didn't want to settle either; I wasn't going to buy a place for the sake of buying a place. I wanted to be happy about the location, and it had to make sense financially for me. There were properties that I saw within my price range that I probably could've gotten earlier, but something just didn't feel quite right. There were a few condos in Oceanview that were really affordable, and I actually liked the units themselves, it's just too darn far. There was this other 3 bedroom/2bath in Bayview Heights that was in pristine condition, with upgraded kitchen and a deck that was cheap, but again, location played a factor. I already have issues making it to school when I lived in Mission Bay; I don't think a 50-minute bus ride to school every day would help the cause. I was about ready to give up and pursue the other alternative: an impromptu month-long South American adventure. I actually already started looking at flights and almost pulled the trigger.
Then about mid-August, this less-than-300-square-foot "1-bedroom" condo unit in North of Panhandle (NOPA) was listed for $209,900. I've been to the building before; I went to an open house on another unit that was also for sale a couple months ago. I say "1-bedroom" because technically it is, with walls and a door separating the kitchen area from the living area, but the kitchen area is best described as a "1-person" kitchen. When I first saw the listing, I was a little apprehensive, because it's quite small, square-footage-wise, but I wanted to see the place for myself. After all, places in this city are notoriously small.
When I saw the place, I liked it immediately. For starters, it's in a great location: a block away from Alamo Square (I finally get to live near a tennis court! Playing on a regular basis is another story.), it's off of Divisadero and Hayes. Lots of restaurants and cafés in the area. Plus, four blocks down is Lower Haight, a bus ride up and down the hill I can get to the Castro, a bus ride up (as in all the way up) Divisadero is the Presidio, and school's about a 15 minute flat-surface bike ride! Plus, the 101 (yes I did say THE 101 and not 101, thereby showing my SoCal roots), is not too far off of Octavia, so that's another brownie point. Divisadero Street being a main thoroughfare, I feel like I can walk around my hood at night and feel safe, and at the same time, since my unit faces away from the street, I don't get the congestion noise. And there's a farmer's market a block away on Sundays!
Inside, it felt a lot bigger than the county-recorded square footage. Ten-foot vaulted ceilings certainly help the cause (one of my definite pluses about this place). Another must-have for me are hardwood floors. I never got the SoCal fascination with carpet; it gets dirty easily, and it traps dirt and other yucky stuff. This place definitely had hardwood floors, in espresso color. Bathroom is proportionately sized; enough room to mill around, but not necessarily enough to do Pilates or anything like that. I have tall windows too, which is always nice. Other good things about this condo: rooftop access (did anyone say rooftop barbeque for my housewarming?), laundry room (don't have to lug my dirty laundry to a laundrymat), and a garden area (thinking about planting my own veggies!).
Financially, it made sense for me, because my monthly mortgage payment, with HOA fees, taxes and insurance, comes out to about $1400. Well, some might scoff at that number, but considering I was paying $1000 a month for rent, this doesn't sound too ridiculous. The added benefit of property tax and mortgage interest write offs and the $8000 refund from the government helps out quite a bit with the difference. Plus, my agent is giving me a rebate from his commission. Ultimately, what made it a great deal for me is the added 3.5% (of the purchase price) credit from the seller towards closing costs. So, I only have to come up with enough money for my down payment (3.5% of the purchase price) and the transfer tax (about $2000). From working like crazy this summer, plus what I had saved up last summer and the parental contribution, I had enough to cover all the costs.
So now, I'm in escrow, and my agent says that if everything goes as plan, I should be receiving my keys by mid-October (fingers-crossed), but I'm probably not going to move in until beginning of November (I was thinking of painting my walls, and doing some minor HGTV-inspired renovations before moving in). Anyone up for helping me paint?
