Every day, things are gettin' closer
Dec. 8th, 2003 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonWhoa... mondo condo progress today. Yeah baby. I've debated writing down all the drama here since so much of it is going to be dead ends and things that don't happen... I might sound less stupid in tomorrow's hindsight if I only talk about the real stuff, like offers. But the real estate roller coaster is real, and I'm on it, and if you're reading this journal I guess you're along for the ride. I will put it all behind "Condo coaster" cuts, though, in case you don't care. So here is today's section of track.
I called the bank today about possible approval for a larger mortgage, and called/wrote the realtor about showing us the condo we have such a crush on right now. And lastly, nervously, I called the landlady and talked to her for quite a few minutes, applying about half the Dale Carnegie principles in the process. (Start in a friendly way. Smile. Don't critizice, condemn or complain. Get them saying "yes, yes" right away. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to. Think and speak in terms of the other person's interests.) Long story short--they care about the money, and getting quiet people to live where we live. They are open to the idea of us finding someone to rent this place for, say, $1500 with us making up the rest of the rent, as long as they get their precious $1700 until September somehow. Yayyyyyy!
The downside of this, of course, is that we'll be taking on all the work of finding new people, and all the risk of failing to do so, or having to settle for too low of a price. I know three other people who are desperately trying to dump apartments right now, after all, and having no luck... although at least one of them hasn't really done very much in the way of advertising yet. I dunno. The point is, risky freedom is way better than no freedom, and since this is "our fault" (that is, brought about by us wanting to leave our lease) I think it's fair enough. If we don't wind up loving the place we have a crush on, we'll put everything on hold until after Xmas, and sit down to draw this up as a real contract with the landlords, and keep saving/searching. If we do love it, and the bank says we're okay for that size of mortgage, we'll probably want to make an offer and take our chances.
(Is my pain coming through, by the way? Because being in the real estate market seems to be a lot like getting stretched on the rack. The constant hope and setbacks hurt! But then there's this big prize at the end for those who can just hold on long enough. Sigh.)
I got some actual work done today, which is good... I feel like I've been distracted and have got to start doing a better job before my slackage becomes as obvious to other people as it is to me. Oh yeah, and got my $30 student massage at the shiatsu place. A good deal, I think. My back feels pretty good now... like I took myself in for a tuneup. It was a little cold in the room though--I may try for one of the daytime slots next time if I can wiggle away from work.
I called the bank today about possible approval for a larger mortgage, and called/wrote the realtor about showing us the condo we have such a crush on right now. And lastly, nervously, I called the landlady and talked to her for quite a few minutes, applying about half the Dale Carnegie principles in the process. (Start in a friendly way. Smile. Don't critizice, condemn or complain. Get them saying "yes, yes" right away. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to. Think and speak in terms of the other person's interests.) Long story short--they care about the money, and getting quiet people to live where we live. They are open to the idea of us finding someone to rent this place for, say, $1500 with us making up the rest of the rent, as long as they get their precious $1700 until September somehow. Yayyyyyy!
The downside of this, of course, is that we'll be taking on all the work of finding new people, and all the risk of failing to do so, or having to settle for too low of a price. I know three other people who are desperately trying to dump apartments right now, after all, and having no luck... although at least one of them hasn't really done very much in the way of advertising yet. I dunno. The point is, risky freedom is way better than no freedom, and since this is "our fault" (that is, brought about by us wanting to leave our lease) I think it's fair enough. If we don't wind up loving the place we have a crush on, we'll put everything on hold until after Xmas, and sit down to draw this up as a real contract with the landlords, and keep saving/searching. If we do love it, and the bank says we're okay for that size of mortgage, we'll probably want to make an offer and take our chances.
(Is my pain coming through, by the way? Because being in the real estate market seems to be a lot like getting stretched on the rack. The constant hope and setbacks hurt! But then there's this big prize at the end for those who can just hold on long enough. Sigh.)
I got some actual work done today, which is good... I feel like I've been distracted and have got to start doing a better job before my slackage becomes as obvious to other people as it is to me. Oh yeah, and got my $30 student massage at the shiatsu place. A good deal, I think. My back feels pretty good now... like I took myself in for a tuneup. It was a little cold in the room though--I may try for one of the daytime slots next time if I can wiggle away from work.
