So last we left, we were trying to find a condo to buy and fix up as a place to stay when we redo our house.
Back in December, we had been stalking looking online for a while and had kind of given into the fact that we probably wouldn't find a place until mid-february since we had a lot of travel planned, but I always like to keep a look out, just in case.
Yea. Pretty right?... ... ... Urban luxury at its finest, ha!... and this was the ONLY PICTURE of the property!
However, a couple of things really stood out...
1. The location
- Only about 10 minutes from our house, in a great neighborhood with tons of new restaurants, retail, and grocery within walking distance.
2. & 3. The two things I've highlighted in yellow
- Price: $89,900... we can do that! Our budget was under $115k so this sounded awesome!
- "Condo in need of rehab but has lot of potential"... oh, well just come right out and say it then. "Chris, Samm, Im ugly and need your love"... well, ok then condo.
4. No pictures
- Actually, one photo... of a pool. Nothing inside, so we planned for the worst. Really, we "hoped" for the worst. More for us to do and fix up and hopefully have others pass by because they don't want to do the work.
I showed Chris and he was game... (which honestly surprised me a little since, again, there were no pictures of the inside)... Let's go see this gem.
(I'm just going to show you a couple pictures and do a full walk thru with more later)
Oh, dear sweet God, yes.
Blue shag carpeting? Well, alright!
Linoleum flooring? Ceiling fan in the kitchen? Sign me up!
And this is the master bath? Blue carpeting in here too? How could I be so lucky?!?
It was EXACTLY what Chris and I wanted. The flow and the floor plan of the condo was actually really nice, but it needed new flooring, a MAJOR facelift in the kitchen and baths, and to be de-wallpapered STAT. We told our realtor we wanted to put in a full price offer.
We thought we had a pretty good chance at getting it since it had only been on the market ONE day, but the next day we received a call tell us that we were in a bidding war with 4 other offers.
Ugh...Sugar.
We were given until 5p that night to come back with our strongest offer. Chris and I did a lot of back and forth and conversing with our realtor.
Realtor - "I think $95-$96k should do the trick"
Chris - "Maybe a little higher? $101,029 (the last four numbers are our anniversary... awww)
Me - "Whatever. It. Takes."
As you can see, I went with the subtle approach.
Realistically, when Chris and I were talking, I kept telling him to forget the original asking price, and think of what price "we" would think was a deal for this place without going out of our comfort zone. If we bid $101k and lost out to a $103k bid, I would be pissed.
Our final bid: $105,000
Yes, $15,000 over asking. But we felt we'd still be getting a deal if we saw that property pop up for $105k but had no regrets if we lost to a $106k bid.
And then we waited... and sweated... and went through a lot of Pepto-Bismol and deodorant. Stress, my friends, stress.
Later, we went to our first movie in a movie theatre in 14 months, Star Wars... Yes, we have kids and are too poor to afford a babysitter (and here we are trying to buy a condo... ha, oh the irony). Right before we went in, we got a text from our agent.
WE GOT IT!
Pretty much my exact reaction.
Oh my goodness! We are under contract on a condo!!! AHHHHH!!!
We still had to under go the inspection and appraisal but other than a busted AC unit part (which the seller agreed to pay) we were good to go!
I'll post a full walk through along with a couple more fun details as soon as we actually close on Tuesday, but the journey has started! Once we gut everything, its going to be like a blank slate... I honestly can't wait and am so excited to be detailing our little flip here with y'all.
Get excited, this is going to be fun!
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