So, we’ve got a new place! Well, subject to inspection at least. Are you excited?! I AM! If you care about real estate stuff, feel free to read on to hear all about it.

Location, location, location, people! We’ll be back in our neighborhood where we can walk to everything and don’t have to drive hardly EVER!! Dre can bike to work, I can carpool, we can walk to 4 grocery stores again, and YAY! It’s even a mere two blocks from my favorite tea shop and NIA dance studio. I’ve lived in the neighborhood off ‘n’ on for 10 years, and I’m so excited to get back into it.

Our condo is in a building that’s actually three connected buildings: an old mansion circa 1900 with two wings built on in the 1930s. Our unit is essentially the top floor of the old mansion. The complex has been rented as apartments for 70 years, and is now being converted to condos. At this point our unit is still just a crusty old apartment, but by the time we move in (supposedly 9/1 but probably more like 10/1) it’ll be remodeled and all updated with new EVERYTHING. This appeals to the yuppie in me: old building, but with new appliances and paint and flooring.

ABOUT IT:

  • 920sq feet … bigger than the main floor of our current house
  • Top floor
  • our own entrance off the gated courtyard (the picture here is the view from our front door)
  • our own little balcony overlooking the courtyard (ours is the only unit with a balcony!)
  • huge bedroom, huge bathroom, huge kitchen
  • walk in closet!
  • clawfoot tub
  • brand new everything in the kitchen

And? All within our price range! Unlike our dream condo that went for $50k more than we could afford.

The big sacrifice we’re making is a room. It’s only 1br, but it’s huuuuuge, so I think we’ll be fine if we use the space efficiently. There was going to have to be a sacrifice somewhere (square footage? location? price? style?) and this condo is pretty much perfect with everything except being 1br instead of 2br … but it’s plenty of actual space.