Where Will I Live (con.)

I hardly know where to begin with what’s happened in the past few days.

First off, I didn’t take the apartment. {Insert heavy sigh.} I loved it, but bottom line: I was scared to spend so much. My whole body tensed up a little when I thought about removing the cushion in my budget, and I was worried about not being able to save aggressively anymore.

Instead, I started thinking more seriously about buying. Oh. my. gosh.

I told the agent that I was considering rent-to-own options, and she told me that the condo owner would be more than willing to do that. I asked for a figure: it was way high.

FYI: I’m closely connected with a real estate brokerage , so I asked them if they could run comps on similar properties that have sold within the last six months (so I’d know if this price was reasonable). Turns out nothing has sold, and at least three homes have been listed for two+ years. Interesting. This little inquiry also led to their wanting to know what kind of homes I wanted, if I had an agent representing me, what my must-haves were.

So. I now have a real estate agent (them). They’ll refund half my co-op, if I were to go with a property on the MLS. Today, the managing broker spent a couple hours going through listings to show me what’s available and what’s a good/bad value. O. my. gosh. AGAIN.

I came home and told my parents the latest news, and Dad (my brilliant financial planner, if ever there were one) says now is just not a good time to buy. No matter what the comps say or what people may think, he’s convinced properties will only go down in this area for the next few years. He says I should wait two or three years, save more money and then, maybe, I should think about buying.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Filed under buying/renting |