We've been randomly looking at houses this year. Kind of, sort of resuming our house hunt after my cancer put a crimp in our plans over a year ago. Since we both work from home, we need space for offices, but we're trying to be real about our ages since I already had arthritis in my knees.
However, I put a bug in DH's ear about maybe looking for a condo. Someplace where someone else dealt with the mowing and the snow.
Good idea, right? Except the very first condo we looked at, the one that said the master bedroom was on the main floor, had five freaking levels! And the description left out the part where the kitchen was on the top floor.
In all fairness, the place had an elevator. A teeny, tiny elevator. An elevator we could never get a wheelchair on.
So the search has gone on. The last one we looked at insinuated that it overlooked the water.
What water you ask? Nearly thirty years ago, someone decided to fill the old quarry at the edge of town with water and build condos and offices around it.
Needless to say, the condo was NOT on the quarry side of the subdivision. You could see the water if you walked to the very end of the drive. Nor was the condo something we thought we could live with. The front door opened into the dining room. The carpet needed to be replaced, etc. So, we passed.
As we were leaving, I idly wondered what appeared to be two-story condos that did face the water looked like on the inside. DH laughed and said, "Stairs!" That was back in June.
Last week, we received our notice that our lease expires in two months. So, assuming our hunt was on hold once again, I told our complex assistant manager we would be here another year.
Yesterday, DH's Zillow alert went off. Guess what just came on the market? Literally, one of the two-story condos across the drive from the last place we looked at. He texted our realtor, and now we're looking at it tonight.
But if the freaking kitchen is on the top floor, I'm heading straight back to the car.
3 hours ago
Five levels?? Holy sheep! And I thought the townhouses we saw with four stories, back when we were househunting here, were kind of excessive. :/
ReplyDeleteThe one we got is three stories -- most of the newish townhouses in Seattle are -- and the kitchen/living area is on the second floor. That's common too with newish construction; they want to maximize square footage for the smallest possible footprint because of land prices, so the first floor is mostly (one-car wide) garage, with a bedroom and bathroom in the back. Upstairs to the livingroom, kitchen and a half bath. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry closet up on three.
Jim and I both have arthritis, and it is tough on the stairs sometimes. But with neither of us driving, location was important and the location here is pretty much perfect, so we deal.
I hope you find something that works for you RSN. [crossed fingers]
Angie
Apparently, the condo we looked at last night was sold in a sheriff's sale, and an investment company wanted to flip it real quick. It had a great layout. Kitchen, living room, master suite, and garage were all on the first level. But there were a lot of half-assed repairs and a very obvious roof leak. Not something that was worth the company's asking price.
DeleteHow would anyone show anything with a leaky roof? That's a huge nope.
ReplyDeleteThey replace the drywall where the rook leak was, but didn't bother to paint the walls. We have no idea if the roof leak has actually been fixed. We haven't had a good, hard storm since the sheriff's sale a month ago.
DeleteThere's a lot of other obvious things that would need to be replaced or repaired. So we started putting a list together on the ride home. By the time we parked, we were looking at $50K. And that was assuming the roof had been repaired. We decided it wasn't worth following up on.