Before the CPA and I left for California to get engaged, we had begun the business of house hunting. And make no mistake about it – it was a business. We had a realtor who was very serious about finding us the perfect “first home.” We looked at houses that were falling apart and had been labeled as “remodeling projects” and we looked at brand new townhouses that consisted of 700 square feet of granite table tops and hardwood floors. Everywhere we went, there was something new for us to consider. Did we want to stay in the city or did we want to head to the suburbs? Were we looking to rent or looking to own? So many questions and so little time.
See, I had been living in the city and I had to find a place fairly quickly. I didn’t want to move into an apartment as we knew we’d be getting engaged and then married soon, so we decided to look for “our place.” We knew that we wanted to buy, we just weren’t sure what we wanted to buy.
Since things were so expensive in the district and space was so limited, we finally realized that just outside the city might be the best place to look. Homes were a little bit cheaper, they’re still located close to the city and the commute wouldn’t be too bad. With that decision made, we looked at our specific criteria: the place had to be within walking distance to the Metro, it had to have two bathrooms, and had to be pet-friendly. That was it. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? So why did it take us months to narrow it down and finally decide?
It probably had something to do with the market and the area. This was right before the housing market hit the skids. Little did we know that we should have waited just a few more months. (Hind-sight is great, isn’t it?) All we knew at the time was that places were holding their value and they were going fast.
With all of this in mind, we found three places that looked like possibilities. The first was a tiny little studio condo. The thing we liked about it was that it was spread out on two levels (very cool for a condo).
The main floor had a wall full of windows which made it look much larger than it really was.
The combined living room and dining room area were beside the tiny kitchen. A downstairs half bathroom by the front door completed the first floor.
The stairs leading to the second floor opened up to the bedroom area. It had a rather large bathroom as well as a couple of nice closets. The stackable washer and dryer were located in the bathroom closet which was an added bonus. All of this for the small price of $389,000.
It definitely wasn’t a lot of space, that’s a given. But at the low end of our price range, it was tempting. We knew that if we moved here, we would have to move again as soon as we started our family. And, we also knew we would have to rent a separate storage space somewhere. But it would be nice to save some money for a while. And we loved the area. The building was literally across the street from the Metro – it doesn’t get much closer than that. We could have pets and somehow we’d make it work. It was definitely on the list.
Then, we found this place. It was located in the same building, but it was a two bedroom, two bath condo that offered a little more breathing space.
The living room and dining area were much bigger, large enough to actually have a table and a cabinet.
The kitchen needed some work as the cabinets and counters were dated and small.
The downside – closet space was minimal, which we found is a general problem with places close to the city. It seemed that in order to get one thing (proximity to the city) you have to give up something else (space).
And, best of all, it offered this view.
At $525,000 it was at the higher end of our price range, but… we reasoned we wouldn’t have to move anytime soon and could actually start our family here. It had two full baths and two decent sized rooms, so it was definitely a possibility.
Then, to make our decision-making process just a little bit tougher, we found a third option. A two bedroom, two bath town home located a couple of Metro stops further from the city.
It was larger than the other two apartments and had a working fireplace, which is always nice.
We didn’t care for the set up of the living room area which was rather long and narrow and might make furniture arranging difficult.
The kitchen was also long and skinny, but had nice cabinets and was the largest kitchen of the three condos. We also liked that on either side of the kitchen was a hallway leading to a bedroom. Each side also had its own full bath so there would be some privacy. And, there was a full-size washer and dryer located in an actual laundry room – a definite luxury indeed.
And finally, the piece de la resistance – the large closets in the master bedroom. While I’m not a huge fan of mirrored sliding doors, I do like the extra space and definitely like that there was enough closet space for our things. A couple of other bonuses included a large storage room down the hall and a parking spot in the basement. It would be a longer commute since we would be about eight miles away from the city, but at $460,000, this place was definitely inching its way to the top of the list.
So now the question: which one did we choose? (Those of you who love the show House Hunters will appreciate this.) Which one would you choose?
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