I spent yesterday going from open house to open house. Rick joined me for the last building as it was the second look-see. There was one additional open house than I expected there and it was a place that both Rick and I thought we could call home. It's a large 1 bedroom (Mahattan standards) in the Gramercy neighborhood - on the east side and a little south of mid town, it has a pretty view of the Chrysler Building, and Rick could walk to work. And of course it is at the top of our budget, and it would need renovation, but it is certainly as nice as our apartment now. Ok, maybe almost as nice, but certainly functional until I get a job at any rate :)
So, some of the interesting parts of shopping for a home in the city - I think all the places we looked at were co-ops, and the co-op board must approve you for the purchase. They want to see that you have 2 years worth of mortgage and fee payments in savings. Yeah that was my big surprise yesterday. In this building, from what I understand, that is essentially all they are looking for, other than the personal references and information about employment etc (which we had to provide just to rent our current place).
Other surprises were that it takes about 3 months from the agreement (where you've agreed what the price will be, and any concessions) until closing. In NH closing would be in less than a month.
It would be nice to have a place to call home - it's really amazing how ownership makes a difference emotionally. Knowing that your payments are essentially going to stay the same and that nobody is going to kick you out is key. And of course being able to actually alter the interior to make it your own will be nice.
So - I'm up at oh-dark-thirty because I couldn't sleep and figured I'd get up and continue to crunch numbers :)
2 days ago
