The last month has been consumed with the daunting task of condo hunting and now it looks like we may be on the final stretches of purchasing our first 'home.' We've won the contract on a place, our mortgage was approved, and now it's just a matter of waiting to see the condo papers. Assuming we review those within the next 9 days and everything looks good, then we're going to close on August 6th. Now let me just say it: 'Oh SHIT!!'

Just a tad stressful, this home-buying business.

Here's a bit of history of what has occurred:
In all, over the last three weeks, we've placed bids on three places and luckily did not get the first two. We were lucky because this last one has turned out to be much nicer than anything we've seen. With each place we've looked at, there has always been something wrong: 1) it's promising but needs too much renovation 2) it looks great and is in a great location, but it's too damned expensive 3) nice, cozy, good price, but too small 4) wonderful location and space, but the building rules wouldn't let us rent it out in a couple of years like we want to 5) nice interior, good space but bad location 6) too 'modern' and no character (there are a lot of 'cookie-cutter' condos being built in certain 'hip' areas of the city. They look nice, but the construction looks cheap. These will most certainly wind up backfiring on the builders).

We always thought the place we decided on was just going to have to be a balance of good and bad, and we'd have to decide which qualities we could live with and which we could not. But in the end, we found a really great place with a lot of character: good space; some renovation work needed, but not a lot (just enough for it to be fun); well-lit with lots of windows overlooking three major streets; and it's in an established building (circa 1926). The only downside to it is that it's not exactly where we had hoped to live. That said, it's also not a bad location, at all. In fact, there is a lot of development going on in the area, which should actually make this a better investment in the long run than if we had purchased in a more established (and more expensive) area. Also, it's very near to the metro, and within walking distance of my office. The only thing that's a drag is there are no restaurants within close proximity (and by 'close proximity' I mean 'a couple of blocks'). So I guess if that's my only complaint, than we're getting off pretty well.

I had decided to take this week off work with the noble, or delusional, idea that I would 'catch-up' on things. You know . . . relax. Unwind. But as you can probably guess by now, these plans eventually gave way to extreme condo purchasing. We wound up spending most of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday going through the bidding process, dwelling on dollar amounts, closing dates, 'escalation clauses' and other sundry bullshit. We heard advice from our real estate broker and wondered what side of the fence he was really on. A word from the weary: take everything your agent or broker says with a grain of salt . . . or two. Also, try to do all your dealings with said agent or broker in person. It will help avoid miscommunication.

And now I feel like I'm in the calm center of a really bad storm, and I'm just waiting for the rest of the wind and fury to come sweeping through. My mind is still lost somewhere in the fog of this purchase and it's now turning to the things that have to be done next: moving, renovating, downing a couple pints of beer. Yes, I now need an even longer vacation . . . and a stiff drink . . . just not in that order. Yes, I think I'll start with the latter.

Oh, and sorry, Faulkner. The title just seemed to work for this . . .

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Check out this cartoon poking fun at Bush and Kerry. It may take a moment to download, but it's worth the wait.

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Yawn . . . a-hem . . . cough, sputter . . . grumble . . . a-HEM . . . . COUGH COUGH, sputter.

Hello.

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