Operation AstroNerdBoy Buys a House 03

Whew! What a day. I looked a quite a few places today. All were condos, but some were called “townhome-styled condos.” I didn’t realize there was such a thing but there you go. I guess I should start at the beginning though. I met “Mr. Ra” (my Realtor) and we discussed things, including when my lease will be over. I guess it is better to grab something now rather than later when more people will be in the market.

The first place we went to was a non-goer because it was right off a busy street. It didn’t have a central air conditioner (or any other for that matter), which is something I really want. I didn’t like the cramped feel of the place, and considering the condo was empty, that’s saying something (despite it having two stories and a finished basement.

The next place we visited was a place I’d seen online and had liked what I’d seen there. Indeed, the place, 2-stories and an unfinished basement, was just as bright, airy, and spacious as I’d seen in the pictures. However, there were some flaws. The kitchen was small, had little storage area, and no pantry. The living room, while nice looking, had no place to put my large, HQ entertainment center. Apparently, but builders felt people would never own a wide-screen TV and so only had a small “cubby hole” for a TV no larger than 32″. Next to that was a large gas fireplace and above that was a lot of wasted space. Mr. Ra wondered if I could put my entertainment center up there. Not happening, sir. So, I made a note to measure my entertainment center (and snap some shots of it for my Realtor) as it is possible that the it could be placed somewhere else.

Downstairs was the unfinished basement, which had an incredible number of dead spiders piled in the corners. It was set up to put in a full bath if I wanted (or a 3/4 bath). It could be turned into another bedroom (which is how another place I looked at did) or an entertainment room. That’s an idea I like. I could put the entertainment center down there, but I don’t want it down there until it is finished. But if it did become a den of sorts, I could see myself buying that “Big Guns” pinball machine game. ^_^

Upstairs were two bedrooms and a large bathroom. I’d make the small bedroom and office, but the busy road outside the window was a negative for sure.

I saw a few other places with the identical floor plan. As I said earlier, one had a mostly-finished basement turned into a bedroom. I could make that an entertainment room but they’d not finished the bathroom and used it as a dumping ground. And the laundry area was a disaster as well and would need some work. But, it could be done. The other places were empty, but the last one of that floor plan, though empty, was a filthy mess. I told Mr. Ra that I wouldn’t buy this house on principle alone. Seriously, I can understand not wanting to clean the place when you leave, but pay a cleaning service to come through and make it presentable. *shudder*

The only other place to catch my eye was a 2006-built condo on the first floor. It was 1100 square feet and pretty nice, even if smaller in total floor space than the other places I’d looked at. There were no obvious issues inside the place, but I was concerned about the possibility of people living above me. If the place isn’t built right, it could be a nightmare with people moving around and doing things. Transversely, it is possible that I *could* make noise that would disturb them. I’m going to try to find out more if I can make contact directly with the owner, or with others in the complex.

Needless to say, after only half a day of looking, followed by running some errands, I’m pretty pooped (add to this that I was sick Saturday night/Sunday). Still, it was a good day I’d say. We’ll do this again next week.