Xoxo
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Most folks who are outdoorsy and adventuresome would probably hate living in a condo community. I bought my condo directly from the owner In 1992 and paid $77,000 . Over a year later my then boyfriend/now husband moved in to save us both money in what we thought would be temporary cohabiting while he got his Masters degree and i got myself used to owning my own place after a divorce. We have remodeled it from top to bottom including our patio. It does have a double car garage there is a pool. (Good thing and a bad thing at times.)
He wasn’t crazy about moving into a condo community since he grew up in a fishing and hunting family in Eastern Washington with a home on an acre away from suburbia. But he later adapted, especially when he got back into music and belonged to different bands cause he has more time to do what he wants. No yard work, call someone if the roof leaks, our place is painted by maintenance , etc. So yeah 30 years later we still live here. (Though we didn’t get married until ten years after living together.)
But the best thing is community. Living here was a godsend during the worst of Covid. We have made many friends here and we look out for one another. During Phase One we would often check in with each other, seeing if anyone needed something from the store. Sometimes I would knock on their door just to say hi, pour a glass of wine for them and go back home and they would do the same. (None of us got Covid, not even our older friends.)
We also had block parties with wine and social distancing and fires with outdoor propane firepits and a Solo stove quite a few times during the worst of it. Any time we go somewhere i have at least five different people i can call on to take our garbage in and out, pick up our newspaper and mail, and water my plants. I can walk to the library, grocery store, two local pubs that we like, a very nice park and the fire station is across the street. And the circle is 1/3 a mile around and very safe to walk even at night if you need exercise. I feel like we can live here until we are really old. It’s almost like assisted living, (especially since it’s one level). I love where we live.
The worst thing about living here can be the condo association. But my husband ran for it last March and won along with a couple of other good people. If you want to keep things positive you have to step up. And he did.
These places were being sold during the housing crisis in 2009 for only $150,000 and that was a three bedroom then. The most recent one that sold was 960 square feet and two bedroom (a bit smaller than ours and still needs more remodeling) sold for $365,000. Which seems insane to me.
I feel so sorry for any young people who are trying to buy a home. How can they even compete and afford the 20% down, much less a full cash payment?
He wasn’t crazy about moving into a condo community since he grew up in a fishing and hunting family in Eastern Washington with a home on an acre away from suburbia. But he later adapted, especially when he got back into music and belonged to different bands cause he has more time to do what he wants. No yard work, call someone if the roof leaks, our place is painted by maintenance , etc. So yeah 30 years later we still live here. (Though we didn’t get married until ten years after living together.)
But the best thing is community. Living here was a godsend during the worst of Covid. We have made many friends here and we look out for one another. During Phase One we would often check in with each other, seeing if anyone needed something from the store. Sometimes I would knock on their door just to say hi, pour a glass of wine for them and go back home and they would do the same. (None of us got Covid, not even our older friends.)
We also had block parties with wine and social distancing and fires with outdoor propane firepits and a Solo stove quite a few times during the worst of it. Any time we go somewhere i have at least five different people i can call on to take our garbage in and out, pick up our newspaper and mail, and water my plants. I can walk to the library, grocery store, two local pubs that we like, a very nice park and the fire station is across the street. And the circle is 1/3 a mile around and very safe to walk even at night if you need exercise. I feel like we can live here until we are really old. It’s almost like assisted living, (especially since it’s one level). I love where we live.
The worst thing about living here can be the condo association. But my husband ran for it last March and won along with a couple of other good people. If you want to keep things positive you have to step up. And he did.
These places were being sold during the housing crisis in 2009 for only $150,000 and that was a three bedroom then. The most recent one that sold was 960 square feet and two bedroom (a bit smaller than ours and still needs more remodeling) sold for $365,000. Which seems insane to me.
I feel so sorry for any young people who are trying to buy a home. How can they even compete and afford the 20% down, much less a full cash payment?
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