Plaidophile

Square footage wise it's a little smaller than my current apartment, but the square footage is much more usefully-used. My apartment's layout (which is a bit different than on that link but that's the closest one to the unit I have) wastes a lot of space with the way hallways are arranged and so on, plus with its exorbitantly large closets (all in useless places like the front hall) while the condo is extremely space-efficient, and is also much more open and roomy.

The main thing that I fell in love with is the view, though. It's a southwest corner unit, with a HUGE bay window on the West side, and it's only one block away from the waterfront and all of the buildings in that direction are fairly short, so it's just this huge view of Puget Sound to the West, with a great view of downtown Seattle to the South. Still no view of the Needle but it's (somewhat) visible from the rooftop, which is fully accessible and very nice, with a grill and a lot of socialness and so on. Sadly, the rooftop doesn't have a garden, but really I don't go to my apartment's rooftop garden very much anyway.

My main concern was about timing, because I still have 6 months left on my lease, but the condo is still being converted from a midrange rental to a high-end owned property, and so I also get to choose floor coverings and so on (and the standard package for kitchen fittings and so on is very nice, with wonderful cabinets and stainless steel appliances and polished granite countertops) and that'll take two months, and then after the conversion is complete there's another three months or so for closing, so by the time I can actually take ownership, I'll be pretty much done with my lease with a month to move, which is a big plus.

Also, the unit comes with secure parking (I'd actually own the space, rather than it coming out of my condo association fees or whatever), the association fees are pretty reasonable ($264/month), the building is professionally-managed and has an office open during the day which means I have all of the useful benefits that I get out of my apartment building right now (someone to accept packages, manage maintenance requests, etc.), and so on.

I talked with my parents about this and they didn't really know what to think, but I talked to Spud and Amy and they said I'd be stupid not to take it. So tomorrow I'm going to go back with my checkbook (and a camera so I can take pictures of the view!) and put down an earnest deposit, assuming it didn't sell out from under me this afternoon (which is always a possibility).

The mortgage + HOA dues would be about twice what I'm paying in rent right now, but I'd get a good chunk of it back in tax deductions and wouldn't be paying for parking anymore, and anyway I can still afford that (though I'd definitely have to stick more closely to my budget). Utilities would probably be about the same (maybe a bit more, since I'd have to pay for heating which is currently included in my rent, though more sunlight coming in means less need for heating).

Anyway, until recently I was pretty much ignoring the possibility of buying anything, but things are going so well at work and in my personal life, and I love Seattle and am pretty sure I'll be here for a long time, and real estate (in Belltown) turned out to be a lot cheaper than I thought. (Of course, go three blocks South and you're in Downtown proper, and prices triple.)

Obviously I'm still not 100% totally sure but if I don't do this now I'll be kicking myself in a month. I was originally going to look at some other properties but nothing else I've seen around here is as neat as Site 17 or is opening way further off and is going to be way more expensive, and interest rates are already starting to rise.

It still seems so expensive to me, though, what with coming from New Mexico, where in grad school I bought my house for $63K (and sold it for $89K two years later!) while this condo's list price is $365K (I don't know how firm that is). And it's a huge commitment. But I love this city and my job and my friends and that nagging voice in the back of my head can take a nap for a while.