March 2012 - We Bought a Condo!

March 2012

Mike showed us a condo that we absolutely fell in love with!  1200 sq feet, corner condo unit in Ajax overlooking Lake Ontario on 2 sides.  On a clear day you can see Buffalo!  Seriously it was gorgeous, and remember that part about not settling?  Well, we didn’t settle.  The view was just too good to pass up and take a chance that something like this would come up again.  The last time a corner unit this size came up was 6 years ago.  Two underground parking spaces was the clincher – one would have been a deal-breaker.  Complete with “vintage” light fixtures and bath & flooring upgrades needed, but that will all come in time.  Nice building very well maintained with indoor pool, exercise and billiards rooms.  We stretched our budget to the max, but just couldn’t pass it up.  A big shout-out THANK YOU to our realtor Mike Wilson for persevering and finding us our perfect downsized space!

We bought on March 10 with a closing date of April 16.  Then the mad dash started to get our current house ready to put on the market.  We immediately rented a storage locker, got some skids for the floor from a loading dock, and then started moving our holiday decorations and stored kids toys.  Basically packing up the things we could now.  The storage locker is closer to the cottage – rent is cheaper up there than in the city – so we spent a lot of time on the road going back & forth with loaded cars. 

A home stager came out and gave an evaluation of what she suggested we could do to help the home sell faster.  She had some good ideas on furniture placement, but in the end we took her suggestions and executed ourselves rather than renting items from her.  Ibby, realtor Mike, and softball team friend Eric Bell removed the light canopy that was hanging above Maritza’s bed (too specific to appeal to buyers).  THANKS GUYS! 

And in all of this, Ibby’s car got totalled on March 27.  Rear-ended by a kid at a red light who was definitely distracted – perhaps texting but really can’t prove that.  Ibby had a little car, but it was great for commuting, good on gas, and mechanically very sound.  We were both fine – a little shaken up of course – but getting another car before we had even closed on the condo was not what we needed.  Not to mention the running around with police reports, insurance company calls, and shopping for another car.  At this point we didn’t know for sure how much we would get for our house or exactly how much the rebuild would cost, so we opted for a used car to be conservative.  Ibby ended up with a Hyundai Tucson (a smaller SUV) which in hindsight was a blessing because it sure has been handy with all the moving we have been doing!