Kelly's Condo Hunt

Kelly and her finance Dave recently closed on a condo in Stamford. Yogi Berra always said "it ain't over til it's over". That expression was so evident regarding their condo purchase journey. Let's start with the hunting experience before we get to one of the great Yogisms. Kelly was getting tired of paying ridiculous Manhattan rental prices so she started researching a condo purchase. The problem was that any location that is geographically accessible to NYC on the train line was still very pricey. Though not Manhattan level pricing, Stamford was more affordable but certainly still no bargain. The three L's of real estate definitely came into play with the shopping criteria. The inventory available was not the problem. The problem was what inventory was within the budgeted price range that still had reasonable access to the train line so Kelly could get into NYC for work.

After months of searching, voila, a condo came available for a price that was affordable. A very long story short, "it ain't over til it's over" happened. The seller did absolutely everything possible to make the purchase process miserable. Kelly and Dave went above and beyond on their side but the seller was not only non-responsive but tried to convince their attorney to allow them to close without conveying a clean title. Are you kidding? That's a true story and of course they ran for the hills from that deal. They were both very discouraged with their botched attempt at their first real estate purchase.

The good news is that another unit, in the same building that they liked, came on the market and was a little more money but a larger unit with a better layout. They did end up closing on this unit and they came to a crossroads and made the best decision at the time. The unit needs some work but that gives them the opportunity to make things the way they want it. Also, they will have some sweat equity that will save them some money now and hopefully benefit them in the future as well. It all worked out for the good. Actually another Yogism was appropriate for that unit purchased...."when you come to a fork in the road....take it". And take it they did and we wish them the best of luck in their "new home". 

Thanks Yogi for the inspiration.

Until The Next Tom's Take...