It's Closed And Ours!

When Hubby Tony and I started our downsizing house hunting, we looked at both single family houses and condominiums in several parts of the metropolitan area. Eventually we decided it would be nice to have no exterior chores to take of, so we started concentrating on condos. Even then there were a lot of choices. Did we want a villa? A townhouse? A single story or multiple floor building? Each time we went out with our agent we figured out a little more about what we were looking for.

Five weeks ago we signed a contract to sell our current house and decided to purchase a condo on the second floor of a two-story building with a parking garage tucked underneath it. We liked that unit's layout and the fact that the seller had already updated the kitchen and bathrooms and put new carpet throughout. Another thing that was important to us is that the location is convenient. It's close enough to church, several grocery stores, a couple of restaurants (and even a mall) that we can walk if we desire.

Then two weeks later our selling contract fell apart. We could have used that as an out on our condo contract, but after a lot of discussion Tony and I decided to go through with the purchase. Yesterday was our closing date. It was exciting to wake up and know that some big changes were going to start happening in our lives. Our appointment at the realtor's office was shortly after they opened. It took about an hour to sign a whole stack of paperwork, then we received a set of keys and instructions not to go to our new place until we received a text that the soon-to-be-ex owner had completed his paperwork.

That text came in the early afternoon, while we were out shopping for lamps. We drove to our new home, where we found some product warranty information and two garage door openers waiting for us on the kitchen island. We put light bulbs into each of the lamps we had purchased, set them on the floor in each of the bedrooms, then did a little happy dance.

Today after my morning commitments I visited the condo, parking my car in the assigned garage spot for the first time. I brought a small table for one of the lamps, a couple of plates, bowls, and cups, and soap for the kitchen and bathrooms. While I was there I measured all the rooms with an eye for where furniture will go and mentally assigned kitchen cabinets for our dishes.

Tony and I went back this evening, bringing our dinner with us to heat up in the microwave. We also brought our camp chairs that will be our seating until we get something more permanent there.

(So are you wondering about our current house? Over the weekend we received another contract for its sale, and after some negotiating signed off on the sale. The closing date will be mid-January, which will give us plenty of time to get out things organized and out.)

Five years ago today: Returning To The Scene