Condo Update

Just a quick update. I heard from the loan officers today and the appraisal came back right at the sale price and everything looks good. The seller is supposed to be fixing a few things in the unit (at least I hope he is - there has been some resistance, even though he agreed to fix them in the contract). I am waiting to hear back from the underwriter today on any more information they need. The only thing I know for sure is the gift form from my Mom (thanks, Mom!) and I need to get the home owner's insurance policy set up and get a copy of that to the bank. I think that's it. Everything looks good to close on May 14th.

To tide you over until we get keys and can really go to town, here are the light fixtures that we are going to use to replace the 1980s dressing room style fixtures in the bathrooms.

Master Bath











Hall Bath

Our Two Freebie Weekend

We went from having nothing to do this weekend, to having two really cool things to do at no cost.

Saturday night we got free tickets to the National Symphony Orchestra Pops concert at the Kennedy Center. It was a one-night only performance with Michael Cavanaugh playing the music of Billy Joel. Cavanaugh was the star of the musical Moving Out for it's three year run on Broadway. This concert was one of the most fun things that I have seen at the Kennedy Center in a long time. Cavanaugh was a very entertaining and engaging performer.

In addition, this concert was sign interpreted and I have to tell you that the interpreter was almost as fun to watch as it was to watch Cavanaugh play. He signed with such expression that it was almost like dancing. You could "see" the music in the way he signed.

Then, we were given tickets to the Nationals baseball game against the Brewers on Sunday. Unfortunately, the game did not go so well and the Nats were down 10 to 0 in the first (yes, you read that right). However, as the saying goes, a bad day at the ball park is better than a good day anywhere else. We had fun and the Nats made a valiant effort at a come back and pulled to within three. The game ended 11 to 7 and we both got a beer and a little sun on our faces.

Home Inspection

We had the new condo inspected today. There were a few issues with the place, but that is to be expected since it is a 40 year old building. None of them were major. We should get the report tomorrow and then my realtor will get the list of item to be fixed to the seller.

In the meantime, here is a scale drawing of the new place that I made today while we were there for the inspection.

Condo Update - Condo Two

Don't worry; we are still buying a condo, just not the one that I showed you last week. We were running into some bumps with the first condo, so we backed out and made an offer on an even bigger place in the same general area. This unit is not as polished as the first one, but it is four bedrooms and two baths. Both baths and the kitchen have been redone and it has new carpet. It just needs some paint, a few fixtures and some crown moulding to finish it up. It's still ground floor and has a million closets. We are so excited. I'm having the home inspection on Tuesday and we are scheduled to close on May 14.



foyer into living room, foyer into dining room and kitchen.

The whole listing can be seen here.

Cherry Blossoms

We Made an Offer!

Well, I may have just spent more money than I ever thought I would. We put an offer on a condo today.

Jim actually found this one on Friday when it popped up on the listing service. It is a three-bedroom, tw0-bath ground level unit with pretty much custom everything. There is stainless in the kitchen, granite in the kitchen and bathrooms, beautiful hardwood floors in the living and dining room. It could not be better located at the intersection of Gallows Road, Route 50 and the Beltway. It is less than a mile from the Dunn-Loring Metro station.

We fell in love with it the instant we saw it. The seller basically took the unit and gutted it and started over. The only thing that could possibly make it any better is if the laundry was in the unit, but we've been carrying laundry up and down the stairs for so long now that doesn't even bother us.

All we can do now is wait.