Being a grown-up is hard :(
Nov. 19th, 2010 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalI've been getting more serious about the whole condo-buying thing this week. I started the process of getting approved for a mortgage and have been talking to a realtor. And I can feel it already starting to stress me out.
I think the trouble is that I feel pressured to buy something, no matter what it is or how much I like it (or don't). Because of course I can't afford the place I really want - something that's not closet-sized, walking distance to the Metro, in a nice neighborhood - which is not really that much to ask except that everything in this area is absurdly expensive. (There are condos that cost more than my parents' four-bedroom HOUSE.) But at the same time, I know that mortgage rates are really low and the market is already starting to recover and so now is the time to buy and I don't want to miss the opportunity. And then I've got my mother saying, "You're just throwing your money away on rent!" and I need to build equity and whatever.
But, you know, buying a condo is kind of a big commitment. I'd have to expect to live there for at least five years, and I don't want to be stuck living somewhere I'm not happy just to build equity. But it seems like I'm supposed to just buy something, anything, and suck it up until I can afford to buy something nicer.
Anyway. I feel like I have a lot of things to write about - the end of Lost season 2, Side Jobs, a couple movies I've seen - so I'll try to get to those sometime soon. If I can just tear myself away from browsing condo sites... (I keep checking the same sites, hoping for an open house to pop up that's in my price range, even though I know that nothing is going to have changed since the last time I checked. Yay for neuroses, right?)
I think the trouble is that I feel pressured to buy something, no matter what it is or how much I like it (or don't). Because of course I can't afford the place I really want - something that's not closet-sized, walking distance to the Metro, in a nice neighborhood - which is not really that much to ask except that everything in this area is absurdly expensive. (There are condos that cost more than my parents' four-bedroom HOUSE.) But at the same time, I know that mortgage rates are really low and the market is already starting to recover and so now is the time to buy and I don't want to miss the opportunity. And then I've got my mother saying, "You're just throwing your money away on rent!" and I need to build equity and whatever.
But, you know, buying a condo is kind of a big commitment. I'd have to expect to live there for at least five years, and I don't want to be stuck living somewhere I'm not happy just to build equity. But it seems like I'm supposed to just buy something, anything, and suck it up until I can afford to buy something nicer.
Anyway. I feel like I have a lot of things to write about - the end of Lost season 2, Side Jobs, a couple movies I've seen - so I'll try to get to those sometime soon. If I can just tear myself away from browsing condo sites... (I keep checking the same sites, hoping for an open house to pop up that's in my price range, even though I know that nothing is going to have changed since the last time I checked. Yay for neuroses, right?)
no subject
Date: Nov. 20th, 2010 01:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 20th, 2010 04:49 pm (UTC)Heh, I have the opposite problem, because I LOVE my apartment (if I could buy this place, I would seriously consider it), so I don't have much incentive to move. I keep thinking that if I'm going to move, it should be to someplace BETTER, and if I can't find someplace I love, I might as well just stay here. But my mom's all, "Interest rates! Buyer's market! Equity!"