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This week my agent and I have looked at:
Of these places, I was really interested in one of the Central District units, in the unit right around the corner from me, and the Lake City unit.
The Northgate unit was okay, and I'm fairly sure affordable as the asking price is rather less expensive than the others, but I wasn't really excited by the idea of living there.
One result of this process is that I realized I've essentially made the mistake that people who don't get a loan pre-approval make: I've been finding places I like, only to discover I can't afford them. The difference is that I did get pre-approval, but I let myself forget that what really matters is how much I can actually afford to pay monthly, not how much the bank thinks I can afford to pay. Probably because of the large number of variables, banks don't consider your everyday living expenses - food, fuel, utilities, and so on - in their calculations, they only consider your gross income and your outstanding credit debt - loans and credit card debt. Well, the amounts I have to pay my credit cards - minimum, or even minimum plus interest - are considerably lower than what I spend monthly on food, fuel, and utilities; and paying my credit cards at that level, it'd be a long time before I paid them off.
So, now I have to consider scouring for cheaper places out in the further reaches of Seattle, or trying to grab an expensive-for-me-but-cheap-for-the-area smaller unit nearby. After I discovered that I couldn't afford the monthly payments for something at the top of my pre-approval limit, I realized and accepted that I was just going to have to start looking further out, and hope that in a few years I'll have enough equity to trade up for something closer in. Still, I'm not happy about it.
- Two places in the Central District (new condo developments).
- Three places on Capitol Hill (two old buildings and one new development).
- One place a mere two blocks from my current apartment (technically Central District, but on the edge of Cap Hill) (modern building).
- One place in Northgate (modern development).
- One place in Lake City (new development).
Of these places, I was really interested in one of the Central District units, in the unit right around the corner from me, and the Lake City unit.
- The Central District unit was unexpectedly ruled out when we discovered the condo association was involved in a lawsuit against the builders.
- The unit right near me was pretty good, and in a perfect location, as I'd really like to stay as close to where I live now as possible. It was also within my pre-approval limit. I was going to make an offer on it, and then I got the estimate and discovered I simply couldn't afford the monthly payments.
- The Lake City unit was really nice, but felt small. Still, I thought it might work. I got a quick estimate on that one and discovered it would be barely affordable, if that; then I found out just how small the unit was (about 440 square feet). If I'm going to pay that price ($165K) for something that small, I might as well take one of the units close by in the Central District or on First Hill, that I already passed up on the ground that they were too small.
The Northgate unit was okay, and I'm fairly sure affordable as the asking price is rather less expensive than the others, but I wasn't really excited by the idea of living there.
One result of this process is that I realized I've essentially made the mistake that people who don't get a loan pre-approval make: I've been finding places I like, only to discover I can't afford them. The difference is that I did get pre-approval, but I let myself forget that what really matters is how much I can actually afford to pay monthly, not how much the bank thinks I can afford to pay. Probably because of the large number of variables, banks don't consider your everyday living expenses - food, fuel, utilities, and so on - in their calculations, they only consider your gross income and your outstanding credit debt - loans and credit card debt. Well, the amounts I have to pay my credit cards - minimum, or even minimum plus interest - are considerably lower than what I spend monthly on food, fuel, and utilities; and paying my credit cards at that level, it'd be a long time before I paid them off.
So, now I have to consider scouring for cheaper places out in the further reaches of Seattle, or trying to grab an expensive-for-me-but-cheap-for-the-area smaller unit nearby. After I discovered that I couldn't afford the monthly payments for something at the top of my pre-approval limit, I realized and accepted that I was just going to have to start looking further out, and hope that in a few years I'll have enough equity to trade up for something closer in. Still, I'm not happy about it.
