THE MINIUM CONDO HUNT

Holding out may have paid off. I was just about ready to give up on the condo hunt, or worse, settle for something far less than ideal - when bingo, my phone rings.

My agent called the other day, informing me of a new unit that had just come on, which happened to be in the same building as the unit I saw way back, when I had just begun my search. That being the first unit I saw, I didn't jump on it right away, as much as I loved it, because I wanted to see what else was out there. Needless to say, that didn't last long. By the time I turned around and thought about making an offer, it had already gone under agreement.

My first offer on any unit was made on a condo in a building just across the street. Though I wasn't crazy about the high asking price, with my agent's advice, I made a lowball offer and made a play for it. The sellers, who were actually executors of an estate, didn't reject the offer, but they did come back with a counter. Unfortunately, the counter did not come down much from their asking. I could have bandied about back and forth for weeks, but instead, I went straight to my final offer - my absolute limit (which for me would have been a financial stretch and could have made me in effect, "house poor"). This wasn't good enough for them either, and the difference in the end, was $5,000. On one hand it doesn't seem like that amount should have necessarily nixed the deal, but when you consider that this is either $5,000 more you might want to put down to lower the principal on the loan or $5,000 more you have to finance, it adds up and ends up becoming much more of an impasse than it may otherwise appear. You have to know your limit and when to walk away. I didn't like the place that much. Lesson #1, do not overpay for anything - no matter how much you like it. Chances are you'll find something better and probably even cheaper, too.

I was willing to hold out and I saw some other units, but nothing ideal. I could have settled, but I kept things close to the vest and decided to wait it out. It's quite possible that the summer could have gone by and I'd have nothing to show for it. If that was the case, so be it.

That brings me back to the latest news. I have since made an offer on this new unit that popped up. I saw it and there was a lot to like. Not only is it in the same building as the one I let get away, it's on the same floor and on the same side of the building. The layout is the same and everything.

If I had given up and simply settled on something else, this is the kind of thing I feared happening - that a unit such as this would then come on. I'm glad I waited it out.

I put in a full-price offer because even if I came in a bit lower, it wouldn't make a huge difference in my monthly payments. I want the unit enough that I'm willing to just go for it. There's no guarantee the seller will take the asking price, as they had scheduled an Open House for tomorrow, and they may hold any offers until they have a chance to hold the Open House. In other words, they reserve the right to hold out too, in hopes of driving up the price - which could in fact draw me into a bidding war. Again however, should that occur, I need to know where to draw the line and at what point I could walk away and say, "it's not worth it".

There's something a bit anti-climactic about having found a place. The hunt is a lot of fun. I'll miss going to the Open Houses and taking a look at places with my agent. Nothing is signed and sealed yet either, and there are plenty of intangibles (seller's motivations) and contingencies (inspections) that may well stop this deal in its tracks, but assuming all goes through, then I will have bought myself a condo.

With that done, then it would be on to the glorious task of shopping for mortgages. If all else is equal and everything goes according to plan, the inspection could take place in a week, and then the purchase and sale agreement could be signed and delivered by July 20. I go away the first part of August, but when I return I could be closing, giving me enough time to move and to settle in just before returning to work.

One promise I've made, however: to ditch most, if not all my current furniture and start over from scratch in my new home. Can you say, "Let's take a trip to IKEA?"