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It's official: I am now a homeowner. I own a co-op apartment in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City.

The NYT wrote up a decent article a couple of years ago (you may be prompted to login to get past their toll-gate paywall). If you look at the slideshow, the photo of the A train stop at 181st is near where I live.

I live in the area referred to in the article as Hudson Heights; it's basically where middle-class white people live, as opposed t the rest of Washington Heights, which is still mostly working-class Hispanic. Because I like the idea of living in or near a culture not my own. I prefer Washington Heights, and expect to make some forays into the neighborhood east of Broadway.

I like my building. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It's near the GWB, which is odd. However, I overlook an interior courtyard, so it's quiet, and I can step out of the building easily to a beautiful view of the Hudson river.

It's 500sf, a small 1 BR with a narrow living room and a galley kitchen. Pictures soon, promise.

My plan is to fix up the baseboards, paint, and move in by the end of the month.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/realestate/18livi.html

Yet Another Property Update

Reading my blog, it may seem like I've had one thing on my mind - property - but really, there are long, slow, languid periods in between.

I was supposed to close today. Close, as in hand over money in exchange for stock, a proprietary lease, and a set of keys.

Instead, the seller's bank couldn't locate the certificates, so we're postponing.

I would recommend that anyone yearning to buy property see Waiting for Godot, in order to prepare for the pointless yet emotional journey that awaits them.

Property Update

The good news is that I passed the co-op board interview. Three months later than I expected, I finally sat in front of the board and was told, basically, that I was already accepted. We went through the rules, and I asked some clarifying questions, but basically, that was that.

So, I'm feeling pretty good about the apartment again. Going there in the evening, I got a reminder of one reason I picked it - walking downhill looking straight out over the Hudson. The apartment itself doesn't have so fab a view, but it's a nice route home.

The next challenge is closing. This would be a lot less complicated if I were already done with school ad had my loans consolidated. As it is, my various student loans are in different piles, and the left hand of bureaucracy doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing.

All the same, I have high hopes for moving in the spring.

Home Hunting

The best conversations start out with, "DId your lawyer put you up to this?"

I exaggerate, but not by much. Phrased a bit more politely, that was what the realtor asked me on the phone today in response to my counter-counter offer. I had indicated I might accept the seller's counter-offer but wanted to confirm with my lawyer first. As I explained to the realtor, what also happened was that some other properties I have had my eye on came down in price.

Here is the place I am looking at. The brochure is conveniently in PDF form at Columbia:

The unit is in the top building, lower row, middle column, to the left, like an upside-down L.

What I really like is the jet-age artist's rendering. I'm not sure where you're supposed to see that view from. That said, it is nice to be right next to the river. If I had more money I'd get a west-facaing apartment.

http://nyre.cul.columbia.edu/projects/view/17329

The Hunt Continues

First things first: I didn't realize how draining it could be to look at property. I remember friends of mine on the hunt talking about how tired they were, how frenetic their schedules were, and I didn't understand. It's just time management, right? And you can always say no.

Well, maybe.

First, their are missed appointments and last minute rescheduling. Factor in the time for travel, and viewing a single property can easily consume two hours of your day.

Second, realty operates on its own schedule. I have yet to see a property on a Saturday. Realtors who multiple properties so they can't always show the one you want when you can see it.

Finally, you could just have a stupid moment and write down the wrong address one day, showing up at Overlook Terrace instead of Terrace East, all the while walking around in the hot July sun wondering where this &%!@ building is.

I've certainly seen some creative apartments.

There was the place in Washington Heights chock full of beautiful Queen Anne-inspired furniture. The ceilings were high, and there was a huge closet. That said, it seemed small, partly on account of the furniture. While I like pre-war buildings, I'm not sure I want to live somewhere where I need extended-reach shelf tools to open cabinets. The Pullman kitchen was also interesting. not sure I like having a kitchen open to the living room, spraying grease on my TV.

There was a heavily renovated 4th floor walkup on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. I liked that one, but not sure I want to walk up and down that many stairs.

That said, the one apartment I am centering on - oddly, the first one I looked at - is near a subway station so deep underground that escalators are provided for the trip up. To head down, you take about 5 flights of 15 stairs apiece just to get to the landing to choose either uptown or downtown tracks. Then it's another two flights. Also, the entrance to the building has an offramp from the GWB in front. You don't notice once you're inside.

There was a nice little place I saw in Inwood. A studio, and bigger than I thought, but it would need extensive remodeling to make it work the way I would want.

And so the search continues.

Getting Real

I've been looking at property lately. I think I am coming down from the initial high, the rush of information flowing straight to the brain - learning the process, assessing neighborhoods, brokers, seeing apartments. Now I'm talking to friends and reconsidering whether it's realistic to go from zero to sixty by the time my rental lease is up in three months.

What I can say definitively are these things:

1) apartments in Manhattan around $200,000 are possible, but rare.

2) said apartments have creative layouts.

3) Sunset Park in Brooklyn: not bad!

4) It's hard to consider leaving Manhattan once you've made it there.

I've broken out the Case-Schiller, discovered a whole world of Brooklyn blogs, researched city waterfront development, and walked new neighborhoods (which, oddly enough, match up with Google Street View pretty well).

So that's about it. There are other factors - will I change jobs, will I even stay in the city once I graduate - but for now, it's an eye-opening hobby, especially with the market the way it is.