I wish I'd gone for location when I bought, but to be honest? I couldn't afford anything in any of the locations I would have liked. I bought where my paycheck would allow. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either. I'm constantly thinking of selling just so I can go back to apartment living in an area of town I do like. My two cents, FWIW.

Also, for Ginger and other beer lovers: [link]

It doesn't help that my current apartment sucks, and I just want to move. If I move to another apartment, then I'll have to sign a year lease, which means breaking lease if I do find glorious condo I can afford, which just adds to the cost of things all the more.

Even though I'm making A fair amount more than my last SoCal job, and the market is down, I still can't afford to buy out here. Kinda depressing.

If it weren't so far away, I'd say go for it, but a 45 minute commute AND the other issues? No.

Yeah, it's in Sterling.

My place is a joy in a lot of ways, all of which are location related. I've put up with a LOT of stuff over the years because I love it so much. 13 years later, I'm grateful I didn't go for the other things I could have compromised on.

Yeah, it's in Sterling.

Just reading that makes my jaw tighten. It's not just a commute, it's an ugly commute.

On the up side, if you do the play, you could give no-show actor boy a taste of what it's like (although I know you're much too responsible to flake out on a show).

Oh, Taz. Phooey. Keep on healing, kitty!

omnis, yeah, don't do it.

I have heard many horror stories about deteriorating condos with ever-increasing assessments that made them impossible to resell. I'd say keep looking, omnis. I don't think it takes a foreclosure to get a deal these days; a lot of people in this market are selling cheap because they have to.

I have heard many horror stories about deteriorating condos with ever-increasing assessments that made them impossible to resell. I'd say keep looking, omnis. I don't think it takes a foreclosure to get a deal these days; a lot of people in this market are selling cheap because they have to.

Um, yeah.

A few years back the apartment building I live in looked like it was going condo. Current tenants would be able to buy their apartments at a below-market price. It sounded good and most of the tenants jumped at it.

I looked at the proposal and realized that they weren't really fixing the problems inherent in a 1929 building - rather than rewiring, they were going to split circuits. Rather than putting in new plumbing they were, essentially doing a quick (cheap) fix, patching the roof. They were putting a lot of the work into making it look nicer - putting drywall or sheetrock over the textured plaster, carpeting the hallways, etc. They insisted that the building did not have to be brought up to code when it changed hands, although I'm pretty sure it does. I looked at it and knew that within five years the assessments would skyrocket because all the things they were patching would have to be fixed and the developer would have moved on to the next batch of suckers.

Then the bottom fell out of the condo market, they realized they wouldn't be able to make a profit, and the whole thing went away.