Barb’s Burblings

I periodically check out real estate listings near me, and I saw a place not too far from where I live. (And by “not far” I mean “a quarter of a mile”). It looked really nice. I saw an “Open House” sign last Sunday and stopped by.
And oh my gosh, what a fab apartment. It’s very similar to my apartment–only better. Much, much better. The buildings were built around the same time, but the condo’s building was completely redone. New electric, new plumbing. There’s a washer/dryer and a dishwasher. There’s another bedroom. A jacuzzi tub. Recessed lighting. A food processor. Carpeted bedrooms, but really nice hardwood floors in the living room. All new appliances. The only thing missing is a linen closet, but there’s a whole extra bedroom–with a closet, even–that would make up for it. I love this condo.
And I just can’t afford it. Which is crazy, because the price is awesome for this area. Seriously, every person I’ve told about this who lives here is like, “It’s only $230K?” I could swing the mortgage payments…if I somehow managed to scrounge up a 20% down payment. The mortgage would be about my current rent plus my car payment, and since I’m on the verge of paying that off, I could make it happen. But where am I supposed to come up with $46,000? I could probably get some from my parents–hey, that wedding fund should go somewhere useful, right? But I’d still be tens of thousands of dollars short.
It’s depressing, honestly. I feel like this is a good time to buy real estate (though getting credit might be a teensy bit rough, even though I do have good credit), and this is a good price for a nice apartment and…I can’t make it happen. And I keep thinking about this place (seeing the “Open House” sign periodically doesn’t help) and man, I’m bummed. It’s so frustrating. I want the pretty, pretty condo, dammit!
Of course, just driving around, I wonder how anyone affords to buy any of the houses around here. Who are these people? How can I make that much money?