more adventures in real estate, etc.
Mar. 12th, 2006 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaeclecticI started the day with a stop at the Oakland Y, and then spent much of the afternoon in Emeryville: shopping for a dress to wear to Jen & Fredrik's wedding (which is to be "formal attire optional"), going to open houses, and then stopping at Trader Joe's to finish the week's grocery shopping.
Dress shopping was unsuccessful. I tried on something at Lane Bryant that met my basic criteria -- dressy but not floor-length, and neither white nor black (and preferably not red) -- however it was really just not flattering. I mean, what's the point of being zaftig and then wearing a dress that makes you look flat-chested? Also tried on two at Ross, a size 16 that was way too small, and a size 16W that was a little too big and not dressy enough and besides didn't have a price tag. I guess this means next weekend I need to hit Macy's or some such, and spend real money... (or end up wearing the dress I wore to jgcr & eac's wedding, which is not as dressy as I'd like but does still fit and would pass -- so it's a solid backup plan)
After that I had a couple hours of open-house-a-rama. I was planning to see 2 units, and ended up seeing 5: The first complex I stopped at turned out to have 3 units open; and after visiting the places I'd planned on, I impulsively followed a set of signs leading to a for-sale-by-owner place that was quite charming and a solid 100K more than I can afford -- but fun to see, anyway.
As it turned out, the two that I originally set out to see were both well worth seeing, and might be contenders.
The first one is in Emeryville, a little over a mile from MacArthur BART, in a very nice complex, converted from a warehouse. It's a nice space albeit quirky, as lofts tend to be: this one has a living room / kitchen area at floor level, a half-raised bedroom area, and then a yet-further-up space that is either storage or a room that you can't quite stand up in (unless you happen to be 4' or so). There's also a hallway space which feels wide enough that I could line it with bookcases without making it claustrophobic. The unit does has some imperfections (carpet rather than hard floor, electric rather than gas stove) but also some very appealing features (e.g. nice built-in shelving in the bedroom). Oh, and it's at the top of my price range.
The other is in Oakland but bordering Emeryville, in a building that used to be a school, which is oddly cool. Also a quirky space: They built the bathroom in the middle of a wall, so the main space forms a U around it, but an uneven one: a really big room on one side and an alcove about 6' wide on the other. The bathroom itself is huge, which makes me want to shake whoever planned this and say "doofus! why didn't you make the bathroom a normal size, and the space on the other side more like a real room?" A major disadvantage of the second place is that it does not have a garage -- there is parking, but it's outdoors, which I'd been hoping to leave behind, since most condos seem to have parking that's out of the elements. Also, it is on the ground floor and has a doorway directly to the outside, which is kind of pro *and* con -- certainly convenient, but a little less secure-feeling.
Anyway, now I'm trying to decide if either or both warrant a second look... either would definitely require measuring and figuring out how much of my furniture will fit where...
In any case, I enjoyed the day. The only sour notes: I went carelessly tripping down the stairs with a couple bags of trash, and gave my left knee a little twist, so it's now back in full spate twinge mode. And I feel like I'm coming down with a cold, unsurprising considering that everyone around me at work has been sick. I will now go take a mess o' vitamins and hope to fend off the worst of it.
Dress shopping was unsuccessful. I tried on something at Lane Bryant that met my basic criteria -- dressy but not floor-length, and neither white nor black (and preferably not red) -- however it was really just not flattering. I mean, what's the point of being zaftig and then wearing a dress that makes you look flat-chested? Also tried on two at Ross, a size 16 that was way too small, and a size 16W that was a little too big and not dressy enough and besides didn't have a price tag. I guess this means next weekend I need to hit Macy's or some such, and spend real money... (or end up wearing the dress I wore to jgcr & eac's wedding, which is not as dressy as I'd like but does still fit and would pass -- so it's a solid backup plan)
After that I had a couple hours of open-house-a-rama. I was planning to see 2 units, and ended up seeing 5: The first complex I stopped at turned out to have 3 units open; and after visiting the places I'd planned on, I impulsively followed a set of signs leading to a for-sale-by-owner place that was quite charming and a solid 100K more than I can afford -- but fun to see, anyway.
As it turned out, the two that I originally set out to see were both well worth seeing, and might be contenders.
The first one is in Emeryville, a little over a mile from MacArthur BART, in a very nice complex, converted from a warehouse. It's a nice space albeit quirky, as lofts tend to be: this one has a living room / kitchen area at floor level, a half-raised bedroom area, and then a yet-further-up space that is either storage or a room that you can't quite stand up in (unless you happen to be 4' or so). There's also a hallway space which feels wide enough that I could line it with bookcases without making it claustrophobic. The unit does has some imperfections (carpet rather than hard floor, electric rather than gas stove) but also some very appealing features (e.g. nice built-in shelving in the bedroom). Oh, and it's at the top of my price range.
The other is in Oakland but bordering Emeryville, in a building that used to be a school, which is oddly cool. Also a quirky space: They built the bathroom in the middle of a wall, so the main space forms a U around it, but an uneven one: a really big room on one side and an alcove about 6' wide on the other. The bathroom itself is huge, which makes me want to shake whoever planned this and say "doofus! why didn't you make the bathroom a normal size, and the space on the other side more like a real room?" A major disadvantage of the second place is that it does not have a garage -- there is parking, but it's outdoors, which I'd been hoping to leave behind, since most condos seem to have parking that's out of the elements. Also, it is on the ground floor and has a doorway directly to the outside, which is kind of pro *and* con -- certainly convenient, but a little less secure-feeling.
Anyway, now I'm trying to decide if either or both warrant a second look... either would definitely require measuring and figuring out how much of my furniture will fit where...
In any case, I enjoyed the day. The only sour notes: I went carelessly tripping down the stairs with a couple bags of trash, and gave my left knee a little twist, so it's now back in full spate twinge mode. And I feel like I'm coming down with a cold, unsurprising considering that everyone around me at work has been sick. I will now go take a mess o' vitamins and hope to fend off the worst of it.