A Treasure Found at Home

we looked at a number of condos last night. there was one off mission with a great view and tiny tiny bedrooms and the weirdest smallest closets ever. in the master bedroom the closet was actually in the bathroom and it was all shelves–no place to *hang* any thing. in the other bedroom it was this tiny triangular space with a rod about a foot long. but, great views and not a sucky location.

in the same building was a slightly larger two bedroom condo with bigger bedrooms that looked less like afterthoughts. real closets and more storage. but… the windows of the bedrooms opened onto the walkway between the condos. i’d NEVER be able to have my curtains open.

those two are just off mission street across from bernal. just a stones throw from the hospital, which will be good if someone chops into their finger while working in the rediculously spacious kitchen.

next we looked at a unit up on redrock. so much green, and the windows opened onto the creek that runs through the middle of the complex. very nice. the whole place would need to be remodled, even though the listing agent kept saying, ‘as you can tell, he remodeled very recently.’ er? the bathroom and kitchen counters were sky blue! the building we entered through (which is no the building i’d live in) smelled really bad. realtor john said, ‘look at that face you’re making!’ i’d have to park in a different building from where i’d live, even though my unit would be directly over the garage. there is a ‘heated’ pool — still too cold for me to be in. a public spa/hot tub, a dry sauna, a couple community rooms (but you can’t have more than five guests), room with pool tables, and a small gym with some cardio machines. all clearly not redecorated since the 70’s. very ‘apartment living’, except i’d own it. lots of rules about what sort of things i could have in my condo (no w/d, no hardwood floors…) but that’s apparently not uncommon.

then we drove over to the last building on our tour. condos built as condos in a small six unit building a block north of the panhandle. oh. my. goodness. there is a garage for me and pretty easy street parking for anyone who visits. everything is carpeted, but HUGE! the one i love has the second tinyest kitchen known to man (about half again as big as the one in that 150sq foot apartment i rented in fw). but the master bedroom has bay windows which look out into the green yards that are in the middle between all the building on the block. the other floorplan has a smaller living area, a much larger kitchen, no bay windows in the master bedroom, but still lots of storage and decent sized rooms. it’s fantastic! it’s, of course, a bit out of the price range i have been looking at. but, it gives me hope. i could see living there. and it wouldn’t be difficult at all to find a housemate. sqeee! so close to the university and to the haight and to the park. i love it. it’s not perfect, but i love it.