Dayinta

I still enjoy living in my condo very much and love being a homeowner. Unfortunately the fiance' is no longer in the picture and I am left with the full responsibility of the mortgage while his name is still on it. (I am working on finding a responsible roommate). My only regret is having him on the loan/deed. I also had my air conditioning break this past week and of course it was the hottest week so far this year. Fortunately we had a 1 year home warranty as part of our contract with the sellers and it was fixed quickly and for a low deductible. My best advice for first time homebuyers is that this is definetly the best market to buy and get a great deal! Also, stick with your gut! - Mon Jun 9 2008, 14:36

Update! We closed on a condo in the same complex on October 30th that is the larger floorplan and for a great price. We moved in yesterday and are settling in. We love the place and feel that it must have been meant to be that the other condo did not work out because we would never have found this place. We did end up paying the early lease termination fee, but feel it was well worth it as we had to come up with no other money at closing. The sellers were wonderful people and told us about all of our neighbors at the closing, whom we met yesterday while moving in. Everyone is friendly and the neighborhood is wonderful. The condo we originally made an offer on is still for sale! I look forward to my new home ownership. - Mon Nov 5 2007, 09:04

Update!
We made an offer on the condo and the seller's counter was extremely high that it was not worth our time to re-counter. It was very upsetting that the seller's agent told us how motivated the seller was, but his counter offer proved the opposite. All-in-all, we are walking away and taking our time to look for other condos, though we have found a couple of close seconds. We've found a way to not pay a penalty for lease on the apartment we are currently in, so we have time to look and less stress on a time frame to find the right place. We are just pretty peeved at the seller's agent talking about a motivated seller when his counter offer only came off of his price $3,600 from $119,500 with the other items we were negotiating. Not a motivated seller! - Fri Sep 21 2007, 14:16

I appreciate all the feedback and may want to explain my situation a little more so that you can all understand the huge dillema I face.
The condo we are wanting to buy is in a neighborhood that is well taken care of and definitely has a huge potential for growth. If you know about the Smyrna area, it is located right off of Windy Hill in the complex of Hillsdale. The sellers purchased it and renovated it with the hopes to make a profit, but got into it and can no longer afford it. It is move-in ready which is a huge plus for us, especially in the low price range we are looking at (under $120k). They put in hardwood floors, granite countertops, and new stainless steel appliances. A similar condo in the complex is priced $4000 less with no renovations and a lot of work left to do to it. My realtor is confident that the seller will go down on the price including having them pay our closing costs and possibly help us out of our lease (which is to pay 1.5 times the market rent for the apartment). Part of me feels rushed, yet the other part knows what a great deal we found so it is hard to say let's wait until our downpayment is larger. Any more advice? - Fri Sep 14 2007, 08:42