First offer? Yanked by me. The realtor was so incompetent AND her agency was representing the seller so it would have been a dual agent situation which meant even breaking as a buyer I couldn't get away from these people. They screwed up a basic contract because more than one person had to sign electronically and they kept sending copies that keyed to the wrong person. After 5 days of torture, I finally said "no, we're done." We still hadn't received and signed any contract because they couldn't get their shit straight.

Since the beginning, and I do mean the very first open house we went to see, it was in a complex that I really liked, with a pool and small but not too small amount of condos. In retrospect I should have bought that one, but oh well. There aren't many things that I believe in making a decision on how it feels, but looking for a place to live, and choosing a shelter pet, and two of those things.

I like this place. It has front & back windows, but is still only 2 floors instead of those monstrous 3 level townhomes they keep building everywhere. I've carried groceries up a full flight of stairs (and from the back parking lot) for over 3 years now. I have no desire to climb from the garage to the kitchen with 30 lbs of groceries. The bedrooms are all on the second floor, but as I've seen in most other places, that's the non-retirement community way to build. At this is one fairly straight flight, so a chair lift or extra bannister could be an option if my parent(s) move in at any point.

And best of all, the price is more reasonable. There are some updates I may do eventually, but nothing pressing, and it's really in move-in condition. Again, is it ideal? No, ideal has come and gone, but I have a very positive feeling about this place, and I know I can work the financials on this property much better than the other complex I love where it's a hard stretch price-wise. I'm moving to a more blue-collar town, but I have blue-collar type of money from my white-collar job where we're lowest on the bank's totem pole. 

That's always been me though. I hate drawing attention, I hate promoting myself, and I hate management as a career, so I stay in the background, get compensated decently, particularly for my profession, but my salary reflects that. It's hopefully enough for now, albeit with the help of my parents.