Well it is official, Andrew and I are not getting the afore blogged about condo. The final reasons have to do with certain ownership percentages. It would appear that if the contractor/developer owns more than 10% (in our case it was 14% - the difference of one more unit being sold) it is near impossible to get financing, and since Andrew and I didn't have the cash to pony up to pay for it out right, we are walking away.
But we are not walking away crestfallen or defeated, we learned a lot through this process, and not just that, we know that God closed this door for a reason.
Due to the weird quirks of condo financing, we decided to take a look at some of our other options - mainly single family houses. At this time we are positive we want to stay in Evanston, which narrows our options. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes even the dumpiest looking house when placed in the right part of Evanston could sell for $1 million (seriously, what some people wouldn't pay to be in the Willard School District or have a lake view) - but as luck would have it, there are "cheaper" diamonds in the rough.
Andrew and I went to around 10 open houses this afternoon and then met with our boy Barry (our realtor.) We are very encouraged by our initial fact finding missions, and happy to report there are actual houses, that have the same price tag as our condo - and come with a backyard.
So while neither of us know what will come at the end of this journey, we are enjoying it together.
