Four years ago - Lulu was offered a job at Florida State and we sold our little chalet in the hills and moved to the big city of Tallahassee. Although we had 8 months advance to look for a home - when a house came up on Seminole Drive - our friends sent us pictures of it and we would have bought it sight unseen except the realtor insisted that we see it. We were told about the house on a Friday - our friends toured it on Saturday and sent us pictures - Sunday we flew down - Monday we bought it. The "big bargainer" of all time settled for list price.
Since then - we build a workshop and a guest house. We made a carport into a garage. We added all new concrete driveways and sidewalks. We installed new appliances - had the place landscaped from stem to stern - and now we replaced a vinyl-lined pool with a concrete one with travertine and marble trim.
Although the house is really nice now - as I turn 60 I am tired of all the upkeep and am too tight to hire others to do it.
From birth - Lulu has been raised to believe success is an inground concrete tiled pool. If a couple of waterfalls are thrown in - she is in nirvana. Most of the time she just sits along side the pool and watches it. Yes - she swims 100 laps a day - but that only takes a half hour. So - now that she has the pool of her dreams - it is going to be very hard to move her.
Since I am much older than Lulu - my ideal home is a maintenance free condo. I have been watching The Plaza Tower being built for the last couple of years. It is within walking distance of FSU Campus and the Capitol. One can gun their car up Jefferson Street from campus and go right in the super secure parking garage.
After pestering the management of the Plaza Tower - they agreed to take my friends and I on a VIP tour of the condo - even though it is not near being completely. We got to ride in the rickety bird cage elevator and visited several condos - some for sale - but most of them purchased.
The condo is 23 floors tall. The penthouses on the top are two stories high. There are 10 penthouses - all sold for $700,000 plus. There are a few 2 bedroom unit on the 21st floor available for $400,000. The least expensive one left is a 1 bedroom unit on the 12th floor for $250,000.
Some units will be ready to occupy in December of this year. The condo is a "union shop" - so all dates are tentative.
Each condo comes with an owned parking space. Extra parking spots are $10,000 each.
One must pay property tax on their unit and also a maintenance fee decided by a condo committee. That fee is 34 cents a square foot a month.
The penthouses are a sight to behold. the views of campus - stadium - downtown - Capitol - are wonderful. The loft bedroom space offers a new dimension.
The condos will be primes painted and the floors will be smooth concrete. Each owner may choose floors and colors. Units went from roughly 900 square feet to 1500 square feet.
Since we travel so much - my idea of peace of mind - is to lock one door and not have to worry about hurricanes - crooks - freezing pipes. Lulu will need more inducement than that - namely a place to swim and a furniture stipend.
So - it looks like I am convinced - but Lulu is going to be a hard sell.
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