chroniques d’une fraise

Getting a broker was definitely the right decision for me — just three days after he submitted an application to the best mortgage he could find for my profile, and one I was very happy with, the bank in question accepted. As of this afternoon I have money to buy my apartment! (Not yet signed at the bank, but soon.) Part of me is giddy, while a smaller part is wobbly and thinking, “I’m going to be in debt for 25 years…” I am pleased that the mortgage is for 25 years, however. At the current interest rates here (4.7% being about the best you can get for a 25-year loan, and 5.0% being around the worst), my income put me on the cusp of either a 25-year or a 30-year mortgage. My broker’s negotiation did the rest, plus I didn’t have to deal with any more harrying bank meetings alone and in French. And, I get to change to a better bank — hurray!!

While excitedly describing my new home, I’ve been surprised at the amount of people who say “aww, darn” when I say it has northern exposure. An informal lesson in lighting: this is northern exposure light! While southern exposure can be great, in this part of the world it often translates into being baked in an apartment-shaped oven for 4-5 months out of the year. Western exposure means that you bake in the afternoon, and eastern exposure means you only see the sun in the morning. I’ve absolutely loved the cool, soft, regular light from the northern exposure in my current apartment and am looking forward to being able to enjoy my new patio year-round.

This entry was posted on Tuesday 11 March 2008 at 21:23 and is filed under Journal, La France. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.