Tara, Tara, Tara

I took the first step in what could be a big plung.

I made an offer on an apartment here in Copacabana. It's just an offer, no one has exchanged any money, yet, but I hope I'm able to get it.

The asking price was R$175.000. I countered at R$130.000 and she countered at R$163.000--"and don't even think of going lower", she warned. So I countered at R$150.000 (about US $84,000) and a 1/2 hour later the realtor called and said lets draw up some paperwork to make the offer official so the woman can present it to the condo board.

It's the day before new years eve, so pretty much the world is starting to shut down. The condo association is supposed to give me a response back by Saturday. But the realtor thinks they'll accept the offer.

So what exactly would I be buying?

Well to start, a TOTAL fixer-upper if you want to live in ANY place half-way decent. I'm thinking I'll need to put in another US $40-$60,000 to make it the place I'd wanna live in. BUT, once done it'll be a really cool 1 BR/LOFT style Penthouse apartment overlooking the city, the mountains (and some favelas), and a sliver of the beach through the tree lined streets. It will have an outdoor patio, with an outdoor shower, on the 12th floor, with a wall of glass sliding doors to give you access to the patio. Total square feet won't be huge...maybe 800-1,000 WITH the patio, but still, a nice apartment for a couple or single.

I think the resale value could be very attractive, and the price of real estate is bound to climb in this city with the Olympics coming up. It's only three blocks from the metro station, and six blocks from the beach--about a 10-15 minute walk.

The only challenge now is How/Where to get the money...but the wheels are in motion for that too.

Oh, and being that I'm leaving in 18 days...well, a lot would have to be negotiated and finalized...but hey, I could ALWAYS rent it as is...and wait to fix it up.

GETTING BETTER

Yes, the cold which turned into a chest infection IS getting better. I sense it day by day. Hopefully tomorrow, even better still.

I hear Jamie has been bed-ridden for a couple of days. Mine was NOTHING close to that...so I don't have nearly as far to go for recovery.

NEW YEARS CELEBRATION

The weather forecast for New Years Eve and New Years is RAIN, RAIN, RAIN...so that might put a damper on the expected 2 million people that will pack themselves onto the beach of Copacabana...but even with the rain, they are expected to come. As my roommate said, "oh yeah, I'll go...New Years is almost like a religious thing for Brasilians".

So I guess I'll be there, Rain or Moon-shine.

One thing of interest--according to the TV news, as of tomorrow, no one can take more than $100 reals from their ATMs each day until Sunday. Why? Well, and don't freak out about this cause I'm not the target audience here, the "bad guys" here in Rio have been kidnapping foreignors and asking for randsoms...you know, sending their friends to the ATMs to withdraw $1,000 or so in cash to pay them off. So limiting the amount one can withdraw in any given day to $50 "should" thwart that plan...hopefully. :)

Foreignors are being advised to walk with about $50 reals ($30 US), and only one credit card to take out more...the limit again is $100 reals per day.

Now, I think it's all been sensationalized and blown out of proportion...but that's what my roommates told me they heard on the news today.

:)

Ahh, HAPPY NEW YEAR!