The town is rich in history - so much history! From Lewis and Clark, to the indigenous people that they met, to the maritime trade, to being once a British outpost, to the fishing trade and the canneries. Massive fires that threatened to end the city for good if not for the spirit of those that lived here. The Columbia River bar and its history, World War II (who knew?). The number of firsts - the first cable television broadcast; the first underground utilities and on and on. It is a fascinating city.
A couple years later we went back to Astoria for another visit, partially to see if it was a one time crush or a lasting affair. Again for our anniversary at the end of October, it was raining and cold and windy. The love affair continued.
I started looking at properties in Astoria in my "free" time. I had seen Cannery Lofts Condominiums at the 39th Street pier on both our trips out and was intrigued. In 2009 the builder was auctioning the remains available units at rock-bottom prices - to get out of the mortgage bubble hole they dug for themselves. I imagine they went for very low prices and of course they all sold. I started looking at units for sale and talking to Scott about investing in a weekend home.
In early July 2012 Scott and I were traveling home from Seattle and decided to go adventuring down to Astoria to poke around. I contacted a realtor to show us two units in Building A of the complex, both listed at about half their original selling price. The one on the 3rd floor was very nice and had spectacular views of the Columbia River and the Hanthorn Cannery Pier turned Rogue restaurant, offices and other businesses. The one on the 2nd floor was...atrocious. A rental unit, it was occupied by a family with two young children and cats. From the smell of the place you would think the cats outnumbered the people. The grasscloth wallpaper was destroyed and there wasn't a clear horizontal space. We really didn't even look at the views in order to expedite exiting the place. After seeing the third floor unit it was a major disappointment.
We talked on our way home about the possibility of purchasing a unit. What would we do with it? Weekend place, not a rental. For the same monthly outlay we could go on some great vacations. Yes, but we don't. And vacations don't accumulate equity, something we could use later on to finance our retirement, whatever that looks like. But would we use it? We'd have to make it a priority.
The discussion continued into the middle of the month when I saw that the third floor unit was sold. Scott was deflated. I guess he was more interested than I thought. And then the price on the second floor unit dropped.We had to take another look, with an eye towards what we could make it versus what it currently was. We made an appointment with the realtor for July 29th, my birthday, and drove out to see what we could see.
The realtor showed us three units, a Building A fourth floor loft corner unit with nice views but a very odd layout and a Building B third floor unit with views of Building A and a small slice of river view. And then over to Building A again and the second floor unit. The experience wasn't any better, but we did actually look at the place - the space, the views and what kind of work would need to be done. The space was good - 970 sq ft of livable space with adequate storage and good sized "rooms". While the unit needed a lot of love it was all cosmetic, remove wallpaper, paint, and clean. And the views...second floor views facing the Columbia River, the Astoria-Megler Bridge and the River Walk. Our only concern was the hotel that was planned for the lot across 39th Street. They have turned out to be very good neighbors, by the way, and convenient too!
We made the deal. We cleaned up the unit over three months of weekends sleeping on an air mattress. And we did our level best to get out to Astoria at least twice a month. We always feel like the best versions of ourselves when we are here. So much so that we decided to retire in Astoria.
