Closing the year with a couple of real estate deals

I don't know why it is that we are always moving or closing on real estate in the month of December, but when we think back, we notice that's the way it is.

First, my mom finally signed the purchase agreement for her Brava 28 condo. It's been several months in the making (we started negotiations when I was still in Turkey), but after much coming and going, she's got the best unit in the second nicest new building on the Brava side of Punta del Este. (The nicest being of course Vignoly's Aqua, but that, starting at $3 million, is beyond our budget.)

Mom shows my aunt where the sea views will stop... On the left, the built in parrillero, or bbq, nice as an outdoor fire pit even without cooking. The green lawn seen on the right is the roof of the gym and party room, smart that they covered it in grass... the two covered circles on the ground deck are jacuzzis.


when they finish building across the street. The views will be fine up to the palm tree on the left of the white building. Luckily, the new building across the street will have gardens and swimming-pool on the street sides, adding more green and water to our views.



So why is it the best unit? Well, the building is an inverted L shape if you see it from the road, and she is on the leg that is pushed back into the lot, about 50 yards away from the road (less traffic noise), protected from the winds by the other section of the building, and bathed in sunlight all day long either in the front, side or back of the apartment. Three exposures. Also, we chose the floor very carefully: the 2nd floor won over the 3rd floor, surprisingly, because the views on the second include a lot of green in the field of vision (from garden as well as the beach dunes), over just sea views on the third. Also, the terraces on the 2nd floor are all covered in hard wood, both walls and floor, while on the 3rd it's ceramic tiles. Ironically, 2nd is cheaper than 3rd, as usually at least in Punta condos are priced in ascending floor order.

The living room/dining room is pretty big, but my mom being my mom, she will knock down the wall to the master suite (there are three other suites, so no problem), which happens to be the corner with wrap-around terrace, and make it all living room, adding about 175 sq ft to the existing 460 sq ft of living and dining area, and most importantly, guaranteeing afternoon sun in the winter.

view of the bedroom that will become living-room... lots of sun and views of the landscaped houses on the side of the building.


The living room is a bit too long and narrow now (for our pain in the neck demanding tastes), but when we open up the master suite at the right side against the terrace, it will have tons more view and light and a friendlier L shape, rather than the corridor propotions it has now.
Sea views all the way from the kitchen in the back...
View of the breakfast area in the back of the kitchen, overlooking the Rincon del Indio forest and gardens...

On our more modest news, beyond the momentous moving into our house on Dec. 1, we have decided to buy out my Mom's share of the lot we purchased together in Punta Ballena last year. It just so happens that lots in that corner have gone up 100% since last year, so we decided we want to keep it as our future backup lot (for building if we sell our house, or if we win the lotto) and will lock in the price now before my Mom's share becomes unaffordable to us. After having secured a verbal agreement with her, we have just now put up for sale the other lot we bought last year in Barra de Portezuelo. I feel sad about it, because it's beautiful and we love it, but we own 3 adjoining lots now where our house is, and we can even sell two with the house and have one spare to build if we want, so it makes more sense to sell that one and buy out Punta Ballena before it becomes too pricey for us. We had been even thinking about buying another lot in Las Grutas (the Punta Ballena corner we like) that was $50k last year but I was just informed that one is gone and others on the same block are up to $100k, so this is the catalyst for selling our newest lot in Barra de Portezuelo. At its $35k asking price for a quarter acre, it seems so modest now... but our area is yet to become trendy, so it's a fair market price.

Barbi collecting flowers last year right after we bought it, from the back of the lot looking towards the sea...