I transferred $150 to savings. Not a huge amount, but better than going backwards!

Hope I can do a little better next month.

I went with DIL to look at a condo for sale last night. We're scouting out places for her mother. This unit is rented -- I heard about it through a friend who lives in the same building. The owner was borderline rude to us -- very pushy about the "merits" of the place, which were pretty slim -- it's obviously been rented a long time; there's been no TLC. But we were polite. When we asked about price, she wouldn't say, only that she paid $170K, admittedly at the top of the market. She asked what we were looking to pay, and my DIL said her mother needed to find a place in the $100K area. The woman reacted very badly to that; said it was impossible and told us we had wasted her time. Hmmm. She wasted our time, too, by not revealing the price. But she will never get what she's dreaming of. It is shabby, no updates, a one-bedroom walkup on the third floor. There is another unit in the same building advertised for $107K, so we were not out of line for thinking her price would be in the same range.

Afterwards, we looked at a place in my building. Again, it was pretty shabby. Underloved. I would guess it was a rental, too, that housed a lot of CATS! However, it was priced right at $99K. Still, I don't think it is the place for DIL's mom. The bathtub would have to be reglazed, paint throughout, a new floor needed in the kitchen ... it is not anything like the condition my condo was in, and I only paid $111K. I know prices are starting to rise, but not that quickly.

We'll keep looking. Really, there's plenty of time, since she needs to get a job first! (She has a job, just not here!)

It really made me realize how much difference the owner's care and maintenance makes. My condo is a little old-fashioned jewel, and here in the same building -- a pretty yucky one.