Thursday, February 12, 2009

A few more steps towards Cheese Vixendom...

A LOT has been happening lately, hence the lack of posts because I've been out of my mind busy. Last week I checked out a potential space just 4 short blocks from my house - take that 20 mile commute! It was a teeny raw space on the ground floor of a new condo development. Yes, I know they are still popping up everywhere but dammit, if the location is this perfect who am I to judge? Turns out 573 sq. ft. feels like a lot less than you'd think, and the real estate agent and I hopped over to the space next door, a comfortable and spacious 900+ sq. ft. and still *just* in my budget.

Since then it's been conversations with just about everyone I know who's ever said the words "real estate", and scrambling to get the damned business plan finished so I can move on this baby. Maybe it's the 7 years of New York in me, maybe it's just dumb luck, but after only 3 years here in Seattle I'm amazed at how well networked I am to call in favors to help me along just about every step of this process. Derek Hermsen is the husband of a super awesome volunteer/intern at the shelter last year, and he is worth his weight in gold. Not only is he just plain nice and easy to talk to, but he knows his shit up, down, inside and out. He works as a tenant advocate so he's now going to work for me to negotiate terms for the lease on this fantabulous space.

In the meantime I'm making mock concept sketches for the landlord, getting the rest of my business plan strings tied up, and just today I got my LLC paperwork in the mail and my EIN, which was like magic, it was kind of scary how fast and easy it was. Tomorrow I open my business account, turn in my loan application, and hold my breath for 7-10 days. Luckily I have a whole lot of wine tasting to keep me busy.

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