u/Gallotia

First time home buyer. 47F.

3BR/2BA 85m2 apartment, plus common areas like pool, and a large basement storage room. Not a new building, it is from the 70s. I love the light and the wood of this place.

By the way $715K is converting currency, actually it was 620K Euros.

I paid half with cash, other half with mortgage. Mortgage is fixed rate, 25 years. I know the rates in Spain are much lower than in other countries, although I also had to contract some bank services (like insurances) to get that rate, without that it would have been around 2.5% which is still a good rate.

No pizza, way too hot in Madrid for that. It was also hard to hold the beer AND the keys on one hand!

PS because too many questions: guys, this is not a competition, I'm totally ok with you not liking Madrid or wanting to live in the countryside or having bought cheaper elsewhere. This is my life and my happy moment and we are all different people. Also, I am a local, not an expat, I'm writing in English because this is Reddit. Too many comments to reply to all, thank you to all the nice people!

PS2: que de verdad no soy un guiri comprando en España, es que escribí en inglés porque en esta comunidad Reddit lo hacen así también los japoneses en japón o los Austriacos que compran en su pueblo. And to those surprised about the interest rates, you can see in https://www.reddit.com/r/HipotecasyVivienda/ what the current rates are for people in different circumstances here in Spain.

Edit to say: THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the wonderful people who have commented sharing their own stories, relating to my story, and saying that you see me. I didn't expect such a large warm welcome. I definitely don't feel alone now.

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I got my autism diagnosis today. Short story:

47F
Identified as gifted last year as part of an evaluation
I requested the autism evaluation some months ago (paid out of pocket) because I could see it in me
Got proper assessment: questionnaires, clinical interview, ADOS-2 and ADI-R to my parents
Doctor saw clear autism profile in questionnaires and clinical interview
ADOS-2 score of 11, consistent with autism
Parents reported me as very independent child, with no signs to support autism. Scores were far from the cut off so the ADI-R was negative
Doctor still gave me the diagnosis of autism level 1 based on all what he saw and my own reports of my childhood

And the main thing bothering me right now (2 hours after getting my diagnosis) is to think of me as a child how unseen I was by my parents.

My doctor said it is super normal for late-diagnosed adults to not have a supportive ADI-R due to lack of parents, lack of memory or lack of enough positive responses by parents. He also thinks I might have masked really well since young age due to my giftedness. But that's not true, I remember my childhood, I was there! there were many signs.

So I've been crying for the past two hours for little me. I was a good kid. I was an invisible kid. Trying not to be too much, to be independent, to be of help when needed and otherwise to be out of sight. When the doctor gave me the results of the evaluation, that little me felt seen.

I'm sure my story is not unique in this group. I'm glad to have found you.

I did it! Madrid $715K 1.95%

Diagnosed today despite parents report -- feel so unseen