rollercoaster ride

This might be a boring post to read. Sorry 'bout that. I'm writing it all down mostly to boost my own sanity.

The last 36 hours have been crazy. First of all, we think we have a renter for our condo which is great news. Just have to do background checks and check references. Second, we put an offer on a house yesterday, and put another offer on a house today. Let's start at the beginning.

We've looked at several houses, all except one in the town we really want to live in. One house was automatically out because it was too small and cramped. One was out because animal hoarders lived there, and we would have had to rip out the entire interior, fumigate, and re-do everything before we could move in. Bet we could get a great deal on that one. We call it Animal House. Then there was a beautiful, big colonial we really liked, but it was a town over from where we really wanted to be. The morning after we looked at it and considered an offer, someone else had made an offer on it. That made us nervous because we've started seeing houses getting sold but nothing new is coming on the market where we want to buy. So, our options have been getting more and more limited and we want to close by July 1st, so we don't have a lot of time to mess around.

There were three houses left that we thought we might want to put an offer on. One was a smaller split-level, with a gorgeous 4-acre lot. We'll call it the Park House. It had a salt water swimming pool, screened in porch, huge grassy areas, a vegetable garden- perfect outdoor space for us. The house didn't have as much space as we wanted, but the outdoor area was amazing and the house was inexpensive enough that we wouldn't have to worry about finances or pinching pennies. The second was a beautiful colonial with a yard that needs some work, but we fell in love with the house itself and knew we could work on the yard. The only problem? The sellers are snobby. Their house has been on the market for almost a year and they've refused the offers they've gotten. They don't really respond to questions or requests for more information. The first time we looked at the house, we were given a time limit and then we had to get out! Not very welcoming or conducive to selling your house... The third house was a big gambrel right down the street from our daycare. The house is in great condition, a great size, and has a workable yard. It's also listed way too high, considering the market and housing values.

Yesterday we looked at all three of the final houses for a second time. While we were at the Park House, we finally made the difficult decision to put an offer on that house. I was having a hard time committing to that house because of the layout and because the bedrooms were very small. I was worried about whether that would work for us. We finally just decided it was the right house for us. It was easily affordable, and our family would be happy there. Our kids would love the outdoor space. So, we came to this difficult decision and our realtor came into the room and told us he just had a message telling him that the house had an offer on it! And not only was the offer accepted, but there was already a second offer! So, that was pretty crushing. We were so sure that we were going to buy that house.

We went back to the realtor's office, talked for a while, and then since we were pretty much having nervous breakdowns our realtor suggested that we go out for lunch and come back after thinking about things for a while. We had lunch, and decided that we wanted to put an offer on another house right away. With only two houses now available and the market picking up in our town, we were in danger of losing out on another one. We put an offer on the gambrel house. We had a feeling that the sellers might need to sell, and maybe they would negotiate. We enticed them with a large deposit and a fast closing, and they liked that. What they didn't like? Our price. At first they appeared interested in negotiating, but it was clear they weren't going to budge far from their listing price (did I mention their list price is outrageous??). We're finding that it's actually not a buyer's market in this town. Which will be great for our home value once we actually buy a house...

This morning we decided to rescind our offer, and put a new offer on the Snobby Sellers' colonial. Who knows what will happen. They might be refusing all offers below their asking price. Our hope is that they'll be willing to negotiate and sell at the price the house is actually worth. I can't say my hopes are high, but we'll see. They don't seem like easy people to deal with.

So, that's it. The whole story, as far as we've gotten. Animal House is looking awfully good right now...