Our house went back on the market last Monday, and by that afternoon, someone wanted to see the house. Not wanting to miss out (even though we asked for 24 hours' notice), Brian spent probably close to two hours putting out the nice towels, hiding toiletries and laundry, and completing various other tidying tasks so this couple could see our house early that evening. By that weekend, this couple made a verbal offer! The catch? They wanted a seller assist (or some term like that) to be included in the asking price, which basically means we would be getting 6 percent less than the asking price (minus all the other things like commissions). We thought about it and decided to counter-offer with the seller assist on top of the asking price. Two days after our agent presented the counter offer, the agent said her clients just could not go any higher than what they offered, so the deal was off.
When our agent first called and told us about the offer, I cried. I know it sounds odd, but I felt sad, thinking about leaving the first house Brian and I bought, the one where we brought our dog and then our child home to. The place where Jordan first sat up, crawled, walked, talked, etc. This was the only home she knew.
I thought back to the Cost of Government Day party I had in 2002 (Who remembers that, saying the Pledge of Allegiance?!). A hot tub party with the progressive group. Happy hour for some work friends, planned before I knew I was pregnant. Having friends and family over for wine and cheese after I sang the Messiah with my choir.
All those great memories not withstanding, we had had our house on the market last year for about six months with no offers (though our asking price was 15k higher then), so I got used the idea of our house possibly never selling. And there is just the comfort factor; this is home; I like the neighborhood; I have gotten used to the 45-minute commute. And I like saving money every month. With a new (more expensive) house, we will be saving very little/maybe nothing. That scares me.
When I got over my sadness about having to leave our house, my second thought was, why in today's market/economy would you buy a house if you have no money to put down, at the very least not even enough to pay for closing costs? I wanted to call those people up and tell them not to do it, that they just don't know what could happen. But if they really wanted the house, even after they saw Sadie at the door(!), why should I stand in their way. After all, as soon as we pulled into the driveway, I knew this was the house. If they felt that way too, well, then, I wanted them to have this house.
So, of course, the tiniest part of me thinks my feeling unhappy about the offer brought on this deal-breaker. I know it sounds crazy. And fortunately I got over that in about five minutes. But Bri and I are also reasoning that if they could not go a penny higher than 6 percent below asking, then who knows what else could have happened. Because when the other agent said that was all they could afford, she did not even say that they would still be willing to go with their original offer. So that really makes me think these people would not have been able to make this work, they could get financing, something.
I believe everything happens for a reason, so I am sure it will all work out somehow, for the best. In the meantime, I am glad we have our family and friends, our health, a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, jobs, and money in our savings accounts. Oh, and I finally paid off Brian's car. Dave Ramsey would be proud, even though I should have done this four months ago, when I first talked about it!
When our agent first called and told us about the offer, I cried. I know it sounds odd, but I felt sad, thinking about leaving the first house Brian and I bought, the one where we brought our dog and then our child home to. The place where Jordan first sat up, crawled, walked, talked, etc. This was the only home she knew.
I thought back to the Cost of Government Day party I had in 2002 (Who remembers that, saying the Pledge of Allegiance?!). A hot tub party with the progressive group. Happy hour for some work friends, planned before I knew I was pregnant. Having friends and family over for wine and cheese after I sang the Messiah with my choir.
All those great memories not withstanding, we had had our house on the market last year for about six months with no offers (though our asking price was 15k higher then), so I got used the idea of our house possibly never selling. And there is just the comfort factor; this is home; I like the neighborhood; I have gotten used to the 45-minute commute. And I like saving money every month. With a new (more expensive) house, we will be saving very little/maybe nothing. That scares me.
When I got over my sadness about having to leave our house, my second thought was, why in today's market/economy would you buy a house if you have no money to put down, at the very least not even enough to pay for closing costs? I wanted to call those people up and tell them not to do it, that they just don't know what could happen. But if they really wanted the house, even after they saw Sadie at the door(!), why should I stand in their way. After all, as soon as we pulled into the driveway, I knew this was the house. If they felt that way too, well, then, I wanted them to have this house.
So, of course, the tiniest part of me thinks my feeling unhappy about the offer brought on this deal-breaker. I know it sounds crazy. And fortunately I got over that in about five minutes. But Bri and I are also reasoning that if they could not go a penny higher than 6 percent below asking, then who knows what else could have happened. Because when the other agent said that was all they could afford, she did not even say that they would still be willing to go with their original offer. So that really makes me think these people would not have been able to make this work, they could get financing, something.
I believe everything happens for a reason, so I am sure it will all work out somehow, for the best. In the meantime, I am glad we have our family and friends, our health, a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, jobs, and money in our savings accounts. Oh, and I finally paid off Brian's car. Dave Ramsey would be proud, even though I should have done this four months ago, when I first talked about it!
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and try not to fret about any house stuff. keep it out there, be a little bit flexible, and see what happens. we had the same thing happen (person wanting home, asking for seller assist) and they also backed out. then the same thing happened and these people bought it--that's who's in our old place now. BUT they had other problems and had to delay the closing--SCARY! eventually, it all worked out. we just waited, stayed prepared to move, our homeowner of the place we were set up to buy agreed to hold it a week, and after much prayer, here we are almost 2 years later. it can drive you crazy if you let it, so don't let it; and it doesn't sound as if you are letting it, so that's good.
No, I am not yet letting it drive me crazy, but already some days, I obsess about it. I am trying to put it into God's hands. After all, that is what I did when I was not sure if I should have a kid, and I thank God for her every day.