Thursday, April 12, 2007

dear diary...

Well, I haven't written in awhile, and lots has been going on.
Big things.
Like house hunting.
And making offers on houses.

Yeah, I know. Houses. Plural.

See, the first offer didn't work out so well. The seller decided to use their adult son as their real estate agent. They listed the house way over anything comparable in the area, which would be fine if it was in tip-top shape, but it is not, and it's a buyer's market out here right now. So I went in low, not neccessarily to stay low, but just to get them down a bit. Then they came down a bit. Then I went up a bit. And then there was only a measily couple thousand dollars between what I offered, and what they were "standing firm" at. But their "stand firm" price was still more than what the house was worth, and I was not about too budge.

Did I mention that they were trying to play me against another offer they said they had?
Poo-butts.

The more I thought about the whole thing, I was getting really annoyed for being played that way. I mean, I know that's how the game is played, but it still pissed me off. Top that crappy feeling off with the fact that I knew that my final counter offer was still for more than what the house was worth, and I felt like I was paying $3 for a pack of gum with a few pieces already chewed up, when I could have gone out and bought a new pack for a dollar. I like the house, but it's been come to be known as the ScheisterHouse (apparently I mispell shyster, but it's the trickle down of yiddish in me, sorry). And it was beginning to seem that moving into a house that I was always going to call that was probably one really big fat bad idea.

So after the sellers of the ScheisterHouse laid out the verbal, "we're not budging" bit, they never really did accept or refuse my final counter offer...they just kinda let it time out. My counter offer officially expired Tuesday afternoon sometime.

So I went on my merry way and looked at another house yesterday, one for less money and in pristine condition. Pristine condition (the I-Follow-The-Martha-Stewart-Homekeeping-Handbook sort of pristine). Seriously. This lady has planted her very own garden of fruit trees, one of which, "...makes the very best orange juice ever,"...."Oh, and this is a Babock Peach tree, and this is Asian Pear...and this..." But she wasn't a snobby lady. Very humble actually. Just a little Type-A, if you know what I mean.

The house is a little small, but it is laid out wonderfully, and even though it's small, it's still way bigger than the house I am in currently. This new house has layout where the diningroom and (most of) the livingroom open to the kitchen, which the trained chef in me adores (in my current house, the kitchen is isolated. Very isolated. Like me. When I'm in it. *frown*). Being in this house would mean that I'd be able to be in the kitchen, happily slicing and dicing away, and not feel like I'm in solitary confinement. I'm more the LifeOfTheParty-type, anyhow.


Anyhow, so guess who was going to look at the PristineHouse that very same evening after I looked at it?!
No, c'mon...guess.
Yeah.
The twit who was the other offer on the SheisterHouse.
And what wheel does that gear turn?!
The one that makes the InexperiencedRealtorSon of the ScheisterHouse call up and say (two days late), "Sure! We'll accept your offer and let's just forget about that coupla thousand we couldnt agree upon, eh?!"

Hmmmm. Well.
"That's really too bad, SonOfAScheister," my agent says (that's not really what she says, but you know what I mean LOL), "but I showed my client another house yesterday, and I'm not sure what she has planned yet. Oh. And by the way, ScheisterMan, her counter offer has officially expired, so thanks for signing it, but it's a null contract," (she didnt exactly say that either, but again...you know what I mean...and I promise you, she and I were both thinking it).

So.
I went ahead and made an offer on the HouseOfMartha and all it's GloriousGardenage.
And I shit you not, as I was just writing that paragraph abve right there, the one about what my agent wanted to say but didn't, guess what....
C'mon. Guess. hehe

my phone just rang and my agent says that my offer has been accepted!!!!!!!!!!!
wooooohoooooo!!!!!!


Duuuuudes (hi, Carol!) , I am finally going to have a house where I can actually get my wheelchair into my own bedroom, my bathroom, my laundry room, and (once I ramp a couple of stairs) into my garage. The only room I will have to use crutches for will be the guest bathroom, which will primarily be used by MyFavoriteKid, so guess who is going to be adding "cleaning the bathroom" to his chore list ;-)

I need to go get me a glass o' bubbly.
YAY!

and yes, I know it aint over til it's over and all that, but whateva........
*smile*

25 comments:

Mouse said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! WOOOO_HOOOOOO!!!!
I'm so very, very, VERY happy that you found a house that you like and that they accepted the offer.. (but you knew that already!)

pamela wynne said...

congratulations!!

Becky in Iowa :O) said...

All Right!!! Congrats on the good news. Shoot congrats of being able to tell the other owners to bite it. hehehe

Anonymous said...

Mazel Tov!! How cool! To where are you moving?

JessZ said...

I love a twist ending! Congratulations!!

InkyW said...

Fantastic news!!! I will grovel for an invite to the housewarming party - I'll bring YARN!! Congrats - post pics!!!

M-H said...

Well done on the Scheister sitch. You done good, and you got a good house, by the sound of it. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh yay! Congratulations! And good for you that recognizing that the sheis-house wasn't worth it.

Anonymous said...

I am so excited for you! Congratulations!

The house sounds awesome--open kitchen!fruit trees! F#$@ yeah!

Anonymous said...

Yay! And even better, you won't have crappy, psycho neighbors, ostensibly.

Enjoy those fruit trees!

JohnK said...

Congrats!!! That is great news. Do you have an avocado tree, too? Jus' wondering. Great , great news.

Anonymous said...

What an amazing process! Congrats on getting a place that will fit your needs! =]

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Carol said...

Super news! Yay.

And isn't "scheisse" "sh*t" in German? So a perfectly good name.

When we bought our house, the seller tried this "we-e-ell, maybe I'll just rent it" line on us. So we said "Fine. But you have to decide if the house is on the market or not, and so call our agent if it is. See ya." He was put out we didn't bid against ourselves. Assweasels.

Janice in GA said...

Cautious me says "So far, so good" and adds a cautious "woohoo!" :)

~Donna~ said...

DUDE TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Congrats! Sounds like a match made in heaven...

Salud, my friend...I raise my glass of sparkling water in your general direction...

Ragnar said...

Congratulations!!! Your description of house hunting took me back 6 years to when we were house shopping...the offer counter offier....you know we have another offer bullshit...

Awesome! Enjoy your house and your fabulous orange juice.

Dani said...

Slainte!
Fruit trees + open plan kitchen = delicious things made with the product of YOUR OWN GARDEN!!! (but you knew that).
Welcome back, and congratulations :D

Anonymous said...

Yay! Congratulations!

Gwen

Jennie said...

OMG, how exciting! There is nothing like this. The ride isn't always fun, but at the end of it, when you get the keys and go into YOUR OWN HOUSE and look around, man, there is nothing on earth like that feeling. Nothing.

Congratulations!

LLA said...

Oh YAY! What fab news!!!!

sigh.... a pristine house.... I can only dream....

Congrats to you!!!

Carrie said...

*CHEER* Excellent! I'm so glad you got that beautiful house!!! You are a great writer - you had me hanging on for the ending there. heehee. I'm so happy for you!

Anonymous said...

You will so love that open floor plan. Our first and second houses were of the traditional kitchen-separate-room variety, but our current house is open kitchen-dining room-living room and it is GREAT! Great for family, great for entertaining. Congratulations, and I am green w/ envy over those fruit trees.

jodi said...

Ack! The stuff you miss when you take a little holiday from the blogs. Honey, congratulations!

Gray said...

I have been traveling and have not been here in a while. But what great news! This is fantastic. Best wishes for the completion of the purchase.

-Gray