How It Works (Or Rather, How it DOESN’T)
Step 1. Sellers price their home "right" and put the sign in the yard.
Step 2. First potential buyers come and they "love it.
Step 3. Potential buyers come back for a second time and are "thinking of writing it up."
Step 4. Potential buyers disappear for two months. Perhaps they are super hero’s? Maybe hiberating? Trapped in a cave somewhere? Drove off a bridge? Stuck in a time warp?
Step 5. Home sellers spend a bunch of money upgrading things around the house: kitchen floor, most of carpet in house, etc. etc.
Step 6. Buyers come for third showing, stay for an hour, eat cookies, take pictures.
Step 7. Buyers disappear for almost two weeks. Perhaps their super powers were required somewhere else? Maybe a ground hog told them to go back to sleep for a bit longer?
Step 8. Buyers make low-ball, sucktastic offer that isn’t even in the realm of possibility, based not on comps (because it would be silly to base an offer on reality), but rather on the fact that they "want a counter-offer."
Step 9. Sellers’ realtor initially tells buyers they are way off base, but then makes a suggestion that sellers follow. Sellers give reasonable counter-offer to show "good faith" and that they want to work something out despite the fact that the offer buyers put forth does not show they are serious (and in fact shows they are dumb and perhaps blind).
Step 10. Buyers think about it for two days and then decide that their response is this: they don’t want to come back with anything at this time BUT they still want to keep the lines of communication open (in other words, if sellers are interested in GIVING away their beautiful home, they’re game and will certainly take it).
Step 11. Seller (aka BBM) tells realtor to take buyers offer, check and envelope and give it back to their agent. How’s that for a little "communication"? Good riddance.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but when sellers make a counter offer, isn’t it usually standard practice that the buyers counter back? Wait, let me answer myself. No, because apparently buyers want to just stick to their initial craptastic offer to show their true naivete and that they are perhaps jerks. Yes jerks.
I’m still feeling positive. Our other showing this week went very well and the buyer showed great interest. It’s going to happen, just not with wishy-washy-craporama-offer people.
On a lighter note, I won a $50 Gymboree gift card today. Yippee! It’s a sign of things to come.
Jinx
I don’t want to say anything that will jinx us. All I’m going to say is that our showing yesterday went very well. I feel strongly that good things are just around the corner.
In other news, Lil C decided that a full frontal brush burn of her entire body would be cool. I’ll just say: tip of nose, above the lip, both lips (think Mick Jagger), and both knees. Unlike Big I, Lil C stopped crying as soon as I picked her up. She let me wash her boo-boo’s and didn’t even care that she had blood all over her shirt (and mine).
Last night, we drove over to look at our reserved lot. Mr. BBM took the girls out onto what just looks like a field now and walked all around. I stayed in the car and grinned ear to ear. I won’t allow myself to touch it just yet, too afraid I’ll jinx it for all of us. I couldn’t help but think that if we were there, Lil C’s injuries would have been grass stains instead of blood.
I have a feeling we’re going to be there soon.
Offer
The wishy-washy people have put an offer on our house in writing; and people, it is not a good one. If I had to compare it to something, I would say that the feeling from this offer is reasonably close to how I felt after eating bad scallops.
A half hour before we were told they were officially writing it up, we got a call for a showing on Wednesday. We also have an open house on Sunday. Something tells me that St. Joseph is working and everything is going to work out.
If you’d all like to assume the "crossed" positioning once again, I sure would appreciate it.
Yet Again
Mr. BBM talked to our realtor this morning. There’s still no word on the wishy-washy non-deciding people who are making me more cranky than usual. My realtor asked if we could have Open House number FOUR this weekend. He says he’ll be promoting it with a ton of directional signs, ads in the real estate and business sections of the paper and in the real estate weekly. Plus, the signs will go up early in the week, as opposed to last time.
Mr. BBM told our realtor he’d have to ask me if it was o.k. While still on the phone with him, he asked me and I made a face that could only mean one of two things: 1. I’m going to kill you now or 2. I’m going to kill you later. Mr. BBM took that to mean that it was o.k. with me. I guess I need to work on my "want to kill you" looks.
I’m sick and tired of cleaning my house like a mad woman so that random strangers (and lots of nosy neighbors-not those of you who read this blog) can come eat a handful of chocolates and traipse through my house with no intention of making an offer on it. I’m tired of baking cookies for these people and scrubbing little areas of my house that no normal person would ever clean. I’m sick of second-guessing everything about my house and feeling like our dream home is never going to happen. I’m trying to be positive and hopefully when the rain leaves this week, it will help me get in the right state of mind.
Our contingency agreement expires again on Friday and although I’m fairly certain our builder will extend the agreement, I’m tired of stressing about it and worrying about when we’ll be able to finally move. Maybe instead of cookies, I should serve strong mojitos and beer and tell our realtor to bring along a mortgage person. Maybe I should just make some jello shots instead. Beer goggles are a proven fact with people; maybe it would work with pink counter-tops as well.
Make It Happen
We have one week before we need to ask our builder for yet another contingency extension. Although I swore I would leave it up to St. Joseph, I can’t deny the stress I’m feeling right now. It’s time for this to happen. If they don’t break ground soon, then we won’t be in our new home by the time the new school year starts. With switching schools being traumatic enough, I really don’t want to make Big I start school at her new place late. There are other options here, like her staying with my Mom who lives in that school district, but the most desirable outcome is to be in our new house in August.
I had a thought today. I emailed my realtor and told him I’d like to make an offer on my own house. I’d like to offer $1. I’ll even put 50% of that down in the form of hand money. Does that count? Can he now go tell the realtor with the very-interested-but-still-dragging-their-feet-people that there is another offer to make them move? I’m tired of waiting; these people are killing me and if they think for one second that they’re going to get our place at a bargain (which it already is) just because they made us wait, they can forget it. I’m getting more annoyed with every day that passes and they continue to ask stupid questions that we’ve already answered previously instead of just putting it in writing. An annoyed BBM is not likely to be kind with a counter-offer. An annoyed BBM is not likely to be kind, period.
It baffles me that they won’t put it on paper (It also baffles me as to why David Archuleta’s ears always seem to be backlit during his performances on American Idol, but that’s for another post). When we saw this house, we fell in love. We went one day, saw it for a second time the next day and put an offer in that night. If they love it as much as they say they do, then put it in writing already!
We’re not desperate to move. In fact, Mr. BBM will tell you that he’s quite content to just stay here now that we have a new kitchen floor, new carpet, and a freshly stained deck. It feels and looks new, especially with the way I’ve been cleaning and organizing. I, however, don’t want to lose my new house, which is right now a grassy lot, a grassy lot where I’ve already chosen my colors, built my house, moved in, take jacuzzi baths, and have hosted Christmas festivities. I’m so attached to that lot and my imagined house that I think I will die of jealousy if someone else gets that lot and builds their house on it instead of me building mine.
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