there is more to the story, but here is where we are at

i started to write back blogs explaining how we got to today -- which i promise i will do -- but today has been pretty crazy for us. actually this week has been such a roller coaster.

here is a quick summary and update on where we are at:

• total houses we have seen since january 3rd: 15
• number of offers made: 2
• number of homes we own: 0

we sit here on the couch after spending part of our day going to open houses in the area, trying to keep our mind off our current situation. on thursday evening after touring buff's place for a second time, we went back to our real estate agents office to put together an offer. the price had dropped since our initial tour and we felt that our offer was strong enough to at the very least start a conversation.

after leaving her office after 10:30pm, we got cold feet because we were still hopeful that something would change regarding area 51, a home that we made an offer on a week earlier and really loved. we asked our agent to let us sleep on things, and on friday afternoon after many conversations and analyzing everything (and hearing back from area 51's listing agent that the deal was done and we were out) we decided that we were ready to make an offer on buff's place.

friday night was miserable. we both just kind of sat around and over thought everything. saturday morning when we woke up we were even more stressed, waiting to hear from our agent and see where we stood. at this time we also noticed that buff's place was planning on having an open house this weekend (today - sunday) and realized that they may make us wait until after the open house to see what offers they might get.

saturday evening our agent called to let us know that the buyers wanted a couple more hours to think about the offer, and that we should expect to hear something on sunday morning. so after another sleepless night, we wake to just waiting around to see what happens. we were planning on spending today out with our agent looking at listings (before we decided to make an offer on buff's place) but of course, we canceled our outing while we waited. dave and i didn't want to get distracted while we waited to see if this amazing home would be ours.

a little information about buff's place:

• brick front interior unit townhome in a small community in a great school district
• 3 bedrooms with ceiling fans and vaulted ceilings
• 2 1/2 bathrooms (master bathroom, guest full bathroom, 1/2 bathroom in the basement)
• eat in kitchen
• separate dining room
• wood floors throughout the main level
• finished walkout basement family room with new carpet

sunday early afternoon dave got a call from our agent, marge (i had decided to make a coffee run for myself and drive around to just clear my head). the listing agent had presented our offer and the owners would only accept the listing price on the house, and no assistance with closing...or they would take a higher offer and minimal assistance with closing. basically, they weren't willing to negotiate. and, the seller was unwilling to make any updates if the inspection came back with "red flags", specifically radon (something that evidently is pretty common...scary).

about 10 minutes ago we spoke to our agent and made a counter-offer. we split the difference which is as high we are willing to go. this past week has been so frustrating...buyers market my butt!

that's it for now! i will work to update the back story to all this later, but right now i really need a bourbon & coke...double.

happy hunting,

doreen