(Almost) Officially in Contract!

I can't believe how everything is happening for us with this house. After the last post where I began to let myself hope again, we had yet another heartbreak - we were told the next day that someone had offered full asking price and that the owner had accepted that offer. We couldn't match that, and we certainly couldn't surpass it in order to be competitive. There was a lot of crying (me) and anger (her) and discouragement all around. We banded together in a way we haven't had to in quite some time, so I guess I can be thankful for that. The support was just as mutual as the grief.

Meanwhile, we resumed talk about the house in Merrick, but we just couldn't regain our initial excitement about that house. It wasn't Tyson. However, we had to move on, so Nicole said she wanted to see it again before making an offer. I was working late the next two nights, but I didn't feel such a need to see it again, so I arranged between Nicole and the realtor. Nicole had her parents meet her there. I got a full report from all of them afterward. Her parents thought it was worth making an offer but told us the highest they would go considering a few obvious issues with the house. Nicole and I talked it over, and on Wednesday Nicole's mom asked if we wanted to make an offer. I told her that I know it sounds silly, but I was holding out some hope that something would fall through with Tyson and it could be ours - and I didn't want to go too far with Merrick and then find out we could have had a chance with Tyson. I knew it was a long shot, but I wanted it badly enough that I didn't want to close the door.

Then John called on Thursday to say that as soon as they had gone into contract, the buyers started trying to negotiate the price down. They had only offered the asking price to get themselves in the door ahead of other offers and were now playing games. The seller was turned off by this and wanted to accept our offer. John told her that they can't keep toying with us, so that she would have to accept it immediately before anything is even written and would have to agree to stop showing the house. She did!

We stayed nervous because technically, even without her showing it, someone could make another offer and she could still accept it over ours. But it all seems good right now. We got an attorney that day, who was a personal recommendation from my brother-in-law's girlfriend who is an attorney, and the seller's attorney sent contracts to ours on Friday. Our attorney was out of the office and called us on Monday, and we went in at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to meet with him and sign the contracts. We scheduled the inspection for Thursday at 10:00, because I would be off that day for a Saturday that I worked recently, and the lawyer said he would hold onto the contracts and send them out as soon as we call him to say that the home is structurally sound.

The inspection went AMAZINGLY. We used the same guy that inspected a house in Levittown that we'd made an offer on. We'd backed out of that after his report showed some serious issues, such as with electrical and plumbing. He couldn't believe how much better this house was and kept telling us how glad he was we didn't go through with the Levittown house. He raved about things I wouldn't even have known to look for. He told us never to get rid of the toilet bowls because they are really expensive and top-of-the-line - who would have guessed?? He said the renovation of the full bath was a $15 or $20,000 job and that they didn't chintz on it; the cabinets are solid, the plumbing was done in an ideal way that's more expensive, and the fan is a $2 or $300 fan that runs silently. Everything that they did in the house was properly installed and solidly constructed. The owner is a middle-aged widow, and I think they put a lot of money into the work they did because they thought they'd be there for life. But after he died, she moved to Connecticut to live with her son. It's kind of a weird feeling that we are benefitting so much from their tragedy - but I'm glad their home that they put so much love and work into is going to help raise a new family and give them amazing memories.

After the inspection, I called the lawyer immediately and told him to go ahead and send out the contracts. I guess we will hear from him when she has signed, and then we will be officially in contract! Much scariness lays ahead, particularly with applying for a mortgage, but at least we will be securely locked in without the threat of someone else taking it from us. This house is so perfect for us, and worth the tug-of-war on my heart!