Real Estate

We've been seriously house hunting for about 6 months now - serious as opposed to me just going to open houses because I enjoy them!!lol A few days ago, our agent calls me and tells me she's found THE house and the selling agent is there now, can I run down to take a look. Sure, why not! A friend who is equally into real estate was visiting so off we go, me and my 2nd opinion! The house, oh my, it is gorgeous!! It's all I could want. It has DH's library and my big back yard, not to mention gorgeous, gorgeus, gorgeous, from the old original wood trim and leaded glass windows to the state of the art kitchen with a huge walk in pantry. It even has a 3rd floor loft...oh, I could so see it as MY space.

Well, of course things aren't that simple. Real estate is crazy here with most houses being sold above asking price. DH and I keep 2 amounts in our heads when in comes to buying a house. The first is how much we'd LIKE to spend, the 2nd is how much we're WILLING to spend. The 2nd amount is somewhat higher than the first, while still allowing us to eat more than Kraft Dinner for years to come. Anyhow, after this whirlwind tour, I call my agent and tell her I agree, the house is gorgeous (my friend agrees). Ah, but the dream house has a nightmare price!! The price is about 20% above our WILLING price which means it is not affordable. After I tell the agent that yes, it's lovely, it would be a dream to live there, but sorry, we can't afford it, she lets it drop. Then yesterday, she calls. She tells me she's been tossing and turning over this one and if this is my dream house, she thinks we should go for it (keep in mind that DH hasn't even seen this house yet!!!lol Since it's way out of the price range, I haven't bothered to take him to see it, see, I am a reasonable gal!lol) I was telling DH about this last night, it's just so funny to me. It's not like she called up and said hey, I've got money to spare, I'll cover that extra 20%, so you go for it. Really, I know she wants her commision, but we're the ones going to be stuck with that huge mortgage. It just struck me so funny that she'd call and say we should just "go for it"... without a concern in the world... oh, wait, she doesn't have a concern in the world, her name wouldn't be on the mortgage!!!lol So now we sit and cross our fingers that not only will this house not sell for asking or above asking price, but in the next few weeks the seller will decide to drastically slash the price... dream on!!lol So, the search continues, but perhaps the agent will no longer suggest I rush out to see beautiful homes we have no intention of buying!lol