It's all very exciting, but it's also causing me a great deal of anxiety because... the process is a little too similar, a little too close to others that had me waiting by the phone for news. This time it's primarily texts, not phone calls, but still. I'm watching my phone like a hawk, and it doesn't feel good.
We put the offer in, and then it was countered (reasonably), and it took us a little bit to accept the counteroffer as Bryce was out of town on business. We went to see it again, just to make sure it felt right (and I may have brought a tape measure like a lunatic to check out room sizes against our furniture and whatnot) -- we went straight from picking Bryce up at the airport and then accepted the counteroffer after, at dinner.
BUT. When we were at the house, we noticed an "OPEN HOUSE" sign for Sunday.
So of course, I spent all weekend simultaneously planning all kinds of fun things for this new house, while also working myself up into tears over the possibility that someone could go to the open house and swipe this place right out from under us, and we'd be screwed AGAIN.
Things are at the attorney stage, and the contract is signed by everyone (after agonizing Signature Watch on my phone and through the weird signing software), and hopefully there's no surprises from that open house I hope went dismally, so I'm almost to the point where I can stop being a crazy person...but it really feels awful to be back in that cycle of hope and fear, waiting and partial good news, uncertainty and not knowing. I feel like we have a positive pee stick -- encouraging, but ultimately it means nothing.
I really want this house to be something that we searched for, and worked towards, and adjusted our vision for, and then HAVE IT WORK OUT. Cross all your crossables, please. Unlike the other process, if this doesn't work out there truly will be another house. But for once I would just like the original plan, the original desire, to come to fruition.
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Oh my, congratulations, and I sure hope all it all works out the way you want! It really is an awful feeling. I know the way real estate works in the States is slightly different (not sure how they could have an open house if they'd already accepted your offer? unless it's because all the legalities & paperwork hadn't been finalized yet?), but we were in a similar situation -- our offer on this condo was conditional on us selling our house, & we had a certain time frame to do it in... if someone else made another offer in the meantime (or if we didn't sell our house within that time) we had the option of removing the condition (i.e., we'd have to find bridge financing) & taking the condo, at the price we'd agreed upon. And someone else WAS interested, which sure gave me heartburn -- but we ultimately got it without having to resort to further complications. Meanwhile, the people buying our house turned out to be complete jerks... I won't go into those details since I assume you still have that part ahead of you...! Suffice to say there was a lot of angst & cursing along the way, right up to closing, but in the end, we got the condo, the house got sold and we've been living pretty happily ever after since then. ;) Crossables are all crossed for you!! -- keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, apparently they can totally do an open house with an offer on the table (since the counteroffer hadn't been addressed yet when they set it up), and I was assured that open houses are far more for realtors to get new clients than for people to get new offers, although it could happen. Ironically our inspection engineer told us that it likely didn't sell to anyone else because people with kids wouldn't want it. Huh. This whole selling business is miserable! I hope we can stay in this new house until we're ready to go all retirement community. :)
DeleteOur real estate agent told us the main reason agents hold open houses is to get more clients and not to actually sell the house. Right after she told us that, we went to an open house and the agent there seemed much more interested in getting us as clients than in selling the house he was showing. So hopefully that's the case here! Good luck, a contemporary house in the woods sounds awesome! That's my someday dream house!
ReplyDeleteYes, we heard that too! Thanks, that did make me feel better as I heard it from you first... :) I am so excited for all this to be finalized and to move in and post pictures of our brand new treehouse in the woods. :)
DeleteEverything crossed for you!
ReplyDeleteReal estate after infertility and childlessness is interesting. When your life has already been shattered, something as simple as buying a house (when there's a million houses on the market and you already have a great place and if this one doesn't work out there will be another one) seems like not such a big thing. You want it to go through, you hope with everything that it will go through, but you are so used to protecting your heart and operating under the assumption that things will go wrong, that it won't seem real until all of the paperwork is signed and the keys are in your hands.
At our final walkthrough the night before we on our house, our real estate agent remarked about how chill and unemotional we were through the process and how he wasn't used to that. I told him that after infertility and learning we'd never have children, that this was nothing.
Thank you! Real estate after infertility is definitely a triggering thing! I sort of wish that I could have been more guarded through everything, but I have a hard time not hoping for the best and dreaming of the future that could be... luckily this time it seems to have worked out! :) No keys yet, but we're getting there. I agree, our realtor was like, "The mortgage process is so invasive and awful, be warned." and I said, "Um, we've been through the adoption process, no offense, but this is NOTHING."
DeleteThanks for sharing your experience!
Oh so exciting!!! It sounds like it’s very close to being a done deal (but why would they even have an open house when an offer has been accepted? Weird).
ReplyDeleteWe bought our house on a sellers market years ago and had to move fast. We had already missed one. It was before any of the infertility stuff though. Sorry it brought up memories but I hope this is a completely different and good experience. So crazy exciting!
Thank you! Yeah, that was very confusing and added a lot of stress, but it worked out. Grrr. So far this seems to be a MUCH more pleasant experience than infertility, it just brought back a lot of feelings about waiting and feeling like everything that could go wrong would... but thankfully this is different so far! Huzzah. Totally exciting!
DeleteOooh, I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you. Thta mkes it vry difficull to tyep!
ReplyDeleteYes, I understand how hard it is to wait after everything you've been through. I'm hoping you'll get an answer soon. In NZ if a house is "under contract" all open homes would be cancelled, so that would be so frustrating.
Good luck!
Hysterical! :) The open house thing was so very weird, but thankfully it was apparently still a no go for others. Our inspection engineer basically said the problem with the house for most people would be that it's not really a house for a family with kids. Which is ironic, because that's what appeals to us about it. :) All's well that ends well, thank goodness... now to have closing and selling our own house go well!
DeleteOhhhhh, how exciting and stressful all at the same time! We recently just went through the buying and selling process. It is sooooo stressful. Wishing you the best of luck that everything works out exactly (and as smoothly) as it should!
ReplyDeleteYES! Very exciting. It is sooo stressful, but now the buying part is less stressful and the selling part is starting to cause us agita. We are getting through all our stuff and hopefully will be able to feel comfortable with showing soon. So glad that this process seems to be so much kinder than the others we totally lost at!
DeleteI don’t mean to draw out the anxiety, but I’m a bit confused. If you accepted the counteroffer, then the house should be moving to escrow, right? Meaning the “Open House” should not have happened as that would be a violation of the agreement? Or no? New England has different laws with real estate, so I’m asking because out West this would result in the sellers being slapped with a civil suit.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I’m so sorry that this process is triggering. After everything and you only a year out on the resolution road, it sucks to be dealing with this type of anxiety again. Everything is crossed for you guys.
Weird, right? So, we had the counteroffer and hadn't responded quite yet when they scheduled the open house, but when we did respond on a Friday they still didn't cancel for the Sunday. But, it must have gone dismally for them because we are contracted! :) Thanks for the condolences on the triggers, it was truly super hairy. Selling I hope feels differently than buying. Woo hoo, here we go!
DeleteI can see why the familiar feeling of waiting somewhat powerlessly would return. I'm here a few days late...I hope there is some good news for you by now #fingerscrosed. I, too, had Cristy's question.
ReplyDeleteIt was weird how quickly I was transported back to fertility and adoption feelings. Good news for sure! And yeah. The open house was weird, but it worked out in the end!
DeleteEverything crossed for you!!! It is weird that if the counteroffer was accepted that they would still be doing an open house, but hey. Still hopeful this works out. Buying our house was enormously stressful.
ReplyDeleteSooooo, the counteroffer hadn't been accepted yet when they scheduled the open house, but I was so hoping they'd cancel when we did, and they didn't. BUT, it went horribly because no offers, so we are in good shape! SO STRESSFUL. I will be so glad when we are all sorted out!
DeleteFingers crossed for you. That's slightly different process in India. The seller puts the price and the buyer takes it up or is smart enough to bring it down and get it. I can see your anxiety here. Must be hard.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Ahhh, that sounds like it makes a lot more sense than American home-buying! So much anxiety. It's better now though, now we are trying to get our house cleared out so we can easily show and sell and move minimally. But yay to having a contract on the new house!
DeleteAhhh! That is so exciting. Good luck, good luck, good luck! I hope everything works out beautifully with no further issues.
ReplyDeleteThank you! So far so good! Woo hoo! Now to sell ours...
DeleteEverything is crossed for you guys! That's really weird that they were able to hold an open house after signing the contract with you guys???!?
ReplyDeleteRight? So, technically they set up the open house when we went to see it and accepted the counteroffer then, but it must have gone terribly because WE GOT IT! :)
DeleteAll crossables were and are crossed. This looks like a wonderful property for you! There certainly is plenty of land for those gardens I know you’ll create. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you! We're getting closer every day. And SO EXCITED FOR THE GARDENING! Ah!
DeleteWE GOT IT!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!