Deadline + UPDATE

Last week we put an offer in on the yellow house. It was low, but very fair; in fact, it was just about what we are ultimately willing to pay -- not much riff-raff with counters and such -- because we did our research and we know what the home is worth. It's actually worth a bit less, but at $99,000 less than asking, we didn't want to be insulting.

Anyway, we put it in, along with our research, along with the actual bids for what it will cost to make the house safe.

We gave the sellers a deadline to get back to us with their thoughts on our offer. That deadline is... today.

So now we're waiting, waiting, waiting, constantly checking the phone (did I miss a call? Would we get an e-mail about it instead? Better check again, again, again).

Trevor called to tell me that he drove around to eyeball the homes our Realtor suggested we go through next week, assuming they go on the market. He was enthused, but cautious. Because we could get a good answer today. We may not. We have butterflies over this.

Last night while we were folding clothes together, we talked about what we'd do if we got the house. Just after closing we'd go to the house with our kids' big roll of white paper, a Sharpie and painter's tape. We'd go into each room and make giant list of what needs to be done and tape it on the wall, so if either of us has an extra half-hour in our day we could stop by and rip out the built-ins or paint some trim, or whatever. We decided that, if they accept our offer or something close to it, we will in fact put an addition on the back. Will we be house poor? What if we can't afford it? Is it worth it?

Playing a minor role here is the closing of our Cedar Creek house, which has been occupied by the buyers for two months now but is still not technically theirs, because of all the new and ever-changing bank requirements that are holding up our closing by simply existing; causing everyone involved to go get this, now this, nope, need this now, sorry, now we want this document. Our buyers are good, capable people. They are not sketchy buyers; they do not have a random history. They have great jobs and are a super family. How frustrating that our banking system has done this to them, to us, so that we cannot all just move on and become better-contributing people in this touch economy. We want to! We can! Let us!

So I will be here all day, aside from a few requirements keeping me out of the house, during which I'll hold my phone tightly and keep it on vibrate so I know, I KNOW I won't miss a call.

UPDATE: Well, we heard. A resounding NO, followed by a few jabs at our brother-in-law (an attorney, who helped us put together and send out an offer) intended for us, claiming that they were insulted by our offer and that under no circumstances would they ever sell us their house, ever, because we thought so little of it. Way to take it personally. Anyway, while I am a little bit heartbroken, at least our answer was definitive. There will be no negotiations, no wondering if we should stretch our budget more, no wishing we could have done it. It's just over, in kind of a mean way, so we're closing the book on it.