Under Wraps

We have been in the market to buy a house since May. I remember getting the pre-qualification letter during a thunder and lightening storm. It was quite a display. Lightening is both terrifying and awesome to watch. As I drove away with my letter in hand, I began to feel excited and at the same time a little sick. I had visions of being in a home within a couple of months. Yeah, sure babe, right!

The market right now is terrible. It is not a buyer's market. It is a seller's market. Well maybe it is a banker's market, because most homes are short sales or bank owned. This means it is their decision whether an offer is accepted. If you are like me, you don't know what a short sale is. A short sale is a long drawn process with a lot of paper work. Sadly almost any home in our price range is a short sale. A short sale means the home was bought for far more than it is now currently worth. Sad, but true. So the bank comes up short and has to eat up the loss. Hence the reason why the bank gets to decide and why it takes for bloody ever.

By September we had seen less than ten houses 2 of which we bid on. The rest were...well...let's just say less than desirable. I was getting discouraged and thinking it would never happen for us. It was around that time, that our landlord called me and told me that she and her husband have decided to short sale this house. And who better to sell it to than us. I was thrilled and at the same time sad. I consider her my friend, and my friend is having to give up an investment. But she was firm about it, and even more so about having us be the buyer.

I wanted to shout it from the roof tops, but I couldn't. I didn't want to jinx it. It reminded me of when a woman finds out she is pregnant. Whether it is the first time or the fourth time, you don't want to say anything until you are past that first trimester. Well since I don't know how long this will take and it does seem to be progressing forward, I decided it might be okay to blog about it now. The bid has been made, the papers have begun, and today the house is being appraised. I am waiting for them. I don't know what to expect. I do not like the unknown. I am still stepping lightly, and I won't say anything for sure until it is set in stone and signed in blood. I do not want to "jinx" it.