Walking Away

A question many buyers may ask themselves when they are going back and forth with counteroffers with the seller is, "When is it time to just walk away?" There are many emotions flying around at this time...anxiety, anger, sadness, etc. and it may be hard to focus and make the decision that is right for you.

 You've spent countless hours going over the numbers of what you can afford, the payments you can make, choosing the perfect neighborhood to raise a family, a house with much potential that you have imagined yourself living there and have gone over all of the changes you have made in your head. You put an offer in on the house and have spent the whole weekend going back and forth with them over percentage of concessions, appliances, going over the list price to try to get the seller to cover closing costs. My husband and I were just getting so fed up with them that we decided we didn't love the house that much and we were not willing to drain our savings for it. It was just not worth it. And the silly thing for them is that they lost the deal because they would not include the refrigerator. I'm sorry, we can not afford a refrigerator and to cover closing costs so I hope you were happy with that decision because we are certainly happy with ours.
So now we are moving onto our fallback. With our house already sold and a projected closing date for June 15, we have no time to waste. This house is a few blocks away from the other house. Quiet neighborhood, same school district, close to the zoo, parks, and a quick easy access to the highway so that I can get to work. The house is 1600 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, huge kitchen, appliances included, a lot of storage, almost fully fenced in backyard with a lot of potential for gardens, deck/porch and maybe a hot tub.

The house is a perfect size for entertaining, but lacks a large driveway like the last house had. Granted the house does have a garage, but you can only park one car in the driveway. We may need to consider expanding the driveway in the future. The basement is a little scary..old checkerboard tile with wood paneling, and will definately need to be updated. The appliances are a little dated, but those can be saved for and replaced over time. We won't need to rush out and spend 3 grand on appliances right away. We can wait for a good sale and get a decent price at that time. The hubby thinks that the cabinets in the kitchen are a little dated, I think they are charming. The kitchen is large enough to install an island if we wanted with a built in range and an overhead decorative modernized range hood.

This house has been on the market for 8 months. The seller and realtor know that the house is priced a litte high at 127,900. The seller is living in another house and is currently paying 2 mortgages. She is paying for heat, water, electricity. The realtor wants it off his docket. We are going in at 122,000 with 6% concessions and to include the broken AC unit that is not listed on the mls. If we do this, when we have the inspection, we can get it fixed. I think that it is a good place to start, and I am hoping that we will hear something today.