Wednesday, February 25, 2009

House update

Well – the offer fell through. We are happy with our decision though, we came down as far as we could and well below what comps in our neighborhood are selling for. They wouldn’t budge at all. Their realtor told ours that they are backing away from the offer on our house and will begin looking again in a lower price range. The difference in our counter from their original offer would have only meant $40/month difference in their payment. If it was that close for them, it makes me worry the financing wouldn’t have held up anyway.

It would not have made sense for us to accept their original offer as it would not have given us the down payment we need for the next house. If the market is truly that low, then it makes the most sense for us to stay put…

So we are disappointed but feel we did the right thing. Our realtor has set another showing appointment with a different buyer for tomorrow btwn 6 and 7pm. So there is still interest, I keep coming back to if we are really overpriced no one would be scheduling showings. It was only 10 days ago that we had 4 showings in one weekend – all is not lost.

The silver lining: DH and I did really well through all of this – we didn’t argue or fight at all – we knew our game plan and where our bottom was and we played it just like we discussed we would and had no conflict between us at all. We didn't let our realtor push us into doing something we personally weren't comfortable with either (which she did try to do - she wanted that commission). I look back on our 14 yrs together and I have to smile and feel grateful at how far we’ve come and how our relationship has matured. What would have caused great stress and conflict a few years ago is playing out so smoothly now. I guess we’ve learned something over the years anyway.

4 comments:

Susan @ Real Girl Designs said...

{{{Jenny}}} – I’m sorry that the deal fell through for you, but as you said originally, you were selling this house because you wanted a new house. You weren’t being forced into a position where you had to sell the house (due to your finances, or needing to change locations, etc). Way to go for standing your ground, and not being bullied into it by an over-aggressive realtor, or by a buyer in a weak financial position.

I’m glad that you and your DH were able to provide a united front – that’s outstanding!

Are you going to keep the house on the market for a while, or are you just going to take it off the market for now?

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Missy Ann said...

Good for you & dh sticking to your plan, and not fighting about it.

And I think you're right, if they couldn't afford $40 more in payment, I doubt their financing would've held up.

Jenny said...

Susan - We'll leave it up at least a little longer - our current contract with the realtor is up on 3/23 - we'll re-evaluate then. We have another showing tomorrow and spring is coming so we're not giving up just yet.

Anonymous said...

I can't think of too many more stressful things for a couple than real estate negotiations. I'm glad it went well between the two of you. :)