The Perfect House
Today we went and looked at the perfect house. It checked off every single thing on our list and more. We had always hoped for a home in a decent location with at least half of the following things: three-car garage, swimming pool, guest house or at least a good guest room...and an added bonus would be non-HOA with an RV gate for our camper. Well, this house had all of these things, plus an extensive putting green and solar panels (16 kilowatt!!). Those last two things are essentially a dream come true for Dylan.
Dylan, the voice of reason and master of patience has never been too worked up over any of the houses that we've seen. I, on the other hand, would be happy to move into a one-bedroom apartment and have deemed every house to be "perfect." Well, Dylan lit up when he discovered this house. Like, he was ready to put in an offer with no hope to be had for our house selling any time soon. Every time I've been ready to make an offer on a house, he's shot me down with his calm demeanor while he laid out the benefits of waiting for our house to go under contract before we commit ourselves to paying a mortgage on a second house.
The house was a little dated but totally livable and located on 96th and Cactus, which is a perfect location for us. Being at the top of our budget, we wouldn't be able to renovate any time soon, and that was really the only mark against it. (Again, I'd live in an apartment if it meant I could move, so cheap floors, drab paint, dated countertops, walls in desperate need of demolition and gross carpet are not deal-breakers as far as I'm concerned.)
The house went on the market yesterday. We went to see it at 11 this morning. By 1:30, we were at my parents' house. We went to pull up the photos of the house to show my dad only to discover that it had gone under contract. Already! We hadn't seen anything move so fast, and at the same time, we have never seen a house so perfect for our family. We were surprised because the house had sat on the market for months and months earlier this year for a price only slightly higher than the current list price. They took it off the market, got a new broker and just re-listed it. It sits right on 96th street and is across from a huge horse thing, and as we've learned the hard way, horses make a house difficult to sell. So, we thought we'd have a couple days (or at least a couple of hours) to get our ducks in a row.
Am I disappointed? Sure. Devastated? Not really. The rollercoaster of this process has made me so numb. Never has anything I wanted so badly been so wildly out of my control, and I don't have any emotion left to spend on it. Dylan is bummed, sure. But he never lets the small things bring him down...and really, it's just a small thing. The house was perfect, and we probably won't end up in something that ideal for us, but we'll be fine. At this point, we are submitting a back-up offer just in case the current offer (full asking price in cash) falls apart...which it won't.
And here I sit, in the comfort of my current air-conditioned home with my happy, healthy family. My community has not been ravaged by hurricanes or wildfires. My kids are doing well. We're employed, we have fun and we are more than comfortable. We wanted something, and we can't have it. Good things have happened to us and so have bad things because we're doing this thing called life. Tomorrow will be a new day, we'll carry on with all our normal activities, and we'll have grown just a little more resilient to disappointment...and that will be that.
Dylan, the voice of reason and master of patience has never been too worked up over any of the houses that we've seen. I, on the other hand, would be happy to move into a one-bedroom apartment and have deemed every house to be "perfect." Well, Dylan lit up when he discovered this house. Like, he was ready to put in an offer with no hope to be had for our house selling any time soon. Every time I've been ready to make an offer on a house, he's shot me down with his calm demeanor while he laid out the benefits of waiting for our house to go under contract before we commit ourselves to paying a mortgage on a second house.
The house was a little dated but totally livable and located on 96th and Cactus, which is a perfect location for us. Being at the top of our budget, we wouldn't be able to renovate any time soon, and that was really the only mark against it. (Again, I'd live in an apartment if it meant I could move, so cheap floors, drab paint, dated countertops, walls in desperate need of demolition and gross carpet are not deal-breakers as far as I'm concerned.)
The house went on the market yesterday. We went to see it at 11 this morning. By 1:30, we were at my parents' house. We went to pull up the photos of the house to show my dad only to discover that it had gone under contract. Already! We hadn't seen anything move so fast, and at the same time, we have never seen a house so perfect for our family. We were surprised because the house had sat on the market for months and months earlier this year for a price only slightly higher than the current list price. They took it off the market, got a new broker and just re-listed it. It sits right on 96th street and is across from a huge horse thing, and as we've learned the hard way, horses make a house difficult to sell. So, we thought we'd have a couple days (or at least a couple of hours) to get our ducks in a row.
Am I disappointed? Sure. Devastated? Not really. The rollercoaster of this process has made me so numb. Never has anything I wanted so badly been so wildly out of my control, and I don't have any emotion left to spend on it. Dylan is bummed, sure. But he never lets the small things bring him down...and really, it's just a small thing. The house was perfect, and we probably won't end up in something that ideal for us, but we'll be fine. At this point, we are submitting a back-up offer just in case the current offer (full asking price in cash) falls apart...which it won't.
And here I sit, in the comfort of my current air-conditioned home with my happy, healthy family. My community has not been ravaged by hurricanes or wildfires. My kids are doing well. We're employed, we have fun and we are more than comfortable. We wanted something, and we can't have it. Good things have happened to us and so have bad things because we're doing this thing called life. Tomorrow will be a new day, we'll carry on with all our normal activities, and we'll have grown just a little more resilient to disappointment...and that will be that.
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