Well, it seems that what seemed like a done deal last weekend is now a definite no-hoper.
Their real estate agent was apparently as much on our side as he could be -- telling the sellers that given the altered circumstances, our new offer was still very reasonable, even generous. But the sellers are apparently very stuck on getting their original asking price, $499K, for the house. (They'd had one offer before ours, for $490K. They counter-offered at $499K.)
The option of getting a second-opinion appraisal was mentioned, but the sellers' agent didn't seem too optimistic about that -- doubtful over whether or not the second value would be much different than the first, and doubtful about whether or not the sellers would even bother to heed any appraisal that didn't come in at exactly $499K or above.
Because the house is worth exactly $499K, you know. Because it has reproduction light fixtures from Rejuvenation Hardware!
So tomorrow we'll start the paperwork to cancel the deal. Good luck getting your $499K from somebody else, folks!
God, I'd so hoped that we'd gotten lucky and found The House right away. I just hope that we get another chance at something else we like soon, and that the months to come aren't an endless succession of days spent confronting other peoples' greed -- especially now that the housing market finally seems to be deflating, and sellers are scrambling to get what they think they're entitled to get, rather than what's actually feasible.
Posted by Kevin at August 28, 2004 11:58 PM