WE OWN A HOUSE!

Seriously. We actually own a house. Exactly 3 months from the day we put our condo on the market, we had an offer accepted on a home. After the condo battle, the sale at a loss, the 3 other homes we offered on, the home we tried to build, out stuff being in storage and living in the basement in my parents house....we own a home.

We close on October 27. Happy Halloween! And just in time for Kyle's second birthday and the holidays.

What a relief.

Last night, we went to Old Friend's house to see it again, just to make sure we really liked it. We met Margot the Agent and my parents there and let Kyle run around the yard. What a great sight, to see Kyle and John playing in a YARD. That will be ours!

We both felt after walking through it again that we actually liked it more than the first time. It was a little easier the second time around to look past the mauve carpets and the wood frames and the old counters and see the bones of the house. The rooms are big, the downstairs is really open and light and everything is in good condition. Outdated, but good condition.

We spent about 20 minutes going through and asking a few more questions and then headed straight for Margot the Agent's office to make an offer. Margot is awesome and since technically we found this house all on her own, she's only taking a 1.5% commission. We've decide to just pay it out rather than tacking it on to the mortgage. It saves us about $50 a month!

Margot the Agent told us what Old Friend had in mind for a listing price (it was what the house was assessed for, which NO homes are going at assessed value right now). She told him no way. She brought up all the stuff that needs to be updated and if she was his agent, she'd list it for $20K less right off the bat....and hope for an offer between $5-15K less than that.

We offered $10K less than what she recommended he list it at, which we thought was totally reasonable considering all the updates the house will need.

Margot also brought over 6 or 7 comprable homes (size, bedrooms, lots, neighborhoods, etc) and what they've sold for in the last few months. All were within $10-15K from what she would list at (not what he wanted to list at).

They went over that and talked for almost an hour while John and I sat at home going crazy. She called us and told us he wasn't sure and wanted to think about it.

Of course, our first thought was, great, here we go again. ANOTHER house is going to fall through.

Margot was encouraged though, because he was very receptive to the homes she brought to compare, and he was asking a lot of questions about the closing process, like when the inspectors would come, what the radon test was, etc. She told us not to worry too much and that if worse comes to worse, he'd counter and we'd have to decide how much higher we'd want to go.

Old Friend promised to call Margot the Agent sometime today.

This morning, around 10 am, she called us and told us we were home owners! No counter offer, he just accepted our offer as is! Not only that, but he's still going to replace the few windows that he needs to, and will be painting the exterior. And, we get to pick the paint color!

YAYAYAYAYAYAY!

We close eight weeks from today, pending P&S and inspection.

The best part is that with such low interest rates, we are only paying about $450 more a month than we did in our condo for a place that's twice the size on actual land!

It's so great to have an end in sight. We will be settled and cozy by the holidays. :)