Offer And Counter Offer

We think we've sold the house!

It's been quite a journey, ups and downs, long waits , and finally quick action. It's a compromise, and there are still almost two weeks until the deal is final, money in the bank. 

It turns out we're not all that patient. We settled for less than we wanted, and settled again, and watched the calendar pages turn and deadlines approach. But it should be enough to pay for the new place outright, furnish it as needed, utility over luxury, and continue to live fairly comfortably for a dozen years. Of course, best laid plans....

Sitting on the house is costing us money. Utilities still have to be paid. This month the water bill went up, not from use, but because it's a desert and water rates went up... again. Use or no use. Period. Until ownership is transferred, utilities have to be kept on to prove they work. Insurance needs to be maintained. We're also paying something here in MN, because we're using water, gas and electricity, and my son's bills are higher while we stay. It's the thing to do. On top of that, there's an increase in gasoline over our regular usage level because we're filling the car tank almost weekly instead of once a month. Perhaps "filling" is a bit of an exaggeration, and "topping off" is more accurate. A nearby larger town is having gas wars so we take advantage when we're in it. We're also more conscious of our trips when the grocery store with best prices is more than the mile away we're used to.

It was a busy weekend in house viewings, our realtor informed us. The house was finally getting more appreciation for its "bones" than criticism for its lack of the latest high end decorating, at the now lower price. One person liked it but hadn't secured financing yet, and had to go talk to his money-man, an uncle. (I never had one of those. Did you? My relatives couldn't/wouldn't pop for a new house for me.) A real estate company put in the best solid offer in the end. The better offer financially also came with the fewest caveats and the shortest time span. Both would take it "as is" while a third party expressed interest but dithered about asking for improvements on our part before buying. It seems they "couldn't afford paint" among other things. 

The offer we accepted was both the highest and fastest, giving us 3 days to accept/reject, including a firm price even before inspection, no repairs needed, 5 days for them to come up with the standard  $2K escrow, (we only put $100 down in 2012 when we bought it) and closing on the 20th, in cash. That means financing is already secure on their end, not a suitcase of, say, $100 bills, in case that was your first mental image from watching too many TV crime shows. Being a realty company, they already know what is skin deep and what is changeable. We'd had one lower offer - the guarantee, just in case - who wanted to fix it up as a rental, and I have no idea if the offer we accepted is the same kind of plan or they are looking for a nice profit once the house is "prettier". I never presume they want to live there themselves.

We gave a counter offer of 3 days for them to come up with the escrow instead of 5. Or rather, our hard working realtor put that on the table, where it was verbally accepted. Last night she emailed us the contracts for our e-signatures, a surprisingly easy process we're getting used to, and we looked them over while clicking in all the right little pink boxes for initials or a full signature automatically filled in, depending on what was needed. At the end we just had to click a box which only appeared acknowledging we'd not missed any spots or we'd have to go back to see what we'd missed, telling us we'd completed the process. While I was trying to figure out what I still needed to do to send the forms back to our realtor, we got emails back letting us know they were received, and click here, here, or this other space to get or own copy of the contract as signed back in our email. I picked one and it began loading... and loading... and loading... all 30 pages! No wonder I'd missed one of the boxes the first time through.

In case you wonder, the contract itself isn't that long, but it includes copies of all the paperwork we'd filled out back when we hired our realtor, everything about the house, what kind(s) of pipes where, who has the solar contracts, who had the termite control contract, when X, Y, and Z were replaced or repaired, or in one case, not, and so forth. The "not" was for the gas fireplace. It was never used, and finally a couple years back did not light when the gas company did an appliance check once we returned from vacation before turning gas back on. It's "yellow tagged" so nobody will return gas to it before suitable repairs are made, whether a simple cleaning or a parts replacement. We left it unused, unfixed. It's declared in the forms so any buyer can't come back to us demanding a repair, unless they do it in the original offer. "As is" is a wonderful offer for us. The more months we wait, the sooner the extra expenses eat into our reserves.

The final part of the offer, the one possible bit of insecurity for us, is their actual signing, plus the final payment being due the 20th. If the final payment falls through, we get the $2K, and our house is back on the market. Start again. At least with a realty company giving an "as is, cash" offer, it's fairly likely to go through.

So the only hitch, once that goes through, is getting my SS card replacement in the mail. I was told when I went to their Minneapolis office that it would take "a week or two". I've been checking the mailbox religiously since the first week was over, more than 10 days ago. Until that card arrives, I can't make a photo copy for the park's management office so they can do our background checks and approve us to live in the park. 

Want to guess how patiently we'll be waiting for that, now?