Offer Day

Well, today we received an offer on the house. At first I was thrilled and relieved, since though it was a low offer, it was a solid cash offer just pending the closing of a "1031 exchange" apparently a savy, tax-deferred land transaction of which I have no knowledge, but which the realtor assures me is so savy that people who use them don't often fail to complete them. We are countering for the minimum price we had in mind. We'll know tomorrow by 5pm what the response is. Apparently a parent buying for a child with the sale of 40 acres in Kalispel that happens to lie within 160 acres belonging to another party, who are also paying cash for the piece. Amelia had to ask me once, "Mom, are you going to scream again?"

I have been excited and jittery all afternoon. I had resigned myself to a long slow process, and though our house has been on the market 7 or 8 weeks, this was only our 4th showing. How lovely would it be to not have to be hyper-cleaning woman (known to my children of late as the "Wicked-clean Witch of the West" as in "Don't wipe your hands down the walls!" "Eat those crackers outside even if it is snowing, or I'll have to sweep again!" and "That toy? No, sorry, it's already packed.")?

Mike found a lovely house in Seattle yesterday too, one we'd liked online, and which he said is even lovlier in person. Unfortunately loveliness comes with a price tag. It's at the very top of our price range (as in the most a lender would give us), which of course means that the asking price is significantly above us. Houses in Seattle are sitting, so we can offer less. Whether or not the owner would consider a significantly lower offer contingent on the closing of our place, which is contingent on the closure of a land deal..... Ah, but it's a great house, room for kids, guests, yard, garden beds, space for a family of six to cook, eat, play & entertain. A lovely, gracious (but not ostentatious home). I can imagine having four teenagers in this house--not something many homes offer. Even a third garage bay that would fit Grandma Dorothy's RV, or bikes, trikes, scooters, trailers, skis, sleds, camping gear all crammed into our current garage space.

I'm an expert at second guessing decisions as trivial as the pants I purchased at the thrift store, so you can imagine me now, at 10:30pm, wondering whether or not we should even consider this house, and remembering that the sale of our own home is hardly a done deal. Peace is a fleeting thing these days.