Path down to the creek.
Leave it to me to buy a house online. They laughed when I bought a couch, a car, and pretty much everything else in my life after only squinting at it on a computer screen. But a house?
Last Thursday night, everything seemed dark. We’d previously found a house we loved, which would meet our needs really well and was in our price range. I’d already started mentally repainting the walls and arranging the furniture. I’d issued invitations for friends and family to come stay in the guest room. But, before we could make an offer, someone else jumped in first. We made a last-ditch attempt, but by Thursday night, it was clear there was no hope of securing this dream home.
Overcome by hopelessness, I scanned and scanned the online real estate listings — hoping to cheer myself up with the promise of other possibilities. Things seemed pretty bleak. I’d already seen, and rejected, most of the listings in our range. Then, one new one came up that looked gorgeous, and I couldn’t believe it was in, or near, our price range. The place even had access to a wet-weather creek, and the current owners had set up a hammock and a fire pit on its banks. Hello, dream home #2!
I spent much of Friday poring over the listing (when I was supposed to be working), doing Google Maps satellite searches, and imagining myself lying in that hammock by the creek while the kids swung on a rope-swing and plunged into the crystal clear water (after they learn how to swim, of course). I became convinced that we needed to make an offer. Immediately. Before someone else snatched it up. It had only been on the market 2 days.
So, we did. After consulting with our real estate agent and mortgage broker, of course. The sellers counter-offered. We accepted, right around the time we heard another offer had come in. This time, we were the lucky ones.
Of course, we still haven’t actually seen this place yet, so, tomorrow night, my husband will jet out there to go through it with an inspector. So long as everything passes muster, we’ll let the option period (the period in which we can back out without consequences) expire, and proceed with the purchase. Then, we move, and start our new, radically different life in the country. I’m already scouring the Web for a new couch… and maybe a dining table.