Good news and bad news

I was getting antsy. Okay it was only five days on the market but I wanted my house sold. If you've ever tried to sell your home you know what this entails. I'm a pretty neat person but I actually turned into freak of a homeowner. I must have spent a few good hours spot cleaning my rug and was constantly cooking cinnamon water on the stove to make the rooms smell great. I would have baked cookies if I'd had the hours in the day but working full time just didn't allow that. I think I even called my daughter a few times from work to make sure she flushed the toilet before someone came to check out our digs. God forbid I should show any signs of being a human. Sinatra and Martin sang through my speakers day after day...yes, it was shear perfection.

On day six I met my second contractor at the blue house. Quick story here before I get into it.... This contractor is someone I met through my work. I work for a decking company and part of my job is running the contractor training end of things. Anyway, when I met this contractor in my office I felt he was a good guy. He seemed organized and calm and I liked the way he talked to his employees. He seemed respectful. He knew about my house interest and offered to look at it if I ever needed him to. He specifically said there were no strings attached but that he'd give me his honest opinion if I needed it. Okay, I was at the point where I thought I needed it.

When I showed up at the blue house he was already there. He had brought his 10 year old son with him. My agent was also there. I walked through the front door and right away I got a bad vibe. He was walking around like a no-it-all telling me this was wrong and that was wrong. I guess it was his cockiness that really rubbed me the wrong way. We finished looking around the house (it certainly wasn’t thorough) and my agent left and I went and talked some more to the contractor by his truck. I came right out and asked him what he thought of the house and he proceeded to tell me how much I would have to spend on the inside and outside of the home. It was a lot! He was scaring me. I asked him if it was worth buying and he said yes, it's a solid home. He told me I should go back to the homeowner and ask $30,000 less for it. I told him there was no way on God’s green earth the owner would go for that. I also thought this contractor was in la la land. He was getting a little too cozy with me, if you know what I mean....and right in front of his son. It grossed me out and I couldn’t wait to get outa there!

The next day I met my Real Estate Agent at her office on my way home from work. There were people looking through my house at the time, which is why I met her in her there. My agent was heading out of town the following day and wanted to go over a few things with me. She told me one of the other agents in the office would look after me if anyone put an offer in on my house. Just then her cell rang.
I gently quipped...."that's the other agent. I bet that’s an offer on my house”. We smiled at each other and she answered her cell.
Well, it wasn't an offer on my house but the agent was asking a lot of questions. Questions like...is she firm on her price? Has she purchased anything else yet? My agent was very non-committal in her responses. They hung up apparently they were very interested. I was hopeful.

Day eight…D day.

It started out like any other day, although it was the last day I had to sell my house. My time was coming to an end and now I was hoping that no one would try to steal it from me. I assumed it was doubtful since I was the only one who had ever put an offer on it.

I was wrong…..

My cell rang. It was my surrogate agent. “Cori, we have a situation” she said. “I have some good news and some bad news”.
Situation? Good new, bad news, I thought…what the hell does that mean?
She began to tell me there was an offer on my home but….there was also an offer on my treasured blue post and beam. The offers came in at exactly the same time! Holy Cow! What were the chances of that?
She asked me if I could leave work and get to her office a.s.a.p. Of course I was in the car in a flash. I was calm and all I remember thinking is…if it’s meant to be it will be. If not, I wasn’t meant to have the blue house. I told myself that I would not settle for a meager amount for my home and I had my selling price in my head. I would not vary from that number, even though it was more than the market norm. It would be a divine sign if I got the price I was thinking for my home. I would not waver. Not a chance!