nerves

what a day. last night, our agent tells us at 9:00 that there is another bidder on the house we love.

fukstix.

so we spend today scrambling to get the offer contract. the fact that i'm flying from soflo to atl and katie is driving up to tampa (for a dr. scientist conference) makes it fun. 47 pages of contract that need to be signed on every page, plus customized addendums. thankfully, we can scan and send pdfs to each other. faxing would have been a nightmare.

we get the offer in. we're good. i'm nervous about the offer price. our agent talks me off the ledge three times today. i'm nervous about the cash flow, too. the numbers say we can swing it, but house-owning is always more expensive than expected. and this place comes with a yard. that means a mower, on top of furniture. or we could live in an unfurnished house. at least they can't take the grill (it's built into the patio). hmm. maybe they would sell us their furniture....

at 10 tonight, i realize (ok, my dad points out) that we can't be totally flexible on the close date. the deal on this place is that a couple bought it a month ago and then called off their wedding. he's already moved out and she is living there, but presumably wants out quick. well, we don't move until august, and katie's new gig (read: new paycheck) doesn't start until september.

shitballz.

we can't possibly pay a mortgage all summer while we're paying rent in soflo AND rent in atl.

uggg. we might lose this deal over the close date.

i'm trying to wintermute my way through this one.

there are some creative options, including closing early but having the seller stay and pay us rent.

gotta decide by 9 am tomorrow.