rue-madame's Diaryland Diary

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Storm's a-blowing

After two bids and a counter-offer, the condo went to someone else. Whoever won the place obviously has more money than us, and is willing to overpay on a space that needs at least $30,000 of work.

I am glad we didn�t get it. The seller got greedy and began ratcheting up the price on Monday, and he pit us against another couple to get more money. We were literally on the phone with our agent every 2 hours.

Homey don�t play that.

I know it�s real estate, and it�s a completely different modus operandi, but the minute I start to sense that someone is attempting to take advantage of me, I go into attack mode. If we had managed to get the place, for more money than we�d wanted to spend originally, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would have actively engaged in retaliatory behavior and made the seller�s life a living hell during the inspection. He would rue the day he�d crossed rue-madame.

I wish buying property were more like buying clothes. If it fits, and you have the money and there�s one in stock, and you�re the first person in line, it�s yours. Or more like Ebay, so that if you bid just one dollar more, it�s yours.

At one point yesterday, it actually came down to who was putting more money down. We and the other couple had offered the same exact amount for the condo. What the fuck does it matter who�s putting more down? Everybody has to borrow money to pay for the whole frickin� thing, and the seller gets the same amount either way. We put in the first offer; isn�t that as much a sign of serious interest as �more money down�?

We put in our last offer last night knowing full well we would be outbid. If the other couple had more money to put down, they certainly had more money to give the seller.

I wasn�t expecting bidding wars in the hamlet of New Haven. I really wasn�t. In fact, I�m still sort of surprised. I mean, it�s New Haven for fuck�s sake! Not SF or LA or NY! Who needs to live here that badly that they�re willing to pay $10,000 over the asking price for a condo that needs three times that amount in remodeling?

Uh, people with more money than us.

Terence isn�t ready to throw in the towel. He says this is going to be one of our only chances to get on the ladder, and if we don�t do it now, it�s just going to get harder and harder. I agree with him, and I�m on board and all of that, but first, I need to go buy some lighter fluid.

10:12 a.m. - 2004-03-16

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