Does anybody read these?

Burnin' down the house

OK, not really. We're just moving.

So, more on the saga of the house. I have worked my ass off over the last two years to get myself in the financial position to buy the house I've been renting on a lease-purchase agreement. And, it worked. I got myself approved for the mortgage, and everything was going well.

Until the appraisal came back.

Thirty thousand dollars too low.

Yes, that says $30,000.

Which would be the exact amount that the person I was buying the house from needed to recoup what she'd put into it.

I think you see where this is going.

She won't sell and lose her ass. Her suggestion was for us to continue our arrangement until the market picks back up.

But, I don't see why I need to lose my ass, which is what would happen if I continued renting to have the privilege of paying an extra $30,000 for the same house that's down the street.

So, I'm not going to. I've hired a Realtor and I'm trying to buy that house down the street. I should know next week. I really love my neighborhood, so I'm hoping it works out.

If not, there are other options. In some ways, some options are better (Hello, finished basement!) and/or "naked hot tub deck." In other ways, they are not as good. For example, the den/kitchen combo that was the only thing I ever wanted in my house so that the kitchen could be the central gathering place where people gathered, cooked and socialized? None of the other houses had that. So, I will still have to make a mock fireplace. I might get a window I can put next year's Christmas tree in front of.

I'm also going to lose the upstairs loft, which we just used to store crap before it got to the attic. The bedrooms are bigger, which makes that easier to swallow. And, I get to pick out a bright, new fridge and stove. Hello, double oven.

I will keep you all posted. Say a little prayer. I'm hoping this works out, because we're going on Week Three of the nervous eye twitch, and it's starting to get annoying.

Not as annoying as re-boxing all my stuff and renting a Uhaul, but annoying nonetheless.

posted by Laura at 4:15 PM