Another house bits the dust

The seller has decided to play hardball and really won’t give much on their price. Hey, I can understand because they are looking after their investments and doing the best thing for their team. Well, that is what my hubby and I have to do. We already came up to more than we wanted to pay to a price that we were willing to pay – and that wasn’t good enough. They had to still want basically $10k more. After weighing all the pros and cons, checking all the numbers (and checking them again), we decided to pass. Heck, if they want their number so bad, let the house sit on the market 70 more days to get their magic number – in a buyer’s market no less. The sellers were trying to press our backs up against the wall and make us make decisions in less than 24 hours. And it would take them over 48 hours to make decisions. No. I didn’t like the energy and anticipated difficulties in working with them through the rest of the house process – especially during the house inspections and ensuing negotiations over items that needed fixing or money back.

My hubby and I are beginning to think that the house that is FOR us will be FOR us and the process will be a little different. I think the process will feel better. I think we’ll know – somehow. It won’t feel forced or rushed. Plus, we keep learning more about what we are willing and NOT willing to take or settle for. We’ve definitely learned a lot more from our new realtor about the LA real estate market. Now, we are deciding what is important to us. Our new realtor keeps stressing the importance of good schools. On principle, I agree. Good schools mean good resale. However, if almost all of LA has crappy schools (with the exception of a few pockets here and there), then people are buying houses in areas with not so great schools and the houses are appreciating. In fact, the houses are appreciating higher than the national average. So, then you have to think, how important are the schools??

So many things to consider – location (location! Location! Location!), square footage, good schools, price (which translates into our mortgage payment), and then our goals. We’re getting there. I just wish that we’d already found our house.