We got an offer already. It's not quite up to asking price, which is quite reasonable as it is, but they're not that far off either. FIRST SHOWING!! We're going to counter today ...
We feel it's an "Ace in the hole" because here are the details: It's a contract that doesn't require us to mark the house "pending", which is good because I think that "Pending, may accept backup offers" is pretty much the same thing as saying "Please don't ever look at my house again. Even if financing falls through, please consider my house off the market and possibly even damaged goods." So it will remain active because their contract is, of course, contingent on the sale of their house. If something better comes along, that we can accept more quickly or at a better price, all we have to do it tell them and generously give them the chance to offer us more money.
Is that sweet, or what?
I mean, who knows what could happen, at this point? I'm almost not even excited about it because it's too good to be true, too many things could still go awry, and we have no freakin' idea where the heck we're gonna live. I almost didn't post about it because my very next post could possibly be "God not only doesn't want us to move but He is also testing our Faith in Him". But what's the fun of getting a contract on your first showing if you can't shout about it?
We had another showing last night, so we're going to find out the feedback there before we counter. Pretty fun stuff!
Oh, and as for the comments about my clean house, let me say this: First of all C, the reason the basement looks so incredibly good is that there are only about 5 toys in it. No kidding. I've been slowly weeding them out such that the basement has looked pretty decent for awhile now. Gone are those days when I just shut the door. It taught my kids all the wrong things. Plus, they are older now. That makes all the difference. That, and the fact that the previous owner's tacky paint and gross carpet have been replaced by beautiful neutral colors too.
And you know how you're imagining my life is total hell as we try to keep it clean? Well, getting it fully clean -- every room perfect at once -- was very, very hard. It took days, as I would clean one room only to find my previous work undone. But now? I LOVE it. And so do the kids. Our standards are UP THERE and all we have to do it raise our consciousness. Clean up messes sooner, and be more aware of the number of times we set things down. I'm sure we won't want to live this way for the rest of our lives, but we all agree that our new lives will be a lot more like this. Keeping it up is so much less stressful than bad habits!
(One last thing -- Owen has been sick for almost 2 weeks now with a terrible infection. He is getting a re-check right now after finally seeing some results yesterday due to the second try at antibiotics. I will let you know how the appointment goes a little later.)