Relative Something

It finally happened. We received our first offer. It is a low one, which was not unexpected, especially after the prolonged period of hearing buyer’s dissatisfaction over the lack of a back yard. We have already provided our first response. Now it is their turn.

It has become apparent that the lot size, and lack of a back yard, are currently the determining factors on the value of our property. I still see it as a feature, and not a flaw, but it is hard to convince someone to pay more for less space.

The result is: negotiation.

You know the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for…”? You just might get it. Suddenly, this situation that I have been hoping for all summer is within reach of being realized. Yikes! What are we going to do? When people have asked that –and an awful lot of them (you) have posed that very question– I have flippantly tossed out the possible scenarios, as if I had full confidence in achieving any one of them.

Yesterday, the notion that I was close to needing to honestly choose one of those scenarios had me second-guessing our decisions, and doubting the logic of our course of action.

The listing on our previous favorite option for horse property has now expired. Our realtor has promised to contact them.

Cyndie just began moving the boxes she sent home from Boston, out of the garage and into the house. We don’t really have room for any of that right now, and we still have a showing appointment for today, so things are a little chaotic around here.

It’s probably just what we needed to happen to get things moving, in terms of receiving actual offers: some of Cyndie’s chaos. I’ve had my precise routine of keeping the place neat and tidy (read: cold and uninviting), and we see how much interest that has generated.

Cyndie has been home 3-days, and we have our first offer. What do you think of that?

I am a happy guy. My wife is home again, after a year of living in Boston. I timed things perfectly on my trip to pick Cyndie up at the airport. After sufficiently tending to immediate needs at the day-job, I grabbed a package to be delivered on the way, and dashed out the door. I had been following the progress of her flight online, and knew she was about a half-hour out. Traffic was slow, but moving, and the visit to our customer site didn’t take any extra time –the usual chatty person who I enjoy greatly was not there, so I was able to leave the parts with someone I didn’t know.

I navigated through more crazy drivers and, in a change from our usual routine, parked the car, so I could wait inside to meet her. It was as if I knew what I was doing. Seamlessly, my plan played out, and I found her flight on the arrivals display, located her baggage claim spot, and discovered the rest room I was hoping to find, just a few steps beyond.

When I came out, passengers were just beginning to arrive. I strolled toward the direction they were coming from and without a pause, spotted Cyndie gliding down an escalator. I stood at the bottom and soaked up the moment, anticipating her surprise. It was wonderful.

We both noticed a distinct difference in our perceptions this time, compared to the visits she had made throughout the year. It reminded me of the difference I noticed when she left a year before. I had been through a lot of her departures over the years that she traveled for her work, but when she left to live in Boston, it was very different. Almost scary different. Now she was arriving home to stay, not just visit.

Cyndie was getting watery eyes, and I was feeling everything opposite from that scare when she left a year before.

This morning, I can feel it in my soul. It continues to resonate today. It feels real, real good.

It was like a dream sequence right out of my current anxiety about showing our house, but it was hilariously real.

Yesterday, shortly after lunch, I received a call requesting a showing for the hour that lands right at my preferred dinner time, just after I would generally be arriving home from work. I’m flexible, and showing the house is my priority, so I didn’t hesitate to accept the appointment.

I considered taking in a movie, as an alternative to going home after work. Instead, enough tasks materialized at the end of the day to keep me stuck at my desk right past the showtimes of the movie options. It reached the nebulous point of being past the time I wanted to still be at the workplace, but a bit too early to arrive home. At that time of the day, my lack of decision-making prowess is as obvious as ever.

I just started the car and headed south, pondering options. I could stop someplace for dinner. I could drop in unannounced on a friend. I could go shopping. Ha! That was a funny one. Shopping. Yeah, I let that pass through my head… for a second. Nah.

Delay with the decisions long enough, and you will arrive right where you are aiming. There were only 15 minutes left of the hour appointment when I reached our house, and there were no cars around, so I pulled in. The last time I talked to my neighbor about visitors looking at our house, he reported they were there less than 5 minutes, so I figured I was probably in the clear this day.

Inside, there was no evidence of anyone having been there, but that has happened before. It is a courtesy for the realtor to leave their card on the counter to acknowledge their visit, but I am getting used to finding nothing, after a handful of such incidences thus far.

I was upstairs, checking things out when I discovered a car in our driveway. Time for me to go for a walk!

I met them at the door and announced I was just headed out. The realtor was gruff and seemed unusually focused on an obvious agenda. He brushed past me, walked straight to the back door and was out on the deck before I finished getting my shoes on to step out the front door. He called out something I didn’t quite hear, so I stepped toward him to respond to his query.

He wanted to know where the back yard ended. Really! This guy cut right to the jugular. I felt an urge that I was supposed to apologize.

Then he walked over to the side and asked where that ended. He said something to the effect of, “That’s all there is then.” Yep. That’s it. I went for my walk. Hope they liked the house. I know they went both upstairs and down by all the lights they left on.

No feedback has been submitted yet, but I’m not holding my breath on this one. However, that little optimist hiding deep within me points out the delicious irony possible if that couple turns out to be our interested buyers!

I am counting the days. This coming Friday, my wife is scheduled to return home. Best of all, she is doing it on a one-way ticket. Hoo. Ray!

Thus will end the grand experiment of living apart from each other while she worked in Boston, and I stayed in Minnesota. It wasn’t easy for me, but it was possible, and that possibility has been realized. I am pleased to be reaching the culmination of this effort, and am looking forward to re-combining our energies to breath new life into our dream of getting our house sold and fulfilling our vision to find the perfect property to have horses.

We received what I am claiming to be, a glimpse of progress on the home sale plan yesterday. For the first time, the feedback from a showing has offered a glimmer of hope with this message: “Client is keeping it on their list.”

Interior: Above Avg (4 of 5)

Exterior: Above Avg (4 of 5)

Floor Plan: Average (3 of 5)

Pricing: At Market Value

Future Possibility: Still Looking

Comments: Nicely staged and attractive home.

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Having Cyndie home again can only make our home gain appeal, as she will undoubtedly unleash her knack for doing the things she does so well. I have mostly put in effort to live minimally and always leave the home clean and prepared for a showing. She will add life energy that has be missing.

That’s an energy that I will cherish personally, well beyond the benefit it will bring to our house showings.